Across the meadow's green expanse,
Among those hills that rise beyond,
Where fancy walked with sweet romance,
E'er life in earnest had begun.
I view again those scenes today,
And beauty fain would court a dream,
But time has torn the mask away,
And care and sorrow stand between.
My boyhood home--the house still stands:
Transfigured in the evening light,
Ah! waiting smiles, Ah! welcoming hands,
Ah! sad, sad thought, not there tonight.
As one who looks upon his dead,
One last and lingering farewell view,
My dear old home where love has fled,
With sorrowing heart I turn from you.
