Lines On Thorold.

McCready, the great Irish tragedian, said that the view from Thorold was the finest in America.


        Thorold is famous for its mills,
        And the grand view from off its hills,
        A view so charming and extended,
        Nature's beauties sweetly blended.

        Poetic thoughts it doth awake
        To view Ontario's broad lake,
        And husbandmen have their reward in
        Fruits of this Provincial garden.

        For from the hill you see below
        Gardens where choice fruits do grow,
        The landscape all within your reach
        Doth both produce the grape and peach.

        McCready said in the New World
        The finest view was from Thorold,
        You see St. Catharines thriving town
        And steamers sailing up and down.

        And you can see on a clear day
        All along Toronto Bay,
        And you clearly see the haze
        Where Niagara doth amaze.

        And glance where Grimsby's gardens yield
        Or view Beamsville's fruitful field,
        Then this thought you can advance,
        This is Canada's sunny France.

        You see Niagara's ancient town[D]
        Though it has lost us old renown,
        And you have a splendid view
        Of boats on old canal and new.

James McIntyre

James McIntyre was a Canadian poet, most notable for his poetry concerning cheese, cheese-making, dairying, and dairy products. Often referred to as 'The Cheese Poet,' McIntyre's work is celebrated for its earnestness and unintentional humor, making him both a beloved and an infamous figure in literary circles. He emigrated from Scotland to Canada in 1851 and settled in Ingersoll, Ontario, where he became a successful businessman and community leader.

James McIntyre

In Memoriam.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

Lines On The Death Of A Farmer's Wife.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

Canada Before The Confederation Of The Provinces.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

Things Should Be Judged By Merit.

James McIntyre, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

St. Catharines.

Lines read at the Welland House, St. Catharines, at a banquet given to the members in attendance at the Oddfellows' Grand Lodge.


        St. Catharines famed for mineral waters
        And for the beauty of her daughters,
        For some do worship at the shrines
        Of the fair St. Catharines.

        St. Catharines your greatness you inherit
        From the genius of a Merritt,
        You still would be a village dreary
        But for this canal from lake Erie.

        For on its bosom there doth float
        Full many a ship and steamboat,
        Brings world's commerce to your doors
        And many gifts on you it pours.

        Among its many great rewards
        It gives you dry docks and ship yards,
        To drive ...

James McIntyre

Province Of Ontario.

        In the land of woods and lakes,
        Pure happiness each one partakes,
        Who is sound in body and in mind,
        And to industry is inclined.

        Here in great lakes we do take pride,
        And them with Uncle Sam divide,
        Other lakes seem inferior
        In size to great Superior.

        And Canadians do take pride,
        In Huron's wide expanded tide,
        But it onward flows forever,
        Through St. Clair lake and river.

        But soon again it doth expand,
        Into Erie's lake so grand,
        Then behold its wondrous charms,
        When embraced in Niagara's arms.

        Then it more blessings doth bestow,
        On pure bosom of Ontario,
        Round it our towns and ...

James McIntyre

Canadian Rivers And Lakes.

        We have here a sight as fair
        As bonnie Doon or banks of Ayr,
        Like modest worth meandering slow
        The quiet waters gently flow,
        Rose, thistle, shamrock, all combine,
        Around the maple leaf to twine,
        Whose outstretched arms so gigantic
        Clasp Pacific and Atlantic,
        Embracing lakes like burnished gold,
        With joy a Shakespeare might behold,
        For either Poet Burns or Moore[B]
        Such scenery they would adore.

James McIntyre

Credit Valley Trip.

The Credit Valley Railway Company having placed a car at the service of the council we were kindly invited to accompany them to Toronto.


        Whene'er we take a tour abroad
        We love to travel o'er new road,
        Where scenery to us is new
        And landscape pleasing to the view,
        When invited for to rally
        And take a trip on Credit Valley,
        We resolved for to afford
        A day with Council and School Board,
        For to view the rural charms
        Of hills and dales and fertile farms,
        With joy we saw the sunbeams gleam
        On Grand River beauteous stream,
        And those perpendicular walls
        Of rock, like old baronial halls,
        We saw the great lake ebb and flow,
        And quee...

James McIntyre

Holland River And Its Tributaries.

Meanderings of a stream rises twenty miles north of Toronto and sweeps around the whole of Southern Ontario.


        We love to sing of tiny stream,
            Through the lowland meadows running,
        To us it is a pleasing theme,
            Tracing it from first beginning.

        'Tis strange how far a brook will roam,
            Moving onwards in its motion,
        And not content till it reaches home,
            Two thousand miles to distant ocean.

        In county York springs a small brook,
            A few miles north of Ontario,
        But it doth take a wondrous crook,
            It northward many miles doth flow.

        Brook's progress south is stopped by ridge,
            Doth debar its southern course,
     ...

James McIntyre

Prologue To South Ontario Sketches.

The district lying South of Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, including Toronto.


        My friends we sing Canadian themes,
            For in them we proudly glory,
        Her lakes and rivers and her streams,
            Worthy of renown in story;
        And in these leaves we hope is strewn
            Some wheat among the chaff,
        And maple boughs by rude axe hewn,
            Where one may find a rustic staff;
        To help him o'er the rugged lines
            If he to weariness inclines.
        Some see no beauties near to home,
            But do admire the distant far,
        They always love abroad to roam,
            View glory in but far off star;
        But let it never be forgot
            That distant hills when closer se...

James McIntyre