Though the dreams of ambition are faded and o'er,

And the world with its glitter can charm us no more;

Tho' the sunbeams of fancy less vividly play,

And in reason's calm twilight are melting away;

Still thought loves to wander, entranced in the maze

Of the joys and the hopes of those earlier days.

Fond mem'ry delights life's best moments to call

In the scene of my childhood, my Father's Old Hall!

Oh! light were the hearts which have met 'neath the dome

Of that once gaily throng'd, but now desolate home;

And light were the spirits that crowded the hearth

Of social enjoyment and innocent mirth;

When the laugh echo'd round at the wit-sparkling jest,

And the roses of innocence bloom'd in each breast;

Whose fragrance, once shed, Time can never recall,

Like the garlands we wreath'd round my Father's Old Hall!

Now scatter'd, dispers'd, 'mid the heartless and proud,

Where wander the steps of that once happy crowd?

Some have toil'd the steep rock towards the temple of Fame,

To snatch from her altars a wreath and a name;

Some have sought honour's death on the field or the wave;

Some have found in the land of the stranger a grave!

The chain is now broken, the links sever'd all,

That united the hearts in my Father's Old Hall!