Dear Lake Champlain! Thou hast historic fame—
The world accords it in thy very name.
Not English speech these savage wilds first heard,
Not English prows that first these waters stirred;
Primeval forests cast their shadows dark
On dusky forms in craft of fragile bark,
When first the paleface from the distant sea
Brought hither conquering cross and fleur-de-lis.
On frowning headlands rose the forts of France—
Around them villages, and song, and dance.