Days and Hours :: :: University of Virginia Library

Oh! could I borrow for a Summer's day,
Ariel, thy strength and speed, I would ascend
High as the utmost peaks, and thence extend
My happy wings along the sunny way,
And into realms of Wonder sail away!

II

First would I run to meet the Morn on high,
And on the eldest beam wing back my flight,
And set my foot together with the light
On the haughtiest pinnacle, and with a cry
Scare the lone eagles forth into the sky.

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III

At noonday I would seek the Tropic clime,
And down the giant rivers idly borne
See palmy isles, and pathless plains unshorn,
Look on untrodden gardens in their prime,
And steepy forests ancient and sublime.

IV

And sometimes lying near the ice-cold springs
Of Andes, or Himala, gaze far down
O'er woodland slope, far stream, and old gray town,
And dream I see through azure openings
Of cloud gold armour, and barbaric Kings.

V

And on the chariot of a cloud supreme
Ride o'er the mountaintops, o'er land and sea,
And bathe my wings in sunbows, and be free
To mark the cataracts leap, the torrents gleam,
The avalanche burst away, the shadows stream.

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VI

With ancient beauty I would feast my soul
And solitary terrors—without fear
I would behold the yawning earth, and hear
The quenchless fires go forth without control,
And o'er the pines, and blazing cedars roll.

VII

And I would leap impregnable to harms
Into the Earthquake's cradle, and below
Watch the eternal mystic furnace glow,
And hark the shrieks, and cries, and dim alarms
Far down, and clashing of infernal arms.

VIII

And on a shower of sunbeams I would pour
Thro' a cloud-arch a song so piercing sweet
Of Liberty and Life, that to their feet
Blind captives springing from their dungeon floor
Should hope to see an Angel at the door.

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IX

I would wake up the Northwind from his sleep;
And take him by the hair and turn him back;
Or wait within the coming Torrent's track;
And down from off a thunder-shaken steep
Rush down with eager storms into the deep.

X

I would untwist the Typhoon—I would dare
The shattering hailstones, with unarmed hands
Would pass between the Lightning's dazzling brands,
And hear the gurgling streams and prison'd air
Run up and down the spiral cloudy stair.

XI

And o'er the wildernesses I would fly,
See the sands whirl, and hear the Samiel scream,
And swiftly skim along the ocean-stream
When the long calms are waking, and be nigh
To mark the dim-eyed Hurricane rolling by.

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XII

To mark the Sea thrown back from mountain shores
Of basalt isles, or on swart deserts hurl'd;
Or lash'd along some cavern's echoing floors;
Fired by the sun, and by the tempest curl'd—
Wonder, and dread, and glory of the World!

XIII

Then would I rise and part, and dwell awhile
In palaces with walls of diamond builded,
And spires by the unsetting sunlight gilded,
And when the breath of Summer shook the pile
Sail South again upon a moving isle.

XIV

And I would scale, when Heaven began to throw
Its fiery darts, great battlements of storms,
And towers, and bulwarks bright with awful arms,
And hear the dread winds, and the thunder flow
Under the rainbow's arch afar below.

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XV

On streams of sunset with rose-islands glowing
At Eve I'd sail, and in cloud-shadow wait
Under the great emblazon'd Western gate,
To see the Sun pass in, in haste, with flowing
Banners, and golden arms, and trumpets blowing.

XVI

And after sunset thoro' dark and damp
I would sink down beneath the Sea and Land,
And catch a shooting star, and in my hand
Bear it thro' caves of death, and with that lamp
Wake up pale Gnomes, and Giants stiff with cramp.

XVII

And when my long day of delights was done,
Unto a column of earth-lightning clinging,
That back unto a zenith cloud was springing,
Smoothly I would go up, and slumber soon
Wrapp'd in warm folds kiss'd by the Summer moon.