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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HOMESICKNESS, by HENRY BELLAMANN Poet's Biography First Line: There is a land so far away Last Line: I must go back. Subject(s): Homesickness | |||
There is a land so far away, Almost it seems never to have been. There are dull rocks And the brown flanks of barren hills. There a listless stream Waits in the shallows, Nor desires the sea. Old walls are rooted deep, And gaunt houses sit upon their haunches Like starved animals; Sometimes their hollow windows Show a wolfish gleam In the heavy dark. But I am kin to it. The old-wife hills, I am close kin to them. Here the cloudy light Circles on crystalline peaks, And the soft fall of satin petals Stirs wide eddies of perfume In the emerald pools Of walled gardens. Here the delicate accent Of bright waters And the cadenced music Of a gentle tongue Float upon the air And curl themselves in silence As late sunlight Fades in deep rivers. The grapes have purpled many times Against that wall. I know the fountain's legend now By heart; The story of this gracious land Is told. Those harsh, time-eaten hills, Like peasant women, stooped and shawled, They crouch as though to warm themselves together; They wait, as peasant women wait, For their own sons. I must go back to them; I must go back. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLAINT OF THE DISGUSTED BRITON IN THE STATES by GEORGE SANTAYANA OUTSIDE FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA by JAMES WRIGHT HOME-THOUGHTS, FROM ABROAD by ROBERT BROWNING MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME by STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER HOMESICK BLUES by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES SEVEN TIMES SEVEN [- LONGING FOR HOME] by JEAN INGELOW SONNET: TO L.T. IN FLORENCE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |
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