EPOCH OF GREAT GLACIATION 
And great the transport is in progress here, 
Where blocks are borne, no river e'er could stir. 
Why here are boulders two score feet in length, 
The glaciers bear along with easy strength. 
Indeed some blocks as good sized houses seem, 205 
As though a street were going down the stream. 
And far from native scenes will these be borne, 
And in new lands as strangers lie forlorn. 
Compared with its old giant ancestor, 
The glacier of the Rhone is little more 210 
Than dwarf to-day. See here its sire of old 
Descending from its snowy mountain hold 
In icy cataracts ; and rising on its way 
Higher a thousand feet than where to-day 
Its pygmy heir can reach. On does it roll 215 
Solemn and mute, a-stripe with stony stole. 
Increased by glacier flows, that numerous glide 
From Bernese Alps, along its northern side, 
Vast does it swell ; and larger grows the load 
Of rocky debris on its back bestowed. 220 
See here amongst its miscellaneous freight 
It holds a rock, four thousand tons in weight. 
And for a hundred miles its granite guest 
Will be transported ere it lie at rest. 
Then nearing land upon its southern side, 225 
Where sits the great " White Mount" in all its pride, 
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