All hope of rest withdrawn me? - What dread command hath put This awful curse upon me - The curse of the wandering foot! Forward and backward and thither, And hither and yon again -...
When we hear Uncle Sidney tell About the long-ago An' old, old friends he loved so well When he was young - My-oh! - Us childern all wish we'd 'a' bin A-livin' then with Uncle, - so...
The harp of the minstrel has never a tone As sad as the song in his bosom to-night, For the magical touch of his fingers alone Can not waken the echoes that breathe it aright;...
The little old poem that nobody reads Blooms in a crowded space, Like a ground-vine blossom, so low in the weeds That nobody sees its face - Unless, perchance, the reader's eye...
You kin boast about yer cities, and their stiddy growth and size, And brag about yer County-seats, and business enterprise, And railroads, and factories, and all sich foolery -...
O big old tree, so tall an' fine, Where all us childern swings an' plays, Though neighbers says you're on the line Between Pa's house an' Mr. Gray's, - Us childern used to almost fuss,...
It's mighty good to git back to the old town, shore, Considerin' I've be'n away twenty year and more. Sence I moved then to Kansas, of course I see a change,...
The old days - the far days - The overdear and fair! - The old days - the lost days - How lovely they were! The old days of Morning, With the dew-drench on the flowers And apple-buds and blossoms...
How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood That now but in mem'ry I sadly review; The old meeting-house at the edge of the wildwood, The rail fence, and horses all tethered thereto;...
Neglected now is the old guitar And moldering into decay; Fretted with many a rift and scar That the dull dust hides away, While the spider spins a silver star In its silent lips to-day. ...
This is "The old Home by the Mill" - far we still call it so, Although the old mill, roof and sill, is all gone long ago. The old home, though, and old folks, and the old spring, and a few...
Such was the Child-World of the long-ago - The little world these children used to know: - Johnty, the oldest, and the best, perhaps, Of the five happy little Hoosier chaps...
Lo! steadfast and serene, In patient pause between The seen and the unseen, What gentle zephyrs fan Your silken silver hair, - And what diviner air Breathes round you like a prayer, Old Man?...
Old man never had much to say - 'Ceptin' to Jim, - And Jim was the wildest boy he had - And the old man jes' wrapped up in him! Never heerd him speak but once Er twice in my life, - and first time was...
The old sea captain has sailed the seas So long, that the waves at mirth, Or the waves gone wild, and the crests of these, Were as near playmates from birth: He has loved both the storm and the calm, because...
"Oh! the old swimmin'-hole! whare the crick so still and deep Looked like a baby-river that was laying half asleep, And the gurgle of the worter round the drift jest below...
Friends, my heart is half aweary Of its happiness to-night: Though your songs are gay and cheery, And your spirits feather-light, There's a ghostly music haunting Still the heart of every guest...