My Humble But Beautiful Home

Found in the Cedartown Advertiser: December 11, 1879

Oh give me when day is declining,
And sunshine is flooding the west,
My ivy-clad mound, where reclining,
I can watch the birds seeking their rest,
And list to their twitter of sorrow
Whilst through the dew-breezes they roam
To nestle and dream of to-morrow,
In my humble but beautiful home.

Then give me, when moonlight is shedding
Its brightness o’er floweret and tree,
And stars like an army are treading
To nature’s own music so free.
And then let me pensively wander–
Beneath the dark forest trees roam,
And there on its loveliness ponder,
In my humble but beautiful home.

When morn the gray Orient is sheeting
With purple and vermilion hue,
And myriads of insects are greeting
First rays of the sun bursting through;
Then let me gaze out without measure,
With vapors like sheeted ghosts roam,
With a heart filled with innocent pleasure
In my humble but beautiful home.

You may tell me of fame and ambition,
Of pomp and wealth’s dazzling array,
Of those who are high is position
And homage receive every day;
But give me the one I love dearest,
Away from me never to roam,
The thou like an Eden appearest,
My humble but beautiful home.