I'd a Dream.

I'd a dream last night of my boyhood's days,     And the scenes where my youth was spent;     And I roamed the old woods where the squirrel plays,     Full of frolicsome merriment.     And I walked by the brook, and its silvery tone,     Seemed to soothe me again as of yore;     And I stood by the cottage with moss overgrown     And the woodbine that trailed round the door.     No change could I see in the garden plot,     The flowers bloomed brightly around,     And one little bed of forget-me-not     In its own little corner I found.     The sky had a home-look, the breeze seemed to sigh,     In the strain I remembered so well,     And the little brown sparrows looked cunning and shy,     As though anxious some story to tell.     But as quietness reigned and a loneliness fell,     O'er the place that had once been so gay;     Its sunlight had saddened since I bade farewell,     And left it for lands far away.     The door stood ajar and I sought for a face,     Of the dear ones I longed so to see;     But others I knew not were now in the place,     And their presence was painful to me.     A pang of remorse seemed to shoot through my heart,     As I left with a sorrowing tread,     From all the familiar objects to part;     For I knew that the loved ones were dead.     The home once my own, now knows me no more,     The treasures that bound me all gone,     And I woke with cheeks tear-stained, and heart sadly sore,     To find that a home I had none.