BEFORE I left I planted twenty
Ruby hawthorns, they’d be plenty
I thought, for Laverton is not
Large tho’ a very bonny spot.
Twenty rowans I put in
And saw each one of them begin
To send out leaves. Each sapling
Was just as tall as me, that Spring.
When I had travelled long and far
Under many a stranger-star,
I homed and all things seemed the same;
The lowing cow, the kitchen flame,
The birds winged in the same feat way,
The children played the same sweet play,
Lads whistled lilts I knew. Nowt had
Changed and I felt both sad and glad.
But when I saw my trees again,
Alas! they showed me very plain
That months had passed and given them inches
Of branches claimed by tits and finches.
Their berried clusters hung above
My head; for Time who gave me love
Had made each thorn, each rowan tree
Well able to look down on me.
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