Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820/The Jung-Frau—and the Rhine at Shauffhausen
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SONNET.
THE JUNG-FRAU5—AND THE RHINE AT SHAUFFHAUSEN.
The Virgin Mountain, wearing like a Queen
A brilliant crown of everlasting snow,
Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below
Wonder that aught of aspect so serene
Can link with desolation.—Smooth and green
And seeming, at a little distance, slow
The Waters of the Rhine; but on they go
Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen
Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood
Turned to a fearful Thing, whose nostrils breathe
Blasts of tempestuous smoke, with which he tries
To hide himself, but only magnifies:
And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe,
Deafening the region in his "ireful mood."
A brilliant crown of everlasting snow,
Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below
Wonder that aught of aspect so serene
Can link with desolation.—Smooth and green
And seeming, at a little distance, slow
The Waters of the Rhine; but on they go
Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen
Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood
Turned to a fearful Thing, whose nostrils breathe
Blasts of tempestuous smoke, with which he tries
To hide himself, but only magnifies:
And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe,
Deafening the region in his "ireful mood."