Destroyers and Other Verses/I Have Wandered Round an Empire

by Henry Head

 

SUN AND SHOWER

He . . .

I have wandered round an Empire
To the kingdom whence it grew,
And the coast-line of my country
Flashes white between the blue.

Blue the sky and blue the water,
And a ruddy little town
Nestles in a sunny hollow
Underneath the windy down.

In that town a winding alley
Leads into a little square.
With an almond-tree in blossom,
And I know my home is there.

Home and country, kingdom, Empire,
All the universe to me
Is a little laughing woman
In her brown room by the sea.