SISTERS, little country roads I knew and loved, Long and long ago and far away, Where the rosy lumps of children roll their hoops and play After school, Till the west ripples pink and the fields breathe cool And their mothers in the dooryards call them home, (Emeline! Ora! May!) Sisters, little country roads I knew and loved, -- In childhood (that's the time to roam) The Autumn Road that winds up over the hill To the hazy sun; The Tangly Road where the brown-lace carrots flute Their cup-shaped hands; The Forsaken Road where the barberries frill The lonely fences With shrivels of beady red; The Orchard Lane by the clear-faced brook to the cider mill Where the joking old men toddle With their gleanings in a sack, (The familiar hopeful look Of the gnurly faded back!) The Green Road, ferny-smelling, -- It drifts through the silent wood Like a meditating girl; -- All ye friendly Paths and Country Places, Alive and different like human folk, (One of you had a bird-blue cloak Of cunning wings and leaves, And oh, the whispering bonnet woven Of teasel-cones and glistery sheaves!) Sisters, little country roads I knew and loved, Knew your names so long ago and far away, I who am in exile and a worldling, changed, ah, changed; I remember and I envy each of you! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DISDAIN RETURNED by THOMAS CAREW THE GOUTY MERCHANT AND THE STRANGER by HORACE SMITH RAILWAY DREAMINGS by ALEXANDER ANDERSON CAPITAL SQUARE by PATRICK JOHN MCALISTER ANDERSON THE WATERS OF H. BAPTISME by JOSEPH BEAUMONT EUTERPE by LUCIUS MORRIS BEEBE |