THE virgin-mountain, wearing like a queen A brilliant crown of everlasting snow, Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below Wonder that aught of aspect so serene Can link with desolation. Smooth and green, And seeming, at a little distance, slow, The waters of the Rhine; but on they go, Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen; Till madness seizes on the whole wide flood, Turned to a fearful thing whose nostrils breathe Blasts of tempestuous smoke, -- wherewith he tries To hide himself, but only magnifies; And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe, Deafening the region in his ireful mood. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LEAVES FIRST by CARL PHILLIPS TO THE THAWING WIND by ROBERT FROST AT A LUNAR ECLIPSE by THOMAS HARDY DAYBREAK by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE DRUM by JOHN SCOTT (1730-1783) UNDERWOODS: BOOK 1: 25. MOTHER AND SON by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TWELVE SONNETS: 12. AFTER BATTLE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |