Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest;
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best.
Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
To stay at home is best.
Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O’er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
To stay at home is best.
( Henry Wadsworth Longfellow )
distressed : sad and anxious
baffle : confused
A) Answer the following questions.
1) What reason does the poet give for staying at home?
2) Do you believe that “home-keeping hearts are happiest”?
3) Longfellow lived abroad for many years. What do you think this experience taught him?
4) How is this poem similar to “Roofs”?
5) What do you lie most about this poem? Why?