free-verse24 lines
Homesick
by Fay InchfawnI shut my eyes to rest 'em, just a bit ago it seems,
An' back among the Cotswolds I were wanderin' in me dreams.
I saw the old grey homestead, with the rickyard set around,
An' catched the lowin' of the herd, a pleasant, homelike sound.
Then on I went a-singin', through the pastures where the sheep
Was lyin' underneath the elms, a-tryin' for to sleep.
An' where the stream was tricklin' by, half stifled by the grass,
Heaped over thick with buttercups, I saw the corncrake pass.
For 'twas Summer, Summer, SUMMER! An' the blue forget-me-nots
Wiped out this dusty city and the smoky chimbley pots.
I clean forgot My Lady's gown, the dazzlin' sights I've seen;
I was back among the Cotswolds, where me heart has always been.
Then through the sixteen-acre on I went, a stiffish climb,
Right to the bridge, where all our sheep comes up at shearin' time.
There was the wild briar roses hangin' down so pink an' sweet,
A-droppin' o' their fragrance on the clover at my feet
An' here me heart stopped beatin', for down by Gatcombe's Wood
My lad was workin' with his team, as only my lad could!
"COME BACK!" was what the tricklin' brook an' breezes seemed to say.
"'TIS LONESOME ON THE COTSWOLDS NOW THAT MARY DREW'S AWAY."
An' back again I'm goin' (for me wages has been paid,
An' they're lookin' through the papers for another kitchen maid).
Back to the old grey homestead, an' the uplands cool an' green,
To my lad among the Cotswolds, where me heart has always been!