And Sun-set into rose-hues sees them wroughtN21
By rays which sleep there lovingly: the rocks,[1]
The permanent crags, tell here of Love, who sought
In them a refuge from the worldly shocks,
Which stir and sting the Soul with Hope that woos, then mocks.
C.
Clarens! by heavenly feet thy paths are trod,—[2]
Undying Love's, who here ascends a throne
To which the steps are mountains; where the God
Is a pervading Life and Light,—so shown[3]
Not on those summits solely, nor alone
In the still cave and forest; o'er the flower
His eye is sparkling, and his breath hath blown,
His soft and summer breath, whose tender power[4]
Passes the strength of storms in their most desolate hour.
CI.
All things are here of Him; from the black pines,[5]
- ↑ By rays which twine there——.—[MS.]
- ↑
Clarens—sweet Clarens—thou art Love's abode—
Undying Love's—who here hath made a throne.—[MS.] - ↑
And girded it with Spirit which is shown
From the steep summit to the rushing Rhone.—[MS. erased.] - ↑
——whose searching power
Surpasses the strong storm in its most desolate hour.—[MS.] - ↑ [Compare La Nouvelle Héloïse, Partie IV. Lettre xvii., Œuvres, etc., ii. 262: "Un torrent, formé par la fonte des neiges, rouloit à vingt pas de nous une eau bourbeuse, et charrioit avec bruit du limon, du sable et des pierres.... Des forêts de noirs sapins nous ombrageoient tristement à droite. Un grand bois de chênes étoit à gauche au-delà du torrent."]
