AH! often when coming from labour, When I hear the children play, There rises within me a vision Of the school-house far away -- The old, dark, humble school-house, That stood by the little stream That babbled and splash'd in the sunshine, Or slipp'd into pools to dream. And, again, as I think of my childhood, And its circle of sunny land, Comes the wish to stand by that streamlet, As of old I used to stand -- Just to listen again to its murmurs As I did in that early time, When my life -- before and behind me -- Had the ring of a poet's rhyme: Or to stand on the bridge with the children, And give one long, deep shout, That might sweep from my bosom's chamber The dust of manhood out. For I weary and fret at the knowledge This manhood has brought to me, And forever look back with a longing To the glory that used to be. But vain is that pent-up yearning, And wish for the summer gleam That ran through my young existence, Like the plot through a fairy's dream. It has sunk away as the sunshine May fade from the breast of a hill, And the shadow that now is around me Is misty and drear and chill. But still, when I come from my labour, If I hear the children play, Then my heart goes back to the school-house And the village far away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A GUY I KNOW ON 47TH AND COTTAGE by CLARENCE MAJOR TO FLUSH, MY DOG by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING A THUNDERSTORM IN TOWN by THOMAS HARDY SONNET: 23. ON HIS DECEASED WIFE by JOHN MILTON THE CLOUD by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 47. AL-HAKIM by EDWIN ARNOLD FOUR SONNETS: 3 by FRANK DAVIS ASHBURN SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 31. A QUESTION by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |