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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A HOME SONG by HENRY VAN DYKE

First Line: I READ WITHIN A POET'S BOOK
Last Line: FOR THERE THE HEART CAN REST.
Subject(s): HOME;

I READ within a poet's book
A word that starred the page:
"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage!"

Yes, that is true, and something more:
You'll find, where'er you roam,
That marble floors and gilded walls
Can never make a home.

But every house where Love abides,
And Friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home-sweet-home:
For there the heart can rest.



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