The shades of night were falling fast, <br />As through an Alpine village passed <br />A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, <br />A banner with the strange device, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />His brow was sad; his eye beneath, <br />Flashed like a falchion from its sheath, <br />And like a silver clarion rung <br />The accents of that unknown tongue, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />In happy homes he saw the light <br />Of household fires gleam warm and bright; <br />Above, the spectral glaciers shone, <br />And from his lips escaped a groan, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />"Try not the Pass!" the old man said: <br />"Dark lowers the tempest overhead, <br />The roaring torrent is deep and wide! <br />And loud that clarion voice replied, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />"Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest <br />Thy weary head upon this breast!" <br />A tear stood in his bright blue eye, <br />But still he answered, with a sigh, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />"Beware the pine-tree's withered branch! <br />Beware the awful avalanche!" <br />This was the peasant's last Good-night, <br />A voice replied, far up the height, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />At break of day, as heavenward <br />The pious monks of Saint Bernard <br />Uttered the oft-repeated prayer, <br />A voice cried through the startled air, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />A traveller, by the faithful hound, <br />Half-buried in the snow was found, <br />Still grasping in his hand of ice <br />That banner with the strange device, <br /> Excelsior! <br /> <br />There in the twilight cold and gray, <br />Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay, <br />And from the sky, serene and far, <br />A voice fell, like a falling star, <br /> Excelsior!<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/excelsior/
