Poetry Archives

Away, away, from the sultry ways
  Where the pleasures fall and fade,
To the bannered corn and the meadowed bloom
  And the forest’s cooling shade!

Afar, afar, from the rooms of care
  With the toils of life distressed,
To the grassy hills and the fragrant slopes
  And the quiet vales of rest!

Away from the weary, dusty town,
  Where the sorrows dim the days,
To the sleeping lake and the silent stream
  And the wildwood’s tangled ways!

To margins wide of the woodland pools,
  Where the wild birds troll their songs,
Where the lilies laugh and the willows wave,
  And the pleasures dance in throngs!

The dark-eyed nymphs and the fairy elves
  In their robes of laughing smiles,
In the forests romp ’neath the leafy trees,
  Through the narrow long-drawn aisles.

The bannered corn and the golden wheat
  In the ties of bliss are bound;
The sweetest joys and highest hopes
  On the shady farms are found.

The raptures reign in the holy scenes,
  And the old grow young once more,
To roam the meadows and live again
  In the happy years of yore.

Then haste, O, haste, to the country downs,
  Where the valleys are sweet with joys,
And the soul grows young, and the heart is light,
  And the bosom is like a boy’s!