OVER THE HILL
Reading edition
Child. Traveler, what lies over the hill? Traveler, tell to me. I am only a child from the window sill, Over I can not see.
Traveler. Child, there’s a valley over there, Pretty and wooded and shy, And a little brook that says, “Take care,
175Or I’ll drown you by and by.”
Child. And what comes next?
Traveler. A little town And a towering hill again; More hills and valleys up and down And a river now and then.
Child. And what comes next?
Traveler. A lonely moor Without a beaten way; And gray clouds sailing slow before A wind that will not stay.
Child. And then?
176
Traveler. Dark rocks and yellow sand, And a moaning sea beside.
Child. And then?
Traveler. More sea, more sea, more land, And rivers deep and wide.
Child. And then?
Traveler. Oh, rock and mountain and vale, Rivers and fields and men, And over and over repeat the tale, And round to your home again.
—George MacDonald.