“THE HIGHLANDS,” ANNISQUAM

Here, from the heights, among the rocks and pines,

The sea and shore seem some tremendous page

Of some vast book, great with our heritage,

Breathing the splendor of majestic lines.

Yonder the dunes speak silver; yonder shines

The ocean's sapphire word; there, gray with age,

The granite writes its lesson, strong and sage;

And there the surf its rhythmic passage signs.

The winds, that sweep the page, that interlude

Its majesty with music; and the tides,

That roll their thunder in, that period

Its mighty rhetoric, deep and dream-imbued,

Are what it seems to say, of what abides,

Of what's eternal, and of what is God.