Day after day as I follow the plow, Breaking the Western plain, Glamorous names of the far and strange Weave an alluring refrain. Romance and charm of adventure afar, Countries that beckon and shine, Days that dissolve with the sheen of a pearl Melting in golden wine. Singapore and Samarkand, Bagdad, and far Cathay; Secret gardens in Trebizond, Schooners in Bengal Bay. Prairie clear to the sky-rim, No water, and never a tree. Yet the whispering fronds of the beckoning palms Wait by a slumbering sea. Singing syllables that lure, Beauty, Romance, Love— Long ago far other words Did once their magic prove. Pahasapa and Dakota, Slow Missouri's turgid flow, Red Cloud sitting by his wigwam, Bear Lodge drifting deep in snow. Ah! Romance dwells in lilting names If you are far away; How soon the place dispells the charm When once you have to stay! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FACADE: 1. PERE AMELOT by EDITH SITWELL PRISONED IN WINDSOR, HE RECOUNTETH HIS PLEASURE THERE PASSED by HENRY HOWARD THE MASK OF ANARCHY; WRITTEN ON OCCASION OF MASSACRE AT MANCHESTER by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE PEN by GHALIB IBN RIBAH AL-HAJJAM THE BURIED LIFE by MATTHEW ARNOLD A SONG OF SUN SETTING by JANE BARLOW |