Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TWO POEMS TO HARRIET BEECHER STOWE: 1. AT THE SUMMIT, by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TWO POEMS TO HARRIET BEECHER STOWE: 1. AT THE SUMMIT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sister, we bid you welcome, - we who stand
Last Line: What more can heaven bestow!
Subject(s): Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896)


SISTER, we bid you welcome, -- we who stand
On the high table-land;
We who have climbed life's slippery Alpine slope,
And rest, still leaning on the staff of hope,
Looking along the silent Mer de Glace,
Leading our footsteps where the dark crevasse
Yawns in the frozen sea we all must pass, --
Sister, we clasp your hand!

Rest with us in the hour that Heaven has lent
Before the swift descent.
Look! the warm sunbeams kiss the glittering ice;
See! next the snow-drift blooms the edelweiss;
The mated eagles fan the frosty air;
Life, beauty, love, around us everywhere,
And, in their time, the darkening hours that bear
Sweet memories, peace, content.

Thrice welcome! shining names our missals show
Amid their rubrics' glow,
But search the blazoned record's starry line,
What halo's radiance fills the page like thine?
Thou who by some celestial clue couldst find
The way to all the hearts of all mankind,
On thee, already canonized, enshrined,
What more can Heaven bestow!





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