The Old Stage Road

It was lom: ngo, but the voung Jeavesglowcd In their sun gilt dew by the mountain road, ■WhciiHii? oee swtmg on from his blackberry blo, When the partridge rose vrith ;■. hoüow boom. And the rabbit peeped with his cyes ashine. And the sqiürrel jeered from the bough o' jiine, And the thrush brokc short in his lialf thrilled song As the grand red stagecoach jolted long The old route over the mouutain. It was long aco when the loud wheels passed. Now thrushes nisv tlnklethoir chimes to tho last; Now nothing troubles tho wood huah loro. The Bpulrrel nlbblés the seeds of his cone, The nighthawk rufües his breast in tho saud, The wiïite bixch leans with his silvcr wand, Andelíins' bramóles' load. And the elover blooms in i He gullied íoítd, The old routo over ths mountain. And long ago ftt the end oí its route The stage pulled up and the iolks stepped out. They have a!l passed under the tavern door, The youth and his brido and the gray threescore. Their eyes were weary with dust and gleam; The day had gone like an empty dream. Soft may they slumber and trouble no inore For their eager journey, its jolt and roar. On the old route over the mountain! Bat an air breathes down from the midnight sky "With firefly lamps and n rushing sigh, And passing w hjspers will nrarmur low Seerets and gladness they used to know. And of ten in winter the wind roars through With thump and wliistle and flerce halloo And cracks the treetops and whirls the snow Like phantom horses of long ago On the old route over the mountain.