Heart Yearnings

Oh ! for the welcome breath of country air, With Summer skies and flowers, To shout and feel once more the halcyon Of gayer boyhood hours. I think the sight of fields and shady lanes Would ease my heart of pains.

To cool once more my thirst, where bubbled up The waters of a spring, Where I have seen the golden daffodils And lillies flourishing. My fevered heart would more than half forget Its sighs, and vain regret.

Far, far away, from early scenes am I ; And, too, my youth has fled; For me a stranger's land, a stranger's sky. That arches overhead. For scenes and joys that now have passed me by, I can but give a sigh.