Blue remembered hills, And the dusky clouds that skirmish round the sky, There you have the past as it truly feels, The promise to explore what is truly high.

With clouds that drift and dance so free, The earth breathes warm beneath the sun, In perfect harmony, all things shall be, As this day ends and the night is won.

Yet when I think how brief my stay, I long for those blue hills to be, To grasp the day beyond today, For nature means the world to me.

• AE Housman