Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE WANDERER by EUGENE FIELD

Poet Analysis

First Line: UPON A MOUNTAIN HEIGHT, FAR FROM THE SEA
Last Line: SING, O MY HOME! SING, O MY HOME, OF THEE!
Subject(s): NATURE; PATRIOTISM; WANDERING & WANDERERS; WANDERLUST; VAGABONDS; TRAMPS; HOBOES;

UPON a mountain height, far from the sea,
I found a shell;
And to my listening ear this lonely thing
Ever a song of ocean seemed to sing, --
Ever a tale of ocean seemed to tell.

How came this shell upon the mountain height?
Ah, who can say
Whether there dropped by some too careless hand,
Whether there cast when oceans swept the land,
Ere the Eternal had ordained the day?

Strange, was it not? Far from its native deep,
One song it sang:
Sang of the awful mysteries of the tide,
Sang of the storied sea, profound and wide, --
Ever with echoes of old ocean rang.

And as the shell upon the mountain height
Sang of the sea,
So do I ever, leagues and leagues away,
So do I ever, wandering where I may,
Sing, O my home! sing, O my home, of thee!



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