Page:Hemans Miscellaneous Poetry 3.pdf/8



winds our daring bark impell'd O'er seas which mortal ne'er till then beheld, When as one eve, devoid of care, we stood Watching the prow glide swiftly through the flood, High o'er our heads arose a cloud so vast, O'er sea and heaven a fearful shade it cast: Awful, immense, it came! so thick, so drear, Its gloomy grandeur chill'd our hearts with fear, And the dark billow heaved with distant roar. Hoarse, as if bursting on some rocky shore.

Thrill'd with amaze, I cried, "Supernal Power! What mean the omens of this threatening hour! What the dread mystery of this ocean-clime, So darkly grand, so fearfully sublime?" Scarce had I spoke, when lo! a mighty form, Tower'd through the gathering shadows of the storm; Of rude proportions and gigantic size, Dark features, rugged beard, and deep-sunk eyes; Fierce was his gesture, and his tresses flew, Sable his lips, and earthly pale his hue. Well may I tell thee that his limbs and height, In vast dimensions and stupendous might, Surpass'd that wonder, once the sculptor's boast, The proud Colossus of the Rhodian coast Deep was his voice—in hollow tones he spoke, As if from ocean's inmost caves they broke; And but that form to view, that voice to hear, Spread o'er our flesh and hair cold deadly thrills of fear.