I.
I arose at that dim-lined hour,
When the day and the morning meet;
And I passed by the city tower,
Far, far through the dusty street.
And I went by meadows and fountains
Till I came where frowning high,
A range of towering mountains
Hid their summits in the sky.
II.
But a troubled spirit led me,
Lured by some guiding star,
And o’er the dim heights sped me,
To sunset realms afar;
So with yearning and strife that seemed ever
To be linked with toil and pain,
I crossed with a mighty endeavor,
And passed beyond in the plain.
III.
And a nameless terror bound me
As I gazed on those earth-born spires,
Which, towering above and around me,
Seemed wrapped in lurid fires;
And a spirit of doubt passed o’er me,
And I murmured with half-bowed head,
“Hath ever a mortal before me
Crossed over a height so dread?”
IV.
But on I passed, unheeding,
Through the noontide’s ebbing light,
While, ever behind me receding,
Sank the mountains lessening height;
Till at last ’neath the distant heaven,
The scarce seen crests upreared
In the purple waves of even,
Sank down and disappeared.
V.
I arose at that dim-lined hour,
When youth and manhood meet,
But Grief and o’erwhelming power
Cast her burden at my feet;
And it rose like a mountain dreary,
And my heart was faint within,
For my soul grew sick and weary
In a world of death and sin.
VI.
But with yearning and strife that seemed ever
To be linked with toil and pain,
I crossed with a mighty endeavor
And passed beyond in life’s plain;
And as the broad noon was sinking;
I beheld in the distant light
The giant mountain shrinking
And fading on my sight.
VII.
Now the sunset shadow lengthens,
While the light of evening fails,
And the holy calm which strengthens
The worn out soul prevails;
And I look to the distant heaven,
Where the mountain late upreared,
And lo, in the purple even
It hath almost disappeared!