Back on the Farm

I’ll tell you what I wish I was,
When days like these arrive,
An’ spring puts all her gewgaws on,
An’ all the world’s alive.

I wish I was a boy again—
A boy back on the farm—
A-watchin’ all the growin’ stuff,
An’ cowslips gettin’ warm.

A playin’ round the whole long day
As happy as a lark,
An’ never out of mischief once
From daylight until dark.

With such a lot of things to hear
An’ such a lot to see,
An’ my dog Rover at my heels,
To keep me company.

A watchin’ the big sun go down
Behind the tree-tops high,
An’ wishin’ I could climb the one
That reached up to the sky.

A-listenin’ to the katydids
A-jawin’ in the lane,
An’ sniffin’ up the earthy smell
That comes before a rain.

Laughin’ to see the white-wool’d sheep
Come skippin’ down the hill,
An’ feelin’ such a heap of joy
I couldn’t quite keep still.

An’ by-an’-by, a dozin’ off,
An’ wakin’ up to hear
My mother say: “Come in the house,
’Tis past your bedtime, dear.”

A longin’ takes me on these days
When all the world gets warm,
A-longin’ just to be a boy—
A boy back on the farm.