Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON THE SIERRA by THEOPHILE GAUTIER

Poem Explanation

First Line: I LOVE THE GLORIOUS MOUNTAINS, PROUD AND BLEAK
Last Line: SO FAR FROM HEAVEN, THAT SIGHT OF GOD IS LOST.
Subject(s): MOUNTAINS; HILLS; DOWNS (GREAT BRITAIN);

I LOVE the glorious mountains, proud and bleak!
No tree, not e'en a flower, dares set its foot
On the white shroud that clothes the lofty peak,
Whose bare crags give no holding to a root.

No vine's love-clinging arm, no golden wheat,
Nothing that tells of man and servile toil;
In their pure air and free, sail eagles fleet,
No vulgar sound their majesty to spoil.

They are not useful. True! No profit yield.
Their might, their beauty is their only boast;
Yet please me more than the fat fertile field
So far from heaven, that sight of God is lost.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net