COME up unto the hills! Thy strength is there; Oh! thou hast tarried long, Too long amid the bowers and blossoms fair, With notes of summer song! Why dost thou tarry here? What though the bird Pipes matin in the vale -- The plough-boy whistles to the loitering herd As the red daylights fail? Yet come unto the hills -- the old strong hills, And leave the stagnant plain; Come to the gushing of the new-born rills, As sing they to the main. And thou shalt dwell with denizens of light; -- The eagle shall be there, With tireless wing aslant the cloud of night, Amid the lightning's glare. Come up unto the hills! The shatter'd oak There clings unto the rock, With arms outstretch'd as 't would the storm invoke, And dare again the shock. Come where no fear is known, the sea-bird's nest On the old hemlock swings, There thou shalt feel the gladness of unrest, And mount upon thy wings. Come up unto the hills! The men of old, They of undaunted will, Grew jubilant of heart, and strong and bold, On the enduring hill, -- Where come the soundings of the sea afar Borne inward to the ear, And nearer grow the moon, and midnight star, And God himself more near! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPRING BLIZZARD by JAMES GALVIN THE PRODIGAL SON by DAVID IGNATOW MOTHERHOOD by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON FLUTE-PRIEST SONG FOR RAIN; CEREMONIAL AT THE SUN SPRING by AMY LOWELL TEN YEARS OLD by LOUIS UNTERMEYER |