quote · Legacy record
Oh! my heart panteth to be far away, Amid the hills—the everlasting hills; For in my dreams last night a thousand rills And mountain torrents held resistless sway O’er my hush’d spirit; and the silent play Of golden lights and gleamy shadowings Chequer’d my veiled eyes, like seraphs’ wings, That fan the crimson light of fading day. I woke: the hum of traffic, and the din Of mercenary crowds, fill’d the calm air: I heard the voice of mendicant despair Echo the hollow laugh of reckless sin; And love was not, nor peace. Oh! let me win The hills, the eternal hills—for peace dwells there!
Oh! my heart panteth to be far away, Amid the hills—the everlasting hills; For in my dreams last night a thousand rills And mountain torrents held resistless sway O’er my hush’d spirit; and the silent play Of golden lights and gleamy shadowings Chequer’d my veiled eyes, like seraphs’ wings, That fan the crimson light of fading day. I woke: the hum of traffic, and the din Of mercenary crowds, fill’d the calm air: I heard the voice of mendicant despair Echo the hollow laugh of reckless sin; And love was not, nor peace. Oh! let me win The hills, the eternal hills—for peace dwells there!
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- R. F. Housman (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 296 · printed citation: R. F. Housman · subject: HILLS
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.