Come, Tiger, come
With your
long and glossy coat,
Let me
shake that friendly paw,
And
smoothe your soft brown throat,
Not here
to greet me as of old,
When home
from school I come?
Pray tell
me where he is hiding,
For sure
this is my home.
I'll hie
me to the stable,
And in
the farthest stall,
I’ll look
for Kit and Fannie,
The
safest team of all:
And as I
open wide the door,
They will
hear me when I come,
And greet
me with a whinny,
And then
I'll know 'tis home.
Not
there! Perhaps they are out to work;
Maybe
they have gone to town.
I'll
linger 'neath this -large elm tree,
On the
green grass sit me down,
And when
I hear the rattle
Of the
wagon o'er the hill,
I'll
hurry up and catch a ride,
Papa'll
stop, I know he will.
-I've
waited, oh! so very long,
And still
he doesn't come.
I wonder
if I'm dreaming?
I'm sure
this is my home.
Next I'll
go to grandma's room,
And in
her old arm chair
Beside
the window, in the sun,
I know
I'll find her there.
And
grandpa too, and I will list
To hear
them join in song,
As they
used to do in other days,
Then time
will not seem so long.
All quiet
is. No childish shout,
No song,
no noise of wheel,
No merry
laugh, no romping;
How
lonely, strange I feel.
I've
traveled long, looked far and wide,
And as I
homeward come
I find
such changes, can it be
This is
my dear old home?
I'll
rouse myself and in the glass
Will look
at my own face,
And if no
changes there I note,
Of age
and care, no trace,
I'll own
a great mistake I've made,
As to
this place I come,
And
search again in other lands
To find
my childhood home.
Where
once were dark and tangled locks,
Reflected
back to me,
The
self-same mirror too has changed,
For
silvered locks I see.
And rosy
cheeks have vanished;
While
with a woman's grace
I view
the change and quickly see
Time
speeding on space.
An
intervention of the years
'Twixt
childhood days and now,
Has only
marked the foot prints
Of time
on cheek and brow.
And as in
life I note a change,
So years
will go and come,
And while
they rob or youthful charms
They also
change my home.