Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN OLD WOMAN OF THE ROADS, by PADRAIC COLUM


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN OLD WOMAN OF THE ROADS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: O, to have a little house!
Last Line: Out of the wind's and the rain's way.
Subject(s): Home; Wandering & Wanderers; Wanderlust; Vagabonds; Tramps; Hoboes


O, to have a little house,
To own the hearth and stool and all--
The heaped-up sods upon the fire,
The pile of turf against the wall!

To have a clock with weights and chains,
And pendulum swinging up and down!
A dresser filled with shining delph,
Speckled and white and blue and brown!

I could be busy all the day
Clearing and sweeping hearth and floor,
And fixing on their shelf again
My white and blue and speckled store.

I could be quiet there at night
Beside the fire and by myself,
Sure of a bed, and loth to leave
The ticking clock and shining delph.

Och but I'm weary of mist and dark,
And roads where there's never a house or bush,
And tired I am of bog and road,
And the crying wind and the lonesome hush:

And I am praying to God on high,
And I am praying Him night and day,
For a little house--a house of my own--
Out of the wind's and the rain's way.





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