I would my days had been in other times...

I would my days had been in other times,

A moment in the long unnumbered years

That knew the sway of Horus and of hawk,

In peaceful lands that border on the Nile.

I would my days had been in other times,

Lulled by the sacrifice and mumbled hymn

Between the Five great Rivers, or in shade

And shelter of the cool Himalayan hills.

I would my days had been in other times,

That I in some old abbey of Touraine

Had watched the rounding grapes, and lived my life,

Ere ever Luther came or Rabelais!

I would my days had been in other times,

When quiet life to death not terrible

Drifted, as ashes of the Santhal dead

Drift down the sacred Rivers to the Sea!