Green Ribands

There's a word i' the winds o' mornin', There's a song i' the standin' corn, For they tied my sleeves wi' green ribands The day that I was born. My brothers and my sisters They call me daft an' queer, For all the goodly world that's mine They may not see nor hear. They cannot tell the bird's talk Nestin' i' the eaves, Nor see the wee sly faces A-peekin' thro' the leaves. They know not what the stream says Bubblin' by the stones, Nor what the wind would tell them In strange sweet undertones. O my merry playmates! My friends I know fu' well! Dry leaves i' the autumn woods, Winds upon the fell! My blessin' on the careless nurse, My blessin', night an' morn, Who tied my sleeves wi' green ribands, The day that I was born!