I Long for Misplaced Childhood

I long for misplaced childhood!
When I was just as green
As the green, green earth on which I stood,
My senses just as keen

As the little fox I had chased
Across the shaded glen;
Before my mind was made abased
Under the stare of men.

Before my heart!—my little heart
(My dear! He sailed before)
Played the scoundrel, pirate’s part,
On sea and on the shore.

I yearn for every sunset that
For hours I would watch;
And as I gazed, and as I sat
My soul was void of blotch

That has me stunted well with age,
The yellow carousels
Have molded brown, and the page
Rings no more wedding bells.

And every field of Dragonsnap
I’ve wandered in has gone;
I feel a tree that’s lost its sap,
(And withering is long.)

And all I do is faint recall
The glory of my years,
While reminiscing of it all
My eyes could turn to tears

For all of these are memories
And surely they won’t last;
For all these, but memories—
And memory’s fading fast.