Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WEST, by EDWIN MUIR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WEST, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: We followed them into the west
Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips


We followed them into the west,
And left them there, and said good-bye. For now
We could go no farther, could not step one step
Beyond the little earthen mound that hid
Their traces from us; for this was an end.
It was as if the west had ended there.
And yet we knew another west ran on,
A west beyond the west, and towards it travelled
Those we had followed to this stopping place.
So we returned by the east and north and south
To our own homes, remembering sometimes there,
Sometimes forgetting, thinking yet not thinking,
Bound by the ancient custom of our country.
But from the east newcomers constantly
Pour in among us, mix with us, pass through us,
And travel towards the west; and that migration
Has been from the beginning, it is said,
And long before men's memory it was woven
Into the tranquil pattern of our lives.
And that great movement like a quiet river,
Which always flowing yet is always the same,
Begets a stillness. So that when we look
Out at our life we see a changeless landscape,
And all disposed there in its due proportion,
The young and old, the good and bad, the wise and foolish,
All these are there as if they had been for ever,
And motionless as statues, prototypes
Set beyond time, for whom the sun stands still.
And each day says in its passing, "This is all." -
While the unhurrying progress goes its way,
And we upon it, year by year by year,
Led through the endless stations of the sun.
There are no aborigines in our country,
But all came hither so, and shall leave so,
Even as these friends we followed to their west.
And yet this is a land, and we say "Now",
Say "Now" and "Here", and are in our own house.





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