Grandmother's Memories

: UNCLES AND AUNTS AND OTHER RELATIVES
: Boys And Girls Bookshelf

BY HELEN A. BYROM






Grandmother sits in her easy-chair,

In the ruddy sunlight's glow;

Her thoughts are wandering far away

In the land of Long Ago.

Again she dwells in her father's home,

And before her loving eyes

In the light of a glorious summer day

The gray old farm-house lies.



Sh hears the hum of the spinning-wheel

And the spinner's happy song;

She sees the bundles of flax that hang

From the rafters, dark and long;

She sees the sunbeams glide and dance

Across the sanded floor;

And feels on her cheek the wandering breeze

That steals through the open door.



Beyond, the flowers nod sleepily

At the well-sweep, gaunt and tall;

And up from the glen comes the musical roar

Of the distant waterfall.

The cows roam lazily to and fro

Along the shady lane;

The shouts of the reapers sound faint and far

From the fields of golden grain.



And grandma herself, a happy girl,

Stands watching the setting sun,

While the spinner rests, and the reapers cease,

And the long day's work is done;

Then something wakes her--the room is dark,

And vanished the sunset glow,

And grandmother wakes, with a sad surprise,

From the dreams of long ago.