SEE where on Alpine heights the hunter keen
Follows the feather-footed chamois’s flight,
Now on the brink of fearful abyss seen,
Now proudly gazing from the slippery height.
His fell pursuer, man, with anxious eye,
Follows resolv’d–his pointed spike in hand;
His haggard air seems with the scene to vie,
Nobly forlorn, and desolately grand.
Unceasing from the earliest streak of dawn,
O’er sheets of ice and dazzling snow he hies;
Now on the dizzy steep by magic borne,
Now o’er the precipice like light’ning flies.
And oft, if night her sable plumes should spread
O’er toil unpaid–no lassitude he knows;
A fragment of the rock supports his head,
And deaf’ning torrents lull him to repose.
Too happy if at length his prize he gain,
The fleet chamois–whose wild, disdainful eye,
Whose graceful form, whose slender feet are vain–
The hunter’s glory is to bid him die!
These are the strange delights of savage life!
Yet tender ties the mountain warrior knows,
A cottage, children, and a gentle wife!
For whom, while braving death, his bosom glows.
Yet such a life hath charms–its enterprise,
Its constant animation, and its care,
Gives birth to energy–bids hope arise,
And saves the soul from torpor and despair.
(Charlotte Dacre)
More Poetry from Charlotte Dacre:
Charlotte Dacre Poems based on Topics: Soul, Death & Dying, Light, Life, Man, Children, Success- The Lass Of Fair Wone (Charlotte Dacre Poems)
- Edmund And Anna (Charlotte Dacre Poems)
- The Warrior (Charlotte Dacre Poems)
- How Canst Thou Doubt? (Charlotte Dacre Poems)
- To Her I Love (Charlotte Dacre Poems)
- The Mistress - Versified (Charlotte Dacre Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, Life Poems, Light Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Soul Poems, Success Poems, Children PoemsBased on Keywords: pursuer, lassitude, torpor, animation, braving, chamois, desolately, d-his, charms-its