| |
| HE crawls along the mountain walls, | |
| From whence the severed river falls; | |
| Its seething waters writhe and twist, | |
| Then leap, and crumble into mist. | |
| Midway between two boundless seas, | 5 |
| Prone on a ragged reef he lies; | |
| Above him bend the shoreless skies, | |
| While helpless, on his bended knees, | |
| Into that awful gulf profound, | |
| Appalled, he peers with bated breath, | 10 |
| Clutches with fear the yielding ground, | |
| And crouches face to face with death. | |
| The fearful splendor of the sight | |
| Begets in his bewildered brain | |
| A downwright torture of delight, | 15 |
| The very ecstasy of pain. | |
| A sudden frenzy fills his mind,— | |
| If he could break the bonds that bind, | |
| And launch upon the waves of wind; | |
| Only to loose his hold and leap, | 20 |
| Then, cradled like a cloud, to sleep | |
| Wind-rocked upon the soundless deep. | |
| With eyes upturned, he breaks the spell, | |
| And creeps from out the jaws of hell. | |
| Pohono’s siren wiles beguile,— | 25 |
| He drinks her kisses in the wind, | |
| He leaves the nether world behind. | |
| Up, and still upward, mile on mile, | |
| With muffled tramp, the pilgrim creeps | |
| Across the frozen winding-sheet, | 30 |
| Where white-faced death in silence sleeps. | |
| Up, and still upward, to the light, | |
| Until at last his leaden feet | |
| Have mocked the eagle in its flight. | |
| Grim-browed and bald, Tis-sa-ack broods | 35 |
| Above these white-robed solitudes. | |
| A mute, awe-stricken mortal stands | |
| Upon the fragment of a world, | |
| And, when the rifted clouds are curled, | |
| Sees far below the steadfast lands. | 40 |
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