The Glacier

The Glacier

The  mountains have a peace which none disturb ; The stars and clouds a course which none restrain;

The wild sea- waves rejoice without a curb, And rest without a passion ; but the chain

Of Death, upon this ghastly-cliff and chasm,
Is broken evermore, to bind again,
Nor lulls nor looses. Hark ! a voice of pain

Suddenly silenced ; a quick-passing spasm, That startles rest, but grants not liberty -
A shudder, or a struggle, or a cry -

And then sepulchral stillness. Look on us,
God ! who hast given these hills their place of

 pride,

If Death s captivity be sleepless thus, For those who sink to it unsanctified.

John Ruskin

John Ruskin (1818 – 1900) , englischer Maler, Philosoph Schriftsteller, Dichter, Sozialreformer, Kunsthistoriker, -kritiker