80
Orion.
[Book II.
The Supreme Mover of all things, and best,
Who, if we move not, must himself sustain
His scheme: hence, never moved by hands unskilled,
But moved as best may be. Be warned; sit still."
Who, if we move not, must himself sustain
His scheme: hence, never moved by hands unskilled,
But moved as best may be. Be warned; sit still."
Within the isle, far from the walks of men,
Where jocund chase was never heard, nor hoof
Of Satyr broke the moss, nor any bird
Sang, save at times the nightingale—but only
In his prolonged and swelling tones, nor e'er
With wild joy and hoarse laughing melody,
Closing the ecstasy, as is his wont,—
A forest separate and far withdrawn
From all the rest, there grew. Old as the earth,
Of cedar was it, lofty in its glooms
When the sun hung o'er head, and in its darkness
Like Night when giving birth to time's first pulse.
Silence had ever dwelt there; but of late,
Came faint sounds with a cadence regular
From the far depths, as of a cataract
Whose echoes midst incumbent foliage died.
From one high mountain gushed a flowing stream,
Which through the forest passed, and found a fall
Within—none knew where—then rolled tow'rds the sea.
Where jocund chase was never heard, nor hoof
Of Satyr broke the moss, nor any bird
Sang, save at times the nightingale—but only
In his prolonged and swelling tones, nor e'er
With wild joy and hoarse laughing melody,
Closing the ecstasy, as is his wont,—
A forest separate and far withdrawn
From all the rest, there grew. Old as the earth,
Of cedar was it, lofty in its glooms
When the sun hung o'er head, and in its darkness
Like Night when giving birth to time's first pulse.
Silence had ever dwelt there; but of late,
Came faint sounds with a cadence regular
From the far depths, as of a cataract
Whose echoes midst incumbent foliage died.
From one high mountain gushed a flowing stream,
Which through the forest passed, and found a fall
Within—none knew where—then rolled tow'rds the sea.
