Page:Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895).djvu/154

122  Quakerly piece, nor is it didactic, and it has no moral that I know of. But it is, I think, natural, simple, and not unpoetical.”]

have opened the door,
 * Once, twice, thrice!

We have swept the floor,
 * We have boiled the rice.

Come hither, come hither! Come from the far lands, Come from the star lands,
 * Come as before!

We lived long together, We loved one another;
 * Come back to our life.

Come father, come mother, Come sister and brother,
 * Child, husband, and wife,

For you we are sighing. Come take your old places, Come look in our faces, The dead on the dying,
 * Come home!