George Arnold

A Summer Longing

I must away to the wooded hills and vales,
 Where broad, slow streams flow cool and silently
And idle barges flap their listless sails.
For me the summer sunset glows and pales,
 And green fields wait for me.

I long for shadowy founts, where the birds
 Twitter and chirp at noon from every tree;
I long for blossomed leaves and lowing herds;
And Nature's voices say in mystic words,
 "The green fields wait for thee."

I dream of uplands, where the primrose shines
 And waves her yellow lamps above the lea;
Of tangled copses, swung with trailing vines;
Of open vistas, skirted with tall pines,
 Where green fields wait for me.

I think of long, sweet afternoons, when I
 May lie and listen to the distant sea,
Or hear the breezes in the reeds that sigh,
Or insect voices chirping shrill and dry,
 In fields that wait for me.

These dreams of summer come to bid me find
 The forest's shade, the wild bird's melody,
While summer's rosy wreaths for me are twined,
While summer's fragrance lingers on the wind,
 And green fields wait for me.