For once, the awning stretched, the poles assured!

Noontide above; except the wave's crisp dash,

Or buzz of colibri, or tortoise' splash,

The margin 's silent: out with every spoil

Made in our tracking, coil by mighty coil,

This serpent of a river to his head

I' the midst! Admire each treasure, as we spread

The bank, to help us tell our history

Aright: give ear, endeavor to descry

The groves of giant rushes, how they grew