Songs for the Open Road: Poems of Travel and Adventure

by The American Poetry and Literacy Project

Most of us, at one time or another, have experienced wanderlust. For many, the desire to explore is almost irresistible. Now for devotees of poetry, and for those who long for the open road, this highly affordable collection contains a rich selection of poems about travel and adventure.
You’ll find more than 90 poems by 50 American and British masters (mainly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries), including Whitman, Byron, Millay, Sandburg, Service, Bliss Carman, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Masefield, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Shelley, Tennyson, Yeats, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Claude McKay, Christina Rossetti, and other fellow travelers. Their poems celebrate the real and metaphorical journeys each of us takes in the course of our lives towards love, discovery, loss, leaving the nest, and coming home.
Whatever your mode of transportation, and wherever you are going, take this literary traveling companion with you for hours of reading enjoyment and insight into the road that lies ahead.

Genres: Poetry, Travel, Classics, Literature, Nonfiction, Anthologies, American

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 23, 1998

Reviews

[Donna Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Travel is my main hobby, along with my husband. Every year, we plan for one major domestic and one major international vacation, plus several weekend trips within easy driving distance. Needless to say, Covid has not been kind to our lifestyle.

Just when my wanderlust threatened to overwhelm me, this skinny little book of poetry came to my rescue! Poems about the open road, ships on the sea, trains, flight, even spiritual journeys fill the 61 pages. I was surprised to discover a poem about train rides by one of my personal favorites, Ogden Nash! I had never read that one before.

I spent longer than I expected to, savoring these verses. Poetry shouldn’t be rushed.

My passport is starving.

[Jo Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent selection, pulling together a lot of great poetry in a very good mix of things I already liked and things I hadn't previously encountered. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish there were more books like this.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had a copy of this book for years and love to re-read it every once in a while. The yellowed pages are lined with notes and dog-eared to favorite pages.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good job of collecting poems that fit the theme. Here is "Travel" by Edna St. Vincent Millay:

https://poets.org/poem/travel

[McKinley Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent little collection of poetry related to travel and adventure from a wide range of authors. It’s a great way to discover some poetry and get motivated to go outside and enjoy the wonders of the wide world.

Owen’s Review: 5/5 milk bottles. It’s a good thing mom and dad already take me on adventures. I’d demand more after reading these poems otherwise. I particularly enjoyed the sing-songy ones.

[Kaylyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice short collection of famous American and British poetry. A good introduction work or piece for a coffee table.

A few favorites I enjoyed...
-Dream Land~Poe
-Song~Bishop
-The tide rises, the tide falls~Longfellow
-Home-thoughts, from abroad~Browning

I also loved all of Dickinson's works and I found a few poets I encountered for the first time in this book.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first introduction to Edna St. Vincent Millay and I'm excited to read more of her work.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because of a quote read during the documentary Hello, Bookstore. The bookstore owner read a poem by Edna St Vincent Millay which led me to seek out this book. Glad I read it. Really enjoyed a few of the poems.

[Readingtomycats · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of poems.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely! Poems whose themes are traveling, moving... a very thoughtful gift from my wife!

[Zachary Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, inexpensive collection of poems, perfect to inspire the entire gamut of emotions traveling engenders, from wanderlust to homesickness. If you want to travel or to go home, to go by air or by sea or by foot, you will have no trouble finding the right poem for you, with a variety of poets and styles to choose from.

Although it's also a strength, I found the selection of poems could have been trimmed, or at least better arranged. Too often, the next poem would be a little too similar and thus hurt by comparison. Nevertheless, this is a must-have poetry collection for anyone longing to hit the road, with enough to please anybody.

Some of my personal favorites:

"what is" by E. E. Cummings -- its syntax is as jarring as a ship at sea. And that's what makes it marvelous. You must read this one aloud.

"Death of an Old Seaman" by Langston Hughes -- A quiet, touching ode to a human but seabound soul.

"Recuerdo" by Edna St. Vincent Millay -- a backpacking couple's anthem. Guaranteed to inspire envy.


I will definitely be revisiting this collection from time to time.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of mostly mid-19th to mid-20th century poetry, including poems by, among many others, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. I particularly liked this Imagist poem by Carl Sandburg:

Night from a railroad car window
Is a great, dark, soft thing
Broken across with slashes of light.

Also if you're the type to appreciate found poetry, take a few minutes to scan the index of authors, titles, and first lines. In a small collection like this in which the poems are all working on similar topics and themes, the titles and first lines can sometimes come together in rather pleasing ways. For example:

Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing;
Out where the handclasp's a little stronger,
Out Where the West Begins

and

The Railroad track is miles away,
The sea is flecked with bars of grey,
The tide rises, the tide falls
The world's an inn, and I her guest

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this volume of poetry by many great poets filled with a great sense of adventure, and reminded me that everyday itself is quite an adventure. This book will be one that I return to again and again. My two particular favorites were There Is No Frigate Like A Book by Emily Dickinson, and The Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book can be compared to the bible of poetry and should be read by anyone who enjoys diving into the depths of poetry.

