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Song of the Desert

From Wikisource
Song of the Desert
by Eliza Roxcy Snow

This poem was written in 1847 traveling between the places that would later become Omaha, Nebraska, and Salt Lake City, Utah. First published in Snow, Eliza R. Poems, Religious, Historical, and Political. Liverpool: 1856. P. 181.

190824Song of the DesertEliza Roxcy Snow


 Beneath the cloud-topp’d mountain,
     Beside the craggy bluff,
Where every dint of nature
     Is rude and wild enough;
Upon the verdant meadow,
     Upon the sunburnt plain,
Upon the sandy hillock;
     We waken music’s strain.

Beneath the pine’s thick branches,
     That has for ages stood;
Beneath the humble cedar,
     And the green cotton-wood;
Beside the broad, smooth river,
     Beside the flowing spring,
Beside the limpid streamlet;
     We often sit and sing.

Beneath the sparkling concave,
     When stars in millions come
To cheer the pilgrim strangers,
     And bid us feel at home;
Beneath the lovely moonlight,
     When Cynthia spreads her rays;
In social groups assembled,
     We join in songs of praise.

Cheer’d by the blaze of firelight,
     When twilight shadows fall,
And when the darkness gathers
     Around our spacious hall,
With all the warm emotion
     To saintly bosoms given,
In strains of pure devotion
     We praise the God of heaven.

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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