Kelly is an English instructor at two colleges in Illinois. In the following essay, he explores Lanier's poem as a sad reminder of man's dominance over nature that remains effective to this day.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, Sidney Lanier was one of America's best-known poets, included in all of the standard poetry collections. Even during his lifetime, he had been a controversial choice, mocked by critics almost as much as he was admired, but he was never left out. Fashions change, however; today, only a couple of Lanier's poems are likely to be remembered or studied. "Song of the Chattahoochee" is probably his most lasting work. This would be a surprise to his harshest critics, who from its first publication found the poem to be both light in ideas and heavyhanded in its performance. But it is the poem's simple obviousness, to a large...