VIII
“At Last, Beloved Nature! I Have Met”
At last, beloved Nature! I have metThee face to face upon thy breezy hills,And boldly, where thy inmost bowers are set,Gazed on thee naked in thy mountain rills.When first I felt thy breath upon my brow,Tears of strange ecstasy gushed out like rain,And with a longing, passionate as vain,I strove to clasp thee. But, I know not how,Always before me didst thou seem to glide;And often from one sunny mountain-side,Upon the next bright peak I saw thee kneel,And heard thy voice upon the billowy blast;But, climbing, only reached that shrine to feelThe shadow of a Presence which had passed.