The Call of the Green
O who would dwell in the dingy town
When June is fair and green?
O who would stay in the chimneyed town
Where brooks are never seen?
Come! roses blow: sweet flower
Will snow the virgin's-bower:
The shaded lane, the woodland wild,
Are better both for man and child.
O who would live in the narrow street
When skies are broad and free?
O who would bide in the stony street
When the sun is on the sea?
Come! leave the dust and hasten
To the breath of winds that chasten:
The surging waves, the starry span,
Are better both for child and man.
~~
Laurence Alma-Tadema
from Songs of Womanhood, 1913
[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]
Laurence Alma-Tadema biography
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