Detroit Gazette (Detroit, MI), 4 April 1826, page 1

For the Detroit Gazette.

RIVER DETROIT.

The good man's course thy silver water run,
With current gentle, gliding smoothly on; With lofty banks, in richest verdure drest,
And flying sails that brighten all the west.
A long time since, the birchen bark canoe
Triumphant sail'd alone by savage fore.
The tawny Indian in thy limpid stream Would cast his shad, and paint for deeds of fame.
But soon the whitened sail and ships of oak,
Their pow'r display'd--the savage sceptre broke.
And now, by steam, big castles move along,
And ev'ry motion has the power of song.
The arts, and arms, and ev'ry polish'd grace,
Upon thy shores receive a fond embrace.
When science speaks, congenial spirits rise,
To scan the rivers, earth, and sea, and skies.
Industry crowns the soil, with plenty given;
And christian spires point out the way to heaven.
Thy waters now can bathe fair Hudson's shore,
And in her lap the choicest treasures pour.
Upon thy breast the starry flag's unfurl'd,
Whence it can make the compass of the world.
Thou noble stream!--no stormy waves to thee--
Thy fame is Cass, and Clinton's victory.

V.