Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


I WANT THE HORIZON by THEODORA BATES COGSWELL

First Line: THAT BRIEF HILL SLOPE UPREARS SO CLOSE!
Last Line: DRAW HOME MY HEART!
Subject(s): COUNTRY LIFE; EARTH; SEA; WORLD; OCEAN;

That brief hill slope uprears so close!
The houses of this suburb lie
So near that here I cannot see
Where, restful in immensity,
Earth meets the sky.

I know some love their crowded towns,
The close-built streets' tumultuous press --
And others crave a valley-fold,
Green-girt by cloud-topped heights that hold
Hushed loveliness.

But I was born of wild sea-kin --
And far and broad my glance must go
To prairie rim, to desert verge,
Or past wind-marshalled ranks of surge
Where strong tides flow.

Oh for a table-land of life!
To pause thereon, upborne, apart
From dull, insistent, petty ways
And let the soft horizon haze
Draw home my heart!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net