Among the “Breaks” of Big Sandy River
Rent from DeepDyve- Among the “Breaks” of Big Sandy River
One halcyon day in Autumn Upon a wave-washed stone I sat beside the river’s edge, Musing, and all alone.
On either side of the river rose High towering towards the sky The rugged, rock bound hills whereon I heard the spruce pines sigh.
The pipe reeds withered, brown and sere, The partridge, mellow drumming, The many colored flying leaves Foretold of Winter’s coming.
Above me calm and still there stretch A lovely lakelet blue, Upon its shallow water swam Wild ducks of somber hue.
The gaudy crested pheasant bird Made low a whirring sound; I heard a cataract that fell On boulders huge and round.
I watched the white and billowy clouds That floated lazily With sun encircled edges through The purple tinted sky. [End Page 78]
I never knew a sweeter look Of Nature ever wearing, I never saw her more sublime, With more grand awesome bearing
Than when among Big Sandy’s “Breaks” October last upon That long-to-be-remembered day I spent with her alone.
My soul was thrilled with rhapsodies And filled with thoughts I can’t express O’er her grandeur, sublimity, And her simply loveliness.
Methought as on that stone I sat In wandering reverie, “Were I a hermit, sure this place My hermitage would be.”
—Rhymes from the Cumberland (1909) [End Page 79]
Effie Waller Smith (1879–1960) was born to former slaves in the rural mountain community of Chloe Creek in Pike County, Kentucky. She published poems in Harper’s and other magazines and authored three books of poetry: Songs Of the Months (1904), Rhymes From the Cumberland (1904), and Rosemary and Pansies (1909).
