“Skiddaw”
SKIDDAW.
Skiddaw, upon thy heights the sun shines bright,
But only for a moment: then gives place
Unto a playful cloud which on thy brow
Sports wantonly,—then floats away in air,—
Throwing its shadow on thy towering height;
And, darkening for a moment thy green side,
But adds unto its beauty, as it makes
The sun more bright when it again appears.
Thus a in the morning on thy brow those clouds
Rest as upon a couch, and give vain b scope
For fancyʼs play. And airy fortresses,
And towers, and battlements, and all appear
Chasing the others off, and in their turn
Are chasèd by the others. c
Skiddaw came, d
Noble, and grand, and beauteous, clothed with green,
And yet but scantily and in some parts. e
A bare, terrific cliff precipitous
Descends, with only here and there a root,
A straggler, pushing forth its branches stiff. f
Skiddaw, majestic! Giant Natureʼs work!
Those giant works of Art, 1 with thee compared,
Sink into nothing; all that Art can do
Is nothing beside thee. The touch of man
Raised pigmy mountains, but gigantic tombs.
The touch of Nature raised the mountainʼs brow,
But made no tombs at all; save where the snow
(The fleecy locks of winter) falls around
And forms a white tomb for the careless swain g
Who wanders far from home, and meets his death
Amidst the cold of winter. h
But only for a moment: then gives place
Unto a playful cloud which on thy brow
Sports wantonly,—then floats away in air,—
Throwing its shadow on thy towering height;
System generated line number
5And, darkening for a moment thy green side,
But adds unto its beauty, as it makes
The sun more bright when it again appears.
Thus a in the morning on thy brow those clouds
Rest as upon a couch, and give vain b scope
System generated line number
10For fancyʼs play. And airy fortresses,
And towers, and battlements, and all appear
Chasing the others off, and in their turn
Are chasèd by the others. c
Skiddaw came, d
Noble, and grand, and beauteous, clothed with green,
System generated line number
15And yet but scantily and in some parts. e
A bare, terrific cliff precipitous
Descends, with only here and there a root,
A straggler, pushing forth its branches stiff. f
Skiddaw, majestic! Giant Natureʼs work!
System generated line number
20Those giant works of Art, 1 with thee compared,
Sink into nothing; all that Art can do
Is nothing beside thee. The touch of man
Raised pigmy mountains, but gigantic tombs.
The touch of Nature raised the mountainʼs brow,
System generated line number
25But made no tombs at all; save where the snow
(The fleecy locks of winter) falls around
And forms a white tomb for the careless swain g
Who wanders far from home, and meets his death
Amidst the cold of winter. h
System generated line number
30