Traits and Trials of Early Life/The Soldier's Home
THE SOLDIER'S HOME.
Thus spoke the aged wanderer,
A kind old man was he,
Smoothing the fair child's golden hair
Who sat upon his knee:—
"'Tis now some fifteen years, or more,
Since to your town I came;
And, though a stranger, made my home
Where no one knew my name.
"I did not seek your pleasant woods,
Where the green linnets sing—
Nor yet your meadows, for the sake
Of any living thing.
"For fairer is the little town,
And brighter is the tide,
And pleasanter the woods that hang
My native river's side.
"Or such, at least, they seemed to me—
I spent my boyhood there;
And memory, in looking back,
Makes every thing more fair.
"But half a century has past
Since last I saw their face;
God hath appointed me, at length,
Another resting-place.
"I have gone east—I have gone west:
I served in that brave band
Which fought beneath the pyramids,
In Egypt's ancient land.
"I saw the Nile swell o'er its banks
And bury all around;
And when it ebbed, the fertile land
Was like fair garden ground.*[1]
"I saw the golden Ganges, next,
No meadow is so green
As the bright fields of verdant rice
Beside its waters seen.
"There grows the mournful peepul tree,†[2]
Whose boughs are scattered o'er
The door-way of the warrior's house,
When he returns no more.
"I followed where our colours led,
In many a hard-won day;
From ocean to the Pyrenees,
Old England fought her way.
"I had a young companion then—
My own, my only child!—
The darkest watch, the longest march,
His laugh and song beguil'd.
"He was as cheerful as the lark
That singeth in the sky;
His comrades gladdened on their way,
Whene'er his step drew nigh.
"But he was wounded, and was sent
To join a homeward band;
Thank God, he drew his latest breath
Within his native land.
"I shared in all our victories,
But sad they were to me;
I only saw the one pale face
That was beyond the sea.
"Peace came at last, and I was sent,
With many more, to roam;
There were glad partings then, for most
Had some accustomed home.
"I took my medal, and with that
I crost the salt sea wave;
Others might seek their native vales,
I only sought a grave.
"I knew that, on his homeward march
My gallant boy had died;
I knew that he had found a grave
By yonder river's side.
"The summer sun-set, soft and warm,
Seemed as it blest the sleep
Of that low grave, which held my child,
O'er which I longed to weep.
"The aged yew-trees' sweeping boughs
A solemn shadow spread;
And many a growth of early flowers
Their soothing fragrance shed.
"But there were weeds upon his grave:
None watch'd the stranger's tomb,
And bade, amid its long green grass,
The spring's sweet children bloom.
"You know the spot—our old church yard
Has no such grave beside;
The primrose and the violet
There blossom in their pride.
"It is my only task on earth—
It is my only joy,
To keep, throughout the seasons fair,
The green sod of my boy.
"Nor kin nor kindness have I lacked,
All here have been my friends;
And, with a blessing at its close,
My lengthened wayfare ends.
"And now my little Edward knows
The cause why here I dwell;
And how I trust to have my grave
By his I love so well."
- ↑
*Not a traveller but alludes to the beautiful appearance of the country when the annual overflowing of the Nile, in Egypt, has subsided. Many use the very expression in the text, that it is "like a fair garden."
- ↑
† It is a custom with some of the Hindoo tribes to strew branches of the peepul tree before the door when the chief of the house has fallen in battle.