“Not such the night whose stormy might” [“Evening at Chamouni”] [poem]
Not such the night whose stormy might,
Heroic Balma 1 braved,
When darkening on the Goutes height, 2
The tempest howled and raved.
Upon the mighty hill forlorn
He stood alone amid the storm,
Watching the last day gleams decay
Supposing its returning ray,
Should see him lying there asleep
With Alpine snow for winding sheet.
Methinks I see him, as he stood
Upon the ridge of snow,
The battering burst of winds above
The cloudy precipice below
Watching the dawn. With proud delight
He saw that long and tempest
Drive to the westward, and unfold,
The ocean snowfields upwards rolled,
Bright with the mornings glance of gold,
It past away, the headlon tossing flood
Of changing vapour headlong riding
And lo, the untrodden summit stood,
Accessibly beside him,
Ruskin's line number
1160Heroic Balma 1 braved,
When darkening on the Goutes height, 2
The tempest howled and raved.
Upon the mighty hill forlorn
System generated line number
5He stood alone amid the storm,
Ruskin's line number
1165Watching the last day gleams decay
Supposing its returning ray,
Should see him lying there asleep
With Alpine snow for winding sheet.
System generated line number
10Methinks I see him, as he stood
Ruskin's line number
1170Upon the ridge of snow,
The battering burst of winds above
The cloudy precipice below
Watching the dawn. With proud delight
System generated line number
15He saw that long and tempest
uous
night,
Ruskin's line number
1175Drive to the westward, and unfold,
The ocean snowfields upwards rolled,
Bright with the mornings glance of gold,
It past away, the headlon tossing flood
System generated line number
20Of changing vapour headlong riding
Ruskin's line number
1180And lo, the untrodden summit stood,
Accessibly beside him,