They darken fast; and the golden blaze
Of the sun is quenched in the lurid haze,
And he sends through the shade a funeral ray—­
A glare that is neither night nor day,
A beam that touches, with hues of death,
The clouds above and the earth beneath. 
To its covert glides the silent bird,
While the hurricane’s distant voice is heard,
Uplifted among the mountains round,
And the forests hear and answer the sound.

He is come! he is come! do ye not behold
His ample robes on the wind unrolled? 
Giant of air! we bid thee hail!—­
How his gray skirts toss in the whirling gale;
How his huge and writhing arms are bent,
To clasp the zone of the firmament,
And fold at length, in their dark embrace,
From mountain to mountain the visible space.

Darker—­still darker! the whirlwinds bear
The dust of the plains to the middle air: 
And hark to the crashing, long and loud,
Of the chariot of God in the thunder-cloud! 
You may trace its path by the flashes that start
From the rapid wheels where’er they dart,
As the fire-bolts leap to the world below,
And flood the skies with a lurid glow.

What roar is that?—­’tis the rain that breaks
In torrents away from the airy lakes,
Heavily poured on the shuddering ground,
And shedding a nameless horror round. 
Ah! well known woods, and mountains, and skies,
With the very clouds!—­ye are lost to my eyes. 
I seek ye vainly, and see in your place
The shadowy tempest that sweeps through space,
A whirling ocean that fills the wall
Of the crystal heaven, and buries all. 
And I, cut off from the world, remain
Alone with the terrible hurricane.

WILLIAM TELL.º

A sonnet.

Chains may subdue the feeble spirit, but thee,
  Tell, of the iron heart! they could not tame! 
  For thou wert of the mountains; they proclaim
The everlasting creed of liberty. 
That creed is written on the untrampled snow,
  Thundered by torrents which no power can hold,
  Save that of God, when he sends forth his cold,
And breathed by winds that through the free heaven blow. 
Thou, while thy prison walls were dark around,
  Didst meditate the lesson Nature taught,
  And to thy brief captivity was brought
A vision of thy Switzerland unbound. 
  The bitter cup they mingled, strengthened thee
  For the great work to set thy country free.

The hunter’s serenade. deg.

Thy bower is finished, fairest! 
  Fit bower for hunter’s bride—­
Where old woods overshadow
  The green savanna’s side. 
I’ve wandered long, and wandered far,
  And never have I met,
In all this lovely western land,
  A spot so lovely yet. 
But I shall think it fairer,
  When thou art come to bless,
With thy sweet smile and silver voice,
  Its silent loveliness.