Samuel Kettell, ed. Specimens of American Poetry. 1829.
By Hymn of NatureWilliam B. O. Peabody (1799–1847)
G
The dark green fields contented lie:
The mountains rise like holy towers,
Where man might commune with the sky:
The tall cliff challenges the storm
That lowers upon the vale below,
Where shaded fountains send their streams,
With joyous music in their flow.
The waves lie sleeping on the sands,
Till the fierce trumpet of the storm
Hath summon’d up their thundering bands;
Then the white sails are dash’d like foam,
Or hurry trembling, o’er the seas,
Till calm’d by thee, the sinking gale
Serenely breathes, “Depart in peace.’
The grandeur of the lonely tree,
That wrestles singly with the gale,
Lifts up admiring eyes to thee;
But more majestic far they stand,
When side by side, their ranks they form,
To wave on high their plumes of green,
And fight their battles with the storm.
Where summer breezes sweetly flow,
Or, gathering in their angry might,
The fierce and wintry tempests blow;
All—from the evening’s plaintive sigh,
That hardly lifts the drooping flower,
To the wild whirlwind’s midnight cry—
Breathes forth the language of thy power.
How gloriously above us springs
The tented dome, of heavenly blue,
Suspended on the rainbow’s wings;
Each brilliant star, that sparkles through
Each gilded cloud, that wanders free
In evening’s purple radiance, gives
The beauty of its praise to thee.
Thy name is written clearly bright
In the warm day’s unvarying blaze,
Or evening’s golden shower of light.
For every fire that fronts the sun,
And every spark that walks alone
Around the utmost verge of heaven,
Were kindled at thy burning throne.
And nature’s self to dust return!
Her crumbling altars must decay!
Her incense fires shall cease to burn!
But still her grand and lovely scenes
Have made man’s warmest praises flow;
For hearts grow holier as they trace
The beauty of the world below.