"The Long Ago"

The Long Ago

Out in the woods where the air is sweet, 

And the fragrant, wild things blow, 

Dwelt you and I from the world apart 

In the beautiful long ago. 

Do you remember the pale pink flower 

That grew by the wayside there? 

Oh, every leaf was a leaf of gold, 

And the commonest weed was rare! 

There were the snow-white tents in the alder grove, 

Where the gypsies slept at night― 

And oh, but each hour was an hour of love, 

Set with moments of delight! 

The ceiling that trembled above our heads― 

Was it only the sky’s deep blue? 

The jewels that hung on the lily’s stem― 

Were they only drops of dew? 

And the song that went to the gates of God 

Thro’ the dawn’s first emerald hush― 

Was it sung by a seraph lost from heaven, 

Or a golden-noted thrush? 

Oh, love, my love, there was never a couch 

So soft as that velvet sod! 

And every song was a seraph’s song― 

For the soul of our love was God. 

And oh, for the woods where the air is sweet, 

And the fragrant, wild things blow― 

Where we two loved as the angels love, 

In the beautiful long ago. 

"The Long Ago" as it appears in Ella Higginson's When the Birds Go North Again (1898).