Beyond the Sea
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
My heart is gone, far, far from me;
And ever on its track will flee
My thoughts, my dreams, beyond the sea.
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
The swallow wanders fast and free:
Oh, happy bird! were I like thee,
I, too, would fly beyond the sea.
Beyond the sea, beyond the sea,
Are kindly hearts and social glee:
But here for me they may not be;
My heart is gone beyond the sea.
--Thomas Love Peacock
Peacock's Biography
Thomas Love Peacock was born in1785, in Dorset, at Weymouth. He was the son of a glass merchant, who died
three years after he was born. He was raised at his grandfather's house in
Chertsey, by his mother. Despite the fact that his formal schooling ended
before his teens (he never attended a university), it is important to note that
he read widely in five languages throughout his lifetime.
When he could no longer support himself without working, he took a job in 1819
with the East India Company. The next year, he married Jane Gryffydh, daughter
to a Welsh rector. Peacock's daughter later married George Meredith, also a
literary man.
Peacock mixed with many of his contemporary Romantic poets. He often openly
criticized them, but this never gave him much trouble. His best known work is
his satirical prose. His novels consist chiefly of witty conversation with
sparse action. The characters were often burlesque, but subtle imitations of
famous men of his day.
In 1866, the hardheaded, tongue-in-cheeked Peacock died in his library at
Halliford-on-Thames, after refusing to leave his precious books to burn.
