Classic Poem

All on a road of iron strong,
Behind our iron steed,
Old England's verdant length along
We swept with fiery speed.

O, drear to me was that long day,
And wearisome the din;
No village cheer'd the lifeless way,
My heart fell dead within.

When suddenly there burst on me
A spot well known of yore;
A spot I had not dreamt to see,—
A moment seen and o'er!

Within a little nook it lay,—
Garden and house and lawn,
Beeches and brook and steeple gray,
That saw my boyhood's dawn.

O blest abode, to your sweet shade
How did my spirit spring;
Counting the gulf that time had made
A momentary thing!

And ringing back life's changes all,
Till far away I heard
The chimes of early childhood call,
Like to a mocking-bird.

O blest abode, like some deep thought,
A moment felt and o'er,
As though Eternity it brought,
Then left us as before!

Farewell, farewell! the world sweeps by,
And I with it must go;
But I'll return before I die,
If God shall grant it so.