 | Lines in Pleasant Places |  |
278
TORN DOWN.
[_]
[A tribute to an old homestead, by one who beneath its roof experienced what all considerations of local improvement cannot reconcile him to the loss of.]
Thus sacrilegious hands are laid
Upon thy frame, old hallowed pile;
My heart the havoc would have stayed,
And saved thee for a longer while.
Upon thy frame, old hallowed pile;
My heart the havoc would have stayed,
And saved thee for a longer while.
Thou wert my nest; my fledglings here
First learnt the active verb to live;
And love controlled the little sphere
With all the joy that life could give—
First learnt the active verb to live;
And love controlled the little sphere
With all the joy that life could give—
The scene of sweet domestic rest,
Where hope and trust together grew,
And God's own smile was manifest
In every trial that we knew.
Where hope and trust together grew,
And God's own smile was manifest
In every trial that we knew.
Here, too, the dread Destroyer came,
And bore the fairest from our side;
But resignation lit its flame,
And soothed us when our darling died.
And bore the fairest from our side;
But resignation lit its flame,
And soothed us when our darling died.
279
It bound us by still stronger ties,
And heavenly love our hearts o'erfilled;
We dried, while looking up, our eyes,
And all rebellious feelings stilled.
And heavenly love our hearts o'erfilled;
We dried, while looking up, our eyes,
And all rebellious feelings stilled.
O, joy and gladness of the past!
O grief, that had a mission blest!
There's glory in the retrocast
That doth the crumbling scene invest.
O grief, that had a mission blest!
There's glory in the retrocast
That doth the crumbling scene invest.
There, through the sundered wall, I see
The garden where my children played;
There stood the fragrant lilac tree,
There where the pear tree cast its shade;
The garden where my children played;
There stood the fragrant lilac tree,
There where the pear tree cast its shade;
There was the flower-bed, where grew
The garden gems of gorgeous dyes,
That seemed as if they beauty drew
From my dear Nannie's sunny eyes.
The garden gems of gorgeous dyes,
That seemed as if they beauty drew
From my dear Nannie's sunny eyes.
The grape-vine o'er the pathway hung,
Filled with the choicest purple bloom,
And roses on the still air flung
Their ecstasy of glad perfume.
Filled with the choicest purple bloom,
And roses on the still air flung
Their ecstasy of glad perfume.
'Tis gone! the still and active life;
The place is needed for to-day,
And all its joy and all its strife
Pass like a morning dream away.
The place is needed for to-day,
And all its joy and all its strife
Pass like a morning dream away.
280
But from possession of my heart,
In memory's consecrated shrine,
Ne'er shall that dear old scene depart
That early manhood claimed as mine.
In memory's consecrated shrine,
Ne'er shall that dear old scene depart
That early manhood claimed as mine.
E'en though it fade away from view,
And gone the bliss of former hours,
In sweet affection's sun and dew
Shall live again its fruits and flowers.
And gone the bliss of former hours,
In sweet affection's sun and dew
Shall live again its fruits and flowers.
| Lines in Pleasant Places | |