Indiana Homecoming

My childhood's home I see again,

And sadden with the view;

And still as memory crowds my brain,

There's pleasure in it too.

O Memory! Thou midway world between earth and paradise,

Where things decayed and loved ones lost

In dreamy shadows rise,

And, freed from all that's earthly vile,

Seen hallowed, pure and bright,

Like scenes in some enchanted isle

All bathed in liquid light.

Near twenty years have passed

Since here I bid farewell

To woods and fields, and scenes of play,

And playmates loved so well;

Where many were, but few remain

Of old familiar things;

Where memory will hallow all

We've known, and know no more.