SONNET by JAMES GATES PERCIVAL

I STAND upon the mountains, 'mid a sea
Of rocks, and woods, and waters, vales and plains,
Where smiling freedom clad in russet reigns,
Beneath a cloudless, deep-blue canopy,
Whereon, in sovereign pomp and majesty,
The lord of day ascends his noontide throne,
And looks o'er all, himself unviewed alone,
Such is the burning brightness of his eye;
And here with upward breast, and daring wing,
And glance, that dwells undazzled on the blaze,
And finds its home in those unclouded rays,
From off these rocky battlements I spring,
And soaring to a more ethereal height,
My pinions lift me on to Heaven's own world of light.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!

Other Poems of Interest...