NOW, when the street-pent airs blow stale A longing stirs us as of yore To take the old Odyssian trail, To bend upon the trireme's oar For isléd stream and hill-bound shore; To lay aside the dirty pen For summer's blue and golden store 'Neath other skies, 'mid stranger men! Then let the rover's call prevail That opes for us the enchanted door, That bids us spread the silken sail For bays o'er which the seabirds soar, And foam-flecked rollers pitch and roar, Where nymph maybe, and mermaiden, Come beachward in the moon-rise hoar, 'Neath other skies, 'mid stranger men! Blue-eyed Calypsos, Circes pale (The sage who shuns them I abhor), These—for a fortnight—shall not fail To thrill the heart's susceptive core, To bind us with their ancient lore, Who rather like to listen when Sweet-lipped the sirens voice their score, 'Neath other skies, 'mid stranger men! ENVOY Masters, who seek the minted ore, It's only August now and then, Ah, take the Wanderer's way once more, 'Neath other skies, 'mid stranger men! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRAGMENT by GEORGE GORDON BYRON ODE TO SIMPLICITY by WILLIAM COLLINS (1721-1759) THE NIGHT [NICHT] IS NEAR [NIGH] GONE by ALEXANDER MONTGOMERIE ELEGIAC SONNET: 44. WRITTEN IN THE CHURCH YARD AT MIDDLETON IN SUSSEX by CHARLOTTE SMITH AN HYMN OF HEAVENLY BEAUTY by EDMUND SPENSER |