2. Now the mist is on the mountains,
Redd'ning in the rising sun;
Now the flowers around the fountains
Perish one by one:
Not a spire of grass is growing;
But the leaves that late were glowing,
Now its blighted green are strowing
With a mantle dun.
3. Now the torrent brook is stealing
Faintly down the furrowed glade-
Not as when in winter pealing,
Such a din it made,
That the sound of cataracts falling
Gave no echo so appalling,
As its hoarse and heavy brawling
In the pine's black shade.
4. Darkly blue the mist is hovering
Round the clifted rock's bare height
All the bordering mountains covering
With a dim uncertain light:
Now, a fresher wind prevailing,
Wide its heavy burden sailing,
Deepens as the day is failing,
Fast the gloom of night.
5. Slow the blood-stained moon is rising
Through the still and hazy air,
Like a sheeted specter gliding
In a torch's glare:
Few the hours her light is given→→
Mingling clouds of tempest driven
O'er the mourning face of heaven,
All is blackness there."
SECTION III.
An Evening sketch.
'Tis twilight now
The sovereign sun behind his western hills
In glory hath declined. The mighty clouds
Kissed by his warm effulgence, hang around
In all their congregated hues of pride,
Like pillars of some tabernacle grand,
Worthy his glowing presence; while the sky
Illumin'd to its center, glows intense,
Changing his sapphire majesty to gold.
2. How deep is the tranquillity! the trees Are slumbering through their multitude of boughs, Even to the leaflet on the frailest twig!
A twilight gloom pervades the distant hills;
An azure softness mingling with the sky.
Then drags the fishman to the yellow shore
His laden nets; and, in the sheltering cove,
Behind yon rocky point, his shallop moors,
To tempt again the perilous deep at dawn,
3. The sea is waveless, as a lake ingulf'd
'Mid sheltering hills,-without a ripple spreads
Its bosom, silent and immense,-the hues
Of flickering day have from its surface died,
Leaving it garb'd in sunless majesty.
With bosoming branches round, yon village hangs Its rows of lofty elm trees; silently,
Towering in spiral wreaths to the soft sky,
The smoke from many a cheerful hearth ascends, Melting in ether.
As I gaze, behold
The evening star illumines the blue south,
Twinkling in loveliness. O! holy star,
Thou bright dispenser of the twilight dews,-
Thou herald of Night's glowing galaxy,
And harbinger of social bliss!-how oft,
Amid the twilights of departed years,
Resting beside the river's mirror clear,
On trunk of massy oak, with eyes upturn'd
To thee in admiration, have I sat,
Dreaming sweet dreams till earth-born turbulence
Was all forgot; and thinking that in thee,
Far from the rudeness of this jarring world,
There might be realms of quiet happiness!
SECTION IV.
Niagara Falls.
1. TREMENDOUs torrent! for an instant hush
The terrors of thy voice, and cast aside
Those wide-involving shadows, that my eyes
May see the fearful beauty of thy face-
I am not all unworthy of thy sight;
For, from my very boyhood, have I loved-
Shunning the meaner track of common minds-
To look on nature in her loftier moods.
2. At the fierce rushing of the hurricaneAt the near bursting of the thunderbolt
I have been touched with joy; and, when the sea,
Lashed by the wind, hath rocked my bark, and showed
Its yawning caves beneath me, I have loved
Its dangers and the wrath of elements.
But never yet the madness of the sea
Hath moved me, as thy grandeur moves me now
3. Thou flowest on in quiet, till thy waves
Grow broken 'midst the rocks; thy current then
Shoots onward, like the irresistible course
Of destiny. Ah! terrible thy rage!
The hoarse and rapid whirlpools there! My brain
Grows wild, my senses wander, as I gaze
Upon the hurrying waters; and my sight
Vainly would follow, as toward the verge
Sweeps the wide torrent-waves innumerable
Meet there and madden-waves innumerable
Urge on and overtake the waves before,
And disappear in thunder and in foam.
