Home To England Poem by Bessie Rayner Parkes

WE stand together on the deck,
Around us twilight falleth fast,
And the soft rain of autumn bears
Its welcome on the fitful blast.
That tender greyness of the north,
The late October day hath donn'd;
Save, over England, one pale streak
Of amber tells of skies beyond.

Glorious lands we leave behind us!
(Bleeding life from every pore),
Those great native hopes which bind us
Shall but make us love you more;
But we feel your noble memories,
All whose teachings we revere,
Your grand skies and grander artists,
Pale to life which waits us here.

Ev'n as that faint streak of amber
Speaks of a clear heavenly air,
England, prophesying nobly,
Bids the nations not despair;
The great thoughts she rears within her
Waft a message o'er the sea,
And we say, in swift approaching,
'All our heart is wrapt in thee.'