Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHERE-AWAY, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: O the lands of where-away! Last Line: Find in lands of where-away! Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Children; Fantasy; Flowers; Kisses; Childhood | ||||||||
O THE Lands of Where-Away! Tell us -- tell us -- where are they? Through the darkness and the dawn We have journeyed on and on -- From the cradle to the cross -- From possession unto loss. -- Seeking still, from day to day, For the Lands of Where-Away. When our baby-feet were first Planted where the daisies burst, And the greenest grasses grew In the fields we wandered through, -- On, with childish discontent, Ever on and on we went, Hoping still to pass, some day, O'er the verge of Where-Away. Roses laid their velvet lips On our own, with fragrant sips; But their kisses held us not, All their sweetness we forgot; -- Though the brambles in our track Plucked at us to hold us back -- "Just ahead," we used to say, "Lie the Lands of Where-Away." Children at the pasture-bars, Through the dusk, like glimmering stars, Waved their hands that we should bide With them over eventide: Down the dark their voices failed Falteringly, as they hailed, And died into yesterday -- Night ahead and -- Where-Away? Twining arms about us thrown -- Warm caresses, all our own, Can but stay us for a spell -- Love hath little new to tell To the soul in need supreme, Aching ever with the dream Of the endless bliss it may Find in Lands of Where-Away! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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