01.01.2011, 12:47
AFTER THE SCHOOL-FEAST.
The Feast is o'er—the music and the stir —
The sound of bat and ball, the mimic gun ;
The lawn grows darker, and the setting sun
Has stolen the flash from off the gossamer,
And drawn the midges westward ; youth's glad cry —
The smaller children's fun-exacting claims.
Their merry raids across the graver games.
Their ever-crossing paths of restless joy.
Have ceased—And, ere a new Feast-day shall shine.
Perchance my soul to other worlds may pass ;
Another head in childhood's cause may plot,
Another Pastor muse in this same spot.
And the fresh dews, that gather on the grass
Next morn, may gleam in every track but mine !
The Feast is o'er—the music and the stir —
The sound of bat and ball, the mimic gun ;
The lawn grows darker, and the setting sun
Has stolen the flash from off the gossamer,
And drawn the midges westward ; youth's glad cry —
The smaller children's fun-exacting claims.
Their merry raids across the graver games.
Their ever-crossing paths of restless joy.
Have ceased—And, ere a new Feast-day shall shine.
Perchance my soul to other worlds may pass ;
Another head in childhood's cause may plot,
Another Pastor muse in this same spot.
And the fresh dews, that gather on the grass
Next morn, may gleam in every track but mine !