The Parting Song (O. W. Holmes)

by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

For works with similar titles, see The Parting Song.

The noon of summer sheds its ray
  On Harvard's holy ground;
The Matron calls, the sons obey,
  And gather smiling round.

chorus

Then old and young together stand,
  The sunshine and the snow,
As heart to heart, and hand in hand,
  We sing before we go!

Her hundred opening doors have swung;
  Through every storied hall
The pealing echoes loud have run,
  "Thrice welcome one and all!"
     The old and young, etc.

We floated though her peaceful bay,
  To sail life's stormy seas;
But left our anchor where it lay
  Beneath her green old trees.
     The old and young, etc.

As now we lift its lengthening chain,
  That held us fast of old,
The rusted rings grow bright again,—
  Their iron turns to gold.
     The old and young, etc.

Though scattered ere the setting sun,
  As leaves when wild winds blow,
Our home is here, our hearts are one,
  Till Charles forgets to flow.
     The old and young, etc.