Ii. In A Mountain Pass

(In Scotland)

To what wild blasts of tyrannous harmony Uprose these rocky walls, mass threatening mass, Dusk, shapeless shapes, around a desolate pass? What deep heart of the ancient hills set free The passion, the desire, the destiny Of this lost stream? Yon clouds that break and form, Light vanward squadrons of the joyous storm, They gather hither from what untrack’d sea? Primeval kindred! here the mind regains Its vantage ground against the world; here thought Wings up the silent waste of air on broad Undaunted pinion; man’s imperial pains Are ours, and visiting fears, and joy unsought, Native resolve, and partnership with God.