A VISION OF THE WESTER iV WORLD 36 1
The spirit read my inmost thought,
And on the waters rested still. These words the whispering breezes brought :
" Thou hast the wish, but lackest will.
��" Born in the mountain's lap was I, Far in the cold and gloomy north,
Where drifted snows unmelting lie,
And restless winds go howling forth, —
" Where sun-gilt cliffs, gray, steep, and tall, Stand frowning o'er the torrent's foam,
Where, by the deafening waterfall. The bravest hunter fears to roam.
" From the dark cavern's deep recess
I issued first a babbling rill, Well pleased my onward course to press,
And gayly plunge o'er height and hill.
" Sometimes compressed in narrow glen. My angry waves would boil and hiss,
But soon I'd break my bounds, and then Leap laughing down the deep abyss.
" Sometimes I flowed through forests green, Where earth her loneliest aspect wears,
And nought disturbs the silent scene Save haggard wolves and grizzly bears.
" Sometimes, walled up in basin wide, My restless steps ran round and round.
Then would I burst the mountain's side, And headlong dash to depths profound.
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