“The Descent” [poem]
The descent
a
A fearful mountain wall whose sweep
1
At one sheer plunge six thousand feet 2
Stoops to the valley, on each side,
Is tossed a very oceany tide,
Of surgy snowy mountain crest
And all along that hills steep breast
With snakelike coilings, wound our way, 3
On narrow shelves of rock, that lay
Almost oerhanging, and so sheer
Twas terror to look down, so near,
To such a precipice of fear
And far before, and far behind
We tracked our dread ways mazy wind
Continuous, and descending low,
At length looked up to the white snow,
From the deep valley, it would seem,
Incredible, a very dream
That we had scaled a ridge so high
Or climbed so near the domy sky
And we wound, on, beside the course
Of a roaring torrents flashing force, 4
And many a fall of minor stream
Down the smooth rocks came thundering
Or in white sheets of gauzy foam,
Mingled with archy iris shone
Among the forest pines
At one sheer plunge six thousand feet 2
Stoops to the valley, on each side,
Is tossed a very oceany tide,
Ruskin's line number
755Of surgy snowy mountain crest
System generated line number
5And all along that hills steep breast
With snakelike coilings, wound our way, 3
On narrow shelves of rock, that lay
Almost oerhanging, and so sheer
Ruskin's line number
760Twas terror to look down, so near,
System generated line number
10To such a precipice of fear
And far before, and far behind
We tracked our dread ways mazy wind
Continuous, and descending low,
Ruskin's line number
765At length looked up to the white snow,
System generated line number
15From the deep valley, it would seem,
Incredible, a very dream
That we had scaled a ridge so high
Or climbed so near the domy sky
Ruskin's line number
770And we wound, on, beside the course
System generated line number
20Of a roaring torrents flashing force, 4
And many a fall of minor stream
Down the smooth rocks came thundering
Or in white sheets of gauzy foam,
Ruskin's line number
775Mingled with archy iris shone
System generated line number
25Among the forest pines