The Family

So blest are they who round a family board
may gather:--May they humbly thank the Lord,
Not only for the food they common share,
But for the dear, loved faces circled there:
So oft, unless we face that board alone,
We treasure not its true, sweet sense of home.

So blest are they, when low the pale stars ride,--
It cheer, and warmth, and welcome safe abide
Within their shelter. Patient they would grow,--
Kinder,--more understanding,--could they know
How empty is the house where no glad light
Shines from its windows, out upon the night.

So blest are they who have within their home
That touch of kinship,--folks they call their own,--
Flesh of their flesh: Ah, how they'd earnest strive
To ease small tensions, keeping love alive,
If once they knew the desolate despair
That haunts the house with no one waiting there.

Donna R. Lydston

Better Than Gold

Better than grandeur, better than gold,
Than rank and titles a thousandfold,
Is a healthy body and a mind at ease,
And simple pleasures that always please.
A heart that can feel for another's woe,
And share his joys with a genial glow;
With sympathies large enough to enfold
All men as brothers, is better than gold.

Better than gold is a conscience clear,
Though toiling for bread in an humble sphere,
Doubly blessed with content and health,
Untried by the lusts and cares of wealth,
Lowly living and lofty thought
Adorn and ennoble a poor man's cot;
For mind and morals in nature's plan
Are the genuine tests of an earnest man.

Better than gold is a peaceful home
Where all the fireside characters come,
The shrine of love, the heaven of life,
Hallowed by mother, or sister, or wife.
However humble the home may be,
Or tried with sorrow by heaven's decree,
The blessings that never were bought or sold,
And center there, are better than gold.

Abram J. Ryan

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