Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/392

Tell us, earth-born companion of the stars,
Hast thou beheld when worlds were wrecked and riven ?
Hast seen wild comets in their red simars
O'er the far fields of space at random driven ?
Seest thou the angels at the gate of heaven ?
Perchance they lend that glory to thy brow,
Which burns and sparkles there this summer even !
Perchance their anthems float around thee now —
They worship God alway, and so, Mont Blanc, dost thou.

Solemn evangel of almighty power.
The pillars of the earth support thy throne ;
Ages unknown, unnumbered, are thy dower.
Sunlight thy crown, the clouds of heaven thy zone.
Spires, columns, turrets, lofty and alone ;
Snow-fields, where never bird nor beast abode ;
Caverns unmeasured, fastnesses unknown ;
Glaciers where human feet have never trod —
Ye are the visible throne, the dwelling-place of God.

What is the measure of our threescore years —
What the duration of our toil and care ?
What are our aspirations, hopes, and fears,
The joys we prize, the ills we needs must bear —
The earthly goals we win, the deeds we dare ?
Our life is but a breath, a smile, a sigh ;
We go, and Time records not that we were ;
But thou will lift thy giant brow on high,
Till Time's last hour is knolled, lost in eternity.

And we, beholding thee, do turn aside
From all the little idols we have wrought ;
Self-love, ambition, wealth, fame, power and pride
Keep silence before thee ; and we are taught
A nobler aim, a more enduring thought.
Our souls are touched by the celestial fire
That glows on holier altars; what we sought
With thought, heart, mind, seems dust, and we aspire
To win some sure good, some guerdon holier, higher.

Thou art an altar, where the human soul
Pays God the tribute of its prayer and praise ;
Feelings, emotions, passing all control
Ai-e born of thee ; wondering, subdued, we gaze.
Till soul and sense are lost in still amaze,
And the full-gushing heart forgets to beat.
We feel the invisible, we seem to raise
The inner vail, to stand where two worlds meet.
Entranced, bewildered, rapt, adoring at thy feet.

LAKE LEMAN.

Thou art beautiful, Lake Leman,
When thy starry waves are sleeping,
Sleeping in the fond embraces
Of the summer moon's soft light ;
When thy waters seem to listen
To the blue Rhone, sadly weeping
As she parts from thee forever,
Murmuring tenderly. Good-night !

Thou art glorious, when the morning,
Nature's radiant evangel,
Lays her cheek upon thy bosom,
With her tresses all undone ;