Know it? See yonder worn old step,
The open door, the bench beside it,
The rose-tree trained where it should creep—
I almost see the hand that tied it.
The sunny windows seem to throw
On me a tender look of greeting,
And in my heart awakes the glow
Of other days so glad and fleeting.
The dear old faces, one by one,
Come out from shadows swiftly thronging,
Dear picture of my boyhood’s home,
My eyes are dim with love and longing!
Her Boy
THERE’S a looking-glass, a hammer,
Some toys all broken up,
There’s pebbles, and glass, and sawdust,
And papa’s shaving cup;
A little cart with the wheels off,
A horse that’s lost an eye,
A kitten tied to a chair-leg
That’s looking scared and shy.
“Ah me!” the busy mother sighs,
I’m tired off my feet,
I really wish he were grown up
So I could keep things neat!
He catches her reproving eye
And is inclined for play,
So dons his bonnet wrong, and cries
“Bye, baby’s goin’ away!”
The mother holds her darling close—
A culprit, cute and small—
For wild disorder reigning there
She does not care at all.
But, spendthrift with a mother’s love,
Puts kisses on his lips,
And on the cheeks so warm and red,
On neck, and finger-tips.
Perhaps she thinks of coming years,
When in no childish play
Her boy shall bid her a good-bye,
Her baby go away,
To walk without her tender care
To shelter every move,
To stand without his hand in hers—
Away from home and love.