Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RETURN, by PATRICK MACGILL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RETURN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The boy came home from a foreign land
Last Line: "my son, my son, my wandering boy."
Subject(s): Home; Old Age; Sons; Wandering & Wanderers; Weariness; Fatigue


THE boy came home from a foreign land,
Weary and wan, with his staff in hand;
Five years' absence had left their trace
On golden hair, and on sunny face.
His gait was weary, his limbs were sore;
His youthful friends knew him no more.
The grey-haired padre passed him by
Unrecognised. With a heedless eye
The toll gatekeeper saw him pass and go
Up the dusty road, but in years ago,
The boy was the dearest friend he had,
But the tollman's eyes with the years grew bad.
As fair as of old 'neath her summer hat,
At the cottage door his sweetheart sat,
But the white dust rose from the road on high,
And she knew him not as he passed her by.
He entered his home with footsteps slow —
His friends forgot him, would his parents know?
"God bless you, stranger," the father cries,
But the sun shone strong in the old man's eyes.
But the mother wept on his neck with joy —
"My son, my son, my wandering boy."





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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