Here you will find thePoemJacques Cartiers First Visit To Mount Royalof poet Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon
He stood on the wood-crowned summit Of our mountain?s regal height, And gazed on the scene before him, By October?s golden light, And his dark eyes, earnest, thoughtful, Lit up with a softer ray As they dwelt on the scene of beauty That, outspread, before him lay. Like a sea of liquid silver, St. Lawrence, ?neath the sun, Reflected the forest foliage And the Indian wigwams dun, Embracing the fairy islands That its swift tide loving laves, Reposing in tranquil beauty Amid its sapphire waves. To the eastward, frowning mountains Rose in solemn grandeur still, The glittering sunlight glinting On steep and rugged hill; Whilst in the far horizon, Past leafy dell and haunt, Like a line of misty purple, Rose the dim hills of Vermont. Then Cartier?s rapt gaze wandered Where, starred with wild flowers sweet, In its gorgeous autumn beauty, Lay the forest at his feet. With red and golden glory All the foliage seemed ablaze Yet with brightness strangely softened By October?s amber haze. Around him stretched the mountain Ever lovely?ever young? Graceful, softly undulating, By tall forest trees o?erhung; ?Twas then his thought found utterance, The words ?Mont Royal? came, And thus our Royal Mountain Received its fitting name.
