I cannot sleep when sunrise comes to wake My blue Missouri hills, for there I see Each day the beauty of eternity. Light runs too fast for me to overtake, But I will trail its footsteps while I wake. @3Sometimes I hear the beat Of early settlers' feet Along forgotten roads; And where two rivers meet, The "voyageurs" slip by With sudden warning cry; With glad and gallant song, The "voyageurs" slip by@1. I live and grow beneath Missouri trees. They draw me closer to the heart of earth; They make me one with every seedling's birth, With those remote, those age-old mysteries That dwell within the bark of living trees. @3Sometimes I hear them pass Across the meadow grass, Between the old oak trees. I see our grandsires pass -- Missourians who sought By word and deed and thought To mold a splendid State; For this they fought. Missouri gave them rest, They lie within her breast, Their children's children tread The paths their feet have pressed@1. When night comes down to dim the sunset skies And those bright lands beyond the evening star, My heart turns back from visions, vast and far; My homing heart turns back where evening lies On these dark hills beneath Missouri skies. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: J. MILTON MILES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS PLAINT OF THE DISGUSTED BRITON IN THE STATES by GEORGE SANTAYANA THE WINE OF NIGHT by LOUIS UNTERMEYER ON AN INTAGLIO HEAD OF MINERVA (1) by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |