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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO AN ISLAND PRINCESS, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Since long ago, a child at home Last Line: Tantira, tahiti, nov. 5, 1888. Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour Subject(s): Islands Of The Pacific; Nature; Tahiti; Travel; Oceania; Journeys; Trips | |||
SINCE long ago, a child at home, I read and longed to rise and roam, Where'er I went, whate'er I willed, One promised land my fancy filled. Hence the long roads my home I made; Tossed much in ships: have often laid Below the uncurtained sky my head, Rain-deluged and wind-buffeted: And many a thousand hills I crossed And corners turned -- Love's labour lost, Till, Lady, to your isle of sun I came, not hoping; and, like one Snatched out of blindness, rubbed my eyes, And hailed my promised land with cries. Yes, Lady, here I was at last; Here found I all I had forecast: The long roll of the sapphire sea That keeps the land's virginity; The stalwart giants of the wood Laden with toys and flowers and food; The precious forest pouring out To compass the whole town about; The town itself with streets of lawn, Loved of the moon, blessed by the dawn, Where the brown children all the day Keep up a ceaseless noise of play, Play in the sun, play in the rain, Nor ever quarrel or complain; -- And late at night, in the woods of fruit, Hark! do you hear the passing flute? I threw one look to either hand, And knew I was in Fairyland. And yet one point of being so, I lacked. For, Lady (as you know), Whoever by his might of hand Won entrance into Fairyland, Found always with admiring eyes A Fairy princess kind and wise. It was not long I waited; soon Upon my threshold, in broad noon, Fair and helpful, wise and good, The Fairy Princess Moe stood. TANTIRA, TAHITI, Nov. 5, 1888. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING A GOOD PLAY by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON |
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