THE CHAMOIS HUNTER’S LOVE.
“For all his wildness and proud fantasies,
I love him.” Croly.
Thy heart is in the upper world, where fleet the chamois bounds,
Thy heart is where the mountain-fir shakes to the torrent-sounds;
And where the snow-peaks gleam like stars, through the stillness of the air,
And where the Lauwine’s[369] peal is heard—hunter! thy heart is there!
I know thou lov’st me well, dear friend! but better, better far,
Thou lovest that high and haughty life, with rocks and storms at war;
In the green, sunny vales with me, thy spirit would but pine—