My Early Home

Here sparrows build upon the trees,      And stockdove hides her nest;      The leaves are winnowed by the breeze      Into a calmer rest;      The black-cap's song was very sweet,      That used the rose to kiss;      It made the Paradise complete:      My early home was this.      The red-breast from the sweetbriar bush      Drop't down to pick the worm;      On the horse-chestnut sang the thrush,      O'er the house where I was born;      The moonlight, like a shower of pearls,      Fell o'er this "bower of bliss,"      And on the bench sat boys and girls:      My early home was this.      The old house stooped just like a cave,      Thatched o'er with mosses green;      Winter around the walls would rave,      But all was calm within;      The trees are here all green agen,      Here bees the flowers still kiss,      But flowers and trees seemed sweeter then:      My early home was this.