Man—Woman

Man's home is everywhere. On ocean's flood,                       [flood = tide]
Where the strong ship with storm-defying tether                     [tether = tie, cord]
    Doth link in stormy brotherhood
        Earth's utmost zones together,                                          [utmost zones = farthest lands]
Where'er the red gold glows, the spice-trees wave,  [where'er = wherever, contracted for meter; "spice-trees" = Indies or tropics]
Where the rich diamond ripens, mid the flame
    Of vertic suns that ope the stranger's grave, [vertic=vertical or high; "ope the stranger's grave"=send newcomers to early graves]
        He with bronzed cheek and daring step doth rove;        [he = man]
        He, with short pang and slight,
        Doth turn him from the checkered light
    Of the fair moon through his own forests dancing,
        Where music, joy, and love
            Were his young hours entrancing;
        And where ambition's thunder-claim
            Points out his lot,
    Or fitful wealth allures to roam,
        There doth he make his home,
            Repining not.                                                                  [briefly, men make their home where they find it]

It is not thus with Woman. The far halls,                                 [halls = homes]
    Though ruinous and lone,                                                      [abandoned by woman as she follows man]
Where first her pleased ear drank a nursing mother's tone;
        The home with humble walls,
    Where breathed a parent's prayer around her bed;
        The valley where, with playmates true,
    She culled the strawberry, bright with dew                          [culled = picked]
    The bower where Love her timid footsteps led;                 [bower = garden nook]
    The hearthstone where her children grew;                          [hearthstone = fireplace as family center]
        The damp soil where she cast
The flower-seeds of her hope, and saw them bide the blast,—          [bide the blast = survive the storm]
        Affection with unfading tint recalls,                                   [tint = blush of feeling]
        Lingering round the ivied walls,
Where every rose hath in its cup a bee,                                  [cup = open bloom]
    Making fresh honey of remembered things,—
Each rose without a thorn, each bee bereft of stings.