Sharp County record., 1880-09-30
HONEWARD BOUND.

Our trusty, well beloved friend
Was homeward bound across the sea-
From lonely sOjOurn in far lands
He came to clasp our claSping hands,
To hear our welcome sweet;
To bring his wanderings to an end
In this dear home with mine and me,
To make my quiet bliss complete.
NJ come" he wrote (his letter lies
Before me in the sunshine fair,
81 come with heart content, to see
The JOY which God hath given to thee,
My cOmrade true and tried;
I Ifain would see it with mine eyes,
| fain would hear thyself declare
How deep thine happiness, how vide
az come because long to see.
The bOnny English flowers a-bloom,
Because spirit of unrest
Doth vex my lately-quiet breast
With whispers in my sleep
Of daisied meadow, breezy lea,
OF April sunshine and perfume,
Of heath-clad mountains gray and steep.
NJ come because therolling years
Have stilled the passion of my youth,
Because the rugged path of time
Hath led me up to heights sublime,
And l., who could rot see
Thy first great bliss for binding tears,
say to-day in honest truth
Gods way was best for thee and me.
NJ come to take thine hand, my friend,
To look upon thy sweet wife's face,
To see thy children fond and fair;
To breathe again the blessed air
That famed me at my birth;
Until beside thee to the end
go forth from my dwelling-place
To find grave on English earth.
"I come, my friend" All me! sweet wife,
What marvel that the tears run down?
What marvel that these tender words
Smite mOurnfully on true heart chords,
Since he, whose thoughts they bear,
He, who had loved us all his life,
Who for loves sake laid down loves crown,
Hath parted from us otherwhere2
He thought to see our happy home,
Our welded bliss, our children dear,
He thought to see thee by my side,
Who dared not look upon my bride,
Who lov'd thee in his prime:
But DER his grave, with crests OF foam
The wild Atlantic billOws rear
Their heads, and make mournful chime.
Hewill not see this home of ours,
This little Eden all our own,
He will not bring within our door
An added blessing to loves store
vi CHttllll SdCIllCts
And to the height of heavenly flowers
Our precious blossoms will have grown
Before they meet his kindly eyes.
He will not see my sweetest wife,
Thy radiant beauty past its morn,
Nor tender traces of the tears.
The sighs and smiles, the hopes and fears,
OF wifes and mothers care.
If through the mists of failing life,
He saw thV face. il must have worn
The look that l remember there.
The April look of long ago.
When all were young and thou vast free,
And on the hawthorn-bOrdered way
We loitered in the glad MONDAY,
Beneath the sapphire sky;
All, wife! then dawned loves summer glow
Ny beating heart sprang out to thee,
But my true friend went silent by.
He was the wOrthier of the twain,
His pulses beat as strong as mine,
He looked on thee with lovers eyes,
And never sought to win the prize,
But standing calm apart,
Smiled brotherly upon my gain,
And pressed into my cup of wine
The crushd, ripe tirst-fruits of his heart.
All, my lost friend! that tender debt
Which we had purposed to repay,
The debt which came with sweet loves birth
Can never be repaid on earth.
But thou hast surely found
A happy end to life's regret;
Gods angel met the by the way,
And thou, indeed, vast hOmeward bound
-AUthe Year Round.