I know ’tis but a loom of land, <br /> Yet is it land, and so I will rejoice, <br />I know I cannot hear His voice <br /> Upon the shore, nor see Him stand; <br /> Yet is it land, ho! land. <br /> <br /> The land! the land! the lovely land! <br />‘Far off,’ dost say? Far off—ah, blessèd home! <br />Farewell! farewell! thou salt sea-foam! <br /> Ah, keel upon the silver sand— <br /> Land, ho! land. <br /> <br /> You cannot see the land, my land, <br />You cannot see, and yet the land is there— <br />My land, my land, through murky air— <br /> I did not say ’twas close at hand— <br /> But—land, ho! land. <br /> <br /> Dost hear the bells of my sweet land, <br />Dost hear the kine, dost hear the merry birds? <br />No voice, ’tis true, no spoken words, <br /> No tongue that thou may’st understand— <br /> Yet is it land, ho! land. <br /> <br /> It’s clad in purple mist, my land, <br />In regal robe it is apparellèd, <br />A crown is set upon its head, <br /> And on its breast a golden band— <br /> Land, ho! land. <br /> <br /> Dost wonder that I long for land? <br />My land is not a land as others are— <br />Upon its crest there beams a star, <br /> And lilies grow upon the strand— <br /> Land, ho! land. <br /> <br /> Give me the helm! there is the land! <br />Ha! lusty mariners, she takes the breeze! <br />And what my spirit sees it sees— <br /> Leap, bark, as leaps the thunderbrand— <br /> Land, ho! land.<br /><br />Thomas Edward Brown<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/land-ho/
