Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Old Barn



Oh! a jolly old place is grandpa's barn,
Where the doors stand open throughout the day,
And the cooing doves fly in and out,
And the air is sweet with the fragrant hay.

Where the grain lies over the oaken floor
And the hens are busily scratching around,
And the sunbeams flicker, and dance, and shine,
And the breeze blows through with a merry sound

The swallows twitter and chirp all day
With fluttering wings in the old brown eaves,
And robin sing in the trees which lean
To brush the roof with their rustling leaves.

The timid mice in the corner glean
A harvest sly from the scattered grain,
And the insects hum in the well-filled lofts,
And build their nests on the window-pane.

Oh! dear old barn, where my childish days
Were passed full oft, how I long to be
Only a child again, to play
Beneath thy roof with the old-time glee.

The Old Barn ~ Mary Dow Brine 1816-1913

13 comments:

黄清华 Wong Ching Wah said...

How nice, wonderful countryside...

God's Little People said...

Dear Jo
What lovely poetry. I dream of an American barn where I would love to home all my furry friends.
Thanks so much for your lovely comment about Benji. Seems to me you and I could have a long natter about cats, neutering and so on. It's so heartwarming to know there are kindred spirits out there when you're up against such a seeming never ending problem.
I love your blog, not least your many atmospheric images.
Have a lovely day!
xo Joan

Country Gal said...

Lovely poem and photo. I love red barns. This summer Papa and I are going to get out there and photograph as many different old barns as we can. I have a dutch barn style potting shed and this summer I am painting it red. Have a great day !

Barbara Anne said...

Lovely photo and such wonderful word pictures in the poem!

Hugs!

Doc said...

MeMa and I once spent an entire week traveling the back roads of Oregon hunting for old barns, it was a lovely road trip.

Patsy said...

I love the smell of hay in old barn's ,takes me back to life on my grandfathers farm.

MadSnapper said...

with a roof that steep, no worries on snow, it would slide right off. beautiful barn

Stella Jones said...

Sandra's right, it is a steep roof, isn't it. Lovely old barn though. There is something about old barns or sheds in England. Love the poem too.

DeniseinVA said...

You took a beautiful old barn and pared it with a beautiful old poem. Just lovely, thanks Jo.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I wonder if kids these days have the memories like we did of old barns and time spent on a farm? It's such a part of who I am, that I think those who have never spent time on one are missing out on something very, very special...

Anonymous said...

Beautiful barn and poem...nostalgia!

Unknown said...

Beautiful post. very sturdy barn, that protects a variety of Gods creatures.

Maura @ Kisiwa Creek Photography said...

Beautiful words Jo,
Makes me miss our old barn. We still have the old corn crib so maybe one day soon we'll work on that one and use it. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Maura :)