 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
19
FROM THE RIGI-KULM
AT SUNRISE
His heart was never for a patriot made
Who—gazing here, when sunrise with a wand
Smiting the silver peaks of Oberland
Flings on Pilatus Rigi's purple shade—
Could watch unmoved, to think of those whose aid
Bequeathed their country faith in Heaven's command,
Dared face to face with fearful odds to stand,
And struck for freedom with undaunted blade!
Who—gazing here, when sunrise with a wand
Smiting the silver peaks of Oberland
Flings on Pilatus Rigi's purple shade—
Could watch unmoved, to think of those whose aid
Bequeathed their country faith in Heaven's command,
Dared face to face with fearful odds to stand,
And struck for freedom with undaunted blade!
There shines the vale where Winkelried was born,
There Sempach gleams; here fatefully shot Tell,
Here at Morgarten stood the Swiss at bay,
Here by the church of ‘Kappel’ Zwingli fell;
And, as the mists rise up and float away,
The land of heroes brightens to the morn.
There Sempach gleams; here fatefully shot Tell,
Here at Morgarten stood the Swiss at bay,
Here by the church of ‘Kappel’ Zwingli fell;
And, as the mists rise up and float away,
The land of heroes brightens to the morn.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |