The Heart Of Fire
By Walter Kemper Bocock
Spoke the Volcano:
“The curse is upon me!
Once I was glorious,
Bathed in the sunlight;
Storms were below me;
Peaceful my summit.
Thousands ascended,
Craving the vision
Which I could show them.
Millions admired me,
On their horizon.
“Now the foundations
Tremble below me.
Earth is unsettled;
Hell’s fiends are raging
Penned in my bosom.
Heaven is hidden by
Terrible darkness.
There is no firmament;
Day is abolished.
Midnight is starless,
Save when the tempest
Bursts from Inferno,
Showering the world with
Firebrands and lava,
All of my verdure
—Flowers and forests—
Burning to blackness;
Leaving me hideous,
Desolate, barren!”
Slept the volcano
Ages and ages. Sunshine was bathing
All of his landscapes. Higher his summit;
Precious the metals Mined from his bosom;
Green were the forests, Fair were the flowers,
Healthgiving waters Flowed from his fountains.
Said the Great Spirit: “Heaven surrounds thee!
Hell that o’erwhelmed thee Was of thy making.”