At last, beloved Nature! I have met <br />Thee face to face upon thy breezy hills, <br />And boldly, where thy inmost bowers are set, <br />Gazed on thee naked in thy mountain rills. <br />When first I felt thy breath upon my brow, <br />Tears of strange ecstasy gushed out like rain, <br />And with a longing, passionate as vain, <br />I strove to clasp thee. But, I know not how, <br />Always before me didst thou seem to glide; <br />And often from one sunny mountain-side, <br />Upon the next bright peak I saw thee kneel, <br />And heard thy voice upon the billowy blast; <br />But, climbing, only reached that shrine to feel <br />The shadow of a Presence which had passed.<br /><br />Henry Timrod<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-08-3/
