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[298]
     When the earliest beams of sunlight
Streak the mountain's snow,
     Crisps the hoar-frost, keen and early,
To our hurrying feet,
     And the forest echoes clearly
All our blows repeat.

Where the crystal Ambijejis
     Stretches broad and clear,
And Millnoket's pine-black ridges
     Hide the browsing deer:
Where, through lakes and wide morasses,
     Or through rocky walls,
Swift and strong, Penobscot passes
     White with foamy falls;

Where, through clouds, are glimpses given
     Of Katahdin's sides,—
Rock and forest piled to heaven,
     Torn and ploughed by slides!
Far below, the Indian trapping,
     In the sunshine warm;
Far above, the snow-cloud wrapping
     Half the peak in storm!

Where are mossy carpets better
     Than the Persian weaves,
And than Eastern perfumes sweeter
     Seem the fading leaves;
And a music wild and solemn,
     From the pine-tree's height,
Rolls its vast and sea-like volume
     On the wind of night;

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Penobscot (Maine, United States) (1)

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