TO MOUNT COOK.

Kumara Times, Issue 3124, 6 November 1886, Page 3

TO MOUNT COOK.

Behold thy snow-clad towering peaks, In purity sublime, Now hiding with their winter veils The ravages of time ! . Thy frowning crags, with darken’d brows, Withhold the chilly mist, Until the sun’s departing rays Thy clouded temples kiss’d. Ere yet the sumbeams take their flight, Thy crest in anger frown And cast its gloomy shadows o’er Each minor hilltop’s crown : Then with sweeping avalanches Herald forth thy ire, And strip the robes of those who dare Thy icy steeps aspire. In furrow’d lines thy melting tears In flowing cascades form, And ceaseless hum their solemn hymns, Commingling with the storm. Thy lofty peaks, in calm repose, Above the lightnings soar, Whilst harmless o’er thy battlements The pealing thunders roar. Transparent glaciers mark thy base, And prop thy rugged steeps ; Fed by thy Virgin crystal tears, In solemn grandeur sleeps ; Whilst thy projecting buttresses The cascades do resist, In circles little rainbows form Into the flowing mist. Stood thee a landmark and a guide For savage Maori bands, Who fought and feasted on man’s blood Beneath thy. sheltered lands ; With thy exalted peaks look’d down Saw ye the weakest yield, Then cast thy canopy of shade To drape the bloody field. From whence did this great strength proceed ? Was it a power divine That raised thy towering pinnacles All others to outshine ? Or did old Vulcan forge the beam For Hercules to lift Thee forth a knotty problem there For mortals here to sift ? Thy elevated peaks are sought; The anxious mariner’s eye Doth scan our rosy horizon Till they thy peaks descry. The sun’s.bright rays upon the tips Of thy exalted towers, Transmitting to all passing ships Its fair translucent showers. Still may thy dome and tower stand, And brave the chilly blast, To beautify our Westland scenes And guide each bending mast! And Avatch our multiplying hosts As thej, advancing, spread With thy emblazoned crown upon Thy hoary aged head ! J. Eileey.