 | Voices from the Lakes, and Other Poems |  |
6
SKELWITH FORCE.
The warmth of a summer noon,
A sky, translucent and bright,
On which there is sleeping a fleecy cloud,
Suffused with an amber light.
A sky, translucent and bright,
On which there is sleeping a fleecy cloud,
Suffused with an amber light.
The beauty of valley and hill,
And a river murmuring near,
That tumbles and rolls over mosses and stones,
Limpid and cool and clear.
And a river murmuring near,
That tumbles and rolls over mosses and stones,
Limpid and cool and clear.
A meadow of emerald grass,
Sloping from up the dell,
Broidered all over with daisies white,
And gemmed with the blue harebell.
Sloping from up the dell,
Broidered all over with daisies white,
And gemmed with the blue harebell.
Stretching away to the west,
The Langdales rise on high,
Till the cloven crown of their soaring peaks
Is lost in the blue of the sky.
The Langdales rise on high,
Till the cloven crown of their soaring peaks
Is lost in the blue of the sky.
7
Curvings of hills all round,
Fit frame for the picture fair;
And rock and scar most tenderly veiled
In a haze of bright golden air.
Fit frame for the picture fair;
And rock and scar most tenderly veiled
In a haze of bright golden air.
At the foot of the meadow green,
The rush of a foaming fall,
Whose waters dash downward from rock to rock,
Melodious and musical.
The rush of a foaming fall,
Whose waters dash downward from rock to rock,
Melodious and musical.
The gentle whisper of trees,—
Alder, and poplar, and pine;
With the flush of roses in every hedge,
Where the briar and loosestrife twine.
Alder, and poplar, and pine;
With the flush of roses in every hedge,
Where the briar and loosestrife twine.
Sweet flowers on field and fell,
And plumed ferns everywhere;
The Oak, and Parsley, and Beech,
And dark-stemmed Maiden-hair.
And plumed ferns everywhere;
The Oak, and Parsley, and Beech,
And dark-stemmed Maiden-hair.
'Tis a scene of pastoral peace,
Fair as a poet's dream;
With a glamour of beauty on all that you see,—
On copse, and wood, and stream.
Fair as a poet's dream;
With a glamour of beauty on all that you see,—
On copse, and wood, and stream.
8
'Tis said that the morning stars
Sang aloud at Creation's birth;
That the sons of God shouted for joy,
As He rounded this new-born earth.
Sang aloud at Creation's birth;
That the sons of God shouted for joy,
As He rounded this new-born earth.
And well may they sing on still,
Looking down on this radiant scene,
With its hills, and meadows, and woods,
And the river that flows between.
Looking down on this radiant scene,
With its hills, and meadows, and woods,
And the river that flows between.
And the song may flow thro' the night,
When the purple shadows fall;
And mingle its notes with the rush
Of the foaming waterfall.
When the purple shadows fall;
And mingle its notes with the rush
Of the foaming waterfall.
Dear God! to lie 'neath the blue,
And muse on Thy wondrous love,
Is a pleasure, the sweetest on earth,—
A joy as of Eden above.
And muse on Thy wondrous love,
Is a pleasure, the sweetest on earth,—
A joy as of Eden above.
For the very gates of Thy heaven
Seem to open before the gaze;
And the soul is lifted out of itself
In a rapture of bliss and praise.
Seem to open before the gaze;
And the soul is lifted out of itself
In a rapture of bliss and praise.
9
In a rapture of praise and bliss,
Which stirs the pulses like wine,
To a passion of keenest delight,
That borders upon the divine.
Which stirs the pulses like wine,
To a passion of keenest delight,
That borders upon the divine.
Ah! 'tis well to come hither and muse,
For the world intrudeth not here;
Nature herself is all in all,
And God and the angels are near.
For the world intrudeth not here;
Nature herself is all in all,
And God and the angels are near.
| Voices from the Lakes, and Other Poems | |