Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RIVER JAMES, by MARY JOHNSTON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RIVER JAMES, by                    
First Line: Narrow, sliding, darkly clear
Last Line: Low red sunsets over james.
Subject(s): Rivers


Narrow, sliding, darkly clear,
Little rivers
Kiss among the mountains.
Then is born the James
That in old days
Was named Powhatan,
Three hundred years ago. --
Powhatan the Indian,
James the English King. --
Arrived the Adventurers,
And called the River James,
Three hundred years ago,
And called the River James.

Three hundred miles
Runs the River James.
Bubbles cool the mountain springs,
Slides the narrow stream.
Maidenhair and rhododendron,
Flame azalea, dogwood, laurel,
Roots of hemlocks,
Giant hemlocks,
Where the Indian kneeled,
Cupped his hand and drank cool water. --
Seven miles at Hampton Roads,
That's the River James!
Wide enough for all your fleets,
Merchant fleets, men of war,
Wide enough for battles.
Merrimac, Monitor!

Wide enough, wide enough,
The old James,
The old Powhatan,
The solemn, vast, majestic River,
Flowing out to Chesapeake,
Flowing out to Ocean!

Red soil counties
Drop colour into James,
Albemarle and Buckingham,
Fluvanna, Goochland, Powhatan.
Red as sumach,
Indian red
Mountain clear,
Midland red,
Mix together, flow together,
To the sea.

The snow is melting,
The rains come down.
The voice is loud,
The voice of the James.
Freshet! Freshet!
Freshet and Flood!
Hoarse and loud
As a million bulls
Of Bashan!
The banks are naught,
The bridges go.
Danger and loss!
Danger and woe!
Flood -- flood --
Flood in the James,

The ancient, mighty, tawny James!
Over the rocks at Richmond,
Between green islets,
Murmuring, rushing,
Beneath the city of the dead,
Beneath Hollywood,
Where the ivy grows so thickly on the oaks,
By Belle Isle,
By the Tredegar,
Smoke and thunder of god Vulcan,
Murmuring, rushing,
Over the rocks and among the islands --
These are the falls
That the Adventurers named
'Falls of the Far West,'
For, said they,
(In Sixteen seven)
"The South Sea, the Rich Sea,
May be six days march,
Not more,
Up this river swirling
Among emerald and odorous islands."

Below
The Falls by Richmond,
From of old
To this autumn day
When the leaves are the mantles of kings,
What ships have sailed,
What ships have sailed the River James!
Behold the gray-pearl canvasses,
The Susan Constant, Goodspeed and Discovery.
Ships of England,
Men of England,
Sailing by Point Comfort,
Marvelling at this River,
Coming to anchor,
Before a low Island,
Behold the Dutch ship,
Bringing black men from Africa,
Ebony men, strong men,
Rich-voiced men and women --
We have reft you from Congo,
We have brought you to James,
Henceforth it is yours,
Your River as ours!

All the ships
For London Port,
Tobacco laden,
All the sloops,
All the planters, --
The music drifts
From off the ships!
And the pirate too,
Flag of the pirate,
Blackbeard the Pirate daring the River!
Trade ships, slave ships, a thousand ships of the Settler.
O River James,
Harken the singing,
Harken the sighing!
Ships of the Revolution,
Tarleton and Cornwallis,
Lafayette and Rochambeau.
Ships of all the Wars,
Dutch Gap thunders,
Harken the crying from the decks of the Cumberland!
Regard
The Eitel Friedrich,
Ships!
The first ironclads and the last dreadnaughts.
And now,
Steamers with the band playing.
And now,
The air ship circles, circles,
Over James.

O my River James!
O rosary of memories!
The children play,
The lovers smile,
The old folk rest,
Beside the James.
Country houses,
Negro cabins,
Little towns,
Old mill wheels turning
Sound of water,
Touch of coolness,
Trees aslant,
A bright fish leaping,
Smell of the land
And smell of the ocean!

Canoe upon the James,
Far up among the mountains.
All is crystal, the canoe hangs double,
Dark is the Blue Ridge, and the sky a rose.

Lower down,
Old canal boat,
White and quaint,
Negro on the towpath,
On a mule
Fireflies among the willows,
Negro singing on the towpath,
Long ago!
Dugout under sycamore,
Ferryboat and ferryman,
River fog o'er all the lowland.
Lower down -- lower down,
Little sailboats dipping, rising,
Long brown wharfs like stretching fingers,
Water fowl among the marshes,
Giant pine trees,
Low red sunsets over James.





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