Poems (Eckley)/The Mer de Glace
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OWN from the dizzy pathless drifts,
The frozen river flows,
A sea of glass in glittering waves,
Transfix'd in death's repose.
THE MER DE GLACE."And I saw as it were a sea of glass."
OWN from the dizzy pathless drifts,The frozen river flows,
A sea of glass in glittering waves,
Transfix'd in death's repose.
Celestial blue from worlds unseen,
Mantles the icy crests,
And precious gems their colours fling
Like flowers upon the wastes.
Mantles the icy crests,
And precious gems their colours fling
Like flowers upon the wastes.
The amethysts with regal light,
Like violets' sweet breath,
Are types of flowers, spirit buds—
Now frozen into death.
Like violets' sweet breath,
Are types of flowers, spirit buds—
Now frozen into death.
With onyx stem and jasper leaf,
And blush of agate rose;
How beautiful! Has sunset died,
And into felspar froze?
And blush of agate rose;
How beautiful! Has sunset died,
And into felspar froze?
The crystal typifies the spray
Not lost on Alpine breeze,
Nor thrown in garlands on the ice,
But left like tears to freeze.
They call all this the type of death,
O rather call it life!
For nature dies not here, this seems
To be unchanging life.
Not lost on Alpine breeze,
Nor thrown in garlands on the ice,
But left like tears to freeze.
They call all this the type of death,
O rather call it life!
For nature dies not here, this seems
To be unchanging life.
This river flows not to the sea,
These flowers do not die;
The very air seems but transfixed
To one eternal sigh.
These flowers do not die;
The very air seems but transfixed
To one eternal sigh.
Chamounix, 1861.