A few brief words may tell
How pass’d the early childhood of that boy,
In innocence, in health, and happiness:
But time brings many changes, and he went
To seek his fortune in the crowded city.
It was a sabbath evening when he left
His native village, and the ringing bells
Were pealing cheerfully, and the red light
Made mirrors of the cottage lattices.
When they had reach'd the green lane, which shut out
The hamlet from their view, the old man paus'd,
And bade the youth look back. "Just such a day
It was when I return'd again to my own home;
May your heart be as light when you come back
As mine was then."
They parted, and the boy
Went on, with hurried steps, as if to leave
His thoughts and tears behind. But once he paused
Before a brake in the thick hedge's screen;
There lay the meadows, with their fragrant hay,
Breathing of June; the small white cottages,
The garden filled with fruit trees, the clear stream,
The willows crowding on its further bank;
The church, whose window like a rainbow shone;
And there he saw his father, saw him turn
Towards the burying ground, and tears, which fill'd
His heart, gush'd forth like rain. Why must we lose
The sweet warm feelings of our earlier time?
The world is as the sea, in whose salt waves,
Like streams, we lose the freshness of our youth.
Long years have pass'd,
Yet look from that green lane, and mark how slight
