Mount Hood [pp. 387-388]

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VOL. XXXI. (Second Series.) May, 1595. No. 155
MOUNT HOOD
0Vi~ Western land floats clear in sunset light,
And, like a maid at eve, decked for the dance,
(Alows fairer in her mist of gold. Fut thou,
Exalted Hood, why dost thou hide thy brow,
Suffering vaunt shadows, vapid clouds, to filch
Semblance of stately form from thee, and flaunt
In tattered shreds torn fi~om thy vesture white,
So of his warmth to trick the sun, and leave
Thy blue-veined breast naked ~Bd comfortless?
L~ut cease, vain breath, for lo, attendant winds
Sweep back the veil, and throned in majesty,
New crowned with light, thou comest to thine own
Eend down thy face, my mother, that I see
Thy soul illuminate with mirrored grace;
For thou upon thy silent hills removed,
Stoodst as a prophet face to face with Cod,
Who sent thee Messenger, who sent thee Judge,
I)reparing thee through long expectant years
Ere dawned in tears the little day of man.
Stern Questioner, hence may I learn of thee,
For thou wilt answer, flashing due response,
Fleet-winged as Thought, to him who steadfast looks,
Increasing day by day his wonderment;
linlike the vacant clod by custom dulled,
NV ho, seeing oft, sees not.
For thou dost sit,
The Sphinx of Ages, teaching wildered man
The riddle of himself. That one of old,
While died in mute defeat her Theban brood,
And ghastly bones glared white on Phicium,
Eent to a youth and bared her woman's brow,
Till he forgot the lion's bulk and claws:
P~eading her soul, he found his answer there.
Thou too, in calm of thy serene content,
Hide thou thy terrors that make desolate;
Hushed be the thunderous roar of pent up fire,
That impotent resounds in hollow vaults,
Wasting in echoes while thy youngling race
Hears thee in gentler accents, in such wise
Of utterance, as thou our tongue might voice:
(Copyright, 1595, by OVERLAND MONTHLY PUBLISHING COMPANY) All rights reserved