When I am living in the
That are sodden and unkind,
I light my lamp in the evening:
My work is left behind;
And the great hills of the South
Come back into my mind.
The great hills of the South
They stand along the sea;
And it's there walking in the high
That I could wish to be,
And the men that were boys when I was a
Walking along with me.
The men that live in North EnglandI saw them for a day:
Their hearts are set upon the waste fells,
Their skies are fast and grey;
From their castle-walls a man may
The mountains far away.
The men that live in West
They see the Severn strong,
A-rolling on rough water
Light aspen leaves along.
They have the secret of the Rocks,
And the oldest kind of song.
But the men that live in the South
Are the kindest and most wise,
They get their laughter from the loud surf,
And the faith in their happy
Comes surely from our Sister the
When over the sea she flies;
The violets suddenly bloom at her feet,
She blesses us with surprise.
I never get between the
But I smell the Sussex air;
Nor I never come on a belt of
But my home is there.
And along the sky the line of the
So noble and so bare.
A lost thing could I never find,
Nor a broken thing mend:
And I fear I shall be all
When I get towards the end.
Who will there be to comfort
Or who will be my friend?
I will gather and carefully make my
Of the men of the Sussex Weald;
They watch the stars from silent folds,
They stiffly plough the field.
By them and the God of the South
My poor soul shall be healed.
If I ever become a rich man,
Or if ever I grow to be old,
I will build a house with deep
To shelter me from the cold,
And there shall the Sussex songs be
And the story of Sussex told.
I will hold my house in the high
Within a walk of the sea,
And the men that were boys when I was a
Shall sit and drink with me.
