Monadnock through the Trees
The speaker addresses a calm, towering presence that stood above ancestral evergreens before human beings existed and before Egypt’s monumental tombs were built. It has endured through remote ages, including the time when the first Assyrians marched south to war. Even after humanity learns to see beyond itself and judges its own best and worst achievements, the presence’s calm will remain unchanged.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1916 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Nature Poetry, Philosophical Poetry · 123 words
First lines
BEFORE there was in Egypt any sound
Of those who reared a more prodigious means
For the self-heavy sleep of kings and queens
Than hitherto had mocked the most renowned, -
What this Textopian page supports
Monadnock through the Trees is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1916 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Nature Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Meditative Poetry, Sonnet
- Length: 123 words
- Structure: 1 section, 12 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)
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- Work identity for Monadnock through the Trees by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a compact, reflective poem centered on a single elevated perception of Mount Monadnock and expressed through concentrated imagery and musical verse.
- Nature Poetry — Mount Monadnock, the ancestral evergreens, and the landscape's enduring presence are the poem's central subjects and symbolic materials.
- Philosophical Poetry — The poem contemplates mortality, historical change, human limitation, and the contrast between transient civilization and enduring natural reality.
- Meditative Poetry — Its mode is contemplative rather than narrative, dwelling on the mountain's calm permanence across vast stretches of human time.
Tags
poetry collection · American poetry · modernist poetry · lyric poetry · narrative poetry · philosophical poetry · psychological insight · melancholy · isolation · mortality · human relationships · small-town life