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The old-fashioned stable,
Where meek horses stood,
Now stamping and pawing,
Awaiting their food.
Where meek horses stood,
Now stamping and pawing,
Awaiting their food.
I list to young swallows,
On beams perching high;
Whilst careful bird-mothers
Flit noiselessly by.
On beams perching high;
Whilst careful bird-mothers
Flit noiselessly by.
I see the young bossies
Reach heads through the bars;
The curly-tailed piglings,
That grunt to the stars.
Reach heads through the bars;
The curly-tailed piglings,
That grunt to the stars.
What visions come rushing,
Of scenes that are past!
The years with their burdens
Have vanished at last.
Of scenes that are past!
The years with their burdens
Have vanished at last.
Ah, sweet recollections,
By fancy kept green,
Where father and mother
And children were seen!
By fancy kept green,
Where father and mother
And children were seen!
I stand at the side of a now sunken grave,
And list for a whisper midst hot falling tears;
The silence of death broods where sweet flowers should wave,
As backward I glance o'er the many sad years.
And list for a whisper midst hot falling tears;
The silence of death broods where sweet flowers should wave,
As backward I glance o'er the many sad years.
1922
The Old Washington County Academy
Thy shades no more with jocund life abound;
Yet memories cluster round thine ancient walls,
And linger on the consecrated ground,
Till o'er the dream Time's sombre shadow falls.
What thoughts of bygone days are with me yet!
A deathlike silence brooding o'er the past!
Within thy walls are scenes we ne'er forget,
But clasp and hold, as priceless jewels, fast.
From out thy doors have passed, at duty's call,
Full many wearers of the scholar's gown,
Whose voices rang in legislative hall,
Whose feet pursued the road to high renown.
There stands the hall in which we oft beheld
The gleam of blades, which clashed with gleaming blades,
While eager maids the fears instinctive quelled;
But all too soon the scene of glory fades.
Oft have I gazed on those time-honored walls,
And marvelled at the secrets which they hold.
Adown the years a voice of wisdom calls,
Which I would heed before I grow too old.
And that old belfry, deeply scarred with names!
We scan them well, and vaguely query where
The hands that carved them on those window-frames,
And feet that pressed that ancient narrow stair.
Where now are they who erstwhile filled these seats,
From mountain homes, from placid lakes afar,
From rural farms, from swarming city streets?
How many a one has crossed the fatal bar!
Yet memories cluster round thine ancient walls,
And linger on the consecrated ground,
Till o'er the dream Time's sombre shadow falls.
What thoughts of bygone days are with me yet!
A deathlike silence brooding o'er the past!
Within thy walls are scenes we ne'er forget,
But clasp and hold, as priceless jewels, fast.
From out thy doors have passed, at duty's call,
Full many wearers of the scholar's gown,
Whose voices rang in legislative hall,
Whose feet pursued the road to high renown.
There stands the hall in which we oft beheld
The gleam of blades, which clashed with gleaming blades,
While eager maids the fears instinctive quelled;
But all too soon the scene of glory fades.
Oft have I gazed on those time-honored walls,
And marvelled at the secrets which they hold.
Adown the years a voice of wisdom calls,
Which I would heed before I grow too old.
And that old belfry, deeply scarred with names!
We scan them well, and vaguely query where
The hands that carved them on those window-frames,
And feet that pressed that ancient narrow stair.
Where now are they who erstwhile filled these seats,
From mountain homes, from placid lakes afar,
From rural farms, from swarming city streets?
How many a one has crossed the fatal bar!
1921
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