Once again, welcome to neopoet! I much enjoyed reading your emotionally charged poem. The lines flow well witha rythmic pace. Your imagery is very nice and paints a picture in the readers mind.

I have only one suggestion: use a space between "Dear England" and the next line. I loved the whole piece, but my favorite lines were the last in which you broke pattern and rhymed:

What spirit calls me to come away
from my life of fancy free,
To feel again that homely heart
As a child before the tree.

in dreams I chance to see her face
or learn her lifes demise,
to gaze once again as younger man
in to her darkend eyes.

very wekk done!

always, Cat

This is neat. I liked the rhythm and rhyme, and the subject lent itself well to the poem. I kind of have a thing for that old country (colonial, you see).

Truth be told, I nearly balked when I saw the "thee" and other archaisms in the poem. Really wasn't expecting that. May raise a few eyebrows here and there, but I'm quite ok with that.

I liked the pace of the poem. Exciting. Welcome :)

This England ah, I too am English/Scottish

Not to compare but to remind you and I of our homeland,
our roots are in the meadows of it and we cannot deny it:-

from Richard II William Shakespeare:-

"This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, 

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, 

This other Eden, demi-paradise, 

This fortress built by Nature for herself 

Against infection and the hand of war, 

This happy breed of men, this little world, 

This precious stone set in the silver sea, 

Which serves it in the office of a wall, 

Or as a moat defensive to a house, 

Against the envy of less happier lands, 

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England, 

This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, 

Fear'd by their breed and famous by their earth..."

Not to belittle your poem in any way Mr. believe
as i think yours infinitely delicate and beautifully
close to, like a mother to her child, that is caught
so well in your expressions and images here.

Love this bit:-"Safe within thy dream like hold
Like my mother’s kiss goodnight,
Embrace me like the dampened arms
of a lovers jealous hold,
and replace that dream before the dawn"

"As a child before the tree." well associated!

"to gaze once again as younger man" I would say as A younger man here!

"in to her darkend" into

" dream like hold" dream-like

We shall have all the other poets saying aw guid, those patriots,
but it isn't for the country only, it is the very sense of ones birthplace
influencing our lives in all we do, whether we like it or not,
we owe some of it to that sense of place don't we?

I am not so far away as you are, yet what is England is inside me,
and whenever I like I can conjure up the perfume or the sight,
for instance now, of a meadow with a carpet of primroses,
I know it in my heart so well that I don't need to be there to experience it.
Where one is is home; and what one loves one has with one.

Welcome by the way from me Nordic cloud.

great rhyme
especially
‘demise / eyes’
and your approximate rhymes – ‘ hold / stole’ and even ‘life /goodnight’ seem to be okay to my ear…work well imho

nice rhythm – mostly….just a quick edit
Dear England (I’d put a line space here)

Ho’ dear England let me rest
and my worldly travel end, - great beginning – the rhythm and words draw the reader in
Would I compare you to a silken bed, (I’d lose ‘would I’ – for the rhythm sake)
from my taunts of life to spend,
To rest away from the throbbing guns
that count the pace of life, - great word usage, really gives excellent visuals
Safe within thy dream like hold (dream-like)
Like my mother’s kiss goodnight, (suggestion – use ‘as’ instead of ‘like’ – it sounds more ‘poetic’ – imho of course - and also you have used ‘like’ again in the next line) -
‘ Embrace me like the dampened arms’
of a lovers jealous hold, (lover’s – needs an apostrophe)
and replace that dream before the dawn
my darkened nightmare stole. – love these lines

What spirit calls me to come away (I’d lose the ‘to’ – for rhythm)
from my life of fancy free,
To feel again that homely heart
As a child before the tree.

in dreams I chance to see her face
or learn her lifes demise, (life’s – needs an apostrophe)
to gaze once again as younger man
in to her darkend eyes. (darkened)

as I have said before – you have great talent
love judy
xxx

"Home thoughts from abroad" by Browning was a poem that I was told to memorise at school when about 9, this one reflects the theme of his classic words.
Well done on a write from someone that is here and not a long way away, Yours Ian.T.

"Home thoughts from abroad"

O, TO be in England
Now that April 's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!
And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossom'd pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray's edge—
That 's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Robert Browning