In Ithaca

Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)



'Tis thought Odysseus when the strife was o'er
With all the waves and wars, a weary while,
Grew restless in his disenchanted isle,
And still would watch the sunset, from the shore,
Go down the ways of gold, and evermore
His sad heart followed after, mile on mile,
Back to the Goddess of the magic wile,
Calypso, and the love that was of yore.

Thou too, thy haven gained, must turn thee yet
To look across the sad and stormy space,
Years of a youth as bitter as the sea,
Ah, with a heavy heart, and eyelids wet,
Because, within a fair forsaken place
The life that might have been is lost to thee.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
75

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAABBAAB CDECDE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 590
Words 116
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

Andrew Lang

Andrew Richard Lang FRS CBE was a British scientist and crystallographer. more…

All Andrew Lang poems | Andrew Lang Books

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