Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE VOICE OF HOME TO THE PRODIGAL, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Oh! When wilt thou return Last Line: Oh! When wilt thou return? Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea Subject(s): Homecoming; Prodigal Son | ||||||||
OH! when wilt thou return To thy spirit's early loves? To the freshness of the morn, To the stillness of the groves? The summer birds are calling Thy household porch around, And the merry waters falling With sweet laughter in their sound. And a thousand bright-veined flowers, From their banks of moss and fern, Breathe of the sunny hours -- But when wilt thou return? Oh! thou hast wandered long From thy home without a guide; And thy native woodland song In thine altered heart hath died. Thou hast flung the wealth away, And the glory of thy spring; And to thee the leaves' light play Is a long-forgotten thing. But when wilt thou return? -- Sweet dews may freshen soon The flower, within whose urn Too fiercely gazed the noon. O'er the image of the sky, Which the lake's clear bosom wore, Darkly may shadows lie -- But not for evermore. Give back thy heart again To the freedom of the woods, To the bird's triumphant strain, To the mountain solitudes! But when wilt thou return? Along thine own pure air There are young sweet voices borne -- Oh! should not thine be there? Still at thy father's board There is kept a place for thee; And, by the smile restored, Joy round the hearth shall be. Still hath thy mother's eye, Thy coming step to greet, A look of days gone by, Tender and gravely sweet. Still, when the prayer is said, For thee kind bosoms yearn, For thee fond tears are shed -- Oh! when wilt thou return? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PENITENT by ROWLAND EYLES EGERTON-WARBURTON A BOOK OF DREAMS by GEORGE MACDONALD SELF-PORTRAIT WITH SASKIA: THE PRODIGAL SON IN THE TAVERN by STEPHEN FRECH PRODIGAL SON by WILLIAM STANLEY MERWIN A DIRGE (1) by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS ARABELLA STUART by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS BERNARDO DEL CARPIO by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS CASABIANCA by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS ENGLAND'S DEAD by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS EVENING SONG OF THE TYROLESE PEASANTS by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS |
|