ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
XLIII. ILLUSTRATION
ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS
THE Virgin Mountain, wearing like a Queen A brilliant crown of everlasting snow, Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below Wonder that aught of aspect so serene Can link with desolation. Smooth and green, And seeming, at a little distance, slow, The waters of the Rhine; but on they go Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen; Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood, Turned to a fearful Thing whose nostrils breathe 10 Blasts of tempestuous smoke–wherewith he tries To hide himself, but only magnifies; And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe, Deafening the region in his ireful mood.