Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FIRESIDE DREAMS, by THOMAS AUGUSTINE DALY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FIRESIDE DREAMS, by                    
First Line: An old colonial fire-place!
Last Line: To build a house around it.
Alternate Author Name(s): Daly, T. A.
Subject(s): Fireplaces


AN old colonial fire-place!
What memories cling around it!
Such quaint carved frame, such hallowed stone,
I'd often dreamed that I might own,
And now at last I've found it.

It graced a sporting squire's hall --
Those pegs once held his rifle --
Long years before the sordid clown,
Who bought the mansion, tore it down
And sold this for a trifle.

He was, in truth, a sordid wretch
This clod who took my money.
"I wonder why folks get so daft
About such junk," he said and laughed,
As though he thought it funny.

Poor wretch, indeed! What soul had he
To conjure up the spirit
of kindly cheer and olden grace
That once endowed that fire-place,
And still is hovering near it?

But I, who've starved in rented flats,
How could I help but love it?
And so I've stored my prize away
Against the coming of that day
When I'll be master of it.

And you, my friends, you, too, shall bless
The happy day I found it,
For I'll invite you all to call
As soon as I've the wherewithal
To build a house around it.





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