THE SCHRECKHORN
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LOOF, as if a thing of mood and whim;Now that its spare and desolate figure gleamsUpon my nearing vision, less it seemsA looming Alp-height than a guise of himWho scaled its horn with ventured life and limb,Drawn on by vague imaginings, maybe,Of semblance to his personalityIn its quaint glooms, keen lights, and rugged trim. At his last change, when Life’s dull coils unwind,Will he, in old love, hitherward escape,And the eternal essence of his mindEnter this silent adamantine shape,And his low voicing haunt its slipping snowsWhen dawn that calls the climber dyes them rose?
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