free-verse24 lines

To Scenes I Used To Know.

I can see the back-log blazing and the sparkles take their flight

Up the cavernous old chimney on a merry Christmas night;

I can see the old folks smiling and the children's cheeks aglow,

And a saucy maiden standing there beneath the mistletoe;

I can hear the laughter mingle with the strains of music sweet

As we tripped the light fantastic with the "many-twinkling feet;"

I can see the moonlight gleaming through the trees upon the snow,

When memory takes me back again to scenes I used to know.

I can see the candles burning bright upon the Christmas tree;

I can see the presents handed round, and hear the shouts of glee,

And from the buried years there comes a-stealing on the heart

A something indefinable which bids the tear-drop start;

I can see the blue smoke curling, through the little strip of wood

Between the winding turnpike road and where the farmhouse stood;

I can see the colts a-playing, I can hear the cattle low--

When memory takes me back again to scenes I used to know.

I can see it all when fancy weaves its magic with a dream,

And I hear the tones from voices like the murmur of a stream;

And oh, the heart seems young again and from its anguish free

When I gaze upon these pictures that are ever dear to me;

Then I see the darkies dancing, I can hear the fiddle ring

As they gathered in the cabin and they cut the pigeon-wing;

I can smell the 'possum roasting, I can see the cider flow,

When memory takes me back again to scenes I used to know.