As though the Alps, with mortal ire,
At once a thousand voices raised;
And with a thousand swords of fire
At once in conflict blazed.
COME, golden Evening, in the west
Enthrone the storm-dispelling sun,
And let the triple rainbow rest
O'er all the mountain-tops ;-'tis done ;
The deluge ceases; bold and bright,
The rainbow shoots from hill to hill:
Down sinks the sun; on presses night;
-Mont Blanc is lovely still.
There take thy stand, my spirit ;-spread
The world of shadows at thy feet;
And mark how calmly, over-head,
The stars like saints in glory meet :
While hid in solitude sublime,
Methinks I muse on Nature's tomb,
And hear the passing foot of Time
Step through the gloom.
All in a moment, crash on crash,
From precipice to precipice,
An avalanche's ruins dash,
Down to the nethermost abyss;
Invisible, the ear alone
Follows the uproar till it dies;
Echo on echo, groan for groan,
From deep to deep replies.
Silence again the darkness seals,-
Darkness that may be felt ;-but soon
The silver-clouded east reveals
The midnight spectre of the moon ;
In half-eclipse she lifts her horn,
Yet, o'er the host of heaven supreme,
Brings the faint semblance of a morn
With her awakening beam.
Ha! at her touch, these Alpine heights
Unreal mockeries appear;
With blacker shadows, ghastlier lights,
Enlarging as she climbs the sphere;
A crowd of apparitions pale!
I hold my breath in chill suspense,
-They seem so exquisitely frail,—
Lest they should vanish hence.
I breathe again, I freely breathe;
Lake of Geneva! thee I trace,
Like Dian's crescent far beneath,
And beautiful as Dian's face;
Pride of this land of liberty!
All that thy waves reflect I love;
Where heaven itself, brought down to thee, Looks fairer than above.
Safe on thy banks again I stray,
The trance of poesy is o'er,
And I am here at dawn of day,
Gazing on mountains as before;
For all the strange mutations wrought
Were magic feats of my own mind;
Thus, in the fairy land of thought,
Whate'er I seek I find.
Yet, O ye everlasting hills!
Buildings of God, not made with hands,
Whose word performs whate'er He wills,
Whose word, though ye shall perish, stands ;
Can there be eyes that look on you,
Till tears of rapture make them dim,
Nor in his works the Maker view,
Then lose his works in Him?
By me, when I behold Him not,
Or love Him not when I behold,
Be all I ever knew forgot;
My pulse stand still, my heart grow cold;
Transform'd to ice, 'twixt earth and sky,
On yonder cliff my form be seen,
That all may ask, but none reply,
What my offence hath been.
FLOWERS, wherefore do ye bloom?
-We strew thy pathway to the tomb.
Stars, wherefore do ye rise?
-To light thy spirit to the skies.
Fair Moon, why dost thou wane?
-That I may wax again.
O Sun, what makes thy beams so bright?
-The Word that said,-"Let there be light."
Planets, what guides you in your course?
-Unseen, unfelt, unfailing force.
Nature, whence sprang thy glorious frame?
-My Maker call'd me, and I came.
O Light, thy subtle essence who may know?
-Ask not; for all things but myself I show.
What is yon arch which every where I see?
-The sign of omnipresent Deity.
Where rests the horizon's all-embracing zone? -Where earth, God's footstool, touches heaven, his throne.
Ye clouds, what bring ye in your train?
-God's embassies,-storm, lightning, hail, or rain.
Winds, whence and whither do ye blow?
-Thou must be born again to know.
Bow in the cloud, what token dost thou bear?
-That Justice still cries "strike," and Mercy "spare."
Dews of the morning, wherefore were ye given?
-To shine on earth, then rise to heaven.
Rise, glitter, break; yet, Bubble, tell me why?
-To show the course of all beneath the sky.
Stay, Meteor, stay thy falling fire!
-No, thus shall all the host of heaven expire.
Ocean, what law thy chainless waves confined?
-That which in Reason's limits holds thy mind.
Time, whither dost thou flee?
-I travel to Eternity.
Eternity, what art thou,-say?
-Time past, time present, time to come,-to-day.
Ye Dead, where can your dwelling be?
-The house for all the living;-come and see.
O Life, what is thy breath?
-A vapour lost in death.
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