Dawn In The Alleghanies

The waters leap,     The waters roar;     And on the shore     One sycamore     Stands, towering hoar.     The mountains heap     Gaunt pines and crags     That hoar-frost shags;     And, pierced with snags,     Like horns of stags,     The water lags,     The water drags,     Where trees, like hags,     Lean from the steep.     The mist begins     To swirl; then spins     'Mid outs and ins     Of heights; and thins     Where the torrent dins;     And lost in sweep     Of its whiteness deep     The valleys sleep.     Now morning strikes     On wild rampikes     Of forest spikes,     And, down dim dykes     Of dawn, like sheep,     Scatters the mists,     And amethysts     With light, that twists,     And rifts that run     Azure with sun,     Wild-whirled and spun,     The foggy dun     O' the heavens deep.     Look! how they keep     Majestic ward,     Gigantic guard!     And gaze, rock-browed,     Through mist and cloud!     Eternal, vast,     As ages past!     And seem to speak,     With peak on peak,     Of God! and see     Eternity!