CHAPTER X
I SPENT the following day roaming through the
valley. I stood beside the sources of the Arveiron, which take their
rise in a glacier, that with slow pace is advancing down from the
summit of the hills, to barricade the valley. The abrupt sides
of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier
overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and
the solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial
Nature was broken only by the brawling waves, or the fall of some
vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche, or the
cracking, reverberated along the mountains, of the accumulated
ice, which, through the silent working of immutable laws, was
ever and anon rent and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in
their hands. These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the
greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving. They
elevated me from all littleness of feeling; and although they did
not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquillized it. In some
degree, also, they diverted my mind from the thoughts over which
it had brooded for the last month. I retired to rest at night; my
slumbers, as it were, waited on and ministered to by the
assemblance of grand shapes which I had contemplated during the
day. They congregated round me; the unstained snowy mountain-top,
the glittering pinnacle, the pine woods, and ragged bare ravine;
the eagle, soaring amidst the clouds -- they all gathered round
me, and bade me be at peace.
Where had they fled when the next morning I awoke? All of
soul-inspiriting fled with sleep, and dark melancholy clouded
every thought. The rain was pouring in torrents, and thick mists
hid the summits of the mountains, so that I even saw not the
faces of those mighty friends. Still I would penetrate their
misty veil, and seek them in their cloudy retreats. What were
rain and storm to me? My mule was brought to the door, and I
resolved to ascend to the
summit of Montanvert. I remembered the effect that the view
of the tremendous and
ever-moving glacier had produced upon my mind when I first
saw it. It had then filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave
wings to the soul, and allowed it to soar from the obscure world
to light and joy. The sight of the awful and majestic in
nature had indeed always the effect of solemnizing my mind, and
causing me to forget the passing cares of life. I determined to go without a
guide, for I was well acquainted with the path, and the
presence of another would destroy the solitary grandeur of the
scene.
