FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   >>  
the boundless plain; Till Belvoir's lordly terraces the sign to Lincoln sent, And Lincoln sped the message on o'er the wide vale of Trent; Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's embattled pile, And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlise. * * * * * THE TORNADO. AN AFRICAN SKETCH,--BY THOMAS PRINGLE. Dost thou love to list the rushing Of the tempest in its might? Dost thou joy to see the gushing Of the torrent at its height? Hasten forth ere yet the gloaming Waneth wildly into night, While the troubled sea is foaming With a strange phosphoric light. Lo, the sea-fowl, loudly screaming, Seeks the shelter of the land; And a signal light is gleaming Where yon vesel nears the strand: Just at sun-set she was lying All-becalmed upon the main; Now, with sails in tatters flying, She to sea-ward beats--in vain! * * * * * Now the forest trees are shaking, Like bullrushes in the gale; And the folded flocks are quaking 'Neath the pelting of the hail. From the jungle-cumbered river Comes a growl along the ground; And the cattle start and shiver, For they know full well the sound. 'Tis the lion, gaunt with hunger. Glaring down the darkening glen; But a fiercer Power and stronger Drives him back into his den: For the fiend TORNADO rideth Forth with FEAR, his maniac bride. Who by shipwrecked shores abideth, With the she-wolf by her side. Heard ye not the Demon flapping His exulting wings aloud? And his mate her wild hands clapping From yon scowling thunder-cloud? By the fireflaucht's gleamy flashing The doomed vessel ye may spy, With the billows o'er her dashing-- Hark (Oh God!) that fearful cry! Seven hundred human voices In that shriek came on the blast! Ha! the Tempest-Fiend rejoices-- For all earthly aid is past! White as smoke the surge is showering O'er the cliffs that sea-ward frown, While the greedy gulph, devouring, Like a dragon sucks them down. The Plates are excellent: two or three fancy portraits beam with loveliness; Christ entering Jerusalem, engraved by E.J. Roberts, from Martin, is a sublime scene of "the glorious city of God;" and Corfu and the Bridge of Alva, from drawings by Purser, maintain the promising excellence of his pencil.
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   >>  



Top keywords:

TORNADO

 
Skiddaw
 

Lincoln

 
vessel
 

scowling

 

thunder

 
gleamy
 

flashing

 

clapping

 

dashing


fireflaucht

 
billows
 

doomed

 

flapping

 

rideth

 

maniac

 

stronger

 
Drives
 

shipwrecked

 

shores


exulting

 

fearful

 

abideth

 

Tempest

 

entering

 
Christ
 
Jerusalem
 

engraved

 
loveliness
 

excellent


portraits
 

Roberts

 

Martin

 

excellence

 
drawings
 

Purser

 

promising

 

maintain

 
Bridge
 

sublime


pencil

 
glorious
 

Plates

 

fiercer

 

rejoices

 
earthly
 

hundred

 
voices
 

shriek

 

greedy