The Curse Of The Wandering Foot
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
All hope of rest withdrawn me?--
What dread command hath put
This awful curse upon me--
The curse of the wandering foot!
Forward and backward and thither,
And hither and yon again--
Wandering ever! And whither?
Answer them, God! Amen.
The blue skies are far o'er me---
The bleak fields near below:
Where the mother that bore me?--
Where her grave in the snow?--
Glad in her trough of a coffin--
The sad eyes frozen shut
That wept so often, often,
The curse of the wandering foot!
Here in your marts I care not
Whatsoever ye think.
Good folk many who dare not
Give me to eat and drink:
Give me to sup of your pity--
Feast me on prayers!--O ye,
Met I your Christ in the city
He would fare forth with me--
Forward and onward and thither,
And hither again and yon,
With milk for our drink together
And honey to feed upon--
Nor hope of rest withdrawn us,
Since the one Father put
The blessed curse upon us--
The curse of the wandering foot.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 15, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 98 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | abaBcdcd aeaexxxB fgfgaaaa chchibiB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 912 |
Words | 183 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"The Curse Of The Wandering Foot" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/21049/the-curse-of-the-wandering-foot>.
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