Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WORLD-STRANGENESS by WILLIAM WATSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: STRANGE THE WORLD ABOUT ME LIES
Last Line: NEVER WHOLLY BEEN AT EASE.
Subject(s): ALIENATION (SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY); ESTRANGEMENT; OUTCASTS;

STRANGE the world about me lies,
Never yet familiar grown --
Still disturbs me with surprise,
Haunts me like a face half known.

In this house with starry dome,
Floored with gemlike plains and seas,
Shall I never feel at home,
Never wholly be at ease?

On from room to room I stray,
Yet my Host can ne'er espy,
And I know not to this day
Whether guest or captive I.

So, betwixt the starry dome
And the floor of plains and seas,
I have never felt at home,
Never wholly been at ease.



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