Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HOME, SWEET HOME WITH VARIATIONS: 5. OLIVER GOLDSMITH, by HENRY CUYLER BUNNER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HOME, SWEET HOME WITH VARIATIONS: 5. OLIVER GOLDSMITH, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Home! At the word, what blissful visions rise
Last Line: His pristine peace of mind's his final prayer.
Subject(s): Goldsmith, Oliver (1730-1774)


(As it might have been constructed in 1744, Oliver Goldsmith, at 19, writing
the first stanza, and Alexander Pope, at 52, the second.)

HOME! at the word, what blissful visions rise,
Lift us from earth, and draw us toward the skies;
'Mid mirag'd towers, or meretricious joys,
Although we roam, one thought the mind employs:
Or lowly hut, good friend, or loftiest dome,
Earth knows no spot so holy as our Home.
There, where affection warms the father's breast,
There is the spot of heav'n most surely blest.
Howe'er we search, though wandering with the wind
Through frigid Zembla, or the heats of Ind,
Not elsewhere may we seek, nor elsewhere know,
The light of heaven upon our dark below.

When from our dearest hope and haven reft,
Delight nor dazzles, nor is luxury left,
We long, obedient to our nature's law,
To see again our hovel thatched with straw:
See birds that know our avenaceous store
Stoop to our hand, and thence repleted soar:
But, of all hopes the wanderer's soul that share,
His pristine peace of mind's his final prayer.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net