Up a Hill and a Hill
Up a hill and a hill there’s a sudden orchard-slope,
And a little tawny field in the sun;
There’s a gray wall that coils like a twist of frayed-out rope,
And grasses nodding news one to one.
Up a hill and a hill there’s a windy place to stand,
And between the apple-boughs to find the blue
Of the sleepy summer sea, past the cliffs of orange sand,
With the white charmèd ships sliding through.
Up a hill and a hill there’s a little house as gray
As a stone that the glaciers scored and stained;
With a red rose by the door, and a tangled garden-way,
And a face at the window, checker-paned.
I could climb, I could climb, till the shoes fell off my feet,
Just to find that tawny field above the sea!
Up a hill and a hill,—oh, the honeysuckle’s sweet!
And the eyes at the window watch for me!
Fannie Stearns Davis