| |
| THE TOWN of Hay is far away, | |
| The town of Hay is far; | |
| Between its hills of green and gray | |
| Its winding meadows are. | |
| Within the quiet town of Hay | 5 |
| Is many a quiet glen, | |
| And there by many a shaded way | |
| Are homes of quiet men: | |
| And there are many hearts alway | |
| That turn with longing, night and day, | 10 |
| Back to the town of Hay. | |
| |
| Within that good old town of Hay | |
| There was no pride of birth, | |
| And no man there pursued his way | |
| A stranger in the earth; | 15 |
| And none were high and none were low, | |
| Of golden hair or gray, | |
| And each would grieve at other’s woe | |
| Down in the town of Hay; | |
| And many a world-scorned soul to-day | 20 |
| Mid crowded thousands far away | |
| Weeps for the town of Hay. | |
| |
| A road leads from the town of Hay | |
| Forth to a world of din, | |
| And winds and wanders far away,— | 25 |
| And many walked therein; | |
| Far in the crowds of toil and stress | |
| Their restless footsteps stray,— | |
| Their souls have lost the quietness | |
| Of that old town of Hay; | 30 |
| But in some respite of the fray, | |
| In transient dreams they float away, | |
| Back to the town of Hay. | |
| |
| Old men are in that town of Hay, | |
| Amid its quiet trees, | 35 |
| Who dream of strong sons far away | |
| Upon the stormy seas; | |
| Old mothers, when the twilight dew | |
| The woodbine leaves have pearled, | |
| Dream of their boys who wander through | 40 |
| The wideness of the world: | |
| And tears fall in the twilight gray, | |
| And prayers go up at close of day | |
| In that old town of Hay. | |
| |
| A hillside in the town of Hay | 45 |
| Is slanting toward the sun, | |
| And gathered ’neath its headstones gray | |
| Are sleepers, one by one; | |
| And there are tears in distant lands, | |
| And grief too deep for tears, | 50 |
| And farewells waved from phantom hands | |
| Across the gulf of years: | |
| And when they place that headstone gray, | |
| It crushes hearts so far away | |
| From that old town of Hay. | 55 |
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