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THE OLD FRONT GATE.
Standin' in this city garden, there is other things I see,
There is folks that wanders 'long here, lookin' reg'lar like at me;
But I keep my balance steady; and perhaps as frisky feel
As my cousins in the parlor—our old clock and spinnin'-wheel.
Swingin' back and swingin' forward—for to name my title straight—
I am known throughout the family, as the Old Front Gate.
There is folks that wanders 'long here, lookin' reg'lar like at me;
But I keep my balance steady; and perhaps as frisky feel
As my cousins in the parlor—our old clock and spinnin'-wheel.
Swingin' back and swingin' forward—for to name my title straight—
I am known throughout the family, as the Old Front Gate.
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An' it's quite a good long spell, now, if my mem'ry serves me clear,
Since I guarded our old homestead—sev'ral hundred miles from here;
There was comin'—there was goin'—for the latchstring dangled free,
But they could not reach the door-yard, till they first shook hands with me!
An' I always looked them over—likin' some of them first rate—
An' some others wasn't welcome, to the old Front Gate.
Since I guarded our old homestead—sev'ral hundred miles from here;
There was comin'—there was goin'—for the latchstring dangled free,
But they could not reach the door-yard, till they first shook hands with me!
An' I always looked them over—likin' some of them first rate—
An' some others wasn't welcome, to the old Front Gate.
There was neighbors came to visit, undesignin'ly an' square;
There was neighbors came to borrow anything we had to spare;
There was folks that 'twasn't easy for no common heights to match—
There was pretty little children—such as couldn't reach the latch;
There was lovers fondly lingerin' perseverin'ly an' late—
Till they sagged the j'ints an' hinges of the Old Front Gate!
There was neighbors came to borrow anything we had to spare;
There was folks that 'twasn't easy for no common heights to match—
There was pretty little children—such as couldn't reach the latch;
There was lovers fondly lingerin' perseverin'ly an' late—
Till they sagged the j'ints an' hinges of the Old Front Gate!
Fellows comin' there o' evenin's makin' most too long a stay;
Fellows comin' there with preachers, for to take our gals away;
Fellows comin' there with fiddles, for to thrill the dance's tread—
Fellows drivin' up with coffins, for to bear away our dead.
Swingin' back an' swingin' forward like a pendulum of fate,
I've done sad an' mournful duty, as the Old Front Gate!
Fellows comin' there with preachers, for to take our gals away;
Fellows comin' there with fiddles, for to thrill the dance's tread—
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Swingin' back an' swingin' forward like a pendulum of fate,
I've done sad an' mournful duty, as the Old Front Gate!
There was one good-lookin' couple, jolly-hearted like, and free,
Talked a heap o' nonsense-wisdom, with their elbows onto me;
An' they married, as they ought to: for their hearts became one heart,
But they moved off to the city, an' then kind o' worked apart;
They grew rich an' full o' fashion, an' their souls forgot to mate,
An' they lost the tie that bound 'em by the Old Front Gate.
Talked a heap o' nonsense-wisdom, with their elbows onto me;
An' they married, as they ought to: for their hearts became one heart,
But they moved off to the city, an' then kind o' worked apart;
They grew rich an' full o' fashion, an' their souls forgot to mate,
An' they lost the tie that bound 'em by the Old Front Gate.
An' they both was blue about it; for they both was some to blame—
An' they got so one was missin' places where the other came;
An' her mother—sweet old lady but eternal cunnin', too—
Saw that things was runnin' dang'rous, an' decided what to do;
So she wrote a secret letter to her cousin, “Do not wait,
Till you straightway box and send to me, the Old Front Gate!”
An' they got so one was missin' places where the other came;
An' her mother—sweet old lady but eternal cunnin', too—
Saw that things was runnin' dang'rous, an' decided what to do;
So she wrote a secret letter to her cousin, “Do not wait,
Till you straightway box and send to me, the Old Front Gate!”
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Then she hung me in the garden, an' betwixt two twilight hours,
Once she coaxed them out together, for to view some blossomin' flowers.
An' they came there, kind o' listless, as to what they was to see,
An' in turnin' round a corner, spat they run up onto me!
An' they knew me in a minute; an' their hearts began to date
Back to where they used to linger, by the Old Front Gate.
Once she coaxed them out together, for to view some blossomin' flowers.
An' they came there, kind o' listless, as to what they was to see,
An' in turnin' round a corner, spat they run up onto me!
An' they knew me in a minute; an' their hearts began to date
Back to where they used to linger, by the Old Front Gate.
An' they clasped each other closely, as their memory hurried back,
An' the good old lady switched off—havin' set them on the track;
An' I also had experience that I never had before,
For my lady bent above me, an' caressed me, o'er and o'er!
Swingin' back an' swingin' forward, I am very glad to state,
That that pair re-entered Heaven, through the Old Front Gate.
An' the good old lady switched off—havin' set them on the track;
An' I also had experience that I never had before,
For my lady bent above me, an' caressed me, o'er and o'er!
Swingin' back an' swingin' forward, I am very glad to state,
That that pair re-entered Heaven, through the Old Front Gate.
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