Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ANCIENTS OF NEW ENGLAND; 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDING OF BURLINGTON, by JOHN CHIPMAN FARRAR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ANCIENTS OF NEW ENGLAND; 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF FOUNDING OF BURLINGTON, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Stand back from the lake, proud mountains
Last Line: Mountains of vermont.
Subject(s): Burlington, Vermont


Stand back from the lake, proud mountains,
Under the proud clouds,
Guard well the fertile valleys,
Guard well the little towns,
Proud mountains of New England,
Mountains of Vermont.

Who are these who walk upon you,
In the wonder of slow dawn,
Stand upon your forehead, Mansfield,
Walk from peak to peak across you,
Stand like giants looking down,
Looking down upon the lake?
Surely they are of New England,
They who stand like giants on you,
Born and bred and died New England,
Stern and proud as you, proud mountains,
Soul and heart and limb New England,
Ancients of the mountain country,
Ancients of the little towns,
Ancients of Vermont.

Ethan, Ira, Ebenezer,
Good, mouth-filling names, New England,
Good shots and good soldiers, Allens,
Yes ... good farmers, too, New England,
Ethan, Ira, Ebenezer.
Ethan, Ira, Ebenezer,
Block-house nights and days of trapping,
Great snows flung across the mountains,
Quick springs foaming down the rivers,
Flint on flint and stone on stone,
Aching muscle, binding sinew,
Forest dared and red-coat daunted,
Ethan, Ira, Ebenezer.
Ethan, Ira, Ebenezer,
Looking down upon the lake,
Sturdy heart of us, New England,
Fortress walls and blossomed meadows,
"Open in God's name," New England,
Proud and sturdy on the mountains,
Keen-eyed ancients of New England,
Ethan, Ira, Ebenezer,
Ancients of the mountain country,
Ancients of Vermont.

Humble under the mountains,
Humble by the lake,
Humble under the towering thunder clouds,
Conscious of the stern claims of New England,
Humble, yet proud as the mountains,
Like children, as they smell the spires of lilacs,
Like Gods, as they breathe the air of mountain winds.

Stand back from the lake, proud mountains,
Under the proud clouds,
Guard well the fertile valleys,
Guard well the little towns,
Proud mountains of New England,
Proud ancients of New England,
Mountains and ancients of Vermont.

Full many a singer sang his song,
And preachers wed and buried,
For citizens and their offspring
Must oft be dead or married.
And there were lovers on the hills,
Bright shoes upon their feet,
And there were lovers on the lake,
Such love is very meet.
The dawn comes over Mansfield,
The evenings flood the lake,
The milk-carts rattle on the streets,
The servant girls awake.

The day is here! The day is here!
The day is done ... is done,
One hundred and fifty years of them,
Three hundred and sixty-five a year,
Have greeted Burlington.

Oh, we who are New England,
Whether we will or no,
We watch the sun on Mansfield.
We watch the springtime go—
We are of the mountains,
We are of the lake,
We, too, dare to stand there,
Stand there in the slow dawn
Humble under the mountains.
Humbly with the Ancients,
Rooted in New England,
People of the mountains,
Mountains of New England,
Mountains of Vermont.





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