O, Gentle Shade Of Quiet Woods.

O, gentle shade of quiet woods,             Where nature dwells in leafy halls,             I love the sacred voice that falls         In music o'er thy solitudes!         Within thine arms the weary heart             Is hidden from the toils of men,         And pleasure makes ambition start             Into a nobler life again.         Among the fragrant shadows throng             With all the riches of their truth,             Glad echoes from the days of youth         And mingle into laughing song;         While angel fingers touch the keys             That slumber in the silent breast,         Till mem'ry wakes her lullabies             And childhood fancies rock to rest.         Again the hours of early joy             Upon the aged years intrude,             And dance amid the summer wood         The golden dreamings of the boy;         Again the songs of wonder thrill             The days of life with gladness wild,         And lofty visions fondly fill             The longing fancies of the child.         Enchanted choirs of baby years,             Sweet dirges from the cradle's keys,             The glories of your harmonies         Impel my secret soul to tears!         The roses of my fancies fade             Into the dust of wicked strife,         And all the promise boyhood made             Has proved the desert of my life.         O, fragrant woods of happy times,             Fair children of the glowing days,             How sweet the music of your lays         Is mingled into fairy chimes!         Ye lisp again the songs of yore,             The stories of my infant years,         And throw a sweeter cadence o'er             My hoary sorrows and my tears!