As the storm-gust drags at the sighing eaves

And moans at the shuddering window-pane,

Some droning voice from a shadowy bank

Intones a song to the wind’s long strain,

And like the soughing, ebbing blast

The gusty chorus bursts and swells;

And then one single, sighing voice

Drones plaintively the tale it tells.

They’re simple songs, they’re homely songs,

And yet they cling in heart and brain,——