 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
144
THE DAUBENHORN CLIFFS
OVER THE GEMMI
How the bones grew to frame our dædal earth,
When in the womb of Ocean and old Time
These hills were fashioned, how a furious prime
Of tidal deluge carved this headland firth—
This is thy message,—not the conjurer's mirth
That mocks the merry shepherds as they climb
Up the steep zigzags, with false echo's chime:
Thine is the mystery of the mountain's birth.
When in the womb of Ocean and old Time
These hills were fashioned, how a furious prime
Of tidal deluge carved this headland firth—
This is thy message,—not the conjurer's mirth
That mocks the merry shepherds as they climb
Up the steep zigzags, with false echo's chime:
Thine is the mystery of the mountain's birth.
And we who dare descend the Daubenhorn
Like goats, by perilous path and jutting edge,
Round bastion-walls that fail beneath our feet,
May scare the eagle from his mountain ledge;
We cannot move from her imperial seat
The awful secret of Creation's morn.
Like goats, by perilous path and jutting edge,
Round bastion-walls that fail beneath our feet,
May scare the eagle from his mountain ledge;
We cannot move from her imperial seat
The awful secret of Creation's morn.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |