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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
REMEMBRANCE OF CHILDHOOD, by LYDIA JANE PEIRSON
First Line: The fire is blazing on the ample hearth
Last Line: And light lids close above each sleepy eye.
Alternate Author Name(s): Wheeler, Lydia Jane
Subject(s): Children; Childhood
First Line: The fire is blazing on the ample hearth
Last Line: And light lids close above each sleepy eye.
Alternate Author Name(s): Wheeler, Lydia Jane
Subject(s): Children; Childhood
THE fire is blazing on the ample hearth,
Diffusing comfort through the antique room,
And we are watching in our simple mirth
The giant shadows starting from the gloom.
With seeming menace and imperious air
They seem to beckon with their wavering hands,
And flit away. We wonder whence they are,
And seek to reason of the ghostly bands.
But at our mother's voice we leave our play,
And crowd our low seats close around her chair;
Each prompt to meet the loving smiles that play
Upon her lips and brow so purely fair.
Her beautiful white hand forsakes awhile
The task by love made pleasant for our sake,
To rest a moment, with caressing wile,
On brows that 'neath that pressure could not ache
Her clear eyes rest with proud yet troubled joy
Upon the blue-eyed treasures at her feet;
The rosy girl, the noble-hearted boy,
The little smilers, with their prattle sweet.
All good and happy, through her pious care,
Loving and well-beloved, a blessed band,
All leaning on her love, rejoiced to share
The blessings of her voice, her love, her hand.
And, now, our father, who, the whole day long,
Had plied the art by which he earns us bread,
With glance of pleasure on his own glad throng,
Sits down to taste the feast for reason spread.
His much-loved book -- the poet's lofty lay,
The traveller's tale of strange and far-off lands,
The voyager's story of the mighty sea,
The attention of the little group commands.
We listen, full of wonder and delight,
Until the witching volume is laid by,
And loving voices breathe the kind "Good night!"
And light lids close above each sleepy eye.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
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THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN
CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL
COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL
THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL
A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL
CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS
ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE
THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE
COME TO THE WOODS by LYDIA JANE PEIRSON