ACROSS the steppe we journeyed, The brown, fir-darkened plain That rolls to east and rolls to west, Broad as the billowy main, When lo! a sudden splendor Came shimmering through the air, As if the clouds should melt and leave The heights of heaven bare, -- A maze of rainbow domes and spires Full glorious on the sky, With wafted chimes from many a tower As the south-wind went by, And a thousand crosses lightly hung That shone like morning stars, -- 'T was the Kremlin wall! 't was Moscow, -- The jewel of the Czars! |