Live and Learn with PA Past Players

And so my colleagues we begin again our journey into present time from the era of the Civil War Circa 1861 through Circa 2009!

Welcome to the journey through history!

Welcome to the blog of the Pennsylvania Past Players.  Join us as we share our experiences and perspectives on modern life from the point of view of historic figures from the past.

Home Sweet Home by Frances E.W. Harper

Home, Sweet Home

                        By Frances E. W. Harper

“It shall be a royal mansion,   A fair and beautiful thing, It will be the presence-chamber   Of thy Saviour, Lord and King.   “Thy house shall he bound with pinions   To mansions of rest above, But grace shall forge all the fetters   With the links and cords of love. “Thou shalt he free in this mansion   From sorrow and pain of heart, For the peace of God shall enter,   And never again depart.” Sharers of a common country, They had met in deadly strife; Men who should have been as brothers Madly sought each other’s life. In the silence of the even, When the cannon’s lips were dumb, Thoughts of home and all its loved ones To the soldier’s heart would come. On the margin of a river, ‘Mid the evening’s dews and damps, Could be heard the sounds of music Rising from two hostile camps. One was singing of its section Down in Dixie, Dixie’s land, And the other of the banner Waved so long from strand to strand. In the land where Dixie’s ensign Floated o’er the hopeful slave, Rose the song that freedom’s banner, Starry-lighted, long might wave. From the fields of strife and carnage, Gentle thoughts began to roam, And a tender strain of music Rose with words of “Home, Sweet Home.”  Commentary:  Humankind has long since punctuated our differences in ideology and our divided passions through our songs.   Yet mere recollections of a place called “Home” calms our hearts and sanctifies our spirits as common.  Yours very truly Frances