AmyLowell:MonadnockinEarlySpring

Cloud-topped and splendid, dominating all

The little lesser hills which compass thee,

Thou standest, bright with Aprils buoyancy,

Yet holding Winter in some shaded wall

Of stern, steep rock; and startled by the call

Of Spring, thy trees flush with expectancy

And cast a cloud of crimson, silently,

Above thy snowy crevices where fall

Pale shrivelled oak leaves, while the snow beneath

Melts at their phantom touch. Another year

Is quick with import. Such each year has been.

Unmoved thou watchest all, and all bequeath

Some jewel to thy diadem of power,

Thou pledge of greater majesty unseen.