Lines Written In A School-Room

by Achsa White Sprague

The school-room is deserted now,
The happy children gone,
And silence rests upon the spot
So strangely, sadly lone.

There's loneliness within the walls;
I miss the little feet
That echoed here a moment since,
And filled each vacant seat.

Gone is each voice of happiness,
And childhood's joyous tone,
And with my sad and lonely thoughts
Once more I'm left alone.

But now, methinks, the air seems filled
With spirits of the past, --
A strange, sweet spell is in the air,
And all around me cast.

The echoes of the youthful tones
That rung here long ago,
Steal o'er me like the far-off strain
Of music soft and low.

A fairy throng steal softly back
To their accustomed place,
And every vacant seat is filled
With an unfamiliar face.

A bright and joyous band are they;
The same sweet smile is there,
That often when within these walls
Their features used to wear.

And with them back they bring the light
Of childhood's happy days,
And round the room that lonely seemed
They shed sweet, brightening rays.

And o'er my soul the influence falls
Like some soft ray of light, --
All loneliness and gloom is past,
All, all around seems bright.

An early poem, composed during sickness.