“Passing the Alps” [poem]
PASSING THE ALPS
TO‐DAY we pass the Alps,—to‐day
1
High oʼer the barrier winds our way,—
The barrier of boundless length! 2
The Queen of nations, in her strength, 3
Considered its recesses lone
Beseeming bulwark for her throne;
Until her Carthaginian foe
Had soiled the yet unsullied snow,—
The eagle drove from her retreat,—
And woke the echoes from their sleep,
That neʼer had answered before
Save to the avalancheʼs roar. 4
Methinks upon the mountain‐side
I see the billows of that tide,—
Of men and horses headlong driven
As clouds before the blast of heaven,
That ever change their hurrying form
In dark foreboding of the storm;
When the low sunʼs last light is shed
In glowing streaks of swarthy red;
And from his cave with fitful swell
Wakes the wild tempestʼs sounding shell.
So see the plumes, in dark array,
Roll on their yet untrodden way,
Unbroken yet with dreadful sweep!
Mark you that stormy, changeful deep?
Wave after wave is eddying on
And crested casque and morion
Flash frequent as the lightning flies
Among the armies of the skies.
But fiercer storm is gathering now
Than ever broke on Alpine brow;
And wild shall the confusion be,—
The strife of that tremendous sea
When, bursting from the Alpine chain,
It meets the storm on Cannæʼs plain. 5
High oʼer the barrier winds our way,—
The barrier of boundless length! 2
The Queen of nations, in her strength, 3
Considered its recesses lone
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5Beseeming bulwark for her throne;
Until her Carthaginian foe
Had soiled the yet unsullied snow,—
The eagle drove from her retreat,—
And woke the echoes from their sleep,
System generated line number
10That neʼer had answered before
Save to the avalancheʼs roar. 4
Methinks upon the mountain‐side
I see the billows of that tide,—
Of men and horses headlong driven
System generated line number
15As clouds before the blast of heaven,
That ever change their hurrying form
In dark foreboding of the storm;
When the low sunʼs last light is shed
In glowing streaks of swarthy red;
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20And from his cave with fitful swell
Wakes the wild tempestʼs sounding shell.
So see the plumes, in dark array,
Roll on their yet untrodden way,
Unbroken yet with dreadful sweep!
System generated line number
25Mark you that stormy, changeful deep?
Wave after wave is eddying on
And crested casque and morion
Flash frequent as the lightning flies
Among the armies of the skies.
System generated line number
30But fiercer storm is gathering now
Than ever broke on Alpine brow;
And wild shall the confusion be,—
The strife of that tremendous sea
When, bursting from the Alpine chain,
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35It meets the storm on Cannæʼs plain. 5