BEYOND the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea,
And East and West the wander-thirst that will not let me be;
It works in me like madness, dear, to bid me say good-bye;
For the seas call, and the stars call, and oh! the call of the sky!
I know not where the white road runs, nor what the blue hills are;
But a man can have the sun for a friend, and for his guide a star;
And there's no end of voyaging when once the voice is heard,
For the rivers call, and the roads call, and oh! the call of the bird!
Yonder the long horizon lies, and there by night and day
The old ships draw to home again, the young ships sail away;
And come I may, but go I must, and, if men ask you why,
You may put the blame on the stars and the sun and the white road and the sky.
I really like this. Found it here after seeing the quote on Criminal Miinds. I am obviously not an intellectual but this poem definitely calls to me. Not sure who Gerald Gould is, but am going to look for him. Thanks for having this up PoemHunter.com
One of my favourite poems..I have always loved to travel and this poetry encapsulates it all
Remembered learning this in Primary School in 1952 Taught to us by Miss Sloane. Probably said more about her than it meant to us children from a deprived part of Devonport for whom a few miles was the extent of our travels. Still I remembered the poem, the chalk and blackboard and her voice
I think that it is One of the best poem in the poetry world. I read this poem more than 10 times.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
love this, someone I know set it to music, I grew up singing it, and longing for traveling the world!
Can you remember who and where it could be obtained? I too used to sing this as a child and for some reason woke up this morning with it in my head! I loved it!