Give me a roof where Wisdom dwells

Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)



Give me a roof where Wisdom dwells,
Where honeysuckle smiles and smells,
A bleating flock, some lowing kine,
An honest welcome always mine,
A homely draught, a humble meal,

Leisure to live, to think, to feel,
A narrow plot, a prospect wide,
A patch upon the mountain side!
From these my heart you will not wean
For Fashion's tinsel, Splendour's sheen,
The Sceptre's favour, Senate's prize,
No, nor the Empire of your eyes.
Farewell! The Valley be your own!
And I will scale the heights,-alone.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 09, 2023

27 sec read
104

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBC CDDBBEEBB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 488
Words 88
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 5, 9

Alfred Austin

Alfred Austin DL was an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896 upon the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. more…

All Alfred Austin poems | Alfred Austin Books

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    "Give me a roof where Wisdom dwells" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/722/give-me-a-roof-where-wisdom-dwells>.

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