Riding on the Ice upon Lake Champlain / Thomas Rowley

Riding on the Ice upon Lake Champlain

The water deep is fast asleep
Beneath this icy band,
So we can pass upon her face,
As on solid land.

When Sol displays his warmer rays
And leaves his southern house,
He'll penetrate this icy plate
And set the water loose.

To our surprise the winds arise
And put it all in motion;
Here waves will run as they have done
On the Atlantic ocean.

The mighty hand that formed the land
And set the seas their bound,
He at his will can hush it still,
As is the solid ground.

Then Boreas sends his freezing winds
Upon our Lake Champlain,
Whose dreadful frost will bind her fast –
So we may ride again.

~~
Thomas Rowley (1721-1796) 

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Thomas Rowley biography