Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Verse: 1885–1918. 1922.
The Recall
I
In me the virtue stays.
I will bring back my children,
After certain days.
My clinging magic runs.
They shall return as strangers.
They shall remain as sons.
Of their new-bought, ancient trees,
I weave an incantation
And draw them to my knees.
Smell of rain in the night—
The hours, the days and the seasons,
Order their souls aright,
Of all my thousand years—
Till I fill their hearts with knowledge,
While I fill their eyes with tears.