NEBULA TO MAN 
The Andes heights must bear their burdens here, 
And Patagonia's plains will disappear 
Beneath thick ice ; and " greybeards " round the Horn 
Will sweep along an ice-clad scene forlorn. 
About big Afric too, in south and north 7 5 
From mountain snows are glaciers streaming forth. 
Nor are Australia and New Zealand free 
From gathering snow. Whilst o'er the Southern sea 
Antarctic lands, in barrier ice walls held, 
Have bade farewell to all the outer world. 80 
Time rolls along : and thicker lies the snow, 
And from high homes innumerous ice-streams flow. 
Great glaciers now along the vales have wound, 
And, swelled with tribute from surrounding ground, 
Are rising high, as though they would unite 85 
Across the hills, and landmarks shroud from sight. 
Indeed in Scandinavia such a scene 
Now meets our eyes. Here have the valleys been 
O'erblocked with ice ; and glaciers hand in hand 
Are stretching sheet-like over miles of land. 90 
And great indeed in thickness have they grown, 
Reaching in parts eight hundred fathoms down. 
Slow it may be, but never motionless, 
West, east, and south, the glacier masses press. 
See here a mass slow working to the west, 95 
To purest crystal, as it were, compressed. 
176 
