 | A New Year's Eve, and Other Poems |  |
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POWER AND GENTLENESS;
OR, THE CATARACT AND THE STREAMLET.
Noble the mountain stream,
Bursting in grandeur from its vantage-ground;
Glory is in its gleam
Of brightness,—thunder in its deafening sound.
Bursting in grandeur from its vantage-ground;
Glory is in its gleam
Of brightness,—thunder in its deafening sound.
Mark how its foamy spray,
Tinged by the sunbeams with reflected dyes,
Mimics the bow of day,
Arching in dignity the vaulted skies.
Tinged by the sunbeams with reflected dyes,
Mimics the bow of day,
Arching in dignity the vaulted skies.
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Thence, in a summer shower,
Steeping the rocks around! Oh! tell me, where
Could Majesty and Power
Be clothed in forms more beautifully fair?
Steeping the rocks around! Oh! tell me, where
Could Majesty and Power
Be clothed in forms more beautifully fair?
Yet lovelier in my view
The streamlet flowing silently serene;
Traced by the brighter hue,
And livelier growth it gives,—itself unseen.
The streamlet flowing silently serene;
Traced by the brighter hue,
And livelier growth it gives,—itself unseen.
It flows through flowery meads,
Gladdening the herds which on its margin browse;
Its quiet bounty feeds
The alders that o'ershade it with their boughs.
Gladdening the herds which on its margin browse;
Its quiet bounty feeds
The alders that o'ershade it with their boughs.
Gently it murmurs by
The village church-yard; its low, plaintive tone
A dirge-like melody
For worth and beauty modest as its own.
The village church-yard; its low, plaintive tone
A dirge-like melody
For worth and beauty modest as its own.
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More gaily now it sweeps
By the small school-house, in the sunshine bright;
And o'er the pebbles leaps,
Like happy hearts by holiday made light.
By the small school-house, in the sunshine bright;
And o'er the pebbles leaps,
Like happy hearts by holiday made light.
May not its course express,
In characters which they who run may read,
The charm of gentleness,
Were but its still small voice allowed to plead?
In characters which they who run may read,
The charm of gentleness,
Were but its still small voice allowed to plead?
What are the trophies gained
By Power alone, with all its noise and strife,
To that meek wreath unstained,
Won by the charities that gladden life?
By Power alone, with all its noise and strife,
To that meek wreath unstained,
Won by the charities that gladden life?
Niagara's streams might fail,
And human happiness be undisturbed;—
But Egypt would turn pale
Were her still Nile's o'erflowing bounty curbed!
And human happiness be undisturbed;—
But Egypt would turn pale
Were her still Nile's o'erflowing bounty curbed!
| A New Year's Eve, and Other Poems | |