“I remember, I remember”

I Remember, I remember   The house where I was born, The little window where the sun   Came peeping in at morn. He never came a wink too soon,   Nor brought too long a day; But now I often wish the night   Had borne my breath away! I remember, I remember   The roses, red and white, The violets, and the lily-cups,—   Those flowers made of light! The lilacs where the robin built,   And where my brother set The laburnum on his birthday,— The tree is living yet! I remember, I remember   Where I was used to swing, And thought the air must rush as fresh   To swallows on the wing; My spirit flew in feathers then,   That is so heavy now, And summer pools could hardly cool   The fever on my brow! I remember, I remember   The fir-trees dark and high; I used to think their slender tops   Were close against the sky. It was a childish ignorance,   But now ’t is little joy To know I ’m farther off from heaven   Than when I was a boy.