The Comrades :: :: University of Virginia Library

If life were but a year!
If only once 'twere given to us to see
Grass newly sprung, and daffodils,
The baby lambs, the blossom on the tree;
And if but once 'twere ours to hear
The cuckoo in the fresh leaf-muffled hills—

If life were but a year!
And if no more than once we could behold
Bleached sheaves, and apples flushed with light,
And leagues of wood aflame with red and gold;
If only once, once only, we could hear
The swallows trooping for their southern flight—

If life were but a year!
And no succession of the seasons brought,
As season after season brings,
The sweet recurrence of familiar thought,
The changes habit makes so dear,
The associations of accustomed things—

I strive, in soul and sense,
To realise the loss—the dolorous dearth
Of sounds which reach the spirit's ear,
Of many a prompting of the gracious earth,
Of many a blessèd influence,
Vision, and touch—if life were but a year.

You great-winged angels four,
Bring with the lamb and snowdrop youth renewed,
Gladness and hope; and, when the green
Takes colour, peace and toil's contented mood.
Spin, Earth, sun-circling evermore,
And keep life sweet with God's divine routine.