I never saw that land before, br And now can never see it again; br Yet, as if by acquaintance hoar br Endeared, by gladness and by pain, br Great was the affection that I bore br br To the valley and the river small, br The cattle, the grass, the bare ash trees, br The chickens from the farmsteads, all br Elm-hidden, and the tributaries br Descending at equal interval; br br The blackthorns down along the brook br With wounds yellow as crocuses br Where yesterday the labourer's hook br Had sliced them cleanly; and the breeze br That hinted all and nothing spoke. br br I neither expected anything br Nor yet remembered: but some goal br I touched then; and if I could sing br What would not even whisper my soul br As I went on my journeying, br br I should use, as the trees and birds did, br A language not to be betrayed; br And what was hid should still be hid br Excepting from those like me made br Who answer when such whispers bid.