But these recede. Above me are the Alps,

The Palaces of Nature, whose vast walls

Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps,[iw]

And throned Eternity in icy halls

Of cold Sublimity, where forms and falls[311]

The Avalanche—the thunderbolt of snow!

All that expands the spirit, yet appals,

Gather around these summits, as to show

How Earth may pierce to Heaven, yet leave vain man below.