By Henry Lawson, 1902
And they heard the tent-poles clatter,
And the fly in twain was torn –
‘Tis the soiled rag of a tatter
Of the tent where I was born.
And what matters it, I wonder?
Brick or stone or calico? –
Or a bush you were born under,
When it happened long ago?
And my beds were camp beds and tramp beds and damp beds,
And my beds were dry beds on drought-stricken ground,
Hard beds and soft beds, and wide beds and narrow –
For my beds were strange beds the wide world round.
And the old hag seemed to ponder
(‘Twas my mother told me so),
And she said that I would wander
Where but few would think to go.
He will fly the haunts of tailors,
He will cross the ocean wide,
For his fathers, they were sailors
All on his good father’s side.
Behind me, before me, Oh! my roads are stormy
The thunder of skies and the sea’s sullen sound,
The coaster or liner, the English or foreign,
The state-room or steerage the wide world round.
And the old hag she seemed troubled
As she bent above the bed,
He will dream things and he’ll see things
To come true when he is dead.
He will see things all too plainly,
And his fellows will deride,
For his mothers they were gipsies
All on his good mother’s side.
And my dreams are strange dreams, are day dreams, are grey dreams,
And my dreams are wild dreams, and old dreams and new;
They haunt me and daunt me with fears of the morrow –
My brothers they doubt me – but my dreams come true.
And so I was born of fathers
From where ice-bound harbours are
Men whose strong limbs never rested
And whose blue eyes saw afar.
Till, for gold, one left the ocean,
Seeking over plain and hill;
And so I was born of mothers
Whose deep minds were never still.
I rest not, ’tis best not, the world is a wide one
And, caged for an hour, I pace to and fro;
I see things and dree things and plan while I’m sleeping,
I wander for ever and dream as I go.
I have stood by Table Mountain
On the Lion at Capetown,
And I watched the sunset fading
From the roads that I marked down,
And I looked out with my brothers
From the heights behind Bombay,
Gazing north and west and eastward,
Over roads I’ll tread some day.
For my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways,
And deep ways and steep ways and high ways and low;
I’m at home and at ease on a track that I know not,
And restless and lost on a road that I know.
Source: Poetry Verse dot com
The Wander-light - meaning Summary
A Life Shaped by Wandering
The poem presents a first-person portrait of inherited restlessness and lifelong wandering. The speaker traces roots to sailors and gypsies, recalls a tented childhood, and accepts travel as destiny. Dreams and visions haunt him but often prove true. He is at ease on unknown tracks and uneasy at home, embracing a perpetual movement that ranges from bush camps to foreign ports. The poem reflects Lawson’s bush-born, nomadic background.
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"Wander light" can have a few meanings: in folklore, it refers to a ghost-like light, like a will-o'-the-wisp; for an artist like Sue Miller, it represents the magical, soft light seen while walking through trees; and in other contexts, it can symbolize a journey of discovery and finding oneself, as in the title of a book or poem about travel and intentional living.
In folklore
Ghostly light: In folklore, a "wanderlight" is a will-o'-the-wisp, a natural phenomenon like a flickering light seen over bogs and swamps at night.
Misleading or guiding: These lights are often thought to be spirits that either mislead travelers or guide them to a specific path. The name is a Dutch translation of will-o'-the-wisp ("dwaallicht").
In art and literature
A specific quality of light: For an artist, "wander light" can describe the magical, soft, and moving light that filters through trees, creating a quiet and meaningful atmosphere.
A literary theme: It can refer to a journey of personal discovery, exploration, and finding one's purpose. This can be found in titles like the book Wander Light: Notes on Carrying Less and Seeing More or Henry Lawson's poem The Wander Light, which explore the themes of travel, simplicity, and finding clarity.
As a metaphor
Spiritual or internal journey: The term can also represent a person's spiritual path or inner journey to find meaning and purpose.
"Wanderlust": It can be confused with the word "wanderlust," which means a strong desire to travel, although "wander light" itself has a more specific and less common meaning.
