YOSEMITE
by Joaquin Miller
ound! sound! sound!- O colossal walls and crown'd
- In one eternal thunder!
- Sound! sound! sound!
- O ye oceans overhead,
- While we walk, subdued in wonder,
- In the ferns and grasses, under
- And beside the swift Merced!
- Fret! fret! fret!
- Streaming, sounding banners, set
- On the giant granite castles
- In the clouds and in the snow!
- But the foe he comes not yet,-
- We are loyal, valiant vassals,
- And we touch the trailing tassels
- Of the banners far below.
- Surge! surge! surge!
- From the white Sierra's verge,
- To the very valley blossom.
- Surge! surge! surge!
- Yet the song-bird builds a home,
- And the mossy branches cross them,
- And the tasselled tree-tops toss them,
- In the clouds of falling foam.
- Sweep! sweep! sweep!
- 0 ye heaven-born and deep,
- In one dread, unbroken chorus!
- We may wonder or may weep,-
- We may wait on God before us;
- We may shout or lift a hand,-
- We may bow down and deplore us,
- But may never understand.
- Beat! beat! beat!
- We advance, but would retreat
- From this restless, broken breast
- Of the earth in a convulsion.
- We would rest, but dare not rest,
- For the angel of expulsion
- From this Paradise below
- Waves us onward and...... we go.