The Green Thicket

All in a green thicket I heard a bird sing, And blithe though his song was it made the tears spring, To hear a bird sing as he swung on his spray, All in a green thicket at break of the day. All in a green thicket his song it did pour That told of the Springs that shall come nevermore, That sang of sweet blossoms, now faded and dry, All in a green thicket in Aprils gone by. All in a green thicket that morning in Spring, I smelt the sharp scent of each young growing thing, I smelt the sweet herbage all drowned with the dew, And the time that's gone from me was with me anew. All in a green thicket at break of the day It was like the dear voice of a friend far away, It was like the kind touch of a hand that I know, And the smile and the tears of dead Aprils ago, All in a green thicket one morning in Spring, For to smell the young woodland and hear the bird sing, Oh, long did I loiter and dream by the way, All in a green thicket at break of the day.