THOU hast thy beauties: sterner ones, I own, Than those of thy precursors; yet to thee Belong the charms of solemn majesty And naked grandeur. Awful is the tone Of thy tempestuous nights, when clouds are blown By hurrying winds across the troubled sky; Pensive, when softer breezes faintly sigh Through leafless boughs, with ivy overgrown. Thou hast thy decorations too; although Thou art austere: thy studded mantle, gay With icy brilliants, which as proudly glow As erst Golconda's; and thy pure array Of regal ermine, when the drifted snow Envelopes nature; till her features seem Like pale, but lovely ones, seen when we dream. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WALDEINSAMKEIT by RALPH WALDO EMERSON BROTHERS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON GENERAL WILLIAM BOOTH ENTERS INTO HEAVEN by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY SONNETS TO LAURA IN LIFE: 131 by PETRARCH FIDELITY by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |