The Old Home by the Sea.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1884, 2 August 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Old Home by the Sea.

The old home still o'erlooks the barren shore — Grand in its ruin, to my heart still dear— So near the ocean that its hollow roar, By distance mellowed, ever filld the ear. And Btill, as roaming through the rooim forlorn, After the abocnce cf long years, can I With some old boautiea ol the past adorn The place neglected and the bleak shore nigh. Fair was the heire3S ol the seaside hallSweet Eleanor, tiio daughter of the hou3e ! My cousin Nell, so stately and so tall, Of the dark tresses and tho pure, pale brows. Here is the doorway, with its carvings quaint Where oft we watched the tall ship 3 far-off glide, Or saw the ospreys in the mist-clouda faint B3fore they plunged to revel in the tide : Or marked the passage of the tempest lower, With pinions black, o'er the devoted deep, Till land aad sky and darkenad sea and Bhora Were torn to fury by ifcj frenzied sweep. But most she Jovcd the hour when lipplea gay Creamed up the beach beneath a mellow moon, When she would bring her light guitar, and play • And sadly sing to 30m3 old ocaan tuna. For poor Nell's lover had been lost at sea ; This was tho tacret of her smilolesg life : And this, alas ! the secret that for vie Life has been loveless and unblessed by wife. Her prayed-for boon, that she with him should meet Li the far skies, hath long ero this been given. Long hath she slumbered at the headland's feet, And faith like hers must evar bloom in heaven. Bui, still, though teard regretful dim my sight And years of absence have scarce altered me, "JL'ia sweet to picture hec in memories bright That linger round the Old Home by tha Sea. —Nathan D. Urner.