  On Bancroft height Aurora's face Shines brighter than a star, As stepping forth in dewy grace, The gates of day unbar; And lo! the firmament, the hills, And the vales that intervene— Creation's self with gladness thrills To greet the matin queen. On Bancroft height the atmosphere Is but an endless waft Of life's elixir, pure and clear As mortal ever quaffed; And such the sweet salubrity Of air and altitude, Is banished many a malady And suffering subdued. When day departing dies Outrivals all that tourists know Of famed Italian skies; And happy dwellers round about Who view the scene aright In admiration grow devout And laud the Lord of light. Round Bancroft height rich memories Commingle earth's affairs, Among the world's celebrities, Of him whose name it bears; The scholar-wise compatriot Who left to later men The grand achievements unforgot Of that historic pen. Fair Bancroft height revisited When all the land is white, A halo crowns its noble head Impelling fresh delight; The daring wish in winter-time The blizzard to defy Those shining slippery slopes to climb Up nearer to the sky. With buffetings of snow, He gives a vigor that the weak And languid never know; And with rejuvenescent thrill, Like children everywhere, Bestirs the rhapsody, the will To make a snow-man there. On Bancroft height and Bancroft tower Such vistas charm the eye 'Twere life's consummate, glorious hour But to behold—and die; Yet in the sparkle and the glow Is earth so very fair The spirit lingers, loath to go, And dreams of heaven—up there. |
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