When we returned to the old homestead,
Through tears we grieved to see
The lilac-and-orchard-joy was dead.
Bare silence stood
Where a song-filled wood
Had lured with its mystery.
The home that sheltered us--We were ten--
Had dwarfed, yet the echoes rang
A challenge to bid us to dream again.
The mountains still high
Touched remembered sky
And the same loved river sang.
