Page:Poems that every child should know (ed. Burt, 1904).djvu/230

192 The Homes of England.

stately homes of England!

How beautiful they stand,

Amidst their tall ancestral trees,

O'er all the pleasant land!

The deer across their greensward bound

Through shade and sunny gleam,

And the swan glides past them with the sound

Of some rejoicing stream.

The merry homes of England!

Around their hearths by night

What gladsome looks of household love

Meet in the ruddy light!

There woman's voice flows forth in song,

Or childish tale is told,

Or lips move tunefully along

Some glorious page of old.

The blessèd homes of England!

How softly on their bowers

Is laid the holy quietness

That breathes from Sabbath hours!

Solemn, yet sweet, the church-bell's chime

Floats through their woods at morn;