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James Whitcomb Riley - Old Aunt Mary`s
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Wasn`t it pleasant, O brother mine,
In those old days of the lost sunshine
Of youth-- when the Saturday`s chores were through,
And the "Sunday`s wood" in the kitchen too,
And we went visiting, "me and you,"
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s?

It all comes back so clear to-day!
Though I am as bald as you are gray--
Out by the barn-lot, and down the lane,
We patter along in the dust again,
As light as the tips of the drops of the rain,
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s!

We cross the pasture, and through the wood
Where the old gray snag of the poplar stood,
Where the hammering "red-heads" hopped awry,
And the buzzard "raised" in the "clearing" sky
And lolled and circled, as we went by
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s.

And then in the dust of the road again;
And the teams we met, and the countrymen;
And the long highway, with sunshine spread
As thick as butter on country bread,
Our cares behind, and our hearts ahead
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s.

Why, I see her now in the open door,
Where the little gourds grew up the sides and o`er
The clapboard roof--! And her face-- ah, me!
Wasn`t it good for a boy to see--
And wasn`t it good for a boy to be
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s?

The jelly-- the Jam and the marmalade,
And the cherry and quince "preserves`` she made!
And the sweet-sour pickles of peach and pear,
With cinnamon in `em, and all things rare--!
And the more we ate was the more to spare,
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s!

And the old spring-house in the cool green gloom
Of the willow-trees--, and the cooler room
Where the swinging-shelves and the crocks were kept--
Where the cream in a golden languor slept
While the waters gurgled and laughed and wept--
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s.

And O my brother, so far away,
This is to tell you she waits to-day
To welcome us--: Aunt Mary fell
Asleep this morning, whispering-- "Tell
The boys to come!" And all is well
Out to Old Aunt Mary`s.
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