Homesick

I 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!