The Stone Wall in Spring

Lyrics

The frost let go of the garden wall
And a few loose stones came down
Gran's old boundary, grey and tall
Now scattered on the ground
My neighbour came with a wheelbarrow
And a flask of something hot
We did not say much, we did not need to
We just began to sort

One stone on another, slow and sure
Moss side out and flat side down
You hold the line and I'll hold the door
We'll build it back by sundown
It was never really a fence, my friend
Just a long way of saying hello
One stone on another, round the bend
Of the field where the daffodils grow

He taught me how to choose a rock
By the weight and not the shape
Turn it over, let it talk
There's always a way it fits
The sparrows watched from the hawthorn bough
The sun came out by noon
We found a coin from nineteen-ten
And a blue glass marble too

One stone on another, slow and sure
Moss side out and flat side down
You hold the line and I'll hold the door
We'll build it back by sundown
It was never really a fence, my friend
Just a long way of saying hello
One stone on another, round the bend
Of the field where the daffodils grow

And if it falls again some winter night
We'll know just what to do
Bring the flask and the fading light
And start again, we two

Now the wall stands crooked, and it's fine
With lichen on its crown
The lambs lean up against the line
And the afternoon sits down
I'll leave a stone for the one who comes
To mend what we have made
Some things are held by simple hands
And they're better for the wait

One stone on another, slow and sure
Moss side out and flat side down
You hold the line and I'll hold the door
We'll build it back by sundown
It was never really a fence, my friend
Just a long way of saying hello
One stone on another, round the bend
Of the field where the daffodils grow

One stone on another
Slow and sure
Just a long way of saying hello