What the song is about
The singers climb to the top of a mountain, sit down and rest. From up there they describe everything they see: the clear air, clouds and birds, fields and a valley, a river and a forest, and far below a village, a town and a city that looks very small. The song ends with warm sunshine and the feeling that this is a magic place.
Useful words and expressions
- mountain top / peak: the highest point of a mountain
- It's time to rest, it's time to stop.: It's time to + verb says that now is the right moment for something.
- pleasant: nice, enjoyable (pleasant sunshine)
- gentle: soft, calm (a gentle peace)
- fluffy clouds: soft, round clouds that look like cotton
- float: move slowly in the air or on water
- fly by: fly past
- open fields: wide areas of grass or farmland
- valley: the low land between mountains
- a winding river: a river with many bends
- stream: a small river
- in the distance: far away
- village / town / city: from smallest to biggest
- sun rays: lines of sunlight
- truly: really
Grammar
- Present simple for description: The sunshine warms the ground, The clouds float in the sky, We see a village. The whole song describes the scene in the present simple. In normal conversation about something happening right now, we often use the present continuous: We're sitting on the mountain top, The birds are flying by.
- There is ...: There is a gentle peace around means that the place is peaceful.
- watch / see + object + verb: We watch the little birds fly by. After watch and see, the second verb has no to.
- like for comparison: The dark forest is like a dream.
- Adjective order: a sunny, perfect day, the fluffy clouds, the golden sun rays. Adjectives come before the noun.
Poetic language
Some lines use poetic words for the rhyme and the mood:
- And all the green the valley yields: yield means "produce" (like a farm producing crops). It is formal and poetic, chosen to rhyme with fields. In everyday speech you would say all the green plants in the valley.
- The world is beautiful and fair: fair here means "beautiful", an old-fashioned meaning chosen to rhyme with air. Today fair usually means "just" or "light-colored".
- This is a truly magic place: magic place is fine in casual speech, but a magical place is more common and more standard.