In Appreciation Of More Comments And...A Poem About Old Houses

Thanks for the comments on the Saturday, December 17 blog. How much we appreciate those kind words of anonymous,  as well as the interesting follow-up on slavery by Richard, and  how it has affected the whole country, even down into the modern era.

Hope all our readers will read  all comments made by our thoughtful readers! And please feel free, everyone to comment. It helps us all.

I have a delightful Christmas present for you today - a poem titled Old Houses by Walter Blackstock, which is in one of the files carefully preserved by Mrs. Napier, our Honorary Regent for Life. I don't think you can read this one without thinking of our wonderful First White House of the Confederacy!

I love old houses, set among old trees,

And filled with creaking time and age-spun dust;

I hove the quiet, spacious rooms that hold

A silent history within their must,

Old furnishings are best - tall stately clocks

That tick white-whispered time, and seats of red

Deep plush and draperies of faded gold

And sunlight spilling on a rosewood bed.

New homes, rain-bright, seem ever to withhold

The magic of romance, the shell of song

Of older places; living is untried

Where shadows keep no secrets, good or wrong.

I love the dawn, the daffodil - new sun

Of day, the first warm throb of April green'

But something in my blood and tissue finds

Delight in greybeard houses, old and lean.