The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1890-07-03
THE VILLAGE SCHOOL HOUSE.
Weston, Vt,,-lsi 0-lS5i,

How sweet, when the twilight brings hours 70
reflection,
To muse on the scenes which memory holds dear
And lingering among them In fond RETROSPECT
tion,
Give each In Its turn n smile or tear.
When the sunsets last glow In the red west /
burning,
And natures sweet voices are all hushed and
still,
The dearest pot to which memory keeps turning
Is the village brick school house at the foot OF
the hill.
The old fashioned school house,
The weather. stained school house,
The village brick school house
At the foot of the hill.
The dear old school house by the edge of tn,
mill stream,
With Its COOL shady banks where the violets
grew,
And the moss. covered rocks, where in fancifu
childdream
We ylsioned future that never came true
Just over the bank, in the swamp, grew the
rushes,
Which we plated in mats with an artistic skill,
And bestowed on our knights, with maidenly
bushes
In the village brick school house, at the foot of
the hill
The old fashioned school house, etc.
From our A b Z up che rough sleeps of learning
We plodded till we spelled out our words when
we read;
And our bliss was complete when more victories
earning,
We "spelled in class and left off at the head"
How eager we were to win our promotion
To the "upper school" where the tiny rill
OF knowledge grew broader as it rolled towards
the ocean,
From the village brick school house at the foot
of the hill
The old fashioned school house, etc.
Some teachers were mild, and some unrelenting ,
Who spared not the rod but kept Solomon's rule
And the luckless offender most soreiy repenting
Was made an "eXample for the good of the
school,"
Though thus oft reminded Of the rod kept in
pickle,
And the precepts our teachers labored hard to
instll,
Like April skies, our moods were quite tickle,
In the village brick school house at the foot of
the hill.
The old fashioned school house, etc.
1t was long since in ruins, but its phantom still
haunts me,
As linked with the past behold it once more,
TIL from the dim distance the vision enchants
me,
Like the fabed Elixir that lost youth can restore
Again as child roam the rough hillside,
And wade in the shadows of the clear run ming
rill,
Or in song and sport pass the swift hour of
noon-tide,
In the village brick school house at the foot of
the hill.
The old fashioned school house, etc.
Now comes to my ear, to complete the illusion,
The babel of voices, when school was let out,
II mingled together in charming confusion
entreaty, II shrek and shout
The jest and the pranks that excited our laugh
ter,
The shouts of the coasters, now hoarse and now
shrill-
The songs that resounded from basement to
rafter,
In the village brick school house at the foot of
the hill.
The old fashioned school house, etc.
Oh, days of my childhood with what faithful
devotion,
My heart will forever your memories keep,
AS the sea shell exhumed from the caverns of
ocean,
Forever will sing of Its home in the ceep;
And when the twilight of age comes over me
stealing,
One CLEAN from the past will remain with me
still,
Through the dim, backward vista Its soft light
revealing,
The village brick school house at the foot of
the hill.
The old fashioned school house,
The weather stained school house,
The village brick school house
At the foot of the hill,
D,,r