Far along the frozen glaciers
Where the milky waters leap,
Through the fresh and quiet valleys,
Down the gorges wild and deep.
Creeps the night: The stars are shining
In the twilight and the gloom:
Drifting through the Alpine heavens,
Gently shines the rising moon.
Now she's climbing upward; shadows
Dropping from the summit's crest,
Wrap the valleys in the darkness,
Slumber on the mountain's breast.
But the earth has trailed her shadow
Far out into empty space;
And the moon walks through the shadow
With earth's image on her face.
Oh, how often has that journey
By a human soul been made;
Passing through this world of trouble,
Into sunshine--out of shade!
Long I watch her evening journey
Far above the mountain's reach:
Her sad face is almost human,
With an eloquence of speech.
For my soul is ever climbing,
Through an Alpine world of thought;
Giant Blancs to be surmounted
Icy battles to be fought.
--_Dubuque Herald._