Two Pictures

Annie D. Green (Marian Douglas) (1842–1913)

AN OLD farm-house with meadows wide,

And sweet with clover on each side;

A bright-eyed boy, who looks from out

The door with woodbine wreathed about

And wishes his one thought all day:

“O, if I could but fly away

From this dull spot, the world to see,

How happy, happy, happy,

How happy I should be!”

Amid the city’s constant din,

A man who round the world has been,

Who, mid the tumult and the throng,

Is thinking, thinking all day long:

“O, could I only tread once more

The field-path to the farm-house door,

The old, green meadow could I see,

How happy, happy, happy,

How happy I should be!”