The years passed by, and my pure love
For Nature did no longer grow:
'I'll get that love back soon,' thought I -
'By living with more men than now.'
But I made enemies; so I
Return to Nature, where my pain
Shall be forgotten, and my love
For humankind come back again.
When through the woods and fields I go,
No thought is mine of human care;
Under a rainbow's jewelled arch,
No foe can find a lodgment there;
And when our fearless nightingales
Sing in a summer's thunderstorm,
Like choir boys when an organ's played -
Where are such tongues as whisper harm?
So, with this changed and sweeter mind,
Nature for me has saved mankind.