Where sky above and lake below 



Would like one sphere of azure show, 



Save for the circling belt alone, 



The softly-painted purple zone 



Of mountains — bathed where nearer seen 



In sunny tints of sober green, 



With velvet darks of woods between, 



All glassy glooms and shifty sheen ; 



While here and there, some peak of snow 



Would o'er their tenderer violet lean. 



And yet within this region, fair 



With wealth of waving woods — these glades 



And glens and lustre-smitten shades, 



Ay ! in this realm of seeming rest. 



What sights you meet and sounds of dread ! 



—ALFRED DOMETT. 



