William Wordsworth

The Monument

Commonly Called Long Meg and Her Daughters, 
near the River Eden

A WEIGHT of awe, not easy to be borne,
Fell suddenly upon my spirit,—cast
From the dread bosom of the unknown past,
When first I saw that family forlorn.
Speak thou, whose massy strength and stature scorn
The power of years,—pre-eminent, and placed
Apart, to overlook the circle vast,—
Speak, giant-mother! tell it to the Morn
While she dispels the cumbrous shades of night;
Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud;
At whose behest uprose on British ground
That sisterhood, in hieroglyphic round
Forth-shadowing, some have deemed, the infinite,
The inviolable God, that tames the proud!