Fifty Years Ago

A. song of the early times out West , And our green old forest home, , Wnose pleasant memories freshly yct Across the bosom come ; A song for the free and'gladsome life, Ia those early days we led, With'a teeming soil beneath our feet, And a smiling heaven o'erhead ! Oh, the waves of hfe danced merrily, And had a joyous flow, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago ! The Imnt, the shot, the glorious chase, The captured elk or deer ! The camp, the big bright fire, and thcn The rich and wliolesome cheer : - The sweet sound sleep ut dead of night, By our canip-nre blazing high - Unbroken by the wolf's long howl, And the panther springing by. Oh, merrily pass'd the time, despite Our wily Indian foe, In the days when we were Pioueers, Fifty years ago ! We shunn'd not labor when 'twas due, We wrought with right good wil! ; And for the homes we won for them Our children bless us still. We lived not hermit lives, but oft In social converse met ; - And fires of love wero kindled then, That burn on warmly yet. Oh, pleasantly the stream of hfe FuTsued its constant flow, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago ! We feit that we were fellow men.; We feit we were a band, Sustained here in the wildemess By heaven's upholding hand. And when the solemn Sabbath carne, We gathered in the wood, And lifted up our liearts in prajer To God the only good. Our temples then were eartli and sky ; None others did we know, In the days when we weve Pioneers, Fifty yenrs ago ! Our forest life was rough and rude, And strangers closed us round ; But here, amid the green old trees, Freedom we sought and found. Oft through our dwellings, wintry blasts Would rush with shriek and moan ; We cared not tho' they were but frail, We feit they were our own ! Oh, free and manly livea we led, 'Mid verdure or 'mid suow ; In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago ! Bat now our course of life is short ; And as, from day to day, We're walking on with halting step, And fainting by the way ; - Another land more bright than thia, To our dim sight appears, And on our way to it, we'll soon Again be Pioneers ! Yet while we linger we may all A backward glance still throw To the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty years ago !