A little while

A little while, a little while,

The wearied tasks, I cast away,

I sing, I smile, my heart beguiled,

In leisure's embrace, I find my stay.

Oh, why, my heart, must you depart,

What whispers, scenes allure thee so?

In near or far, where find you rest,

For my tired brow, where solace bestow?

There lies a place 'midst barren hills,

Where winter wails in driving rain,

Yet, should tempests coldly chill,

A light emerges, warming again.

An ancient house, its trees laid bare,

Above, a moonless twilight's dome,

But on this earth, what could compare,

To the hearth of home, so sweet, so home?

The silent bird upon the stone,

Dank moss that weeps from weathered walls,

Gaunt thorn-trees, walks with weeds o'ergrown,

I love them all, their beauty calls.

In musings deep, the room so bare,

The alien firelight fades away,

From cheerless gloom, to bright, clear air,

I step into the unclouded day.

A narrow lane, with green aglow,

Opening onto a wide expanse,

A distant chain of mountains, slow,

Circling 'round, in a dreamy trance.

A heaven clear, an earth so calm,

Soft air, sweet, hushed in its repose,

Deepening still, the dream-like balm,

Moor-sheep grazing where the heather grows.

I knew this scene, it held me fast,

The turfy path on hills that roll,

Winding o'er each undulating cast,

Tracing the trails of wandering soul.

Could I linger but an hour's grace,

It'd repay a week of toil,

Yet Truth dispels sweet Fancy's chase,

Restraint and tasks resume their coil.

Even as I stood, enraptured gaze,

Lost in bliss, so deep, so clear,

My fleeting rest, like morning haze,

Labor, duty, and care reappear.