University of Virginia Library

Search this document 
[Poems by Fields in] Gems for you

from New Hampshire Authors

collapse section
 
 
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GIRLS.


242

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GIRLS.

See how yon smiling sisters stand
To greet the sons who roam;
Each daughter waves her snowy hand,
To give the “welcome home!”
See how they form, with lips and eyes,
Hope's radiant band of pearls;
Match if you can, beneath the skies,
Our dear New Hampshire girls!
What though the autumn rain-drops freeze
Where those we love were born?
They win their beauty from the breeze,
Their vigor from the morn!
The tempests round their dwellings shout,
And howls November's storm;
For us their fires are never out,
Whose hearts are always warm.

243

Go forth, poor exiled youth, away,
Where other maidens dwell;
Come back, when all your locks are gray,
To those you loved so well.
Come back, though time has left you poor,
And all your sands have run—
There stands your mother at the door,
To clasp her darling son.
God bless the troop whose nightly prayers
Rise up for those who roam,
God bless them, 'mid their daily cares—
Those guardian saints of home!
Forget not, then, to mingle here
With wit and song your pearls,
And give the swelling heart's full cheer
For our New Hampshire girls!