Page:Poems of Nature and Life.djvu/334

 324 CONSOLATIONS OF SOLITUDE

But see I He slacks his pace at length, And answers shrill his master's call,

And slowly drags his giant strength, With noisy raptures, to his stall.

There rest, until the groom's stout arm Shall harness thee to early toil,

With a hot breakfast make thee warm, And rub thy stiffened joints with oil.

Then, tugging at thy task once more, Upon thy destined journey press,

And make the joyful mountains roar, — Give voice to the lone wilderness.

Where drowsy Echo startling wakes.

And cheers thee on with deafening screams,

While from thy nostrils the hot flakes Sweep o'er her hills in fiery streams !

��THE MOUNTAIN J0URNEY.»3

Reader, hast thou e'er sought to gain

The summit of some giant hill, When all thy comrades toiled in vain,

Though firm of foot and strong of will. Gave up their purpose in despair, And left thee lonely climbing there ?

Sometimes the tangled pathway wound O'er narrow ridge or dizzy steep.

Where oft the frail and slippery ground Forced thee on hands and knees to creep,

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