For Forty Summers

For forty summers I have lived And felt the sunlight on my face, Within the meadows where I walked And daisies always grew, Beneath my feet amongst the grass Like snow that rested on the ground, And there the warm and gentle breeze Once dried the morning dew. And there beneath the woodland's green I found the cool and leafy shade, And rested there so many times More than I care to know, For every year I longed to see The trees so broad and mighty stand, And felt they were a part of me Where I myself did grow. The birds once sang so sweetly there And squirrels climbed the ancient oaks, To gather stocks of winter food They hid beneath the fern, But autumn shall not come again Nor shall the woodland turn to gold, The creatures gone the birds have flown And never will return. For forty summers I have lived To see the beauty of the land, But now it has been cleared away No longer shall I call, To smell the flowers of the morn And hear the songs from lofty boughs, So plain the barren silence rings A toll of death to all.