THE MOUNTAIN.
The mountain’s sides are green anear,
In clouds is lost its snow;
And he who climbs that Alpine height
Shall earth and heaven know.
Lo! like a temple to the skies,
For toil, for prayer, for sacrifice,
Its green and snowy heights arise.
A thousand pilgrims wander up
To yonder blue abode,
And some are lost, and some are slain,
Or robbed upon the road.
Far up the holy hermits dwell,
And sounds the monastery bell
The safe and ancient way to tell.
And they who mount that highest steep
Are tired and sad and poor,
But lo! a starry house is there,
And angels at the door.
Rich joy for poverty and pain
They give, that summit to attain:
All earth they leave all heaven to gain.