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88

THE SOLDIER AT HOME.

We now salute our long lost friends,
And leave the conflict all behind;
Rejoice, the storm of rupture ends,
To which we have been long confined.
Secelia yet retains her lyre,
On which she long before has play'd;
Attentive vesto forms the fire,
And cheers me in the cloister shade.
Salute my gentle mother's hand,
Which led me when a feeble child,
Where the lone oak and willow stand,
On which I have so often smil'd.
Embrace our kindred in our arms,
And say till death we part no more;
No hostile threats our hearts alarm,
Go when Heaven calls and not before.
Ceres invites us to the plough,
Or leads us thro' the glades of pan;
And calls at eve the teeming cow,
Then let us stay at home who can.
Dost thou not hear that lucid star,
Ascending gently as from gloom;
Leave not thy dear companions far,
But live in peace with them at home,
Arise then from the pit of war,
The battle's won, arise and bloom;
Once firm let nought thy system jar,
But stand nor leave thy friends at home.