I saw incoming morn with silent tread
Enter the azure portals of the east,
"The smile of the Great Spirit" wide out-spread
With floods of golden light upon its breast;
And from the fleeting shades of parting night
Wake with the flush of blushing beauty bright.
I saw the orient sun paint varied hues
Of gold and crimson on the horizon's rim;
Stars paled their light, as gleam on gleam arose
And pierced the caverns now no longer dim,
While in the sunlight transient visions fade
That flecked with broken light the mountain glade.
The dewy mists, that bathed the mountain's brow,
Had kissed with lingering lips the flower-crowned height,
Hung diamond drops upon each leafy bough,
And, when the sunbeams met departed night,
Then slowly rising into mist-cloud flake,
They swept their shadows o'er the crystal lake.
Then suddenly from out the fleecy cloud,
A stately eagle rose with out-spread wing,
And floated in the sunlight, calm and proud,
His shrill-toned voice made echoing mountains ring;
A thousand voices woke the sleeping hills,
And gaily rang the lucid crystal rills.
Among the hills and vales and islands green,
Were waving ferns beneath the arching trees,
And shafts of glimmering light, the hills between,
And woodland choirs breathing sweet melodies;
I heard a voice in every fountain's flow,
All things were fair around, above, below.
