It Has Been Awhile Since

It has been awhile since in the old fields I saw wildflowers in bloom And from the bog in windy May scented the natural perfume Wafting in the breeze on a beautiful day The hawthorns white in their blossoms of May Many Seasons have gone by since I heard the robin sing In a Duhallow grove in the prime of the Spring And the dipper sung his scratchy notes in the rill That babbled on down from the foot of the hill From old father time there is nowhere to hide The clock is against me time's not on my side Since I left the home fields twenty one years have gone But the birds sing without me and life there goes on It has been twenty one years and many a day Since I heard the birds sing in the groves far away.