 | The Burden of the Bell and Other Lyrics |  |
131
HOME GRACES.
Give me young voices—I would fain
Have music in my home,
A dearer music than from harp
Or lute doth ever come;
A music that doth give me back
From out the buried time
Mine own lost youth, and all the joy
And mirth that then were mine.
The old rude songs I used to sing,
The tales I loved to tell
To my young sisters, as we roved
Through our own quiet dell;
My merry shout in field and wood,
My laughter full and free
By lighted hearth—all this and more
Such music bringeth me.
Have music in my home,
A dearer music than from harp
Or lute doth ever come;
A music that doth give me back
From out the buried time
Mine own lost youth, and all the joy
And mirth that then were mine.
The old rude songs I used to sing,
The tales I loved to tell
To my young sisters, as we roved
Through our own quiet dell;
My merry shout in field and wood,
My laughter full and free
By lighted hearth—all this and more
Such music bringeth me.
132
Give me young faces—I would fain
Have sunshine in my home,
A gladder sunshine than from skies
Of summer sheen doth come.
Young faces, mirrors bright and clear,
Wherein my soul may see
Each vision of the beautiful
Reflected radiantly.
Each dream of an untravelled world,
Each impulse pure and high,
The generous thought, the proud resolve,
The buoyant energy.
Though shadows oft may flit across,
And boding signs be given,
Still will it warm my heart to bask
In that sweet light of heaven.
Have sunshine in my home,
A gladder sunshine than from skies
Of summer sheen doth come.
Young faces, mirrors bright and clear,
Wherein my soul may see
Each vision of the beautiful
Reflected radiantly.
Each dream of an untravelled world,
Each impulse pure and high,
The generous thought, the proud resolve,
The buoyant energy.
Though shadows oft may flit across,
And boding signs be given,
Still will it warm my heart to bask
In that sweet light of heaven.
Give me young hearts—for I would fain
Have fragrance in my home,
A fragrance finer than from flowers
Of fairest hues doth come;
That passeth not at morn or eve,
That liveth undecayed
Through summer heat and winter frost,
Through shifting shine and shade.
Hope's fragrance, that doth sweetest seem
When grief and gloom are round;
Truth's fragrance, exquisite, though rare
On this low earthly ground;
Affection's fragrance, that doth ne'er
From its one centre roam
These are the graces I would have
To sanctify my home.
Have fragrance in my home,
A fragrance finer than from flowers
Of fairest hues doth come;
That passeth not at morn or eve,
That liveth undecayed
133
Through shifting shine and shade.
Hope's fragrance, that doth sweetest seem
When grief and gloom are round;
Truth's fragrance, exquisite, though rare
On this low earthly ground;
Affection's fragrance, that doth ne'er
From its one centre roam
These are the graces I would have
To sanctify my home.
| The Burden of the Bell and Other Lyrics | |