Mine eyes impatient yearn;

For thy choicest gem is bride of mine,

And she longs for my return.

They took me from the galley bench;

A gardener's slave they set me here,

That I might tend the fruit and flowers

Through all the changes of the year;

Wise choice, indeed, they made of me!

For when the drought has parched the field,

The clouds that overcast my heart