Skip to content
Linespedia

Lines Written On Leaving New Rochelle.

Topics: classic

Whene'er thy wandering footstep bends     Its pathway to the Hermit tree,     Among its cordial band of friends,     Sweet Mary! wilt thou number me?     Though all too few the hours have roll'd     That saw the stranger linger here,     In memory's volume let them hold     One little spot to friendship dear.     I oft have thought how sweet 'twould be     To steal the bird of Eden's art;     And leave behind a trace of me     On every kind and friendly heart,     And like the breeze in fragrance rolled,     To gather as I wander by,     From every soul of kindred mould,     Some touch of cordial sympathy.     'Tis the best charm in life's dull dream,     To feel that yet there linger here     Bright eyes that look with fond esteem,     And feeling hearts that hold me dear.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"Whene'er thy wandering footstep bends..."

Joseph Rodman Drake's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Lines Written On Leaving New Rochelle."... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"I.     One happy year has fled, Sall,     Since you were all my own,     The leaves have felt the autumn blight,     The wintry storm has blown."

"Though fate upon this faded flower     His withering hand has laid,     Its odour'd breath defies his power,     Its sweets are undecayed."

"Grant me, I cried, some spell of art,     To turn with all a lover's care,     That spotless page, my Eva's heart,     And write my burning wis"

"I sat me down upon a green bank-side,     Skirting the smooth edge of a gentle river,     Whose waters seemed unwillingly to glide,     Like pa"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"I.     One happy year has fled, Sall,     Since y..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.