The miscellaneous writings of Henry Ware

From the highways and byways of manhood we come,
And gather like children about an old home;
We return from life's weariness, tumult, and pain,
Rejoiced in our hearts to be schoolboys again.

The senator comes from the hall of debate,
The governor steps from the high chair of state,
The judge leaves the bench to “the law's wise delay,”
Rejoiced to be schoolboys again for a day.

The parson his pulpit has left unsupplied,
The doctor has put his old sulky aside,
The lawyer his client has turned from the door,
And all are of Exeter,—schoolboys once more.

O, glad to our eyes are these dear scenes displayed,
The halls where we studied, the fields where we strayed;
There is change, there is change; but we will not deplore;
Enough that we feel ourselves schoolboys once more.

263

Enough that once more our old master we meet,
The same as of yore when we sat at his feet;
Let us place on his brow every laurel we've won,
And show that each pupil is also a son.

And when to the harsh scenes of life we return,
Our hearts with the glow of this meeting shall burn;
Its calm light shall cheer till earth's school time is o'er,
And prepare us in heaven for one meeting more.

University of Virginia Library

SONG,

FOR THE ABBOT FESTIVAL,