The writings of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume 3.
John Greenleaf Whittier, Ed.

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[299] Make we here our camp of winter;
     And, through sleet and snow,
Pitchy knot and beechen splinter
     On our hearth shall glow.
Here, with mirth to lighten duty,
     We shall lack alone
Woman's smile and girlhood's beauty,
     Childhood's lisping tone.

But their hearth is brighter burning
     For our toil to-day;
And the welcome of returning
     Shall our loss repay,
When, like seamen from the waters,
     From the woods we come,
Greeting sisters, wives, and daughters,
     Angels of our home!

Not for us the measured ringing
     From the village spire,
Not for us the Sabbath singing
     Of the sweet-voiced choir:
Ours the old, majestic temple,
     Where God's brightness shines
Down the dome so grand and ample,
     Propped by lofty pines!

Through each branch-enwoven skylight,
     Speaks He in the breeze,
As of old beneath the twilight
     Of lost Eden's trees!
For His ear, the inward feeling
     Needs no outward tongue;