The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth With Sixteen Illustrations. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton |
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FOOTPRINTS IN SANDSTONE.
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 | The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth |  |
358
FOOTPRINTS IN SANDSTONE.
Listen whilst I tell a story of old Time the sure and slow;
Let the subject of my legend be what happened long ago,
Yet no dim and vague tradition, but a fact we really know.
Let the subject of my legend be what happened long ago,
Yet no dim and vague tradition, but a fact we really know.
Legends of the mythic Arthur, all that Spenser sweetly sings
Of our ancient British heroes and long lines of famous kings,
These are credible no longer—these are all forgotten things.
Of our ancient British heroes and long lines of famous kings,
These are credible no longer—these are all forgotten things.
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Shakspeare's shreds of ancient story, Hamlet, Lear, and Cymbeline,
Milton's song of Paradise, and Homer's “tale of Troy divine,”
These are ancient, noble subjects—modern still compared to mine.
Milton's song of Paradise, and Homer's “tale of Troy divine,”
These are ancient, noble subjects—modern still compared to mine.
I have seen a block of sandstone with old characters thereon,
Older than the oldest treasure from Egyptian deserts won,
Older than the arrowheads of Nineveh or Babylon.
Older than the oldest treasure from Egyptian deserts won,
Older than the arrowheads of Nineveh or Babylon.
Written, reader, long aforetime, written on the ocean sand,
Long before in God's creation worked the wondrous human hand;
Yet to human hearts it speaketh—let us read and understand,
Long before in God's creation worked the wondrous human hand;
Yet to human hearts it speaketh—let us read and understand,
How long since this block of sandstone was with mystic signs imprest,
How long in her secret archives Nature suffered it to rest,
Which no student ever enters, nor destructive worms infest.
How long in her secret archives Nature suffered it to rest,
Which no student ever enters, nor destructive worms infest.
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This we cannot tell in numbers—cycles, centuries, and years
Fail us, as they fail to tell of starlight which to-night appears,
How long it has travelled swiftly since it left its native spheres.
Fail us, as they fail to tell of starlight which to-night appears,
How long it has travelled swiftly since it left its native spheres.
But we see whole generations, for their bones are side by side,
And we know that vast creations in that lapse have lived and died,
For they lie above each other whom the shelves of rock divide.
And we know that vast creations in that lapse have lived and died,
For they lie above each other whom the shelves of rock divide.
And in every shelf of rock we see a mighty gulph of time.
So the world seems older—older—and her story more sublime;
Farther still her first creation!—farther still her golden prime!
So the world seems older—older—and her story more sublime;
Farther still her first creation!—farther still her golden prime!
Long ago—I know not how long—on a sandbank near the sea,
Stepped with awkward gait a creature, and a frog he seemed to be,
But on earth there dwells no longer such a mighty frog as he.
Stepped with awkward gait a creature, and a frog he seemed to be,
But on earth there dwells no longer such a mighty frog as he.
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Gulliver, in his adventures in that huge gigantic land,
Where all nature was colossal, all things marvellously grand,
May have seen such creatures walking slowly on the ocean sand.
Where all nature was colossal, all things marvellously grand,
May have seen such creatures walking slowly on the ocean sand.
So those deep mysterious footprints on the yielding sand were made;
And the tide came calmly, gently; and its little breakers laid
Over them a thin deposit, which the rivulets conveyed
And the tide came calmly, gently; and its little breakers laid
Over them a thin deposit, which the rivulets conveyed
From the inland plains and valleys down unto the ancient shore,
And the sea retired and left it smooth and barren as before;
But the marks of that inscription were preserved for evermore.
And the sea retired and left it smooth and barren as before;
But the marks of that inscription were preserved for evermore.
Every day the waves brought matter from the ocean's deepest bed,
And they laid their sandy treasures where the creature used to tread;
Tracts of sand with marks of ripples did the tidewaves daily spread.
And they laid their sandy treasures where the creature used to tread;
Tracts of sand with marks of ripples did the tidewaves daily spread.
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Since those days the land has altered; changing are all things that be,
Save the splendour of the planets and the music of the sea,
Still the same the ocean murmurs in its old accustomed key.
Save the splendour of the planets and the music of the sea,
Still the same the ocean murmurs in its old accustomed key.
But the land has altered strangely since the time when creeping things,
Lizards like gigantic dragons such as quaint old Spenser sings,
Mighty reptiles, male and female, were the planets' queens and kings,
Lizards like gigantic dragons such as quaint old Spenser sings,
Mighty reptiles, male and female, were the planets' queens and kings,
When deep forests, tropic jungles, arborescent shrubs and ferns,
Flourished in our northern region, where the pale mechanic earns
Sadly a laborious living, and the furnace fiercely burns.
Flourished in our northern region, where the pale mechanic earns
Sadly a laborious living, and the furnace fiercely burns.
Sinking, sinking, all the country slowly sank beneath the waves;
And the ocean swept the forests, reptiles, dragons, to their graves;
Afterwards with shells old Ocean all the conquered country paves,
And the ocean swept the forests, reptiles, dragons, to their graves;
Afterwards with shells old Ocean all the conquered country paves,
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Singing, “It is mine for ever!”—not for ever, not for long,
For the subterranean forces laughed at Ocean's boastful song,
Lifting up the sunken country, for their backs were broad and strong,
For the subterranean forces laughed at Ocean's boastful song,
Lifting up the sunken country, for their backs were broad and strong,
Till the sea-shells were uplifted even to the mountain peak.
Far below the waves are moaning, but with voices faint and weak,
Sorrowing for their lost dominion and the toys they vainly seek.
Far below the waves are moaning, but with voices faint and weak,
Sorrowing for their lost dominion and the toys they vainly seek.
Boundless is the retrospection of the great eternal past,
And the mind begins to weary dwelling on a theme so vast.
Let us dwell on it no longer. Man is on the earth at last,
And the mind begins to weary dwelling on a theme so vast.
Let us dwell on it no longer. Man is on the earth at last,
Building towns and blasting quarries; and within the solid stone
Finding traces—footprints merely—having fingers like his own;
Something has been there before him, ere the rock was fully grown!
Finding traces—footprints merely—having fingers like his own;
Something has been there before him, ere the rock was fully grown!
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Woman's vows in Arab proverbs on the ocean sand are traced,
And the storm-waves of her trials leave her heart a barren waste.
'Tis a false and foolish proverb—deep they lie, but not effaced!
And the storm-waves of her trials leave her heart a barren waste.
'Tis a false and foolish proverb—deep they lie, but not effaced!
Deeper in her faithful bosom lie her vows so “little worth,”
Like these clear and sharp inscriptions in the bosom of the earth,
Growing harder, more enduring, every moment since their birth.
Like these clear and sharp inscriptions in the bosom of the earth,
Growing harder, more enduring, every moment since their birth.
Warlike hosts have crossed the desert, many a well-appointed train,
But they have not left a vestige, and we seek their tracks in vain,
Fainter than a reptile's footprint, or the pitted marks of rain!
But they have not left a vestige, and we seek their tracks in vain,
Fainter than a reptile's footprint, or the pitted marks of rain!
Great men often journey bravely through a weary pilgrimage,
Leaving not a mark behind them speaking to a future age,
Neither public reputation nor a single printed page.
Leaving not a mark behind them speaking to a future age,
Neither public reputation nor a single printed page.
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Others who are all unworthy, treading on a lucky place,
Leave impressions deep and lasting, which the years will not efface;
Earning thus immortal glory in the annals of the race.
Leave impressions deep and lasting, which the years will not efface;
Earning thus immortal glory in the annals of the race.
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