Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SAINT GOTHARD PASS, by JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER Poet's Biography First Line: By the edge of the chasm is a slippery track Last Line: He gilds it always, he warms it not. Alternate Author Name(s): Schiller, Friedrich Von Variant Title(s): Song Of The Alps Subject(s): Alps; Mountains; Saint Gothard, Switzerland; Hills; Downs (great Britain) | ||||||||
BY the edge of the chasm is a slippery track, The torrent beneath, and the mist hanging o'er thee; The cliffs of the mountain, huge, rugged, and black, Are frowning like giants before thee; And, wouldst thou not waken the sleeping Lawine, Walk silent and soft through the deadly ravine. That bridge with its dizzying, perilous span Aloft o'er the gulf and its flood suspended, Think'st thou it was built by the art of man, By his hand that grim old arch was bended? Far down in the jaws of the gloomy abyss The water is boiling and hissing, -- forever will hiss. That gate through the rocks is as darksome and drear As if to the region of shadows it carried: Yet enter! A sweet laughing landscape is here, Where the Spring with the Autumn is married. From the world, with its sorrows and warfare and wail, O, could I but hide in this bright little vale! Four rivers rush down from on high, Their spring will be hidden forever; Their course is to all the four points of the sky, To each point of the sky is a river; And fast as they start from their old mother's feet, They dash forth, and no more will they meet. Two pinnacles rise to the depths of the blue; Aloft on their white summits glancing, Bedecked in their garments of golden dew, The clouds of the sky are dancing; There threading alone their lightsome maze, Uplifted apart from all mortals' gaze. And high on her ever-enduring throne The queen of the mountains reposes; Her head serene and azure and lone A diamond crown encloses; The sun with his darts shoots round it keen and hot, He gilds it always, he warms it not. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CALIFORNIA SORROW: MOUNTAIN VIEW by MARY KINZIE CONTRA MORTEM: THE MOUNTAIN FASTNESS by HAYDEN CARRUTH GREEN MOUNTAIN IDYL by HAYDEN CARRUTH IF IT WERE NOT FOR YOU by HAYDEN CARRUTH COLUMBUS [AUGUST 3, 1492] by JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER |
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