Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BALLADE OF ALL OUT-DOORS, by RALPH P. PERRY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BALLADE OF ALL OUT-DOORS, by                    
First Line: When the sky is getting mellow, and the
Last Line: For its all out-doors a-callin' to its own.
Subject(s): Pleasure; Travel; Journeys; Trips


WHEN the sky is gettin' mellow, and the musty, damp earth-smell
Is mountin' up like whiskey in your brain;
When you feel that things are growin', and you watch the gutters swell
With the heavy snow of winter that is melting once again:
Do ye smell your old camp-fire? Do ye feel the outland rain?
Do ye hear the call o' camps that you have known?
If ye do, ye'd best obey it, for you'll fight with it in vain—
For it's all out-doors a-callin' to its own.

Ah, the blue, fine days o' summer when the sail is drawin' well,
And the buckin' mast is creakin' with the strain;
When the combers singin' westward seem to have a tale to tell
And you listen to their whisper—but they will not say it plain.
In the leisure of the doldrums, in the silence of the main,
The meanin' of their murmur came to us, and us alone—
We thought it was the sea or sky—'twas stronger than the twain,
For it's all out-doors a-callin' to its own.

Have you tramped upon the uplands before the cloud-burst fell
When that heavy hush was weighin' on the plain?
Was it there you learned the urgin' that makes you say farewell
When the spring-time comes a-rollin' round again?
You buck against the cloud-burst, and your joy is mostly pain,
But you wouldn't swap the pleasure for a throne!
The reason you can understand, but no one can explain—
For it's all out-doors a-callin' to its own.

Envoi

Mate, we've traveled on the mountains, beneath the stars we've lain
In the learnin' of this lesson that we've shown—
And we hear the voices callin', and we've got to go again,
For its all out-doors a-callin' to its own.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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