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.