Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-06-08
THE TN T'.ELLIGENCER
zE4RLY RE0oLLEcTI0NS.
ny DAVID BARRIER.

BYDAvID BARKER.
I'm sitting alone in my office, dear Lew,
Both writing and singing my lays; -,
I'm laughing and crying memory runs BACK
To the time of our boyhood days.
Though lawyer you are, do you mind it, dear
The cottage where first we saw light,
Which father socarerully chinked up with moss,
To make all the creviccs tight?
Dive mind it, your lubberly form, my dear Lew,
Your eyes ever laughing through tears,
Your bali and your skates and Your tr"ndi'nS-
The bliss of your earlier years? LhooP'
Dye mind if, the times have switched you
w %e%' " Not or some such a shield,
Was the word that instncLly burst from your
While took to the woods or The field? lips
Dive mind it, the road with the gateway, dear
That led down to Stevens mill, Lew
The spot where old Patrick the porcupine slew,
Near the "little.great. rock" on the hill!
Dye mind it, our mothers red cupboard, dear
Where nut cakes and bannocIss were kept,
The old trundlc bed that was pulled out on
trucks,
Where VIC have so peacefully slept?
Atpic mic, and tavern, and jam, my dear Lew,
i've toasted quite often since then,
L
10 lunch at that cupboard again
Since then, upon mattress and sofa, dear Lew,
OFT times | have pillowed my head;
But ali! have never yet fonnd such rePose
As came from that old trundlc bed.
That cupboard and trundle frame, Lew, are no
The quilts and the sheets, too, are gone;
Though Fancy insists that those sheets are the
MY pen is now SCribbling upon. sheets
Our mother, dear Lew, though decripit and old
Has baked us a loaf now and then;
To see il, by practice, We ever could find
The tastes of our childhood again.
That poor mothers labors l fear, were in vain;
Our efforts were powcrless too,
Forirc's bittcrcnplingS has tainted those loaTeS,
And poisoned our appctitcS, Lew.
Dive mind it, old Hcpllzibaln's fcrule, dear Lew,
Which taught us to read and to spell?
The fears of that Ccrulc were kin to the fears
NOW entertain Of :; hell.
That lerulc was missing one morn, my dear Lew,
While HepZihah went TO her homes
Asa Lombar,l-but Asa will not expose,
For, mind it, we greed. to be num-
Dive mind it, our terrible punishment, Lew,
That sitting with Catherine Russ, too,
Ourpceping through fingers when prIsoned there
To sec who were giggiing at us?
TITS strange, my dear Iew how that habit, Of
Has conquered that boyish fear r. late,
Since then have sat whole night beside Kate,
Without even shedding one tear.
DYE mind it, the place where tceteret dear
The fence that stood over the "rwn!" Lew,
Such tcctering, Lev, was an innocent sport,
For, mind it, we teetered for tun.
Since then have teetered with ar1 cr sized boys
But always have teetered Tor Pcl;
I've tectcrcd full many lad from the plank,
And often bcen tcetprcd myself
Dye mind it, the dreadful long night that we
The night We divided our Cuin; pasScd-
The ninepcnce we saved for the tunster, dear
The muster that came in the morn? Lew,
Dive mind it, cold Robinsons" husking, dear
Where MI drank new rum from jug; LEV,
Where husking commenced with jig and reel,
And closed with Kiss and a hug?
now am rigid tcctotallcr, Lew,
And stick to my principles snug;
And nothing wonI,l tempt me to '1iq~or" again,
Unless twas 'Old Rohinson's" jug
Dive mind it, how anxious you were, my dear
TO have the good haynG time last, Lew,
One season, when finding humhtc bees nest
In every rock heap that you passed?
Dive mind it, the day OF all days in our youth
When death CAME so hOrrd and grim,
And brandished his scythe till hn clipped the
ofthc life Of our dog we called Prim?
Dye mind it, the knoll by the "becch bars, /"
dear Lew,
Where beech nuts so many we got,
And nggcd in our caps down to llnckinSs store
TO barter for powder and shot?
Since beech nuts grew dull, Lew, I've tried other
schemes.
Aud now am in business that pays;
But all of my gains would toss to the winds
For month Of our boyhOod days.
ExErEw, Maine.