  It is years since we met, my brother, Years of more loss than gain; I wonder as I sit by the fire If we e’er shall meet again. I’m tired of time’s ceaseless changes, And longing as ne’er before For the faces I knew in childhood, And smiles that greet me no more. And I sigh for a time long vanished, And weep o’er my life’s lost cause. Ah! the battle was long and doubtful, With never a lull nor pause In the long strife fierce and vengeful; And swept from the fateful field Was my torn and toil-stained banner When at last I was forced to yield. I am thinking to-night, my brother, We two may clasp hands once more, And sing the songs of the olden time, And wander there as of yore Over the hills long, long forsaken, And by paths that are o’ergrown; By many a nook and quiet vale Bordering our dear old home. We may seek the stream in the meadow, And wander on through the glade, And revel again in joyousness In the woodland’s grateful shade; And our mother’s cheerful call To the noon-tide rest and welcome cheer Lovingly prepared for all. Ah! to-night in this dreary northland, How the wild wind sweeps and moans Through the lone forest bare and ghostly, That awesomely rocks and groans! Madly it leaps o’er the white, dead hills, Sweeping fiercely the plain afar; And there is no light of pale, cold moon, Nor yet of wandering star. Far away in the sunny southland, Where the breeze steals o’er the sea, Toying with foliage and flowers, And where wild birds carol free, There, brother, thy feet are wandering; And over my stricken head Old memories are fondly crowding Of the living and the dead. |
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