Intimations of Immortality Gerald Finzi

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream
The earth, and every common sight
To me did seem
Apparell'd in celestial light
The glory and the freshness of a dream
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
Turn wheresoe'er I may
By night or day
The things which I have seen I now can see no more

The rainbow comes and goes
And lovely is the rose;
The moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go
That there hath pass'd away a glory from the earth

Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song
And while the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound
To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief
And I again am strong:
The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep;
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;
I hear the echoes through the mountains throng
The winds come to me from the fields of sleep
And all the earth is gay;
Land and sea
Give themselves up to jollity
And with the heart of May
Doth every beast keep holiday;—
Thou Child of Joy
Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy
Shepherd-boy!