Backward turn, oh! recollection!
Far, far back to childhoods' days;
To those treasures of affection,
'Round which loving memory plays
Show to me the loving faces
Of my parents, now no more,—
Fill again the vacant places
With the images of yore.
Conjure up the home where comfort
Seemed to make its cosy nest;
Where the stranger's only passport,
Was the need of food and rest.
Show the schoolhouse where with others,
I engaged in mental strife,
And the playground, where as brothers
Running, jumping, full of life.
Now I see the lovely maiden,
That my young heart captive led;
Like a sylph, with gold curls laden,
And her lips of cherry red.
Now fond voices seem to echo,
Tones as when I heard them last;
And my heart sighs sadly, Heigh, ho!
For the joys for ever past.
From the past back to the present,
Come, ye wandering thoughts again;
Memories however pleasant,
Will not rid to-day of pain,
Now we live, the past is buried,—
We are midway in life's stream;
Onward, onward! ever hurried,—
And the futures but a dream.