Poem by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

My Childhood's Home

I HAVE tasted each varied pleasure,
   And drunk of the cup of delight;
I have danced to the gayest measure
   In the halls of dazzling light.
I have dwelt in a blaze of splendour,
   And stood in the courts of kings;
I have snatched at each toy that could render
   More rapid the flight of Time's wings.
But vainly I've sought for joy or peace,
   In that life of light and shade;
And I turn with a sigh to my own dear home—
   The home where my childhood played!

When jewels are sparkling round me,
   And dazzling with their rays,
I weep for the ties that bound me
   In life's first early days.
I sigh for one of the sunny hours
   Ere day was turned to-night;
For one of my nosegays of fresh wild flowers,
   Instead of those jewels bright.
I weep when I gaze on the scentless buds
   Which never can bloom or fade;
And I turn with a sigh to those gay green fields—
   The home where my childhood played.

1. May-Day, 1837
2. The Chapel Royal St. James’s, on the 10th February, 1840
3. Sonnet 15. WHEN thy light fingers touch th' obedient chords
4. The Mother’s Heart
5. Weep Not for Him That Dieth

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