4. They reach-they leap the barrier: the abyss Swallows, insatiable, the sinking waves.
A thousand rainbows arch them, and the woods
Are deafened with the roar. The violent shock
Shatters to vapor the descending sheets;
A cloudy whirlwind fills the gulf, and heaves
The mighty pyramid of circling mist
To heaven. The solitary hunter, near,
Pauses with terror in the forest shades.
5. God of all truth in other lands I've seen
Lying philosophers, blaspheming men,
Questioners of thy mysteries, that draw
Their fellows deep into impiety;
And therefore doth my spirit seek thy face
In earth's majestic solitudes. Even here
My heart doth open all itself to thee.
In this immensity of loneliness
I feel thy hand upon me. To my ear
The eternal thunder of the cataract brings
Thy voice, and I am humbled as I hear.
6. Dread torrent! that with wonder and with fear Dost overwhelm the soul of him that looks
Upon thee, and dost bear it from itself,
Whence hast thou thy beginning? Who supplies
Age after age, thy unexhausted springs?
What power hath ordered, that, when all thy weight
Descends into the deep, the swollen waves
Rise not, and roll to overwhelm the earth?
7. The Lord hath opened his omnipotent hand,
Covered thy face with clouds, and given his voice
To thy down-rushing waters; he hath girt
Thy terrible forehead with his radiant bow.
I see thy never-resting waters run,
And I bethink me how the tide of time
Sweeps to eternity. So pass off man—
Pass-like a noon-day dream—the blossoming days,
And he awakes to sorrow.
8. Hear, dread Niagara! my latest voice. Yet a few years, and the cold earth shall close Over the bones of him who sings thee now
Thus feelingly. Would that this, my humble verse,
Might be, like thee, immortal. I, meanwhile,
Cheerfully passing to the appointed rest,
Might rise my radiant forehead in the clouds,
To listen to the echoes of my fame.
1. ON Linden, when the sun was low,
All bloodless lay th' untrodden snow,
And dark as winter was the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.
2. But Linden saw another sight,
When the drum beat at dead of night,
Commanding fires of death to light
The darkness of her scenery.
3. By torch and trumpet fast array'd,
Each horseman drew his battle blade,
And furious every charger neigh'd,
To join the dreadful revelry.
4. Then shook the hills with thunder riven.
Then rush'd the steed to battle driven,
And louder than the bolts of heaven,
Far flash'd the red artillery.
5. And redder yet those fires shall glow,
On Linden's hills of blood-stained snow,
And darker yet shall be the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.
6. 'Tis morn, but scarce yon lurid sun
Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,
Where furious Frank, and fiery Hun,
Shout in their sulphurous canopy.
7. The combat deepens. On, ye brave,
Who rush to glory, or the grave!
Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave!
And charge with all thy chivalry!
8. Ah! few shall part where many meet,
The snow shall be their winding sheet,
And every turf beneath their feet,
Shall be a soldier's sepulcher.
SECTION VI.
Summer Morning.
1. SWEET the beams of rosy morning,
Silent chasing gloom away;
Lovely tints the sky adorning,
Harbingers of opening day!
See the king of day appearing,
Slow his progress and serene;
Soon I feel the influence, cheering,
Of this grand and lovely scene!
2. Lovely songsters join their voices,
Harmony the grove pervades;
All in nature now rejoices,
Light and joy succeed the shades.
Stars withdraw, and man arises,
To his labor cheerful goes;
Day's returning blessings prizes,
And in praise Lis pleasure shows!
3. May each morn that in succession,
Adds new mercies ever flowing,
Leave a strong and deep impression
Of my debt, for ever growing!
Debt of love, ah! how increasing!
Days and years fresh blessings bring:
But my praise shall flow unceasing,
And my Maker's love I'll sing!
SECTION VII.
The envious Man.
1. MUCH was removed that tempted once to sin, Avarice no gold, no wine the drunkard saw:
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