Poems (Toke)/Lines (Oh yes! 'tis sweet indeed to gaze)

by Emma Toke

For works with similar titles, see Lines.

LINES.

H yes! 'tis sweet indeed to gaze On Nature's face so fair,And see the varied forms and charms That Heaven has planted there.That heart in truth is cold That can view with careless eyeHer awful mountains piercing The clear and deep blue sky;Their cloud-capped summits crowned With everlasting snows,While on their rugged sides The sunbeams calm repose;And the roar of torrents mingling With the moaning of the breeze,As it sweeps around the mountain's brow, Or sighs among the trees:All these exalt and awe the mind, And lift the thoughts on high,—While scenes long past, and hopes to come, Float past the mental eye.

And Nature has her softer scenes, Almost as fair and bright,—Where gentle slopes and wooded hills Combine to please the sight; And all around's so calm and still, So gentle and serene,That mingled feelings wake a sigh Of pleasure and of pain:For wakened Memory brings the thought Of years long passed away,While Hope looks on to scenes of bliss Tn brighter worlds of day.

And e'en on these wild desert plains, Where Nature's charms are rare,E'en here mine eve can always find Some object bright or fair:For though no towering mountains rise, Or wooded plains appear,Yet even Nature's loneliness Has something calm and dear;And as brightly here yon sun In setting splendour glows,—And as calmly on the hills The evening stars repose,—And yon fair moon is gliding on, Her soft pale rays as brightAg if on richer, lovelier scenes She shed her silvery light;And oh! the thought of happiest days Spent on these lonely plainsWill make their memory dear to me While ever life remains.

E.

Elphin, 1830.