'TIS a homely time of ease and rest, When the day dies out in the ruddy west And the lamps are lit and the hearth fire leaps, And the children go to their early sleeps; When the dear ones talk of their doings small And a sense of peace is on them all, For the cool, calm night must stretch between To-morrow's toil and to-day's flushed scene; When memories throng and the word of cheer Is sometimes nigh to the secret tear, For the soul at lounge will range full far, From the pit of shame to the highest star. The sound of music perhaps is heard, But the instrument or the uttered word Alike are good, since love in both Is immanent and nothing loath. So the home folk feel, as the hours slip by, That Life is kind and that every sigh Is fellowed close by some pleasant thing, That laughter follows on suffering. 'Tis a shade-tree set in a desert space; In a discord harsh 'tis a note of grace; 'Tis the harmony of the perfect rhyme, This homely, human slipper time. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN PICCADILLY by ISAAC ROSENBERG THE SELF-SEEKER by ROBERT FROST 1914: 1. PEACE by RUPERT BROOKE LINES ON OBSERVING A BLOSSOM [ON THE FIRST OF FEBRUARY 1796] by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE SPARKLING AND BRIGHT by CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON by PHILLIS WHEATLEY OF BENEVOLENCE: AN EPISTLE TO EUMENES by JOHN ARMSTRONG ON BEING ASKED IF ONE WAS A NUMBER, REPLY TO MR. HOUGHTON by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |