Classic Poem

The poet rose, his heart was light,
He journeyed with the sun;
He blessed the golden day; at night
He hailed the dark begun;
Because, you see, his heart was light—
His life was in its sun.

The poet said: “A fairer world
Lies just beyond my ken;
Methinks I see its flags unfurled,
Its royal ranks of men.”
His hope it was the poet's world,
His sight the poet's ken.

But when long days he walked alone,
And saw the world the same—
But that the hills were higher grown,
And that his feet were lame,—
He wondered: “Is the world so lone,
Or is my heart the same?”

And so he sat him down and wept,
His days they were so sad,
And wondered if the friends he left
Were feeling quite as bad;—
You see, the poet when he wept
Thought all the world was sad.

And then the poet turned him round,
And vowed no more to roam;
No fairer country had he found
Than that he left at home,—
As things will ever come around
To those who vow to roam

The poet's heart is mine to-day;
And thus it is I know
There are no happier scenes than lay
Around the Long Ago;
The poet's heart mine own to-day,
This truth I feel and know.

No friends so true, no eyes so kind,
No life so sweet and fair,
As in the days we left behind,
The days so free from care;
The fealty and the faith so kind,
The life so wondrous fair.

Heaven rest the poet's faithful heart,
Heaven rest his soul and mine,
And give us all when far apart
This comfort all divine:
That Heaven will rest the faithful heart,
This soul of mine and thine!