Poems (Bass)/'Mid Eternal Snow
'MID ETERNAL SNOW.
Alone, amid the wild secluded heightsWhere Winter holds his solitary sway,We wrestle with the fury of the storm,The savage sleet and passion-laden gale;A sleeping avalanche beneath our feetAnd ice-capped giants menacing the way.Behold, athwart the ebon brow of nightThe "fire-zoned orb" with beauteous light illumesA distant mountain's irridescent rim;And morning flits with swift, impetuous stepAdown the snow-clad slopes, benignant, free.Below us lie the valleys, urns of gloom,Concealing nature's precious treasure trove. From thence a hundred peaksProclaim the royal conquest of the dawn,All rosy-robed and golden-crowned they stand,Their rich prismatic splendors softly limnedUpon the dappled curtain of the sky.