The wind shuffles the long grass And the broad green reeds Shifting and rattling By the rippling black water Chuckling water fowl splash Swans and cygnets hurry past And the weather is on the turn It's time to be heading home
The last of the daylight creatures And the very first of those of the night Are sharing this half-way hour The sky restlessly moves and changes And bruised clouds rush over head Like the rubbed eye-lids of a child A weary teary child Going home and ready for bed
The slack and glossy water Laps at the stone beneath bridges Echoing with the ghosts of barges And spits of rain flick the air Studs of cold hitting the face Turning a collar to the cheek And urging aching feet Home-fire yearning me home