 | Areytos or songs and ballads of the South |  |
IX.
He rises slowly, and with weary gaze
Looks forth, and upward, on the perilous ways
That challenge manhood, yet defying, grow
To bulwarks that but mock th' audacious foe!
Alps gather still before him; alps arise,
Above him piled, stupendous, to the skies;
Eternal summits, each with snowy crest,
Bar the steep passage, and the march arrest!
They wear no more the mantle of the sun,
But each, with aspect fierce and garment dun,
Stands forth, a terrible champion in the path,
With giant bosom, mocking mortal wrath,
As mortal purpose? Whither shall he shape
His progress, and the perilous strife escape?
Looks forth, and upward, on the perilous ways
That challenge manhood, yet defying, grow
To bulwarks that but mock th' audacious foe!
Alps gather still before him; alps arise,
Above him piled, stupendous, to the skies;
Eternal summits, each with snowy crest,
Bar the steep passage, and the march arrest!
They wear no more the mantle of the sun,
But each, with aspect fierce and garment dun,
Stands forth, a terrible champion in the path,
With giant bosom, mocking mortal wrath,
As mortal purpose? Whither shall he shape
His progress, and the perilous strife escape?
Even while he muses, the great mountain flings
Its toppling masses thundering down the steep;
From the great gorges rise a cloud of wings,
That darken daylight as they upward sweep:
Thunders the rolling avalanche, that tears
New pathways, down to gulphs that mock the gaze:
And the new pinnacle its tower uprears,
And wingéd shafts of ice the vision daze;
While shrieks from unknown birds of fearful might,
Tell of abysses where they lurk in night,
Waiting their victims!
Still, beyond his eye,
On every side, where'er he bends his sight,
All is a dread and terror—all a doubt—
And the dark fear arrests activity,
Lest he shall pass where bird may never fly,
Or, flying, never gather his way out!
Its toppling masses thundering down the steep;
241
That darken daylight as they upward sweep:
Thunders the rolling avalanche, that tears
New pathways, down to gulphs that mock the gaze:
And the new pinnacle its tower uprears,
And wingéd shafts of ice the vision daze;
While shrieks from unknown birds of fearful might,
Tell of abysses where they lurk in night,
Waiting their victims!
Still, beyond his eye,
On every side, where'er he bends his sight,
All is a dread and terror—all a doubt—
And the dark fear arrests activity,
Lest he shall pass where bird may never fly,
Or, flying, never gather his way out!
| Areytos or songs and ballads of the South | |