An Old Sweetheart of Mine

The _then_ of changeless sunny days--
the _now_ of shower and shine--
But Love forever smiling,--
as that old sweetheart of mine.

[Illustration]

This ever-restful sense of _home_,
though shouts ring in the hall.--
The easy-chair--the old bookshelves
and prints along the wall;

The rare _Habanas_ in their box,
or gaunt churchwarden-stem
That often wags, above the jar,
derisively at them.

[Illustration]

As one who cons at evening
o'er an album, all alone,
And muses on the faces
of the friends that he has known,

So I turn the leaves of Fancy,
till, in shadowy design,
I find the smiling f