Kids Poems » The Man And The Mountain

Mountain, with thy firm old foot
Fast beside the sea,
What was in thy keeping put,
Prisoned under thee ?

"Hark, and hear the shuddering ground!
Feel it rock and quake !
Struggling fires, beneath me bound,
Strive their chains to break."

Mountain, with a cloudy vest
Girded o'er thy heart,
Does it pierce thine aged breast,
When its lightnings dart ?

" No : beneath me far, the crash
Of the bolt is felt :
Here the fiery chain and flash
But adorn my belt."

Mountain, with a snowy crown,
Stainless on thy brow,
Wilt thou never cast it down
Never, never bow ?

" When the mandate I shall hear
From my Maker's throne,
I will bow and disappear,
Hence to be unknown."

Mountain, holding proud and high
Thine old hoary head,
What is written on the sky,
Thou so long hast read ?

"Brighter than the stars and sun
Shining over me,
I behold the name of ONE
Thou must die to see !"

Mountain, bold thine eloquence
Glowing is thy speech ;
Mighty import flashes thence ;
What is it to teach ?

"Thoughts of Him, before whose breath
I shall melt away ;
While of thee, soul- -spirit, death
Ne'er shall quench a ray !"