Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 4.djvu/121

SCENE I.] Which had its birthplace in a star condemned,

The burning wreck of a demolished world,

A wandering hell in the eternal Space;

By the strong curse which is upon my Soul,

The thought which is within me and around me,

I do compel ye to my will.—Appear!

[A star is seen at the darker end of the gallery: it is stationary; and a voice is heard singing.

Voice of the

Mont Blanc is the Monarch of mountains;

They crowned him long ago

On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds,

With a Diadem of snow.

Around his waist are forests braced,

The Avalanche in his hand;

But ere it fall, that thundering ball

Must pause for my command.

The Glacier's cold and restless mass

Moves onward day by day;

But I am he who bids it pass,

Or with its ice delay.