Read Above the Clouds of The Last West and Paolo's Virginia, free online book, by G. B. Warren, on ReadCentral.com.

On the shores of a sea of mist
I chanced to roam,
Where sunlit the surface gleamed
Whiter than foam.

But the voice of the restless main
Was absent there,
For the billows that rolled along
Were waves of air;

And the isles of that silent sea
Were mountain peaks
That, far from the haunts of man,
The wild goat seeks.

O, that day above the clouds
Was bright and fair!
With pines and the sparkling snow
Unsullied there;

But, a thousand fathoms down
A city street
Was shrouded in sunless gloom
Where shadows meet;

It knew not the fairer day
And matchless view;
That snowfields gleamed above
And skies were blue:

That the clouds which gloomed below
Were seas of light
From another point of view
At greater height.

GO TO: The Great Divide
GO TO: Winter Sunset in the Cascade Range