[Karen GoatKeeper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this should have a higher rating. Much of the anthology is wonderful reading. The best part of reading an anthology is finding new authors or poets to check out and this book is no exception.
It is loosely organized from leaving on a journey, going by ship and rail and air, then returning home. Except the coming home became more of a reflection on dying than ending a trip.
Poets included in this slim volume range from Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and John Masefield to Rudyard Kipling, Carl Sandburg, Robert Service and Ogdan Nash. Some were familiar as Masefield's "I must go down to the sea again" and "Whose woods are these, I think I know" to others never read before like "I've known rivers" and "I do not own an inch of land, But all I see is mine."
The poems are widely varied, mostly very enjoyable. Any reader should find at least a few to suit them.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the type of poetry grouping I struggle with because it is too broad, in my opinion. Song of Solomon, Robert Service, Cristina Rosetti, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Walt Whitman, Robert Louis Stevenson, Keats, Browning. All higgledy-piggledy arranged on a superficially thematic basis. Some I know by heart, many I have read before, some entirely unknown to me.

I did find a couple of lines that resonated with my time here
"And it's sweet to dream in Venice" -- this trip has been like a dream or an escape
"Ithaka gave you the splendid journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She hasn't anything else to give you."
I came for the soul of Venice not the tourist trappings. I am satisfied with what I have found here and ask for nothing more.

[Jane Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short anthology to fill you with longing for an adventure. It included a mixture of well-known classics, along with some lesser-known poems I'd never read, but thoroughly enjoyed.

Some new discoveries worth mentioning:
- Columbus by Joaquin Miller
- High Flight by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
- Exultation is in the Going by Emily Dickinson
- The Winds of Fate by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- America for Me by Henry Van Dyke
- Escapist—Never by Robert Frost
- Exiled by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Taking the Night Train by John James Piat

[Paige Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

This was a beautiful collection of poetry. It had some quite famous poems that I had read before in English classes, but also lots of new ones for me. I love travel, so this was a great find for me (I found it in a little library book box). Just a few of my favorites were "Highway" by Gene Zeiger, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by Yeats, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Frost, "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, and finally "Heart o' the North" by Robert Service. The Zeiger poem in particular completely blew me away with just how stunning it was. I never would have found that poem otherwise.

[Steve Scott · Rating 0.5 out of 5]

Most of the poetry in this was utterly forgettable. They managed to dig up some of the worst of Walt Whitman I'd ever read. A great deal of the work is sappy American pap from the 19th century meant to stir the patriotic soul...or something.

Some classic gems were included, though I have no idea why they thought Shelley's "Ozymandias" had anything to do with the overall theme of the book or its final chapter.

Was it worth the four bucks I paid? Not at all. It'll go to the library as a donation for their fundraising sales. They might get a dollar for it...more likely they'll end up having to give it away.

[Charles Bookman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Dover Publications since I was a teenager. Dover publishes works of lasting value that have outlived their copyright. This little volume of poetry was published in 1999 and sold for one dollar. From Robert Service’s “Heart of the North” to Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” the editors have gathered some of the most enduring poetic works of movement and discovery, from “Devil-may-care narrations of peril and intrigue to more pensive meditations on soulful wandering.” Read more at bookmanread.blogspot.com .

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent collection of poetry based on the theme of travel on the open road, by sea, by rail, or other method. It also includes poems on coming back home. I rather enjoyed about 50 out of the 80 poems. I also learned of a few new posts to try out. I use this book as a quick poetry break to whatever longer book I was reading at the time. In this case, that would have been George Elliot's Middlenarch.

[Bri Vogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have pointed out, this is a collection of poems by various authors, not just Walt Whitman.

This is a really great, fun (albeit short) collection of poems all about travel! This is exactly what I was looking for. It's fun, inspiring, and I found some new poets to check out, I definitely recommend going through this little book.

[Michael Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of these poems come from a time when the public at large read poetry. If you don't mind rhyming verse, you might enjoy this collection. As for myself...well, it's not my favorite anthology. Nonetheless, I'm going to give it five stars--as a poet, I don't feel worthy to criticize the masters. After all, I'm walking a path they helped to create.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly familiar names. Good stuff, but nothing ground breaking. Nice inclusion in my collection. Nice Mother's Day gift in anticipation for a family trip this summer. Beyond that, there are better ways to experience these poems, I think.

[Casey Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection from Frost to Edward Arlington Robinson to Longfellow to Poe.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many familiar favorites, many new to me.

[Anne Westlund · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are quite a few classics, this volume could have used the fresh air of new poets. Some of the poems I loved already, Robert Frost's, and I found some new loves.

[B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all poetry collections, there were hits and misses.

[Victoria Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like i should have read this in a cute coffee shop

[ruby vozza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really nice assortment of poetry (Romantic, Victorian, and Modern), lots of Longfellow, Lord Byron, Whitman, Hughes, Service, Dickinson, etc...but I didn't like that there was a fair amount of excerpting (like with Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Little Gidding).