Classic Poem

“A SAIL ! a sail! Oh, whence away,”
—And whither, o'er the foam?
Good brother mariners, we pray,
—God speed you safely home!”
“Now wish us not so foul a wind,
—Until the fair be spent;
For hearth and home we leave behind:
—We sail for Heart's Content.”

“For Heart's Content! And sail ye so,
—With canvas flowing free?
But, pray you, tell us, if ye know,
—Where may that harbor be?
For we that greet you, worn of time,
—Wave-racked, and tempest-rent,
By sun and star, in every clime,
—Have searched for Heart's Content.

“In every clime the world around,
—The waste of waters o'er;
An El Dorado have we found,
—That ne'er was found before.
The isles of spice, the lands of dawn,
—Where East and West are blent—
All these our eyes have looked upon,
—But where is Heart's Content?

“Oh, turn again, while yet ye may,
—And ere the hearths are cold,
And all the embers ashen-gray,
—By which ye sat of old,
And dumb in death the loving lips
—That mourned as forth ye went
To join the fleet of missing ships,
—In quest of Heart's Content;

“And seek again the harbor-lights,
—Which faithful fingers trim,
Ere yet alike the days and nights
—Unto your eyes are dim!
For woe, alas! to those that roam
—Till time and tide are spent,
And win no more the port of home—
—The only Heart's Content!”