Classic Poem

I RELAND , O Ireland, center of my longings,
— Country of my fathers, home of my heart!
Overseas you call me: Why an exile from me?
— Wherefore sea-severed, long leagues apart?

As the shining salmon, homeless in the sea-depths,
— Hears the river call him, scents out the land,
Leaps and rejoices in the meeting of the waters,
— Breasts weir and torrent, nests in the sand;

Lives there and loves; yet with the year's returning,
— Rusting in the river, pines for the sea,
Sweeps back again to the ripple of the tideway,
— Roamer of the waters, vagabond and free; —

Wanderer am I like the salmon of the rivers;
— London is my ocean, murmurous and deep,
Tossing and vast; yet through the roar of London
— Comes to me thy summons, calls me in sleep.

Pearly are the skies in the country of my fathers,
— Purple are thy mountains, home of my heart.
Mother of my yearning, love of all my longings,
— Keep me in remembrance, long leagues apart.