ARRIVAL
by: Henry van Dyke (1852-1933)
- CROSS a thousand miles of sea,
a hundred leagues of land,
- Along a path I had not traced and could not understand,
- I travelled fast and far for this, -- to take thee by the
hand.
-
- A pilgrim knowing not the shrine where he would bend his
knee,
- A mariner without a dream of what his port would be,
- So fared I with a seeking heart until I came to thee.
-
- O cooler than a grove of palm in some heat-weary place,
- O fairer than an isle of calm after the wild sea race,
- The quiet room adorned with flowers where first I saw thy
face!
-
- Then furl the sail, let fall the oar, forget the paths of
foam!
- The Power that made me wander far at last has brought me
home
- To thee, dear haven of my heart, and I no more will roam.
"Arrival" is reprinted
from The White Bees and Other Poems. Henry van Dyke. New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909. |
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POEMS BY HENRY VAN DYKE |
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