Page:Home; or, The unlost paradise (IA homeorunlostpara00palm).pdf/77

  As in yon garden tastefully inhedged
And consecrate to beauty, rarest flowers
Of many a name thick clustering fill the place
That seems a realm, a kingdom, all their own,
Blending in rich variety their charms;
E'en so, O genial Home—secluded, made
By Heaven's kind law the nursery of joys
Only within thy loved enclosure known—
In thee all healthful pleasures, ever fresh,
Should spring abundant, and luxuriant grow
Filling all days and hours, and months and years,
With influences that wake and warm and cheer;
That send exhilaration through the soul,
And with refreshment bring a calm content.
Father and mother! yours the task to plan
With tireless constancy and thoughtful skill,
That boy, nor girl, for lack of joy at home,
Shall from the hearthstone turn and wander far
To quench at poisoned streams the thirst they feel.
Brothers and sisters—let each have their sports
By instinct chosen oft, if choice be given;