Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1847-11-05
The Mountain Storm.
By NATHANIEL WRIGHT

The friend Of ease, IN low.lanl grove,
May lull his cares, and tend his love;
See, but not mark, the languid plain,
A wide, weary, blank domain;
In long and deep repose may view
Earth's pleasant green, and vault OF blue,
Till soft he sinks, with sleep opPrsss'd'
Beneath tn untroubled sod TO rest
Give me the scene Of uproar wild!
The mountain cliffs in rudeness piled,
The SUBMITS bold, amid the sky,
Where the clouds pause, that journey BY
Or, as the storms h0tr torrent spreads,
Gam5ols the lightning rOuli their heals;
TIE SEEM unt ana IN It dis the breast
With other feelings far than rest,
That tempts the thought to other charms,
Than Flora's lap, or Morpheus arms,
And nerves the hand to other deed,
Than loves caress or Bacchus need.
Then ask not, why, with such delight,
mark the scene round -'s height.
Mantle poor insect of day!
Just springs from earth to pass away,
Fits from the scene as light and fast,
As the lakes shadows in the BLAST
But mark yon hills! those cliffs have stood,
Unmoved, stree round them dashed the food.
How many race, beneath their crest,
Has toiled its day, and gone to rest!
Skirting tn horizons verge arar,
And neighbors OF the evening star,
In varied form Ul peak or ridge,
Or woody dell, or naked ledge,
Here with fleecy crest OF cloud,
And there a dusky green wood shroud;-
Approaching here, till field and cot
Distinctly mark the cultured spot
Retiring there, and soaring high,
And solt'ning, till they melt in sky,
The mountains spread:-too much like life,-
In passing, all turmoil and strie
But seen at diStanCe-pomp and pride,
Or Joy and peace by parents side.
or, when at eve the welcome rain
Has lett its freshness on the plain,
a desert vast the dawn will greet,
OF sleeping cloud beneath your feet,
With here and there, lonely head
Emerging IRON the ocean bed;
All else so lost, so still, and fair
You almost ask ii earth be there!
And wish the swallows wing, otry
The magic flood, and bathe in sky.
But grander far the sable cloud,
Fraught with heavens fire, and thunder loud;
Its feecy van OF silver sheen,
But all the rear a midnight scene;
The solemn peals, that slowly roll,
From north to south athwart the pole;
The bursting bot, in vengeance hur.'d,
That jars this wiue and solid world;
The pensie flash, whose vivid form
Crosses the blackness oil the storm,
Descending now with anger red,
Scathes the dark mountains distant head,
Or plays its gambols round the sky,
A solemn scene to mortal eye!
The plains beneath with awe are still,
The wild bird screams not from the hill,
Grave is the lamblin in his cote,
And hushed the warber's cheerful note.
At length TIL advancing torrents mark
Yon utmost SUBMITS, veled and dark
Hill after hill, as now it nears,
IL shaded-dimm'd-and disappears;
And minge now along the plain,
The flash-the peal-and dashing rain.
The cloud has passed. Descending day,
Beams forth its brightest, loveliest rayi-
The youth ul focks forget to feed,
Through joys excess, and race the mead;
The songsters strain their little throats,
To lend their loudest, merriest notes;
And scarce that day does PhGbus part
From saddened eye, or sorrowing heart.
o! what were liie's dull, transient hour,
Without its sunshine and its shower
Its day Of gloom, and doubts dark dream,
And hopes succeeding, brightning beam!
Yet gaze once more!-The sun has set,
High tho his rays are lingering yet
How bright, beyond those summrs old,
Spreads the broad field of livinggold!
How black, upon that glowing vest,
lie the long hills, that skirt the west
Ambition, mark!-for glorys light
Even thus delays obvion's night
A twilight Splendor, soft and lair,
When Oeatb has veied its fercer glare;
But short the hour, and sure the lot,
1t fades, it sinks, and is forgot.