| Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917. |
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| 151. Land, Ho! |
| By Thomas Edward Brown (1830–1897) |
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| I KNOW ’tis but a loom of land, | |
| Yet is it land, and so I will rejoice, | |
| I know I cannot hear His voice | |
| Upon the shore, nor see Him stand; | |
| Yet is it land, ho! land. | 5 |
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| The land! the land! the lovely land! | |
| ‘Far off,’ dost say? Far off—ah, blessèd home! | |
| Farewell! farewell! thou salt sea-foam! | |
| Ah, keel upon the silver sand— | |
| Land, ho! land. | 10 |
| |
| You cannot see the land, my land, | |
| You cannot see, and yet the land is there— | |
| My land, my land, through murky air— | |
| I did not say ’twas close at hand— | |
| But—land, ho! land. | 15 |
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| Dost hear the bells of my sweet land, | |
| Dost hear the kine, dost hear the merry birds? | |
| No voice, ’tis true, no spoken words, | |
| No tongue that thou may’st understand— | |
| Yet is it land, ho! land. | 20 |
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| It’s clad in purple mist, my land, | |
| In regal robe it is apparellèd, | |
| A crown is set upon its head, | |
| And on its breast a golden band— | |
| Land, ho! land. | 25 |
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| Dost wonder that I long for land? | |
| My land is not a land as others are— | |
| Upon its crest there beams a star, | |
| And lilies grow upon the strand— | |
| Land, ho! land. | 30 |
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| Give me the helm! there is the land! | |
| Ha! lusty mariners, she takes the breeze! | |
| And what my spirit sees it sees— | |
| Leap, bark, as leaps the thunderbrand— | |
| Land, ho! land. | 35 |
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