THE CLIMBER QUESTIONED.
[The Alpine Club, founded in December, 1867, celebrated its Jubilee December 16th and 17th, 1907.] ---
QUESTION.
" WHAT do ye win P" the scorners ask,
" Who climb great peaks of rock and snow P What guerdon gain ye for your task, That does not wait on those below P on We see the peak in all its might, Its symmetry, its proud repose, The moon sheds there her stainless light, There Dawn her kiss of flame bestows.
It shimmers in the noonday heat, And faery shadows haunt its sides ;. Dark comes, and there in lone retreat The spirit of the storm abides.
On this—yea, more than this by far—
Our eyes with keen enjoyment feed.
Say what the greater glories are That make the climber's boasted meed P" ANSWER.
" What could young Porphyro impel To venture in that foeman's den P What lore makes clear to us the spell That sped the feet of Imogen What was it that Bassanio brought, That tamed so soon fair Portia's pride P Why was it that Diana sought Latmos, her Godhead laid aside ?
Words fail you ? So the mountaineer Loves yon majestic throne of snow— To him 'tie passionately dear, As Juliet was to Romeo.
But if you ask the cause, 'tie vain—
There are no words since Shakespeare sleeps So subtle that they can explain How passion through the spirit sweeps.
The lover's rapture is to love, The climber's rapture is to climb, And both possess a heart above The petty chains of place and time.
Who knows, fond questioner, how soon On thee shall fall the sacred fire, And thou on some great peak at noon, Feeling, shalt need not to inquire ? "
GEORGE YELD.
Previous page
