Page:Livingstone in Africa.djvu/24

Athwart a wondrous land that lies before
Slow shadow steals; o'er all the fervid palms,
Broadleaved banana, leaf-seas infinite,
Hoar unfamiliar stupendous forms
Of that primæval forest African:
Slowly the shadow with declining day
Fades rainbow splendour of the forest far,
And drowns imperial purple of the hills
In one phantasmal all-confounding gloom.

Ye mountains,¹ hiding undiscover'd worlds,
So mused in spirit the lone wanderer,
I hunger till I pass your mighty doors,
And lay my hand upon the Mystery!
African Andes, vast, inviolate,
Crown'd with the cloud, robed round with sombre forest,
Whose virgin snow no human feet profane
Have swept, but only the wild eagle's wing,
Of old your ghost on Rumour's shadowy breath
Wander'd abroad, O Mountains of the Moon!
And still ye are no more than a dim name: