Pioneer And Democrat

Just Fifteen Years Ago.

BY J. W. WELCH.

Do you remember, Tom, the place,
Where oft we used to roam?
That little cot beneath the trees
We called our forest home?

Oh, yes; I know you'll ne'er forget,
Wherever you may go,
That cherished spot in which we dwelt,
Just fifteen years ago.

Do you remember how the hours
All gaily wandered by?
How hand in hand, we often roamed,
When stars were in the sky?

Oh, those were bright and joyous days!
We ne'er again shall know.
Such joy and bliss as that we felt,
Just fifteen years ago.

Last summer time I wandered, Tom,
To where we used to play ;
The school house was not on the hill,
The brook had dried away;

The woodman's axe had felled the trees,
The cottage was laid low;
The faces were not those we knew,
Just fifteen years ago.

I wandered to the old church-yard,
And stopped beyond the wall,
The graves were many, and the grass
O'er them, was thick and tall ;

Upon the stones I read the names
Of those who slept below,
And they were names we loved to hear
Just fifteen years ago.

I mused awhile, then turned away,
And gained the dusty road,
And from that spot so dear to me,
With rapid step I strode ;

Oh! I could not bear to look around,
It made me sad to know,
That all were gone whom we had loved,
Just fifteen years ago.

My eyes are wet with tears, Tom,
They're falling while I write,
Forms that I loved are in the tomb,
And I am sad to-night;

But, Tom, sorrows soon will end,
Life's stream will cease to flow,
And we shall rest where oft we played
Just fifteen years ago.