Nature was in alarm: with sudden dread }
To his dark nook the screaming sew-mew fled: }
The murmurs of the midnight breeze were dead. }
Wider and wider spread th' unusual glare,
And the last cloud at length dispers'd in air.
When, as a flame bursts broad thro' azure smoke,
From the bright cloud a dazzling vision broke.
Like some tall dome, that shoots its towers on high,
His airy stature mingled with the sky:
Terror and might stood blended in his mien,
And his blue eye-balls shone with flames serene.
A wreath of light his fulgent brows array'd,
That, shifting, with a thousand colours play'd.
His star-bespangled robe, of sparkling blue,
O'er sea and air reflected glories threw:
The moon, the skies, the golden stream of rays,
Seem'd lost and dimm'd in that all-conquering blaze.
His yellow locks sail'd on the clouds afar,
And o'er his temples flamed the northern star.
His better hand sustain'd a spacious shield,
Round as nocturnal Cynthia's argent field;
On whose enormous surface stood emblazed
A mighty realm, with towers and turrets rais'd.
Here, a broad lake in mimic waves extends;
There, a tall mountain's sloping summit bends.
O'er many a river many a navy rode,
With commerce rich, and thro' the yielding flood
With outspread sails proceeded--all around,
Huge untamed rocks, and giant castles frown'd.
The vault above serenely calm appear'd,