Henry Alford

Written Under A Water-Colour Sketch Of Belidden Cove, Cornwall, Taken From A Ledge Of Rock In Penolv

Here, midway perched between the sea and sky, Hung I in air. Still was the noon around, The sun beat fiercely on the glaring rocks, And lit the blue--green waters from below With glancing radiance. 'Twas a dizzy task To paint from such a height: and, as the brush Moved o'er the work, the baffled eye swam round, Suggesting thoughts of terror. Still the charm Bound me, to render with unskilful hand Those solemn walls of many--tinted rock, Those emerald waves; and over all to throw The heavenly stillness of that summer noon. And so I painted, rueing all the while The steps that led me thither; and anon Scanning the giddy ledge, whose narrow path Must yet be travelled back. Even thus, methought, Is it in life. Our daily walk sometimes Leads over perilous brinks of depths unknown To points of aery vision, whence the earth And common things seem clothed in glorious light, And steeped in noontide calm of blessed thought. Yet ever, as the high transfigured mind Drinks the sweet poison, doth her sight become Inebriate, and the sober lines of life Swim in unsteady haze: nor doth she bear To scan the path which guides her back to truth.