THE miner delves in caverns of the earth Away from God's dear light, from everything That breedeth joy and hope and wholesome mirth. Ah, heaven, how fair the change, how good to spring Into the open, after dark and dearth! The sailor gasps upon a sullen sea, Shipwrecked, half mad for water, dying there; Yet all the brine is but a mockery, And devils leer along the burning air. Then, rain! how all-divine that drink must be! One, a world wanderer, drifts from strand to strand For heedless years, -- but then is fain to roam No more; he longs to clasp some kinsman's hand, To sleep in sacred chambers of his home. How blest the day he hails the loved, lost land! But neither light, nor drink, nor home ways stir Such rare delight, such infinite keen bliss In them, as comes to me, a worshiper Of music, when I hear it yearn and kiss: Life thrills, grows luminous-large, smells sweet with balm and myrrh. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SIR JOHN FRANKLIN; ON THE CENTOTAPH IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY by ALFRED TENNYSON MY VERY PARTICULAR FRIEND by MARIA ABDY AGAMEMNON: THE SACRIFICE OF IPHIGENIA. CHORUS by AESCHYLUS THE APPROACH OF LOVE by LOUIS ARAGON SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 48 by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |