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Scene III.
A room in the new-found old mansion. The Aged Lady walking up and down, alone.Aged Lady.
The same old home, in the Great Home restored!
Each loved hall's floor my practised feet have pressed;
All nooks and corners my glad hands have found;
My eyes have fed on each familiar scene.
All is the same! Restored—I must believe,
By well-taught angel hands—how faithfully!
And every room had tales to tell to me
Of loved old times; and every wall had tongues,
And talked a while about the dear dead days;
But ah, what empty rooms! Not one sweet face
Of all those loved ones! Oh, kind-hearted God,
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Home ne'er was home when husband was not there!
[A door opens and her husband enters. They rush to each other's arms.
Husband.
You see, there were so many things
That no one knew but we, dear—
So many sly heart-whisperings
Had gone 'twixt you and me, dear!
So many thoughts, and all our own,
'Twas hardly Heaven to live alone,
Even with Heaven's glories round me strown!
That no one knew but we, dear—
So many sly heart-whisperings
Had gone 'twixt you and me, dear!
So many thoughts, and all our own,
'Twas hardly Heaven to live alone,
Even with Heaven's glories round me strown!
You see, though friends all came this way,
To grasp me by the hand, dear;
There was so much I wished to say,
They could not understand, dear!
Though sympathy around me fell,
And my earth-woes were pitied well,
There was so much I could not tell!
To grasp me by the hand, dear;
There was so much I wished to say,
They could not understand, dear!
Though sympathy around me fell,
And my earth-woes were pitied well,
There was so much I could not tell!
Though friendship could not theirs excel
In being kind and true, dear,
There was so much I could not tell
To any one but you, dear!
It calls for Heaven's supremest art
To heal a warm and loving heart,
That from its half is crushed apart.
In being kind and true, dear,
There was so much I could not tell
To any one but you, dear!
It calls for Heaven's supremest art
To heal a warm and loving heart,
That from its half is crushed apart.
And so from Heaven I used to gaze
Through fields of space afar, dear,
Upon the distant homesick rays
Of one particular star, dear;
There ne'er was one of mortal birth
Looked more at stars of heavenly worth
Than I from Heaven gazed at earth.
Through fields of space afar, dear,
Upon the distant homesick rays
Of one particular star, dear;
There ne'er was one of mortal birth
Looked more at stars of heavenly worth
Than I from Heaven gazed at earth.
There were so many things to see,
Alone, I could not view, love!
Heaven's angels, they were good to me,
But then, they were not you, love!
I wondered so that you could stay
So many years from me away,
When my heart called you every day!
Alone, I could not view, love!
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But then, they were not you, love!
I wondered so that you could stay
So many years from me away,
When my heart called you every day!
And one by one the children came:
Each one had to bereave you;
And all were sad, though not with blame,
So lonely they must leave you!
For while there is no sorrow here,
There may be yearnings, sweetly drear,
For cherished ones who come not near.
Each one had to bereave you;
And all were sad, though not with blame,
So lonely they must leave you!
For while there is no sorrow here,
There may be yearnings, sweetly drear,
For cherished ones who come not near.
But now, once more, and face to face,
In happiness we meet, wife;
And through your care and God's sweet grace
Our family is complete, wife!
From valleys, mountains, snows, and sands,
From city streets and forest lands,
They come to clasp your yearning hands.
In happiness we meet, wife;
And through your care and God's sweet grace
Our family is complete, wife!
From valleys, mountains, snows, and sands,
From city streets and forest lands,
They come to clasp your yearning hands.
Aged Lady.
My children, children, children—are they here?
[A door opens, and five of her loved ones enter, conducted by the Little Girl guide, who then disappears.
Aged Lady
(clasping them one after another).
My loved, lost children! found, and found in Heaven!
Children and homestead both together found!
Now Heaven be praised, for Heaven is Heaven at last;
Now, once again, we learn that home is Heaven!
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