Bradford Reporter

Selected Poetry.

THE LIGHT AT HOME.

The light at home! how bright it beams
When evening shadows 'round us fall;
And from the lattice far it gleams,
To love, and rest, and comfort call.

When wearied with the toils of day,
And strife for glory, gold or fame,
How sweet to seek the quiet way.
Where loving lips will lisp our name
Around the light at home.

When through the dark and stormy night,
The wayward wanderer homeward hies,
How cheering is that twinkling light,
Which through the forest gloom he spies;
It is the light at home; he feels
That loving hearts will greet him there,
And softly through his bosom steals
The joy and love that banish care
Around the light at home.

The light at home! whene'er at last
It greets the seaman through the storm,
He feels no more the chilling blast
That beats upon his manly form.
Long years upon the sea have fled.
Since Mary gave her parting kiss,
But the sad tears which she then shed
Will now be paid with rapturous bliss
Around the light at home.

The light at home! how still and sweet
It peeps from yonder cottage door—
The weary laborer to greet—
When the rough toils of day are o'er.
Sad is the soul that does not know
The blessings that its beams impart,
The cheerful hopes and joys that flow,
And lighten up the heaviest heart
Around the light at home.