Hearth Light

There was a home we used to know Far, far away,--long, long ago; So far away, it often seems A land of ghosts, a world of dreams; And yet so near, a wind that stirs A twilight whisper in the firs, A little river’s wandering tune, A silver sea-way in the moon, A flower’s scent is all we need Thither to call us, thither lead. Then we are shown each kind old face And every half-forgotten place Unchanged: we see the raindrops still Undried upon the daffodil On April mornings, still behold Long-garnered harvests waving gold On blue horizons, hear again The winter sound of wind and rain That filled the land on evenings drear, And gave our hearth a homelier cheer,-- That hearth whose light has since out-flowed On every dark and wintry road,-- Whose memory has come to raise A shelter round our homeless days, And brought us on our unknown quest Promise of haven, dreams of rest.