When fields will be blooming with new crops of clover, When birds will be singing uproariously sweet, When winter, with all of its ills, will be over, Together once more at the tryst, boys, we'll meet; Our mettlesome horses we'll have them all ready To give us a thirty mile spin at the least. We'll mount them delighted and pedal them steady Through off-country sights that are really a feast. We know what it is to enjoy rapid motion, While speeding the railways with muscles of steel, But lads, the good God of our earnest devotion Is off o'er the country astride of a wheel. Oh, happy should be every athletic fellow, Who loves the grand sweep of a landscape all green, When the sky spreads 'mare's tails', and looks gloriously mellow, The atmosphere perfumed, his bosom serene. We know what it is to enjoy rapid motion,... Then off at a clip that will prove gratifying, Some jovial companions all trailing behind; It makes one imagine o'er earth's ills he's flying With care kicked to death in some byway behind. We know what it is to enjoy rapid motion,... These snowdrifts around us we'll cease to remember, Our hearts shall exult in the glories of song, As out in 'God's country', from May till December, On wheels highly geared, we'll go pedaling along! We know what it is to enjoy rapid motion,... Now, here's to the days when the birds shall be mating: When trees shall be vocal with carols of love, When pulses of health in our breasts shall be beating, And hearts full of thanks for our Maker above. When off to the North will be gone the cold weather, And sunshine will burgeon the buds as we run, On a thirty mile spin, all old cronies together, Every one a good fellow, who worships the fun. We know what it is to enjoy rapid motion,...
author: Patrick Fennell notes [Wikipedia]
collection: Random Rhymes and Rhapsodies of the Rail [bookstore]