14
POEMS.
The Old-fashioned House.
Of all the tender and comforting things
That now and then sweet memory brings,
There's nothing dearer that love recalls
Than the old-fashioned house with its white-washed walls.
That now and then sweet memory brings,
There's nothing dearer that love recalls
Than the old-fashioned house with its white-washed walls.
Not a mansion to-day, though a marvel of art,
Can ever usurp its place in my heart;
For there my earliest prayers were said,
And I slept at night in a trundle bed.
Can ever usurp its place in my heart;
For there my earliest prayers were said,
And I slept at night in a trundle bed.
'Neath coverlids reaching from feet to chin,
By a mother's hand tucked gently in,
And a good-night kiss on my tired brow—
Oh, earth holds no such blessing now!
By a mother's hand tucked gently in,
And a good-night kiss on my tired brow—
Oh, earth holds no such blessing now!
A garden was fragrant in flower beds
Where marigolds lifted their velvet heads,
And warmed by sunshine, refreshed by dew,
The bachelor-button and touch-me -not grew.
Where marigolds lifted their velvet heads,
And warmed by sunshine, refreshed by dew,
The bachelor-button and touch-me -not grew.
In a river, that curved like a shepherd's crook,
We fished for minnows with bent pin hook;
Or with little bare feet oft waded through,
And bravely "paddled our own canoe."
We fished for minnows with bent pin hook;
Or with little bare feet oft waded through,
And bravely "paddled our own canoe."
