HO! we are loose. Hear how they shout,
And how their clamor dwindles out
Beneath us to the merest hum
Of earthly acclamation. Come,
Lean with me here and look below —
Why, bless you, man! don't tremble so!
There is no need of fear up here —
Not higher than the buzzard swings
About upon the atmosphere
With drowsy eyes and open wings!
There, steady, now, and feast your eyes; —
See, we are tranced — we do not rise;
It is the earth that sinks from us:
But when I first beheld it thus,
And felt the breezes downward flow,
And heard all noises fail and die,
Until but silence and the sky
Above, around me, and below, —
Why, like you now, I swooned almost,
With mingled awe and fear and glee —
As giddy as an hour-old ghost
That stares into eternity.