The Homestead by Bliss Carman — Read

Here we came when love was young. / Now that love is old, / Shall we leave the floor unswept / And the hearth acold?

Here the hill-wind in the dusk. / Wandering to and fro, / Moves the moonflowers, like a ghost / Of the long ago.

Here from every doorway looks / A remembered face, / Every sill and panel wears / A familiar grace.

Let the windows smile again / To the morning light, / And the door stand open wide / When the moon is bright.

Let the breeze of twilight blow / Through the silent hall, / And the dreaming rafters hear / How the thrushes call.

Oh, be merciful and fond / To the house that gave / All its best to shelter love, / Built when love was brave!

Here we came when love was young, / Now that love is old, / Never let its day be lone, / Nor its heart acold!