To Germany
July 5, 2023The Herring Weir
July 5, 2023Saints Have Adored the Lofty Soul of You
Saints have adored the lofty soul of you.
Poets have whitened at your high renown.
We stand among the many millions who
Do hourly wait to pass your pathway down.
You, so familiar, once were strange: we tried
To live as of your presence unaware.
But now in every road on every side
We see your straight and steadfast signpost there.
I think it like that signpost in my land
Hoary and tall, which pointed me to go
Upward, into the hills, on the right hand,
Where the mists swim and the winds shriek and blow,
A homeless land and friendless, but a land
I did not know and that I wished to know.
Charles Hamilton Sorley
Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895-1915) was a Scottish poet and soldier who fought and died in World War I. His poetry reflected his experiences as a soldier, and he often wrote about the horrors of war and the loss of human life. His poems were later published posthumously in the collection "Marlborough and Other Poems."