We Can Make Home Happy
THOUGH we may not change the cottage
For a mansion tall and grand,
Or exchange the little grass-plot
For a boundless stretch of land
Yet there's something brighter, dearer
Than the wealth we'd thus command.
Though we have no means to purchase
Costly pictures rich and rare
Though we have not silken hanging!
For the walls so cold and bare,
We can hang them o'er with garlands,
For the flowers bloom everywhere.
We can always make home cheerful,
If the right course we begin,
We can make its inmates happy,
And their truest, blessings win;
It will make the small room brighter,
If we'll let the sunshine in.
We can gather round the fireside,
When the evening hours are long
We can blend our hearts and voices
In a happy, social song
We can guide some erring brother
Lead him from the path of wrong.
We may fill our home with music,
And with sunshine brimming o'er,
If against all dark intruders
We will firmly close the door
Yet should evil shadows enter,
We must love each other more.
There are treasures for the lowly,
Which the grandest fail to find,
There's a chain of sweet affection,
Binding friends of kindred mind
We may reap the choicest blessings
From the poorest lot assigned.
—Belle May.