Speaking Of Mont Blanc !

 
In my previous post, in which I ventured to say that every writer has their own Mont Blanc in the distance, I completely forgot to tell you about the wonderful view I had of Mont Blanc when I was flying back to Lyon from New York in October. I took the following pictures, which you need to click to enlarge:


Not much snow on her in October, but still easy to spot!


I couldn't believe how close we got. I could've almost reached down to touch her.


This angle is similar to the one in my previous post, only higher up!


She watches over such a wide area!


No wonder people are inspired by her!


Just about to land in Lyon and we can still see her there in the distance!

All of this reminds me of the famous poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Mont Blanc, Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni. (That's how the French pronounce Chamonix, by the way.) Here's the last section of the poem, which was written in 1816:

Mont Blanc yet gleams on high:—the power is there,
The still and solemn power of many sights,
And many sounds, and much of life and death.
In the calm darkness of the moonless nights,
In the lone glare of day, the snows descend
Upon that Mountain; none beholds them there,
Nor when the flakes burn in the sinking sun,
Or the star-beams dart through them. Winds contend
Silently there, and heap the snow with breath
Rapid and strong, but silently! Its home
The voiceless lightning in these solitudes
Keeps innocently, and like vapour broods
Over the snow. The secret Strength of things
Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome
Of Heaven is as a law, inhabits thee!
And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea,
If to the human mind's imaginings
Silence and solitude were vacancy?

While we're on the subject, you really want to check out this poem and post on Jessica Schneider's blog, which she put up after spotting my earlier post.