MEMORIALS OF A TOUR ON THE CONTINENT, 1820
XXXIII. SKY-PROSPECT–FROM THE PLAIN OF FRANCE
MEMORIALS OF A TOUR ON THE CONTINENT, 1820
LO! in the burning west, the craggy nape Of a proud Ararat! and, thereupon, The Ark, her melancholy voyage done! Yon rampant cloud mimics a lion’s shape; There, combats a huge crocodile–agape A golden spear to swallow! and that brown And massy grove, so near yon blazing town, Stirs and recedes–destruction to escape! Yet all is harmless–as the Elysian shades Where Spirits dwell in undisturbed repose– 10 Silently disappears, or quickly fades: Meek Nature’s evening comment on the shows That for oblivion take their daily birth From all the fuming vanities of Earth!