On Returning To England Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ KKLL MMCNJJOOPPQQRRSS TTUUVVWWXYZZA2A2B2B2 C2D2E2E2JJF2F2G2G2 H2H2TTI2I2J2J2VVK2K2 L2L2M2M2AAN2N2O2O2JJ P2P2Q2Q2JJR2R2M2M2M2 M2M2M2F2F2AAM2M2JJJJ JJM2M2RRS2S2M2M2JJPP M2M2L2L2 I2I2DI2RRK2K2JJDDT2T 2G2G2AA

There once again I stand on homeA
Though round me still there swirls the foamA
Leaping athwart the vessel's trackB
To bid a wanderer welcome backB
And though as yet through softening hazeC
White cliffs but vaguely greet my gazeC
For England yours the waves the sprayD
And be one's foothold what it mayD
Wherever billow wafts or wendsE
Your soil is trodden your shore extendsE
How stern how sweet Though fresh from landsF
Where soft seas heave on slumbering strandsF
And zephyrs moistened by the southG
Seem kisses from an infant's mouthG
My northern blood exults to faceH
The rapture of this rough embraceH
Glowing in every vein to feelI
The cordial caress of steelI
From spear blue air and sword blue seaJ
The armour of your libertyJ
Braced by the manly air I reachK
My soul out to the approaching beachK
And own the instant I arriveL
The dignity of being aliveL
-
And now with forward faring feetM
Eager I leap to land and greetM
The hearty grasp the honest gazeC
The voice that means the thing it saysN
The gait of men by birthright freeJ
Unceremonial courtesyJ
None frown none cringe but fearless eyedO
Are kindly all since side by sideO
Authority and Freedom reignP
In twin equality and drainP
Their sanction from the self same breastQ
And Law is wise Will manifestQ
Yes this is England frank and fairR
I tread its turf I breathe its airR
And catch from every stalwart lungS
The music of my mother tongueS
-
And who are these that cluster roundT
With hastening feet and silvery soundT
And eyes as liquid as the dawnU
When laughs the dew on Kentish lawnU
These England's daughters frank yet archV
Supple as April strong as MarchV
Like pink white windflowers in the groveW
That came while east and west wind stroveW
For mastery and Spring seemed lateX
Hardy alike and delicateY
How well their faces fit the sceneZ
The copses gray the hedgerows greenZ
The white veiled blackthorn gorse afireA2
The cottage yew the village spireA2
The pastures flecked with frisking lambsB2
Around their gravely grazing damsB2
The children loitering home from schoolC2
Their hands and pinafores all fullD2
Of cuckoo pint and bluebell spikeE2
Gathered in dingle dell and dykeE2
The comely homes one just can seeJ
Through flowering belts of bush and treeJ
That all combine all all conspireF2
To more than satisfy desireF2
To make one love this lovely earthG2
And bless Heaven for one's British birthG2
-
Bewitching climes where late I soughtH2
In change of scene a change of thoughtH2
Refreshment from familiar groundT
And what I sought for more than foundT
Where old enchantment haunteth stillI2
Ligurian coast and Tuscan hillI2
Climes I have ventured oft and longJ2
To celebrate in faltering songJ2
Where fearless almond faery larchV
Smiling disarm the frown of MarchV
Snow hath no terrors frost no stingK2
And playful Winter mimics SpringK2
Deem me not thankless nor denyL2
Fresh welcome from your shore and skyL2
Repose from thought so oft imploredM2
And ne'er refused if now restoredM2
By you to health by you to homeA
Glad I return late glad to roamA
For dear to me though wayside shrineN2
By silent gorge or murmuring brineN2
Dear though the barefoot peasant folkO2
Who lop the vine and steer the yokeO2
Of soft eyed sleek skinned creamy beevesJ
Up narrow ways to broad slant eavesJ
The stony mule tracks twisting slowP2
Up slopes where cherry blossoms blowP2
'Mid olive gray and ilex brownQ2
On to some sun bronzed mountain townQ2
The hush and cool of marble domesJ
Where wed to reverie one roamsJ
Through transept chancel cloister cellR2
Where still with far off faces dwellR2
Sages and saints devoutly limnedM2
By hands long dust and eyes long dimmedM2
Dear though all these and ne'er forgotM2
No southern shore no sunniest spotM2
Not Roccabruna's hamlet crestM2
Not Eza's brow not Taggia's breastM2
Not Bellosguardo's sunset hourF2
Not Dante's seat nor Giotto's TowerF2
Nor even Spiaggiascura's foamA
Moisten and melt my heart like homeA
For here the cuckoo seems more gladM2
The nightingale more sweetly sadM2
Primroses more akin in gazeJ
To childlike wonder childlike waysJ
And all things that one sees and hearsJ
Since rooted in the bygone yearsJ
And blending with their warm caressJ
A touch of homely tendernessJ
Bid the quick instinct in one's bloodM2
Pay tribute unto motherhoodM2
How should strange lands it boots not whereR
Divorce one from one's native airR
Or in a loyal breast dethroneS2
Unreasoning reverence for one's ownS2
Yet love and reason surely blendM2
To stir this passion and commendM2
And who will blame if though one seeksJ
In gentler tides and sterner peaksJ
That tower above a wider plainP
Contrast to northern hill and mainP
I cherish still and hold apartM2
The fondest feeling in my heartM2
For where beneath one's parent skyL2
Our dear ones live our dead ones lieL2
-
And you dear friend who linger stillI2
Beside the iris crested rillI2
That silvers through your olives grayD
From convent capped FiesoleI2
Think not that I forget forswearR
The scenes we lately vowed so fairR
To these your wandering footsteps bringK2
The freshness of an English SpringK2
And even Florence sunnier glowsJ
When Phyllis prattles and Ivor crowsJ
And though among them still you strayD
Sweet lengthening out a Tuscan MayD
You too will here return beforeT2
Our Northern roses blow once moreT2
To prove to all of kindred birthG2
For winsome grace and sterling worthG2
Nothing can match where'er we roamA
An English wife in English homeA

Alfred Austin



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