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!