Down the rocky slopes and passes
Of the everlasting hills
Murmur low the crystal waters
Of a thousand tiny rills;
Bearing from a lofty glacier
To the valley, far below,
Health and strength for every creature,—
’Tis for them “He giveth snow.”
On thy streamlet’s brink the wild deer
Prints with timid foot the moss;
To thy side the sparrow nestles,—
Mountain of the Holy Cross!
Pure and white amid the heavens
God hath set His glorious sign:
Symbol of a world’s deliverance,
Promise of a life divine.