Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DIVIDENT HILL, by ELIZABETH CLEMENTINE DODGE KINNEY



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DIVIDENT HILL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Pause here, o muse! That fancy's eye
Last Line: Their heaven-built monument.
Alternate Author Name(s): Stedman, Edmund Burke, Mrs.
Subject(s): Heroism; Mountains; Heroes; Heroines; Hills; Downs (great Britain)


Pause here, O muse! that Fancy's eye
May trace the footprints still,
Of men that, centuries gone by,
With prayer ordained this hill;
As lifts the misty veil of years,
Such visions here arise,
As when the glorious past appears
Before enchanted eyes.

I see, from 'midst the faithful few,
Whose deeds yet live sublime --
Whose guileless spirits, brave as true,
Are models "for all time,"
A group upon this height convened --
In solemn prayer they stand --
Men, on whose sturdy wisdom leaned
The settlers of the land.

In mutual love the line they trace
That will their homes divide,
And ever mark the chosen place
That prayer hath sanctified;
And here it stands -- a temple old,
Which crumbling Time still braves;
Though ages have their cycles rolled
Above those patriots' graves.

As Christ transfigured on the height,
The tree beheld with awe,
And near, His radiant form, in white,
The ancient prophets saw;
So, on this summit I behold
With beatific sight,
Once more our praying sires of old,
As spirits clothed in light.

A halo crowns the sacred hill,
And thence glad voices raise
A song that doth the concave fill --
Their prayers are turned to praise!
Art may not for these saints of old
The marble urn invent;
Yet here the Future shall behold
Their heaven-built monument.





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