"The Meadow-Lark"

The Meadow-Lark

When the first September rain 

Has gone sparkling down my pane, 

And the blue has come again, 

        And with pearls each leaf is shaking, 

Then a soft voice rises near, 

Oh, so mournfully and clear 

That the tears spring as I hear― 

        “Sweet―oh―Sweet―my heart is breaking!” 

Gone the white mock-orange sprays, 

Gone the clover-scented ways, 

Gone the dear, delicious days, 

        And the earth sad tones is taking; 

But who could the spring forget 

While that soft voice rises, set 

Deep in passion and regret― 

        “Sweet―oh―Sweet―my heart is breaking!” 

Was it only yester year 

That I stood and listened here, 

Without heartache, without tear, 

        For a burst of joy mistaking 

Those full lyric notes of pain 

Mounting yet and yet again 

From the meadows wet with rain― 

        “Sweet―oh―Sweet―my heart is breaking!” 

I know better, lark, to-day, 

I have walked with sorrow―yea, 

I know all that thou would’st say, 

        And my heart with tears is aching, 

When across the fading year 

Thou goest calling far and near, 

Oh, so mournfully and clear― 

        “Sweet―oh―Sweet―my heart is breaking!” 

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