The Madisonian

LITERARY CURIOSITY.

THE FALLS OF LODORE

BY ROBERT SOUTHEY

How does the water come down from Lodore?

Here it comes sparkling,

And there it lies darkling,

Here smoking and frothing

Its tumult and wrath in,

It hastens along, conflicting and strong,

Now striking and raging,

As if a war waging,

Its caverns and rocks among.

Rising and leaping,

Sinking and creeping,

Swelling and flinging,

Showering and springing,

Eddying and whisking,

Spouting and frisking,

Turning and twisting,

Around and around,

Collecting, disjecting,

With endless rebound.

Smiting and fighting,

In turmoil delighting,

Confounding, astounding,

Drizzling and deafening the air with its sound.

Receding and speeding,

And shocking and rocking,

And darting and parting,

And threading and spreading,

And whizzing and hissing,

And dripping and skipping,

And hitting and spitting,

And shining and twining,

And rattling and battling,

And shaking and quaking,

And pouring and roaring,

And waving and raving,

And tossing and crossing,

And running and stunning,

And hurrying and skurrying,

And glittering and frittering,

And gathering and feathering,

And dinning and spinning,

And foaming and roaming,

And hooping and drooping,

And working and jerking,

And guggling and struggling,

And heaving and cleaving,

And thundering and floundering,

And falling and brawling and sprawling,

And driving and riving and striving.

And sprinkling and crinkling and twinkling,

And sounding and bounding and rounding,

And bubbling and troubling and doubling,

Dividing and gliding and sliding,

Grumbling and rumbling and tumbling,

Clattering and battering and shattering,

And gleaming and streaming and skimming and beaming,

And rushing and flushing and bursting and gushing,

And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,

And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,

Retreating and meeting and beating and sheeting,

Delaying and straying and spraying and playing,

Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,

Recoiling and turmoiling and toiling and boiling,

And thumping and bumping and flumping and jumping,

And thrashing and clashing and flashing and splashing,

And so never ending,

But always descending,

Sounds and motions forever and ever blending,

All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar,

And this way the water comes down from Lodore.