Tuesday, February 10, 2009

San Luis Obispo, CA (Longfellow)

Often I think of the beautiful town
That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town,
And my youth comes back to me.
And a verse of a Lapland song
Is haunting my memory still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

I can see the shadowy lines of its trees,
And catch, in sudden gleams,
The sheen of the far-surrounding seas,
And islands that were the Hesperides
Of all my boyish dreams.
And the burden of that old song,
It murmurs and whispers still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

(skip some of the poem)

I remember the gleams and glooms that dart
Across the school-boy's brain;
The song and the silence in the heart,
That in part are prophecies, and in part
Are longings wild and vain.
And the voice of that fitful song
Sings on, and is never still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

There are things of which I may not speak;
There are dreams that cannot die;
There are thoughts that make the strong heart weak,
And bring a pallor into the cheek,
And a mist before the eye.
And the words of that fatal song
Come over me like a chill:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

Strange to me now are the forms I meet
When I visit the dear old town;
But the native air is pure and sweet,
And the trees that o'ershadow each well-known street,
As they balance up and down,
Are singing the beautiful song,
Are sighing and whispering still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

And Deering's Woods are fresh and fair,
And with joy that is almost pain
My heart goes back to wander there,
And among the dreams of the days that were,
I find my lost youth again.
And the strange and beautiful song,
The groves are repeating it still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."

2 comments:

  1. IT'S a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries;
    I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.
    For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills.
    And April's in the west wind, and daffodils.
    It's a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine,
    Apple orchards blossom there, and the air's like wine.
    There is cool green grass there, where men may lie at rest,
    And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from the nest.
    "Will ye not come home brother? ye have been long away,
    It's April, and blossom time, and white is the may;
    And bright is the sun brother, and warm is the rain,--
    Will ye not come home, brother, home to us again?
    "The young corn is green, brother, where the rabbits run.
    It's blue sky, and white clouds, and warm rain and sun.
    It's song to a man's soul, brother, fire to a man's brain,
    To hear the wild bees and see the merry spring again.
    "Larks are singing in the west, brother, above the green wheat,
    So will ye not come home, brother, and rest your tired feet?
    I've a balm for bruised hearts, brother, sleep for aching eyes,"
    Says the warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries.
    It's the white road westwards is the road I must tread
    To the green grass, the cool grass, and rest for heart and head,
    To the violets, and the warm hearts, and the thrushes' song,
    In the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong.
    John Masefield
    -sister

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  2. both of those made sad...i miss having friends.

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