Pilgrimage to Mount Moosilauke
PILGRIMAGE TO MOUNT MOOSILAUKE, 1971
by Barnwell Black
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
When sailing to Byzantium no peace provides;
When skunk hour comes, the raven at my back,
And tears, idle tears, down my cheek do track;
When la belle dame est sans merci to me,
And hope lies deep interred in the kingdom by the sea;
When swinging birches break beneath my weight,
And the eternal Footman defines my outcast state;
When I have fears that I may cease to be--
Then, dulce et decorum est, I return to thee
Oh Moosilauke, oh Moosilauke, thou blessed' plot,
Thou eternal mother, thou realm, thou refuge, my Moosilauke.
Oh Moosilauke, from primal fires wrought, my balm of peace,
Alone with thee upon thy timeless heights my weary heart, renewed,
leaps up
in ecstasy.
