The Wander-Call
IT was my joy to wander,
Heaven bade my foot be free.
That I might forth and follow
The voices calling me: —
A calling from the desert;
A calling from the sea;
A calling from the Genius
Where men in cities be!
Heaven bade my foot be free.
That I might forth and follow
The voices calling me: —
A calling from the desert;
A calling from the sea;
A calling from the Genius
Where men in cities be!
The wander-winds, — they took me
By ways unknown — or known;
Through morning lands a rover —
In starlit icèd zone —
Across the condor mountains —
By austral islands lone!
The seasons rolled unheeded,
The years are past me flown!
By ways unknown — or known;
Through morning lands a rover —
In starlit icèd zone —
Across the condor mountains —
By austral islands lone!
The seasons rolled unheeded,
The years are past me flown!
And Time, and Term, and Distance —
Of these I reck no more:
Along the River Ocean,
Lies many a neighbor-shore
Whose music-languaged cities
Make murmur to my door;
And wilds primæval cluster
With pageant lands of yore!
Of these I reck no more:
Along the River Ocean,
Lies many a neighbor-shore
Whose music-languaged cities
Make murmur to my door;
And wilds primæval cluster
With pageant lands of yore!
It is with me as ever,
The Wander-Call breathes clear,
And I must forth and follow:
But now your far grows near;
And Voices from the Trackless
Are ringing in my ear, —
A calling, calling, calling
Outside this dwindled sphere!
The Wander-Call breathes clear,
And I must forth and follow:
But now your far grows near;
And Voices from the Trackless
Are ringing in my ear, —
A calling, calling, calling
Outside this dwindled sphere!