Nae Day Sae Dark

The Ring sculpture, by David Annand, on the High Street is one of Perth's best-loved pieces of public art. It depicts a blindfolded man and his enigmatic companion. The two figures represent happiness and misery.
The Ring was inspired by the Perth poet William Souter's famous poem "Nae Day Sae Dark" and the poem is inscribed inside the ring of the sculpture. Both the poem and the sculpture remind us that however overpowering the dark, a glint of light will appear and even in the deepest despair, hope will always win through.

Nae sae dark; Nae wud sae bare;
Nae grund sae stour wi' stane;
But licht comes through; a sang is there;
A glint of grass is green.

Wha hasna thol'd his thorter'd hours
And kent, whan they were by,
The tenderness o' life that fleurs
Rock-fast in misery?

Glossary: wud-wood; stour-harsh; thol'd-suffered; thorter'd-thwarted; kent-knew; fleurs-flowers.