Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MORNING IN MARTIGNY, by THOMAS BUCHANAN READ


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MORNING IN MARTIGNY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis sunrise on saint bernard's snow
Last Line: Eternally to coil and sting.
Variant Title(s): Martigny
Subject(s): Martigny, Switzerland


'T IS sunrise on Saint Bernard's snow,
'T is dawn within the vale below;
And in Martigny's streets appear
The mule and noisy muleteer;
And tinklings fill the rosy air,
Until the mountain pass seems there,
Up whose steep pathway scarcely stirs
The long, slow line of travellers;
And in the shadowy town is heard
The sound of many a foreign word.

Old men are there, whose locks are white
As yonder cloud which veils the height;
And maidens, whose young cheeks are kissed
By ringlets flashing bright or dark,
Whose hearts are light as yonder mist
That holds the music of the lark, --
And youths are there with jest and laugh,
Each bearing his oft-branded staff
To chronicle, when all is done,
The dangerous heights his feet have won.

So toils through life the pilgrim soul
Mid rocky ways and valleys fair;
At every base or glorious goal
His staff receives the record there, --
The names that shall forever twine,
And blossom like a fragrant vine,
Or, like a serpent, round it cling
Eternally to coil and sting.





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