A Home Song

Henry Van Dyke 1852 (Germantown, Pennsylvania) – 1933 (Princeton, New Jersey)



I read within a poet's book
A word that starred the page:
"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage!"

Yes, that is true; and something more
You'll find, where'er you roam,
That marble floors and gilded walls
Can never make a home.

But every house where Love abides,
And Friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home-sweet-home:
For there the heart can rest.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

22 sec read
547

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XCBC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 374
Words 72
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Henry Van Dyke

Henry Jackson van Dyke was an American author, educator, and clergyman. more…

All Henry Van Dyke poems | Henry Van Dyke Books

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