The Duddon Sonnets - Notes to Sonnet XVI

XVI. AMERICAN TRADITION

         

          SUCH fruitless questions may not long beguile

          Or plague the fancy 'mid the sculptured shows

          Conspicuous yet where Oroonoko flows;

          'There' would the Indian answer with a smile

          Aimed at the White Man's ignorance, the while,

          Of the GREAT WATERS telling how they rose,

          Covered the plains, and, wandering where they chose,

          Mounted through every intricate defile,

          Triumphant--Inundation wide and deep,

          O'er which his Fathers urged, to ridge and steep            10

          Else unapproachable, their buoyant way;

          And carved, on mural cliff's undreaded side,

          Sun, moon, and stars, and beast of chase or prey;

          Whate'er they sought, shunned, loved, or deified!

This anecdote is based on Humboldt’s account of his voyage of scientific discovery 1799 – 1805.