Old Year Leaves Being Old Verses Revised: By H. T. Mackenzie Bell ... New Edition |
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FROM LA RAILLÈRE
TO PONT D'ESPAGNE AND LAC DE GAUBE. |
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 | Old Year Leaves |  |
104
FROM LA RAILLÈRE TO PONT D'ESPAGNE AND LAC DE GAUBE.
O path which seems to have a loveliness
More than of Earth,
How can one who has viewed thy scenes express
The thoughts that unto them have owed their birth?
More than of Earth,
How can one who has viewed thy scenes express
The thoughts that unto them have owed their birth?
How can he tell of all the wondrous way
Where grandeur vies
With beauty, rich and rare, to bear the sway
In winning and retaining ravished eyes?
Where grandeur vies
With beauty, rich and rare, to bear the sway
In winning and retaining ravished eyes?
How can he tell of rocks and ridges wild
Which lie around?
Of mighty mountain-peaks on high up-piled?
Of ceaseless cataracts' majestic sound?
Which lie around?
Of mighty mountain-peaks on high up-piled?
Of ceaseless cataracts' majestic sound?
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How can he well describe rich-foliaged trees
That screen the sides?
Blown to and fro by gentle summer breeze,—
In chasms where the vale the rocks divides.
That screen the sides?
Blown to and fro by gentle summer breeze,—
In chasms where the vale the rocks divides.
How can he well describe the stately pines
Steadfast and strong?
(True type of one whose sun not always shines,
And yet who bravely bears grief's load along.)
Steadfast and strong?
(True type of one whose sun not always shines,
And yet who bravely bears grief's load along.)
High-foaming Cérizet can he portray?
Beyond the power
Of language even feebly to convey
Its peerless beauty, wonder-working dower.
Beyond the power
Of language even feebly to convey
Its peerless beauty, wonder-working dower.
Much less the wilder falls at Pont d'Espagne
Truly sublime,—
Whose weird white floods sing songs of sturdy strain,
For aye the same in nature-ordered time.
Truly sublime,—
Whose weird white floods sing songs of sturdy strain,
For aye the same in nature-ordered time.
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When Lac de Gaube is reached, how can he tell
The silent sight
Of snow and glaciers? Soon our bosoms swell
With feelings half of fear, half of delight.
The silent sight
Of snow and glaciers? Soon our bosoms swell
With feelings half of fear, half of delight.
The fairy rainbow tints which o'er the falls
Glimmer and play,
The stilly clearness of the lake enthralls,
Yes this and all, in us soon holds full sway.
Glimmer and play,
The stilly clearness of the lake enthralls,
Yes this and all, in us soon holds full sway.
Though none can well describe these scenes, shall not
They in the mind
Remain to bring forth fruit, a gladsome spot
In memory, a gift for good designed!
They in the mind
Remain to bring forth fruit, a gladsome spot
In memory, a gift for good designed!
| Old Year Leaves | |