A DESERTED FARM

Seeking a lodge remote from men,
A place for rest and labor,
Where I might inspiration gain,
Dame Nature for close neighbor,

I came on a deserted farm,
By forest deep surrounded;
'Twas mine, by ev'ry subtle charm,
I saw, with joy unbounded.

I wandered through its empty halls,
And 'mong its spreading acres,
Where birds and bees and frisky squirrels
Were undisturbed caretakers.

What sturdy youth and maid demure
Within that garden olden,
Their vows of love and constancy
Pledged in the sunset golden?

What lady hands in lilac hedge
Or tansy bed went gleaning?
Who placed that rusty flintlock there,
Against the stone fence leaning?

The very nails within your walls
Handwrought, with skill, proclaim you
A relic of colonial days,