 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
108
AT THE UPPER GLACIER, GRINDELWALD
I felt upon my brow the bitter breath
Of irresistible woe for far and wide,
When o'er me hung the grey-green glacier-tide
That seemed to threaten all the plain beneath;
But as with awe the ice-cold wings of death
Fanned the soft air, I suddenly espied,
Full in the torrent track, with fearless pride,
The seedling sprang, and bloomed the cystus-wreath.
Of irresistible woe for far and wide,
When o'er me hung the grey-green glacier-tide
That seemed to threaten all the plain beneath;
But as with awe the ice-cold wings of death
Fanned the soft air, I suddenly espied,
Full in the torrent track, with fearless pride,
The seedling sprang, and bloomed the cystus-wreath.
Then I bethought me how these brave things knew
How all the weight of desolation hung
There, on the dark cliff's shoulders, once had been
But tender mist that made the valleys green,
Dawn's lightest exhalation, and the dew
That feeds the flowers and keeps the pastures young.
How all the weight of desolation hung
There, on the dark cliff's shoulders, once had been
But tender mist that made the valleys green,
Dawn's lightest exhalation, and the dew
That feeds the flowers and keeps the pastures young.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |