Or where, amid Virginia’s fertile vale,
The Rockbridge in its grandeur towers above
The little stream that runs so far beneath,
That human ear ne’er caught its hoarsest brawl.
There where the Deluge pierced the mountain chain
And sent its wild pent river to the sea,
The storm, with sternest music, calls its clouds,
And through the giant arch remorseless sweeps
Causing dread whirlpools of the misty air.
Autumn departs, and earth in sadness mourns,