The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1873-08-22

1852
Behold the dread Nj. shasta, where it stands
Imperial midst the lesser heights, and, like
Some mighty, unimpassoned mind, compan-
ionless
And cold. The storms Of Heaven may beat in
wrath
Against it, but it stands in unpolluted
Grandeur still; and from the rolling mists up
heaves
It's tower OF pride cen purer than before.
The wintry showers and white-winged tempests
leave
Their frozen tributes on its brow, and 1t
Doth make Of them an everlasting crown.
Thus doth it, day by day and age by age,
Defy each stroke OF time: stin rising higher
Into Heaveni
Aspiring 10 the eagles clOudless height.
No human foot hath stained its snowy side:
Nor human breath hath dimmed the lev mir
ror which
II holds unto the moon and stars and sov'rcign
sun
We may not grow familiar with the secrets
oi Its hoary top, whereOh the Genius
OF that mount builds his glorious throne!
Far lifted in the boundless blue, he doth
Eneircle, with his gaze supreme, the broad
Dominions Of the-West, which lie beneath
His feet, in pictures Of sublime repose
No artist ever drew. He sees the tall
Gigantic hills rise in silentness
And peace, and In the long review Of distance
Range themselves In order grand. He sees the
sunlight
Play upon the golden streams that through
the valleys
Glide. He hears the music OF the great and
solemn sea,
And ovQrloolre tho Hro.a r,l,1 ,,.ast,,.,, ,,-,1r
To view the birthplace of undying Melody
Itself all light, save when some loftiest cloud
Doth for a while embrace its cold, forbidding
Form, that monarch mountain casts its mighty
Shadow down upon the crownIess peaks below
That, like inferior minds 10 some great
Spirit, stand i'm strong cOntrasted littleneSst
All through the long and summery months OF
our
Most tranquil year, it points its icy shaft
On high, 10 catch the dazzling beams that fan
In shadows of splendor round that crystal
cone,
And goll in floods offar magnifcence
Away from that lone, vast reflector in
The dome of Heaven.
Still watchful OF the fertile
Vale and undulating plains below, the grass
Grows greener in its shade, and sweeter bloom
The flowers, strong puriferi From its snowy
Side the breezes cool are waited 10 the peace
ful
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 IL win communities so blest
To loftier feelings and 10 nobler thoughts
The great material symbol Of eternal
Thingsi And well ween in after years how
In the middle Of his fuuowed track the pIow-
man
In some sultry hour will pause, and wiping
From his brow.the dusty sweat, with reverence
Gaze upon that hoary peak. The herdsman
OF viii rein his charger in the plain, and drink
Into his inmost soul the calm sublimity;
And little children, playing ON the green, shall
Cease their sport, and turning 20 that mountain
Old, shall of their mother ask: "Who made
Iten
And she shall answer: "God!"
And well this Golden state shall thrive, IL like
It's own MI Shasta, Sovereign Law shall lift
Itselfin purer atmoSphere-so high
That human feeling, human passion, at lis
base
Shall lie subdued; cen PHYS tears shall on
It's summit freeze; 20 warm it e'en the sun
light
Ofdeep sympathy shall fail:
Its pure administration shall be like
The snow immaculate upon the mountainH
brow.