The Valleys

I heard it from the valleys
I heard it ringing in the mountains
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

I heard it from the valleys
I heard him singing in the mountains
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

Robert, when I drowse to-night
Skirting lawns of sleep to chase
Shifting dreams in mazy light
Somewhere then I'll see your face
Turning back to bid me follow
Where I wag my arms and hollow
Over hedges hasting after
Crooked smile and baffling laughter
We know such dreams are true

He's come back, all mirth and glory
-Running tireless, floating, leaping
-Down your web-hung woods and valleys
-Where the glowworm stars are peeping
Like the prince in a fairy story
-Till I find you, quiet as stone
-On a hill-top all alone
-Staring outward, gravely pondering
-Jumbled leagues of hillock-wandering
Winter called him far away
-You and I have walked together
-In the starving winter weather
-We've been glad because we knew
-Time's too short and friends are few
Blossoms bring him home with May
-We've been sad because we missed
-One whose yellow head was kissed
-By the gods, who thought about him
-Till they couldn't do without him

Now he's here again
Standing in a wood that swings
To the madrigal he sings
And I'm sure, as here I stand,
That he shines through every land
That he sings in every place
Where we're thinking of his face

While we know such dreams are true