 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
351
LAKE WYALUSING.
[_]
[This lake lies in a circular basin, on the top of a thickly wooded mountain in Northern Pennsylvania. Nothing in water scenery surpasses it in features of the picturesque.]
Joy like a wave o'erflowed my soul,
While looking on its basin round,
That fancy named a sparkling bowl
By hoop of fadeless emerald bound,
From which boon Nature's holy hand
Baptized the nymphs of mountain land.
While looking on its basin round,
That fancy named a sparkling bowl
By hoop of fadeless emerald bound,
From which boon Nature's holy hand
Baptized the nymphs of mountain land.
It blushes in the morning's glow,
And glitters in the sunset ray,
When brooks that run far, far below
Have murmured out farewell to day:
The moonlight on its placid breast,
When dark the valley, loves to rest.
And glitters in the sunset ray,
When brooks that run far, far below
Have murmured out farewell to day:
The moonlight on its placid breast,
When dark the valley, loves to rest.
Wheeling in circles overhead,
The feathered king a war-scream gave;
His form, with pinion wide outspread
Was traced so clearly on the wave,
That seemingly its glass was stirred
By flappings of the gallant bird.
The feathered king a war-scream gave;
His form, with pinion wide outspread
Was traced so clearly on the wave,
That seemingly its glass was stirred
By flappings of the gallant bird.
Nor far away were rocky shelves
With the soft moss of ages lined,
And seated there a row of elves
By moonlight would the poet find:
Fairies, from slumber in the shade
Waking with soft-voiced serenade.
With the soft moss of ages lined,
And seated there a row of elves
By moonlight would the poet find:
Fairies, from slumber in the shade
Waking with soft-voiced serenade.
352
The waters slept, by wind uncurled,
Encircled by a zone of green:
The reflex of some purer world
Within their radiant blue was seen—
I felt, while musing on the shore,
As if strong wings my soul upbore.
Encircled by a zone of green:
The reflex of some purer world
Within their radiant blue was seen—
I felt, while musing on the shore,
As if strong wings my soul upbore.
Lake, flashing in the mountain's crown!
Thought pictures thee some diamond bright—
That dawn had welcomed—fallen down
From the starred canopy of night;
Or chrysolite, by thunder rent
From Heaven's eternal battlement.
Thought pictures thee some diamond bright—
That dawn had welcomed—fallen down
From the starred canopy of night;
Or chrysolite, by thunder rent
From Heaven's eternal battlement.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |