Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE HOMECOMING OF THE BRIDE, by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HOMECOMING OF THE BRIDE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Sarah greenleaf, of eighteen years
Last Line: On the barn floor pealed the smiting flail.
Subject(s): Brides; Grandparents; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers


SARAH GREENLEAF, of eighteen years,
Stepped lightly her bridegroom's boat within,
Waving mid-river, through smiles and tears,
A farewell back to her kith and kin.
With her sweet blue eyes and her new gold gown,
She sat by her stalwart lover's side --
Oh, never was brought to Haverhill town
By land or water so fair a bride.
Glad as the glad autumnal weather,
The Indian summer so soft and warm,
They walked through the golden woods together,
His arm the girdle about her form.

They passed the dam and the gray gristmill,
Whose walls with the jar of grinding shook,
And crossed, for the moment a wed and still,
The haunted bridge of the Country Brook.
The great oaks seemed on Job's Hill crown
To wave in welcome their branches strong,
And an upland streamlet came rippling down
Over root and rock, like a bridal song.
And lo! in the midst of a clearing stood
The rough-built farmhouse, low and lone,
While all about it the unhewn wood
Seemed drawing closer to claim its own.

But the red apples dropped from orchard trees,
The red cock crowed on the low fence rail,
From the garden hives came the sound of bees,
On the barn floor pealed the smiting flail.





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