Apollo

Through the black, rushing smoke-bursts Thick breaks the red flame All Etna heaves fiercely Her forest-cloth'd frame Not here, O Apollo Are haunts meet for thee But, where Helicon breaks down In cliff to the sea Where the moon-silver'd inlets Send far their light voice Up the still vale of Thisbe O speed, and rejoice On the sward at the cliff-top Lie strewn the white flocks On the cliff-side the pigeons Roost deep in the rocks In the moonlight the shepherds Soft lull'd by the rills Lie wrapt in their blankets Asleep on the hills -What forms are these coming So white through the gloom What garments out-glistening The gold-flower'd broom What sweet-breathing presence Out-perfumes the thyme What voices enrapture The night's balmy prime 'Tis Apollo comes leading His choir, the Nine -The leader is fairest But all are divine They are lost in the hollows They stream up again What seeks on this mountain The glorified train They bathe on this mountain In the spring by their road Then on to Olympus Their endless abode -Whose praise do they mention Of what is it told What will be for ever What was from of old First hymn they the Father Of all things; and then The rest of immortals The action of men The day in his hotness The strife with the palm The night in her silence The stars in their calm