Below a star-built arch, as grand
As ever bended heaven spanned;
Tall trees like mighty columns grew —
They loomed as if to pierce the blue,
They reached as reaching heaven through.
The shadowed stream rolled far below,
Where men moved noiseless to and fro
As in some vast cathedral, when
The calm of prayer comes to men,
With benedictions, bending low.
Lo! wooded sea-banks, wild and steep!
A trackless wood; a snowy cone
That lifted from this wood alone!
This wild wide river, dark and deep!
A ship against the shore asleep!