Montreal

SPRUNG from the hope of noble hearts,
Brought into being through sacrifice
Of men and women who played their parts,
And counted not their lives as the price.
She has grown in her strength like a Northern Queen,
'Neath her crown of light and her robe of snow,
And stands in her beauty fair, between
The Royal Mount and the River below.

Changing its hue with the changing skies,
The river flows in its beauty rare ;
While across the plain eternal, rise
Boucherville, Rougemont, and St Hilaire.
Far to the westward lies Lachine,
Gate of the Orient long ago,
When the virgin forest swept between
The Royal Mount and the River below.

With its convent buildings low and white
Nun's Island lies, half wood, half plain :
While abreast of the city, green and bright
Springs the wooded crest of Ste. Helene.
In the east the shimmer of waves is seen,
Where the River spreads in its onward flow
From the Royal City that lies between
The Royal Mount and the River below.