Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/32

 

Where is ? Ask the storm of fire That bursts from Etna's womb; And ask the glowing lava flood That makes the lands a tomb.

Where is ? Ask the Maelstrom's whirl, Shivering tall pines like glass; Ask the great oak, the graceful flower, Or simplest blade of grass.

Where is ? Ask the Behemoth, Who drinketh rivers dry; The' ocean king Leviathan, Or scarce seen atom fly.

Where is ? Ask the awful calm On mountain-tops that rests; And bounding, thundering avalanche, Rent from their rugged crests.

Ask the wide-wasting hurricane, Careering in its might; The thunder crash, the lightning blaze, Earth all convulsed with fight.

Where is ? Ask the crystal isles On Arctic seas that sail; Or ask from lands of balm and spice, The perfume-breathing gale.

Where on the universe is found, That presence-favoured spot?— All, all proclaim His dwelling-place! But say, where is He not?  undefined  now Thy gates of beauty, Zion, let me enter there, Where my soul in joyful duty Waits for Him who answers pray'r; Oh, how blessed is this place, Bill'd with solace, light, and grace! 