Here, where the vine and fig bask hand in hand

Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)



Here, where the vine and fig bask hand in hand,
And the hot lizard lies along the wall,
Blinded I shrink where cypress shadows fall,
And gaze upon the far-off mountains bland:
Then down the dusty track Lorenzo planned
Watch the slow oxen oscillating crawl
Sleek in the sultry glare, and feel withal
Half alien still in a familiar land.
But when from out the stone-pine slopes that rise
In the clear ether, black against the blue,
The cuckoo suddenly calls, I close mine eyes
In visionary rapture, think of you,
Hear the home-music of your Kentish skies,
And dream that I am drenched with English dew.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

32 sec read
50

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDCDCD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 595
Words 109
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Alfred Austin

Alfred Austin DL was an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896 upon the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. more…

All Alfred Austin poems | Alfred Austin Books

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