The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beechenbrook, by Margaret J. Preston

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Title: Beechenbrook
A Rhyme of the War

Author: Margaret J. Preston

Release Date: August 8, 2005 [EBook #16480]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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BEECHENBROOK;

A Rhyme of the War.

* * * * *

BY

MARGARET J. PRESTON.

* * * * *

BALTIMORE:
KELLY & PIET, PUBLISHERS,
174 BALTIMORE STREET,
1866.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by KELLY & PIET,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Maryland.

Dedication.

TO EVERY SOUTHERN WOMAN, WHO HAS BEEN Widowed by the War,
I DEDICATE THIS RHYME, PUBLISHED DURING THE PROGRESS OF THE STRUGGLE
AND NOW RE-PRODUCED--AS A Faint Memorial of Sufferings,
OF WHICH THERE CAN BE NO FORGETFULNESS.

M.J.P.

* * * * *

BEECHENBROOK;

A

RHYME OF THE WAR.

* * * * *

I.

There is sorrow in Beechenbrook Cottage; the day
Has been bright with the earliest glory of May;
The blue of the sky is as tender a blue
As ever the sunshine came shimmering through:
The songs of the birds and the hum of the bees,
As they merrily dart in and out of the trees,--
The blooms of the orchard, as sifting its snows,
It mingles its odors with hawthorn and rose,--
The voice of the brook, as it lapses unseen,--
The laughter of children at play on the green,--
Insist on a picture so cheerful, so fair,
Who ever would dream that a grief could be there!

The last yellow sunbeam slides down from the wall,
The purple of evening is ready to fall;
The gladness of daylight is gone, and the gloom
Of something like sadness is over the room.
Right bravely all day, with a smile on her brow,
Has Alice been true to her duty,--but now
Her tasks are all ended,--naught inside or out,
For the thoughtfullest love to be bus