Kinnoull Hill

We sat on the verge of the steep
In a coign where the east wind failed.
In heaven’s top, cradled, asleep,
The young sun basked, and deep
Into space the universe sailed.

And eastward the cliff rose higher,
And westward it sloped to the town,
That smoked like a smouldering fire
Built close about spire after spire ;
And the smoke was pale-blue and brown.

The smell of the turf and the pine
Wound home to our heart’s warm core;
And we knew by a secret sign
That earth is your mother and mine ;
And we loved each other the more.

And out of the rock, scarred and bare,
The daws came crying in crowds,
And tossed themselves into the air,
And flew up and down, here and there.
And cast flying shadows, like clouds.

We heard not the lark, but we heard
The mellow, ineffable tune
Of a sweet-piping, wood-haunting bird.
Our heart-strings were stricken and stirred,
And we two were happy that noon.