 | The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes |  |
ALMA MATER
HARVARD CLUB, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY
21, 1882
Yes, home is sweet! and yet we needs must sigh,Restless until our longing souls have found
Some realm beyond the fireside's narrow bound
Where slippered ease and sleepy comfort lie,—
Some fair ideal form that cannot die
By age dismantled and by change uncrowned,
Else life creeps circling in the self-same round,
And the low ceiling hides the lofty sky.
Ah, then to thee our truant hearts return,
Dear Mother, Alma, Casta—spotless, kind!
Thy sacred walls a larger home we find,
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While with undying fires thine altars burn
Where all our holiest memories rest enshrined.
| The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes | |