Page:Poems Hoffman.djvu/375

I rose above the sandy beach
 And many a jagged cliff,
Where, far beyond the breakers' reach,
 Their giant heads they lift.

I tossed the desert's burning sands
 O'er many an unknown tomb,
I saw the helpless caravans
 Sink 'neath the dread simoon.

I rustled through the stately palms,
 On many a southern isle;
I sang my sweet and mournful psalms
 Where tropic sunbeams smile.

I roamed through Nature's spacious park,
 Through scenes sublime and strange;
I roared through cañons deep and dark
 In many a rocky range.

I kissed the flowers on sunny days,
 And waved the golden grain,
And sang my morning hymns of praise
 Through many a leafy fane.

I frolicked with the pure snowflakes,
 I laughed among the trees;
And sang above the mountain lakes
 My sweetest symphonies.

Millions of brooklets join with mine
 Their faintly murmured chants,
Where through the forest's dim outline
 The flickering shadows dance.

[ 345 ]