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.