Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CORNISH WIND by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS

Poet Analysis

First Line: THERE IS A WIND IN CORNWALL THAT I KNOW
Last Line: A WIND IN ENGLAND LIKE MY CORNISH WIND.
Subject(s): CORNWALL, ENGLAND; WIND;
THERE is a wind in Cornwall that I know
From any other wind, because it smells
Of the warm honey breath of heather-bells
And of the sea's salt; and these meet and flow
With such sweet savour in such sharpness met
That the astonished sense in ecstasy
Tastes the ripe earth and the unvintaged sea.
Wind out of Cornwall, wind, if I forget:
Not in the tunnelled streets where scarce men breathe
The air they live by, but whatever seas
Blossom in foam, wherever merchant bees
Volubly traffic upon any heath:
If I forget, shame me! or if I find
A wind in England like my Cornish wind.



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