Like burst of mighty waters wakes the blast, In wide and boundless sweep: thro' regions vast The floods of air in loosen'd fury drive, And meeting currents strong, and fiercely strive. First wildly raving on the mountain's brow 'Tis heard afar, till o'er the plains below With even rushing force it bears along, And gradual swelling, louder, full, and strong, Breaks wide in scatter'd bellowing thro' the air. Now is it hush'd to calm, now rous'd to war, Whilst in the pauses of the nearer blast, The farther gusts howl from the distant waste. Now rushing furious by with loosen'd sweep, Now rolling grandly on, solemn and deep, Its bursting strength the full embodied sound In wide and shallow brawlings scatters round; Then wild in eddies shrill, with rage distraught, And force exhausted, whistles into naught. With growing might, arising in its room, From far, like waves of ocean onward come Succeeding gusts, and spend their wasteful ire, Then slow, in grumbled mutterings retire: And solemn stillness overawes the land, Save where the tempest growls along the distant strand. But great in doubled strength, afar and wide, Returning battle wakes on ev'ry side; And rolling on with full and threat'ning sound, In wildly mingled fury closes round. With bellowings loud, and hollow deep'ning swell, Reiterated hiss, and whistlings shrill, Fierce wars the varied storm, with fury tore, Till all is overwhelm'd in one tremendous roar. The vexed forest, tossing wide, Uprooted strews its fairest pride; The lofty pine in twain is broke, And crushing falls the knotted oak. The huge rock trembles in its might; The proud tow'r tumbles from its height; Uncover'd stands the social home; High rocks aloft the city dome; Whilst bursting bar, and flapping gate, And crashing roof, and clatt'ring grate, And hurling wall, and falling spire, Mingle in jarring din and ruin dire. Wild ruin scours the works of men; Their motly fragments strew the plain. E'en in the desert's pathless waste, Uncouth destruction marks the blast: And hollow caves whose secret pride, Grotesque and grand, was never ey'd By mortal man, abide its drift, Of many a goodly pillar reft. Fierce whirling mounts the desert sand, And threats aloft the peopl'd land. The great expanded ocean, heaving wide, Rolls to the farthest bound its lashing tide; Whilst in the middle deep afar are seen, All stately from the sunken gulfs between, The tow'ring waves, which bend with hoary brow, Then dash impetuous to the deep below. With broader sweepy base, in gather'd might Majestic, swelling to stupendous height, The mountain billow lifts its awful head, And, curving, breaks aloft with roarings dread. Sublimer still the mighty waters rise, And mingle in the strife of nether skies. All wildness and uproar, above, beneath, A world immense of danger, dread, and death.