“WHEN THE GIRLS COME TO THE OLD HOUSE”
I
When the girls come
To the old house, to the old, old home;
When the girls race through it,
How will they endue it
With light and warmth and fun,
Beyond the touch of the sun.
II
When the girls run through it,
How the old house will awaken!
Never fear! It will not rue it
When it feels its old bones shaken,
From ancient sill to centuried rafter,
With sweet girl laughter.
III
When the girls race through it,
How each old ghost in its own old nook,
That it never forsook,
How it will run
When the girls pursue it
With frolic and fun!
IV
Old house! old home! Come, light
The fires again on the dear hearths of old.
All must be bright;
Not a room shall be cold;
And on the great hearth,—where, in the old days,
Beside the fierce blaze
There was room, and to spare, for each grown-up and child,—
High let the fire be piled!
V
Old house! Old home! You need no wine
To cheer you now, for the joyous ripple
Of girlish laughter is quite enough tipple!
O, what liquor
Like the innocent shine,
The sparkle and flicker,
In the eyes of youth!
And, of a truth,
'T is youth, old house! 't is youth that fills you;
Youth that calls to you; youth that thrills you.
VI
Old house! Old home! O, do not dare
To be sad, tho' aware
Of the golden, and the raven, and the pretty, pretty curls,
Of the little dead girls—
Treasures put away in the old chest in the garret.
Be glad, old house! the new girls have come to share it:
The great, deep hearth, with room and to spare;
The dark garret, and the wide hall, and the quaint, old stair—
And to bring back to earth
The old, sweet mirth.
