“Not such the night whose stormy might” [“Evening at Chamouni”] [poem]
[EVENING AT CHAMOUNI.]
NOT such the night whose stormy might
Heroic Balmat 1 braved,
When, darkening on the Goûtéʼs 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, tempestuous night
Drive to the westward, and unfold
The ocean snow‐fields, upward rolled,
Bright with the morningʼs glance of gold.
It past away,—the tossing flood
Of changing vapour, headlong riding;
And lo! the untrodden summit stood
Accessibly beside him.
Heroic Balmat 1 braved,
When, darkening on the Goûtéʼs height, 2
The tempest howled and raved.
Upon the mighty hill, forlorn,
System generated line number
5He 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.
System generated line number
10Methinks 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
System generated line number
15He saw that long, tempestuous night
Drive to the westward, and unfold
The ocean snow‐fields, upward rolled,
Bright with the morningʼs glance of gold.
It past away,—the tossing flood
System generated line number
20Of changing vapour, headlong riding;
And lo! the untrodden summit stood
Accessibly beside him.