84
Orion.
[Book II.
And sense of life-bounds too enlarged; his thoughts
Sank faintly through each other, fused and lost,
Till his o'ersatisfied existence drooped;
Like fruit-boughs heavily laden above a stream,
In which they gaze so closely on themselves,
That, touching, they grow drowsy, and submerge,
Losing all vision. Sense of thankful prayers
Came over him, while downward to the shore
Slowly his steps he bent, seeking to hold
Communion with his sire. The eternal Sea
Before him passively at full length lay,
As in a dream of the marmoreal heavens.
With hands stretched forward thus his prayer began;
"Receive Poseidon!"———but no further words
Found utterance. And again he prayed, and said,
"Receive, O Sire!"———yet still the emotion rose
Too full for words, and with no meaning clear.
He turned, and sinking on a sandy mound,
With dim look o'er the sea, deeply he slept.
Sank faintly through each other, fused and lost,
Till his o'ersatisfied existence drooped;
Like fruit-boughs heavily laden above a stream,
In which they gaze so closely on themselves,
That, touching, they grow drowsy, and submerge,
Losing all vision. Sense of thankful prayers
Came over him, while downward to the shore
Slowly his steps he bent, seeking to hold
Communion with his sire. The eternal Sea
Before him passively at full length lay,
As in a dream of the marmoreal heavens.
With hands stretched forward thus his prayer began;
"Receive Poseidon!"———but no further words
Found utterance. And again he prayed, and said,
"Receive, O Sire!"———yet still the emotion rose
Too full for words, and with no meaning clear.
He turned, and sinking on a sandy mound,
With dim look o'er the sea, deeply he slept.
What altars burn afar—what smoke arises
Beyond the swelling lands above the cliffs?
Or is it but a rolling cloud of dust
That onward moves, driven by the wind? And now
Beyond the swelling lands above the cliffs?
Or is it but a rolling cloud of dust
That onward moves, driven by the wind? And now
