Majesty, power, and dominion and glory,
Be unto Thee who these wonders hast wrought,
Mountain peaks lofty, all snow-capped and hoary,
Thou alone knowest their wonderful story,
When from the bowels of the earth they were brought.
Strangest formations and glaciers beaming,
Cataracts rushing from dizziest heights,
Emerald rivers with great swiftness streaming,
Crystal-clear rivulets rushing and gleaming,
Ne’er did I witness more glorious sights.
Down in the valley the flowers are growing,
Trees too, yea, forests are flourishing there,
Sweetly their fragrance on cool breezes flowing,
Terrible grandeur is meek beauty wooing,
Happy the love-pact, the harmony rare.
Thus is the image of God here reflected,
Mighty sublimity, lowliness sweet,
Happy the pilgrim who this has detected,
Travel-worn be he, yet never dejected,
Since he, O, Father, may sit at Thy feet.
MOUNT SHASTA
When from the fiery pangs of earth this queen
Of mountains was brought forth, the spirits of
The air desired to dress her in the sheen
And glory of their pure celestial love;
They gave her for a veil the fleecy cloud,
Which gently floats about her lofty brow;
They gave her for a mantle to enshroud
Her shoulders strong the ever glittering snow;
And then they called upon the fir and pine
To weave a robe of never fading green,
And with the silver stream their wool entwine,
That here and there its bright gleam might be seen;
She thus adorned has stood for eons long,
The queen among the mountains of the west,
In beauty cloth, inspiring men to song,
And lifting human thoughts to what is best.
VERSES
Written while sailing from Vancouver to Seattle.
I’ve seen the forest and mountains,
I’ve seen the far stretching plain,
But oh for a whiff of the briny sea,
And a journey across the main!
Oh, then does my soul find its pleasure,
Akin to my childhood joy,
For my home was close to the seashore,
And I lived with the fjord as a boy.
Its unbounded freedom and greatness
Created a love in my soul,
And never I sail o’er the surging sea,
But liberty’s voice does me call.