Page:The Excursion, Wordsworth, 1814.djvu/444

418 Unheard, the savage Nations bowed their heads

To Gods delighting in remorseless deeds;

Gods which themselves had fashioned, to promote

Ill purposes, and flatter foul desires.

Then, in the bosom of yon mountain cove,

To those inventions of corrupted Man

Mysterious rites were solemnized; and there,

Amid impending rocks and gloomy woods,

Of those dread Idols, some, perchance, received

Such dismal service, that the loudest voice

Of the swoln cataracts (which now are heard

Soft murmuring) was too weak to overcome,

Though aided by wild winds, the groans and shrieks

Of human Victims, offered up to appease

Or to propitiate. And, if living eyes

Had visionary faculties to see

The thing that hath been as the thing that is,

Aghast we might behold this spacious Mere

Bedimmed with smoke, in wreaths voluminous,

Flung from the body of devouring fires,

To Taranis erected on the heights

By priestly hands, for sacrifice, performed