THE RIVER DUDDON
XVI. AMERICAN TRADITION
THE RIVER DUDDON
SUCH fruitless questions may not long beguile Or plague the fancy ‘mid the sculptured shows Conspicuous yet where Oroonoko flows; ‘There’ would the Indian answer with a smile Aimed at the White Man’s ignorance, the while, Of the GREAT WATERS telling how they rose, Covered the plains, and, wandering where they chose, Mounted through every intricate defile, Triumphant–Inundation wide and deep, O’er which his Fathers urged, to ridge and steep 10 Else unapproachable, their buoyant way; And carved, on mural cliff’s undreaded side, Sun, moon, and stars, and beast of chase or prey; Whate’er they sought, shunned, loved, or deified!