VIII “At Last, Beloved Nature! I Have Met”

At last, beloved Nature! I have met

Thee 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 feel

The shadow of a Presence which had passed.