Among the Trees Again

Chapter 34: OVER THE SIERRA

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About This Book

A sequence of short lyrical poems evokes rural and coastal scenes and the passage of seasons through attentive images of trees, birds, rivers, gardens, and moonlit hours. Each poem pairs precise natural description with a reflective mood, moving from springtime awakenings and playful vignettes to quieter autumnal and wintry meditations. Recurring motifs include longing for intimate contact with green growth, the music of bird-song and water, and gentle sentiments about memory, friendship, and sympathy. The pieces favor delicate imagery and musical diction, alternating lively observation with contemplative reverie.

OVER THE SIERRA

From out the depths of the abyss,
Faint echoes of a torrent’s roar
O’er crags whence lordly eagles soar
To poise above the precipice.

A dizzy pathway, sheer and steep;
A startled catching of the breath;
And, bearing menaces of death,
A loosened snow-drift’s sudden sweep!

Then, blown from out the upper sky,
Keen, fitful gusts of icy air,
So light, so tenuous and rare,
The heart leaps strangely swift thereby.

The white moon floating in the calm
Still ether space, so near, it seems,
To grasp his eager childhood dreams,
One need but thither reach his palm.

A sense of majesties and mights,
An exaltation born of these;
—The summit’s awful silences;
A glimpse of Godhead from the heights!