Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,
Make me a child again just for to-night!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart as of yore;
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother,—rock me to...
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When the lessons and tasks are all ended,
And the school for the day is dismissed,
And the little ones gather around me,
To bid me good night and be kissed;
O the little white arms that encircle
My neck in their tender embrace!
O the smiles that are halos of heaven,
Shedding sunshine of love on my face!And when they are...
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“which shall it be? Which shall it be?”
I looked at John—John looked at me
(Dear, patient John, who loves me yet
As well as though my locks were jet);
And when I found that I must speak,
My voice seemed strangely low and weak:
“Tell me again what Robert said,”
And then I, listening, bent my head.
“This is his letter: ‘I will give... -
Giving in Marriage
TO bear, to nurse, to rear,
To watch, and then to lose:
To see my bright ones disappear,
Drawn up like morning dews;—
To bear, to nurse, to rear,
To watch, and then to lose:
This have I done when God drew near
Among his own to choose.To hear, to heed, to wed,
And with thy lord depart... -
I Knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled
Above the green elms, that a cottage was near,
And I said, “If there ’s peace to be found in the world,
A heart that is humble might hope for it here!”It was noon, and on flowers that languished around
In silence reposed the voluptuous bee;
Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound... -
It ’s rare to see the morning bleeze
Like a bonfire frae the sea,
It ’s fair to see the burnie kiss
The lip o’ the flow’ry lea;
An’ fine it is on green hillside,
Where hums the bonnie bee,
But rarer, fairer, finer far
Is the Ingle-side for me.Glens may be gilt wi’ gowans rare,
The birds may fill the tree;... -
What is it fades and flickers in the fire,
Mutters and sighs, and yields reluctant breath,
As if in the red embers some desire,
Some word prophetic burned, defying death?Lords of the forest, stalwart oak and pine,
Lie down for us in flames of martyrdom:
A human, household warmth, their death-fires shine;
Yet fragrant with high... -
I Hae see great anes and sat in great ha’s,
’Mang lords and fine ladies a’ covered wi’ braws,
At feasts made for princes wi’ princes I ’ve been,
When the grand shine o’ splendor has dazzled my een;
But a sight sae delightfu’ I trow I ne’er spied
As the bonny blithe blink o’ my ain fireside.
My ain fireside, my ain fireside,
O, cheery ’s... -
O Thou of home the guardian Lar,
And, when our earth hath wandered far
Into the cold, and deep snow covers
The walks of our New England lovers,
Their sweet secluded evening-star!
’T was with thy rays the English Muse
Ripened her mild domestic hues;
’T was by thy flicker that she conned
The fireside wisdom that enrings
With... -
When wintry days are dark and drear
And all the forest ways grow still,
When gray snow-laden clouds appear
Along the bleak horizon hill,
When cattle all are snugly penned
And sheep go huddling close together,
When steady streams of smoke ascend
From farm-house chimneys,—in such weather
Give me old Carolina’s own,...