YOUR Winter gift of bud and bloom
Took nature by surprise;
’Twas sudden Summer in my room,
And April in my eyes.
The kindly mist a moment stole
The flowers from my view,
But lo! they blossomed in my soul,
Where love their fragrance knew.
Fair embassy! their smiles I greet,
Camellia, pink and rose;
I understand the message sweet
Their gentle hearts enclose.
Their winsome beauty gladdens me
With this immortal truth:
No age can quite unhappy be
That still remembers youth.
Dear boys! companions! friends sincere!
More warm and true than men,
I thank you most because my tear
Made me a boy again.
THE OLD HOMESTEAD.
ENSHRINED among roses
The Homestead reposes
With vines mantled o’er;
Ground-ivy and clover
Are running all over
The stone at the door.
Pinks, lilies, are blowing,
Blue violets showing
Gold hearts to the June;
Bees going and coming
Keep evermore humming
Their Hyblean tune.
’Twas here that I wasted
Youth’s flower and tasted
Love’s first honey-dew;
A boy here I slumbered,
By care unencumbered,
Long, balmy nights through.
The wood-birds each morning
Gave musical warning
For shadows to fly;
Their rhapsody choral
Foretold the auroral
First flush of the sky.