World-Strangeness
Strange the world about me lies,
Never yet familiar grown —
Still disturbs me with surprise,
Haunts me like a face half known.
In this house with starry dome,
Floored with gemlike plains and seas,
Shall I never feel at home,
Never wholly be at ease?
On from room to room I stray,
Yet my Host can ne'er espy,
And I know not to this day
Whether guest or captive I.
So, between the starry dome
And the floor of plains and seas,
I have never felt at home,
Never wholly been at ease.
~~
William Watson (1858-1935)
from Poems, 1893
[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]
William Watson biography
"World-Srangeness" composed by Ivor Gurney, sung by Marcus Farnsworth.
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