Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/226

222 God's mercy! does he see the gulf? Ha! now his purpose dawns Upon our minds, as nearer still the rocky fissure yawns: Where from the farther side the stone leans o'er the stream beneath, He means to take the awful leap! Cold horror checks our breath. And still and mute we watch him now: he nears the fearful place; We hear him shout to cheer the horse, and keep the headlong pace. Then comes a rush,—short strides,—a blow!—the horse bounds wildly on. Springs high in air o'er the abyss, and lands upon the stone! It trembles, topples 'neath their weight! it sinks! ha! bravely done! Another spring,—they gain the side,—the ponderous rock is gone With crashing roar, a thousand feet, down to the flood below,