OH fair to be, oh sweet to be In fancy's shallop faring free, With silken sail and fairy mast To float till all the world be past! Oh happy fortune, on and on To wander far till care be gone, Round beetling capes, to unknown seas, Seeking the fair Hesperides! But is there any land or sea Where toil and trouble cease to be -- Some dim, unfound, diviner shore, Where men may sin and mourn no more? Ah, not the feeling, but the sky We change, however far we fly; How swift soe'er our bark may speed, Faster the blessed isles recede. Nay, best it is at home to find Food for the labouring heart and mind, And take, since thus the world grows fair, Duty and pleasure everywhere. Oh well-worn road, oh homely way, Where pace our footsteps, day by day, The homestead and the church which bound The tranquil seasons' circling round! Ye hold experiences which reach Depths which no change of skies can teach, The saintly thought, the secret strife Which guide, which do perturb our life. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE WHEEL OF BEING I by HAYDEN CARRUTH ISOLATION by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON JULY IN GEORGY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE TOURNAMENT by SIDNEY LANIER SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: JONAS KEENE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE NEW APOCRYPHA: BUSINESS REVERSES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |