From Como's curving base of blue, To where the snow lies cold and clear, Ascends in steps of varied hue The pageant of the passing year, As scores of mountain-sides unfold Their gorgeous robes of red and gold. Meanwhile, where shore and lake unite, I see, projected far below, A counterpart in colors bright, Of snows that gleam and woods that glow, -- Two pictures of an ideal land, Divided by a single strand. O matchless view, thus doubly fair, Impress thy beauty on my heart, That, when no longer really there, I still may see thee as thou art! Alas, that they should ever go, -- Those steps of light, those thrones of snow! The day declines, the colors pale, The peaks will soon be ashen gray; Yet, though the shades of night prevail, The darkness hath not come to stay; And if no leaves of gold remain, The sun will bring the Spring again. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHAMBER THICKET by SHARON OLDS CONTRA MORTEM: THE BEING AS MEMORY by HAYDEN CARRUTH HEGIRA by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON BEFORE A PAINTING by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON STREET CRIES: 6. TO RICHARD WAGNER by SIDNEY LANIER |