In this roadstead I have ridden In this covert I have hidden Friendly thoughts were cliffs to me And I hid beneath their lea. This true people took the stranger And warm hearted housed the ranger They received their roving guest, And have fed him with the best Whatsoe'er the land afforded To the stranger's wish accorded, Shook the olive, stripped the vine, And expressed the strengthening wine. And at night they did spread o'er him What by day they spread before him, That good-will which was repast Was his covering at last. The stranger moored him to their pier Without anxiety or fear; By day he walked the sloping land, By night the gentle heavens he scanned. When first his bark stood inland To the coast of this far Finland, Sweet-watered brooks came tumbling to the shore The weary mariner to restore. And still he stayed from day to day If he their kindness might repay But more and more The sullen waves came rolling to the shore. And still the more the stranger waited The less his argosy was freighted, And still the more he stayed The less his debt was paid. So He unfurled his mast To receive the fragrant blast, And that same refreshing gale Which had woo'd him to remain Again and again -- It was that filled his sail And drove him to the main. All day the low hung clouds Dropt tears into the sea And the wind amid the shrouds Sighed plaintively. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FROM THE WOOLWORTH TOWER by SARA TEASDALE SPRING by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY AUTUMN by GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE PINE TREES by MAXWELL BODENHEIM WHY NOT? (WITH APOLOGIES TO WILLIAM KNOX) by BERTON BRALEY THE WANDERER: 1. IN ITALY: THE STORM by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |