Of metamorphic and eruptive power;

Of molten deluge, and volcanic flood;

Fracture and break, the silent stories tell

Of dire convulsion in the ages past;

Of subterranean catastrophe,

And cataclysm of internal force.

The trachyte wall, beseamed and battle scarred;

The porphyritic tower and citadel;

The granite ramparts and embattlements

Of nature's fort, impregnable and wild,

Stand as a symbol of eternal strength,

And hurl a challenge to the elements!

Cañons of startling and appalling depths,

With caverns, vast and gloomy, which would seem

Meet for the haunt of centaur or of gnome;

The gorgon and the labyrinthodon;

The clumsy mammoth and the dinosaur;

Or all gigantic and unwieldy shapes

Which earth has seen in the mysterious past,

Would seem in more accord and harmony

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