Poem by Henry Timrod

Sonnets. 8. At Last, Beloved Nature! I Have Met

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

1. Hymn Sung at an Anniversary of the Asylum of Orphans at Charleston
2. A Cry to Arms
3. Hymn Sung at the Consecration of Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
4. Lines to R. L.
5. Youth and Manhood

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