Poems (Toke)/Lines (Oh yes! 'tis sweet indeed to gaze)

by Emma Toke

LINES.

H yes! 'tis sweet indeed to gaze
 On Nature's face so fair,
And see the varied forms and charms
 That Heaven has planted there.
That heart in truth is cold
 That can view with careless eye
Her awful mountains piercing
 The clear and deep blue sky;
Their cloud-capped summits crowned
 With everlasting snows,
While on their rugged sides
 The sunbeams calm repose;
And the roar of torrents mingling
 With the moaning of the breeze,
As it sweeps around the mountain's brow,
 Or sighs among the trees:
All these exalt and awe the mind,
 And lift the thoughts on high,—
While scenes long past, and hopes to come,
 Float past the mental eye.

And Nature has her softer scenes,
 Almost as fair and bright,—
Where gentle slopes and wooded hills
 Combine to please the sight;
And all around's so calm and still,
 So gentle and serene,
That mingled feelings wake a sigh
 Of pleasure and of pain:
For wakened Memory brings the thought
 Of years long passed away,
While Hope looks on to scenes of bliss
 Tn brighter worlds of day.

And e'en on these wild desert plains,
 Where Nature's charms are rare,
E'en here mine eve can always find
 Some object bright or fair:
For though no towering mountains rise,
 Or wooded plains appear,
Yet even Nature's loneliness
 Has something calm and dear;
And as brightly here yon sun
 In setting splendour glows,—
And as calmly on the hills
 The evening stars repose,—
And yon fair moon is gliding on,
 Her soft pale rays as bright
Ag if on richer, lovelier scenes
 She shed her silvery light;
And oh! the thought of happiest days
 Spent on these lonely plains
Will make their memory dear to me
 While ever life remains.

E.

Elphin, 1830.