 | Songs of two centuries |  |
83
PROLOGUE.
The mountains! the mountains!
With crag-step rough and steep;
With silent form and hooded storm,
And avalanche asleep;
Whose tops are hieroglyphics
By fire and tempest wrought,
That human race can never trace
Till God the key has brought.
With crag-step rough and steep;
With silent form and hooded storm,
And avalanche asleep;
Whose tops are hieroglyphics
By fire and tempest wrought,
That human race can never trace
Till God the key has brought.
The mountains' the mountains!
When fall the drenching rains,
That glide and creep, that rush and leap
To find their ocean-plains!
When Winter with loud trumpet
But soft and silent tramp,
Chains brook and rill, and makes each hill
A white tent of his camps!
When fall the drenching rains,
That glide and creep, that rush and leap
To find their ocean-plains!
When Winter with loud trumpet
But soft and silent tramp,
Chains brook and rill, and makes each hill
A white tent of his camps!
The mountains! the mountains!
With gardens in their keep:
With bloom that shines, and emerald vines,
And arbors still and deep!
E'en in the tropic's empire,
Like floral worlds they tower;
For every zone that earth has known,
Will send a greeting-flower.
With gardens in their keep:
With bloom that shines, and emerald vines,
And arbors still and deep!
E'en in the tropic's empire,
Like floral worlds they tower;
For every zone that earth has known,
Will send a greeting-flower.
The mountains! the mountains!
Where forests live and die;
Where through long years tree-mountaineers
Are struggling toward the sky,
With combats fierce though silent,
With struggles brave and long;
While in their tops the wind oft stops
To sing their battle-song.
Where forests live and die;
Where through long years tree-mountaineers
Are struggling toward the sky,
84
With struggles brave and long;
While in their tops the wind oft stops
To sing their battle-song.
The mountains! the mountains!
That harbor beasts of prey;
Where wild-dogs howl and panthers prowl
And reptiles shun the day;
Where serpents creep and clamber,
Where eagle-broods are fed;
And caved from air the sullen bear
Has found his winter bed.
That harbor beasts of prey;
Where wild-dogs howl and panthers prowl
And reptiles shun the day;
Where serpents creep and clamber,
Where eagle-broods are fed;
And caved from air the sullen bear
Has found his winter bed.
The mountains! the mountains!
Where sickness, pain, and care
'Gainst ramparts high may rest their eye,
And drink the creamy air;
Where smile the clustered landscapes,
Where robins brood and nest;
And Nature's child with song beguiled
May on her bosom rest.
Where sickness, pain, and care
'Gainst ramparts high may rest their eye,
And drink the creamy air;
Where smile the clustered landscapes,
Where robins brood and nest;
And Nature's child with song beguiled
May on her bosom rest.
The mountains! the mountains!
Great watch-tower tops have they,
Whence, starred and clear, Heaven seems so near,
And earth so far away!
Whence one may call to Jesus,
Who mused on hills alone,
Or hearts devote to Him who wrote
The mountain-page of stone.
Great watch-tower tops have they,
Whence, starred and clear, Heaven seems so near,
And earth so far away!
Whence one may call to Jesus,
Who mused on hills alone,
Or hearts devote to Him who wrote
The mountain-page of stone.
| Songs of two centuries | |