And the Alps, whose snows are spread
High between the clouds and sun;
And of living things each one;
And my spirit which so long
Darken'd this swift stream of song,
Interpenetrated lie
By the glory of the sky:
Be it love, light, harmony,
Odour, or the soul of all
Which from Heaven like dew doth fall,
Or the mind which feeds this verse
Peopling the lone universe.
-Percy Bysshe Shelley,
Lines Written among
the Euganean Hills, 1819
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Light Shining out of Darkness
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head. -William Cowper, Light Shining Out of Darkness, 1772 |
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Descending Glow
Meanwhile the sun paus'd ere it should alight, Over the horizon of the mountains--Oh, How beautiful is sunset, when the glow Of Heaven descends upon a land like thee, -Percy Bysshe Shelley, Julian and Maddalo (excerpt), 1824 |
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Chasing Light
Swift rush the spectral vapours white Past limestone scars with ragged pines, Showing--then blotting from our sight!-- Halt--through the cloud-drift something shines! -Matthew Arnold, Stanzas From the Grande Chartreuse, 1824 |
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Wondrous Hue
And aëry Alps towards the North appear'd Through mist, an heaven-sustaining bulwark rear'd Between the East and West; and half the sky Was roof'd with clouds of rich emblazonry Dark purple at the zenith, which still grew Down the steep West into a wondrous hue Brighter than burning gold, even to the rent Where the swift sun yet paus'd in his descent -Percy Bysshe Shelley, Julian and Maddalo (excerpt), 1824 |
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A Lake I Behold
Here are the Alpine landscapes which create A fund for contemplation; to admire Is a brief feeling of a trivial date; But something worthier do such scenes inspire: Here to be lonely is not desolate, For much I view which I could most desire, And, above all, a lake I can behold Lovelier, not dearer, than our own of old. -George Gordon, Lord Byron, Epistle to Augusta, 1830 |