I Have Not Seen Them For Years

I have not seen them for years that is to my regret
But the friends of my past i will never forget
In my memory they remain young their hair free of gray
Though in the flesh they may look different if i met them today
Where i once was known to everyone in my first homeplace
Mine to many there now would be a stranger's face
But the old fields i loved to me would look the same
Many of them i recall by their given name
Where i grew to love Nature when i was a boy
And learning of her ways i still do enjoy
In fancy i can hear the silver tongued rill
Babbling to the river down the fields by the hill
Where to every local i was well known
And everyone knew me as one of their own.