MOUNTAIN TOPS
Oldcrater-tops! Cloud-bumped! Snow-white!Our mountains these—all day and nightThey show above the ridges. What?You’ve never climbed? You’ve missed a lot!When you have known the grunts and chills,The cold, the sweat, the gasps, the thrills;And winced at dazzling snow reared highAgainst a dye of cobalt sky;And faced the blast that strives its bestTo hurl you headlong off the crest;Seen countless ranges fade intoThe whole vast earth-encircling blueThat holds the rim of the sky’s bowl;And sniffed the clouds and watched them rollClose-packed beneath you in the sun and rideLike foaming billows at flood-tide;When you have done these things, you’ll speakWith reverence of a mountain-peak.Such friendships last—they’re notRemembered lightly nor forgot.
Oldcrater-tops! Cloud-bumped! Snow-white!Our mountains these—all day and nightThey show above the ridges. What?You’ve never climbed? You’ve missed a lot!When you have known the grunts and chills,The cold, the sweat, the gasps, the thrills;And winced at dazzling snow reared highAgainst a dye of cobalt sky;And faced the blast that strives its bestTo hurl you headlong off the crest;Seen countless ranges fade intoThe whole vast earth-encircling blueThat holds the rim of the sky’s bowl;And sniffed the clouds and watched them rollClose-packed beneath you in the sun and rideLike foaming billows at flood-tide;When you have done these things, you’ll speakWith reverence of a mountain-peak.Such friendships last—they’re notRemembered lightly nor forgot.
Oldcrater-tops! Cloud-bumped! Snow-white!Our mountains these—all day and nightThey show above the ridges. What?You’ve never climbed? You’ve missed a lot!
When you have known the grunts and chills,The cold, the sweat, the gasps, the thrills;And winced at dazzling snow reared highAgainst a dye of cobalt sky;And faced the blast that strives its bestTo hurl you headlong off the crest;Seen countless ranges fade intoThe whole vast earth-encircling blueThat holds the rim of the sky’s bowl;And sniffed the clouds and watched them rollClose-packed beneath you in the sun and rideLike foaming billows at flood-tide;When you have done these things, you’ll speakWith reverence of a mountain-peak.
Such friendships last—they’re notRemembered lightly nor forgot.