Explore "The Ancestral Dwellings (Songs for America)" by Henry Van Dyke on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Dear to my heart are the ancestral dwellings / of America, / Dearer than if they were haunted by ghosts of / royal splendour; / These are the homes that were built by the brave / beginners of a nation, / They are simple enough to be great, and full of / a friendly dignity.
I love the old white farmhouses nestled in New / England valleys, / Ample and long and low, with elm-trees feather- / ing over them: / Borders of box in the yard, and lilacs, and old- / fashioned flowers, / A fan-light above the door, and little square panes / in the windows, / The wood-shed piled with maple and birch and / hickory ready for winter, / The gambrel-roof with its garret crowded with / household relics, -- / All the tokens of prudent thrift and the spirit of / self-reliance.