(For Amelia Josephine Burr)

The road is wide and the stars are out
and the breath of the night is sweet,
And this is the time when wanderlust should seize upon my feet.
But I’m glad to turn from the open road and the starlight on my
face,
And to leave the splendour of out-of-doors for a human dwelling
place.
I never have seen a vagabond who really liked to
roam
All up and down the streets of the world and not to have a home:
The tramp who slept in your barn last night and left at break of
day
Will wander only until he finds another place to stay.
A gypsy-man will sleep in his cart with canvas
overhead;
Or else he’ll go into his tent when it is time for bed.
He’ll sit on the grass and take his ease so long as the sun is high,
But when it is dark he wants a roof to keep away the sky.
If you call a gypsy a vagabond, I think you do
him wrong,
For he never goes a-travelling but he takes his home along.
And the only reason a road is good, as every wanderer knows,
Is just because of the homes, the homes, the homes to which it goes.
They say that life is a highway and its milestones
are the years,
And now and then there’s a toll-gate where you buy your way with
tears.
It’s a rough road and a steep road and it stretches broad and far,
But at last it leads to a golden Town where golden Houses are.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Joyce Kilmer's poem Roofs

2 Comments

  1. Abbey says:

    i have not read it yet but going to. u look nice and neat but how bout writing a poem about somthink in the 21st ceantuey make it colourful and brite and get a better pitcher thankyou and good bye

  2. Harry Massad says:

    ive been searching for a good poem for an poem anthology for school so thanks guys this is the best site im gonna tell everyone about this site

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