PROFILE MOUNTAIN
I left the thronged hotel, and went apart
To a sequestered spot that I had known,
That strongly summoned my o'er burdened heart,—
Thither I went alone.
To a sequestered spot that I had known,
That strongly summoned my o'er burdened heart,—
Thither I went alone.
There lay the dark lake at the mountain's base,
While black against the flaming sunset sky
The profile of a stern, gigantic Face
Met my expectant eye.
While black against the flaming sunset sky
The profile of a stern, gigantic Face
Met my expectant eye.
In vain the mountain foliage would roll
Around the grimness its soft depth of gloom;
Aloft it towered, like an unpardoned soul
Which waits the word of doom;
Around the grimness its soft depth of gloom;
Aloft it towered, like an unpardoned soul
Which waits the word of doom;
Too proud to show an unavailing pain,
Too patient for rebellion;—the grave eyes
Seem to o'erlook the ages and to strain
To future mysteries.
Too patient for rebellion;—the grave eyes
Seem to o'erlook the ages and to strain
To future mysteries.
A visible embodiment of all
That underlies our ever-varying mood;
The eternal question born of bier and pall,
That cries "What good? what good?"
That underlies our ever-varying mood;
The eternal question born of bier and pall,
That cries "What good? what good?"
That asks in moments of the deepest bliss,
"Is this the crown of the strange life we live?
"To souls that dream of God and Heaven, is this
"The best that Time can give?"
"Is this the crown of the strange life we live?
"To souls that dream of God and Heaven, is this
"The best that Time can give?"
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