| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | I. “At last, beloved Nature, I have met” | | By Henry Timrod (1828–1867) |
| | | AT last, beloved Nature, I have met | |
| Thee face to face upon thy breezy hills, | |
| And boldly, where thy inmost bowers were set, | |
| Gazed on thee naked in thy mountain rills: | |
| When first I felt thy breath upon my brow, | 5 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Upon the next bright peak I saw thee kneel, | |
| And heard thy voice upon the billowy blast,— | |
| But climbing, only reached that shrine to feel | |
| The shadow of a PRESENCE which had passed. | | | | |
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