A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass

Monadnock in Early Spring

          Cloud-topped and splendid, dominating all
           The little lesser hills which compass thee,
           Thou standest, bright with April's buoyancy,
          Yet holding Winter in some shaded wall
          Of stern, steep rock; and startled by the call
           Of Spring, thy trees flush with expectancy
           And cast a cloud of crimson, silently,
          Above thy snowy crevices where fall
           Pale shrivelled oak leaves, while the snow beneath
           Melts at their phantom touch.  Another year
          Is quick with import.  Such each year has been.
           Unmoved thou watchest all, and all bequeath
           Some jewel to thy diadem of power,
          Thou pledge of greater majesty unseen.