Poems of Felicia Hemans in The Literary Souvenir, 1828/The Voice of Home
THE VOICE OF HOME.
To the Prodigal.
BY MRS. HEMANS.
I.
Oh! when wilt thou return
To thy spirit's early loves?
To the freshness of the morn,
To the stillness of the groves?
II.
The summer-birds are calling,
Thy household porch around,
And the merry waters falling,
With sweet laughter in their sound.
III.
And a thousand bright-veined flowers,
'Midst the banks of moss and fern,
Breathe of the sunny hours—
—But when wilt thou return?
IV.
Oh! thou hast wandered long
From thy home without a guide,
And thy native woodland song
In thine altered heart hath died.
V.
Thou hast flung the wealth away,
And the glory of thy spring,
And to thee the leaves' light play
Is a long-forgotten thing.
VI.
—But when wilt thou return?
Sweet dews may freshen soon
The flower within whose urn
Too fiercely gazed the noon.
VII.
O'er the image of the sky
Which the lake's clear bosom wore,
Darkly may shadows lie—
But not for evermore.
VIII.
Give back thy heart again
To the gladness of the woods,
To the birds' triumphant strain,
To the mountain-solitudes!
IX.
—But when wilt thou return?
Along thine own free air,
There are young sweet voices borne—
Oh! should not thine be there?
X.
Still at thy father's board
There is kept a place for thee.
And by thy smile restored,
Joy round the hearth shall be.
XI.
Still hath thy mother's eye,
Thy coming step to greet,
A look of days gone by,
Tender, and gravely sweet.
XII.
Still, when the prayer is said.
For thee kind bosoms yearn,
For thee fond tears are shed—
—Oh! when wilt thou return?