when my song is done

Back to mountains, not rivers, today ;-)

Snap is of the front-cover of one of my absolute favourite books, showing the view from Suilven, a mountain which I've had a long fascination with.

Richard Gilbert's suggested walks, cover not just Scotland though, but all of Britain and Ireland; and throughout most of the 80's and early 90's (when I lived in Ireland/England), I completed an awful lot of those "challenging" routes!

But, for today, here's a Scotland-specific  poem, by Nannie Katharin Wells, about the love of mountains (and more):


Scotland My Lover

There are mountains that are more to me than men,
There are rivers that are more to me than love,
There’s a rock where my soul takes cover.
Wild winds on a maddened world have driven,
Lifted me up to the bare hills above,
      Scotland, my Lover.

Here is a lover who will never change.
In storm and stillness, every lightning mood,
New ways of loving I'll discover,
A living sureness nothing can estrange.
Your grief and joy will be my daily food,
      Scotland, my Lover.

Ours is the love of lovers born to belong,
Our hearts sing the same music, beat as one.
Our glass of 'the water of life' brims over,
Our thrice-rich, flowering native song,
Prodigal and gay. And, when my song is done,
      I'll lie with you, my Lover.

Clear northern skies lit childhood's innoncence.
The day's darg over, dew under my feet, bare
on the cool grass, stars ablaze and hover.
O still make love with me, far from the decadence
of this dire century, of love's despair,
      Scotland, my Jewel, my Lover.

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Nannie Katharin Wells (1875 - 1963)

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