Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A SONG OF TWO HOUSES, by WILSON PUGSLEY MACDONALD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A SONG OF TWO HOUSES, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'm going up where a poor man dwells
Last Line: The lonely heart of sorrow.


I'M going up where a poor man dwells
In a log house on a side-road
Where no one thinks of going.
I'll find my way by the gay bluebells,
And, when it's dark, by the asphodels
That like white stars on the side-road
Through deeps of gloom are glowing.
The poor man's house has a single chair;
Its floors are hard and its walls are bare,
And the only wealth that you'll find there
Is a cup of wisdom flowing.

I'm going up to a rich man's door,
To a stone house on the high-road
Where marble steps are shining.
I'll find my way by the blatant horn,
The vineyard's purple, the yellow corn,
To the stone house on the high-road
Where I at noon am dining.
The rich man's house has carven glass
And candlesticks of heavy brass
And carpets soft as summer grass
And walls of rare designing.

But should the dawn of a sad day break
On my cold heart, on my tired soul,
To-day or yet to-morrow,
I know whose bread my hands will break;
I know whose gifts I'll gladly take
To my cold heart and my tired soul
If I have need to borrow.
The rich man can all things command,
But all his gifts are in his hand,
And seldom can he understand
The lonely heart of sorrow.





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