Beyond the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea,
And East and West the [wanderlust]1 that will not let me be;
It works in me like madness, dear, to bid me say good-by!
For the seas call and the stars call, and oh, the call of the sky!

I know not where the white road runs, nor what the blue hills are,
But man can have the sun for friend, and for his guide a star;
And there's no end of voyaging when once the voice is heard,
For the [river calls and the road calls, and oh, the call of a bird]2!

Yonder the long horizon lies, and there by night and day
The old ships draw to home again, the young ships sail away;
And come I may, but go I must, and if men ask you why,
You may put the blame on the stars and the sun and the white road and the sky!

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View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with The Home Book of Verse, Volume 3, by Burton Egbert Stevenson, Project Gutenberg.

¹ Price: "wander-thirst"
² Price: "rivers call, and the roads call, and oh! the call of the bird"

Text Authorship:

• by Gerald Gould (1885 - 1936), "Wanderlust", appears in Lyrics, first published 1906 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Arthur Baynon (1889? - 1954), "Wander-thirst", published 1935 [ children's chorus or women's chorus in unison and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Wander-thirst", published 1915 [ medium voice or baritone and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Gerald) Graham Peel (1878 - 1937), "Wander-thirst", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from The Country Lover, no. 5, London, Chappell & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Florence Bea Price (1887 - 1953), "Wander-Thirst" [ mixed chorus and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Landon Ronald, Sir (1873 - 1938), "Wander-thirst", published 1923 [ voice and piano ], from Song Fancies [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-14
Line count: 12
Word count: 161