Clark Ashton Smith

January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961

The Hill-Top

Alone upon my hill-top,
After the ravelled rains,
I see the cloudy mountains,
I see the misty plains.

Fair is my hill, and rugged,
Where silken grasses grow,
And the drifted clouds go by me
More soft than woven snow.

The pale fantastic lichens
Make patterns on the stone,
And the oaks are old and dwarfèd
With golden mosses grown.

Beneath the ancient boulders
There dwells the shadowy fern;
And here the twisted pine-trees
To shapes of beauty turn.

I wander through the seasons
With thoughts of love and grief
That fall with the flowers of springtime
Or blow with the autumn leaf.

Between the plains and mountains,
Between the clouds and grass,
I find the dreams that linger,
And the fairer dreams that pass.
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