The weekly Butte record., 1863-04-04
MOUNT SHAST A.
81 JOHN Z. RIDGE.


Behold the dread Mount Shasta, where il stauis
Imperial Iniis; the lesser nights. and, Ike
Some mighty, uaimpassioAed mind, compaaionless
And cold. The storms Of heaven may beat il wrath
Against it, bat it stands in uapOllated
Grandeur still; ana from the rolling mists upheayes
It's tower of pride cen purer than before.
The wint'ry showers and white winged tempests
leave
Their frozen tribute on its brow, and it
Doth make Of them an everlasting crown.
Thus doth it. day by day and age by age,
Defy each stroke of time-still rising higher
Into heaven
Aspiring 10 the eagles cl0udless hight,
No human foot hath stained its snowy side.
Nor human breath hath dmmed the icy mirror
1t holds unto the moon, and stars, and SOW reign
sun.
We may not grow familiar with the secrets
OF its hoary top. whereon the Genius
OF that mountain builds his glorious throne,
Far-lifted in the boundless blue, he doth
Encircie. with his gaze supreme. the broad
Dominions of the West, that lie beneath
His feet in pictures of sublime repo.s
No artist ever drew. He sees the tall,
Gigantic hills arise in silentness
And peace, and in the long review Of distance
Range themselves in order grand. He sees the sun
light
Play upon the golden streams that through the
valleys
Glide. He hears the music of the great and solemn
sea,
And overlooks the hinge old western wall.
To view the birthplace of undyng Melody,
Itself all light save when some loftiest cloud
Doth for awhile embrace its cold forbidding
Form-that monarch mountain casts its mighty
Shadow down upon the erownless peaks below,
That, like inferior minds to some great
Spirit stand in strong littleness,
All through the long and summery months of our
Most tranquil year, it points its icy shaft
On high, TO catch the dazzling beams that fall
In showers of splendor round that crystal cone.
And roll in floods of far magnfcence,
Away from that lone vast Reflector in
The dome in heaven.
Still watchful of the fertile
Vale. and unduating plains below, the grass
Grows greener in the shade, and sweeter bloom
The flowers. Strong Purifier From its snowy
Side the breezes cool are waited to the peaceful
Homes of men," who shelter at its feet, and love
To gaze upon its honored FORM aye standing
There the guarantee of health and happiness
Well might it win communities SO blest
To loftier feelings. and to nobler thoughts
The great material symbol of eternal
Things And well, ween in after years, how
In the middle of his furrowed track, the plowman
In some sultry hour, Will pause, and, wiping
From his brow the dusty sweat, with reverence
Gaze upon that hoary peak. The herdsman
Oft will rein his charger in the plain, and drink
Into his inmoSt soul the calm submity;
And little children, playing on the green. shall
Cease their sport, and, turning to that mountain
Old, shall of their mother ask, " who made it =
And She shall answer, ''God,H
And well this Golden State shall thrive, if. like
Its own Mount Shasta, sovereign law shall lift
Itself in purer atmosphere-so high
That human feeling, human passion, at lis base
Shall lie subdued; cen PHYS tears shall on
Its summit freeze; to warm it, cen the sunlight
OF deep sympathy shall fail;
Its pure administration shall be like
The snow, immaculate upon that mountains brow