Poems (Edwards)/The Voice of the Lightning

by Matilda Caroline Smiley Edwards

THE VOICE OF THE LIGHTNING.

Away, away, over the bounding stream,
Over the mountain tops and the hills I gleam,
I crown, with a halo, the brow of night,
And I fan the earth with my wing of light;
I dart my shafts at a guilty world,
And mortals down to their graves are hurled.

Over the ocean wave, and the forest high,
Over the valleys deep, and the plains I fly;
I dance along on the Storm-king's breath,
And fling from my bright bow the darts of death;
I throw on creation my withering glance,
And the frail earth trembles as I advance.

Ye scoffing ones! And ye proud! stand by,
Ye shall see the glance of my piercing eye,
Ye shall feel the touch of my burning wings,
Ye shall own the power of the King of kings;
As I pass you by with my glittering sword,
Ye shall feel in your hearts the strength of the Lord.

Away, away, over the darkened sky,
Through the trackless air, like a fiend, I fly;
The shivered tree and the broken mast,
Will tell of my might when the storm is past;
And the blighted pine in the forest green,
Will show where the tread of my foot hath been.

Over the bounding waves of the rolling sea,
My flight is onward, proud and free,
In the valleys deep, on the mountain's crest,
In the storm-cloud's bosom I pause for rest;
And a flash of fire to the earth I bring,
Make way for the bird of the burning wing.