WE WALKED AFAR .

 

We walked afar along a winding lane

      That led us through idyllic country ways;

A youth that we thought ne'er would come again

      Was ours again. As in those far-off days

We marveled at the blueness of the skies;

      We sought forget-me-nots and laughed with glee;

Arid I, I looked down deep into her eyes,

      And she, as in those old days, looked at me.

 

Within her bonnet hanging from my arm,

      Forget-me-nots and buttercups were piled;

The rustling grasses caused her mild alarm,

      As of. a snake, then she looked up and smiled

Smiled lifelong trust into my eyes again

      And so we walked, our fingers interlaced,

Herself, and youth, and me, adown the lane ;

      and gladness walked beside us where we paced.

 

Now some strange cloud effect did catch her eye;

      Now did she stoop to find a hidden bloom;

We saw the lazy hawk hang in the sky;

      We smelled the woodland jasmine's sweet perfume;

All was as it had been; by some strange spell

Our years were fallen from us, and we stood

In paths we both had known, remembered well.

      Ah, youth returned seemed sweet, and life was

            good!

 

We heard the peacock's cry sound loud and shrill,

      And soft a breeze did rustle through the trees;

And in the path that curved around the hill 

      The golden-rod climbed upward to our knees;

And from above thee yellow jasmine hung,

      And from some hidden nook a mockbird sang,

And o'er our heads red trumpet-flowers swung,

      And 'neath our feet the fresh green grasses sprang.

 

And then we turned us back; the evening’s gloam

      Hung halo-like about us as we walked;

Afar we saw the shining lights of home

      And with the sight age did come back and stalked

Beside us two, and yet we twain were glad;

      Glad to leave youth, the woodlands solitude;

Glad to fly back to joys youth not had

      As homing pigeons wing back to their brood.

 

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