Classic Poem

This is my world, this room of mine
Here I am living———& here I shall die
All my interests are here, in fine
———The hours slip quickly by.

Look on these shelves—just books, you would say
Friends I can tell you, one & all
Most of them sorrowful——some of them gay——
And my pictures that line the wall.

Yes, that is a Doré, from where I sit
At night with my books or my work, I see
The light that falls & glorifies it———
And I gaze & it strengthens me.

Ah! in this cupboard, my miser's store
Of music finger it sheaf by sheaf
Elixir of life——it is something more
It is heaven to me, in brief.

And that is my ‘cello, my all in all
Ah, my beloved, quiet you stand
———If I let the bow ever so softly fall,
———The magic lies under my hand.

And on Winter night & when the fire is low
We comfort each other, till it would seem
That the night outside, all cold & snow.
Is the ghost of a long past dream.

This is my world, this room of mine
Here I am living———here I shall die
All my interests are here in fine
——The hours slip quickly by.