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

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4623851Poems — LinesEmma Toke
LINES.
OH 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 eye
Her 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 bright
Ag if on richer, lovelier scenes
She shed her silvery light;
And oh! the thought of happiest days
Spent on these lonely plains
Will make their memory dear to me
While ever life remains.

E.

Elphin, 1830.