The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1894-03-15

AUtsT.i
Good farmer ZONES and his grayhaired "lie
Sat to. .Iaa. beside their door
A. the sun went down one summers eve,
With their old hearts sad and sore
For they soon must leave this pleasant home
Where the wears had flown so fast,
And now, the silence that long had reigned'
The good man broke at last.
ayes, we are leaving'our home dear wife
We've sold and are gong away
eaving the home where together -----..--
We've labored for many day.
Through heat of,the summer sunshine
And chill of the winters blast,
We've worked both early and late. good wife,
ON this farm where our lot was cast
IT'S the same where one summer morning.
With honest joy and pride
brought you to share life with me,
happy and blushing bride.
And tho it was small and humble
To us it was wonderous fair.
For was it not homer And with true Owe
What more could we ask for there,
"And YOU. with your check like roseleaf,
And tresses OF shining hair,
Made picture to brighten the dullest
And drive away gloom and care
For your eyes were bright as the dewdrop,
!. Your step like the bounding roc,
And your voice as clear as the brooklet
On that morning so long ago
"why yes when stop to remember.
It,was near to fifty years,
Tho so swift they have passed it scarcely
u One half that time appears.
We've had scant time for reflection,
q SO busy the days have been
with planting, and sowing, and reaping,
Then blowing, and sowing again.
''But the fields have grown broader and green
err.
And some where the forest then stood.
Are smiling now in their yerdure
Down there by the side Of the wood.
The pastures are broader and richer,
The meadows more yerdant and fair,
For mauy's the day have labored,
And toiled meath glowing sun there.
"a have planted the garden and orchard,
Whose low hanging bloom laden boughs
Give promise of harvest in Autumn,
Which shall rival that of the mows.
And this is the home we have builded
For you always have had your share
OF the labor, OF planning, and saving,
And had more than your part Of the care.
at is here that our children came to us,
Those blessings to brighten our way,
And there, within sight of our window,
Are two OF them sleeping to- day
The others, to homes of their choosing,
uHave gone, as we long ago came
To this little home on the hillside,
And are working there just the same.
"But we both are getting old, my wife,
And we cannot expect to toll
In the days to come, as for fifty years
We've titled this rugged soil
So when neighbor Smiths young brother
Wanted to buy the farm.
/ thought it was best to let go;
And the wound found a little balm.
"In the thought that it every cent was ours,
We had earned it, you and |,
In the sweat OF our brow, by honest toll,
AS the busy days went by.
And tho it is hard to leave the place
We have loved for so many year,
Where every nook and corner teens
with memories sweet and dear.
"Yet we know it is best, and from the way
We've started we II not turn back
But take our hard earned dollars along
And make our home with Jack
He's our youngest, the baby we called him
And often had hoped that he
Would settle down on the homestead,
But II seems 1t was not to be.
$50 now we have sold the farm, wife,
And Smith will be moving in:
He'll find things all in good order
Whenever he'd like to begin.
Some different from what zoe found it
On that morning so long ago,
When we came to make our home here,
In the springtimes flush and glow.
"And we, with our willing hands, wife,
Have made all the change you see;
Have cleared the field and the meadow,
And planted the vine and tree.
Our wants have all been well supplied
From the harvests we've gathered in.
And our lives have been happy and peaceful,
Away from temptation and sin.
Zach dollar we have In our good old age
Has been won from the verdant soil,
And there's more there yet, to reward the ma
Who's willing to delve and toll,
And hope that Smith, as he tills the fields
In the days that are yet to come,
viii sometimes spare thought to the man
who has helped to make his home"