IF thou would'st stand on Etna's burning brow, With smoke above, and roaring flame below; And gaze adown that molten gulf reveal'd, Till thy soul shudder'd and thy senses reel'd: If thou wouldst beard Niag'ra in his pride, Or stem the billows of Propontic tide; Scale all alone some dizzy Alpine @3haut@1, And shriek "Excelsior!" among the snow: Would'st tempt all deaths, all dangers that may be -- Perils by land, and perils on the sea; This vast round world, I say, if thou wouldst view it -- Then, why the dickens don't you go and do it? |