The speaker looks back over a lifetime spent climbing the same hill outside their house. As a child, it was a place for adventure, where they imagined themselves an unbeaten warrior. Later it became somewhere quiet, good for thinking, writing or painting. Now, in old age, the climb is hard, and the speaker admits it sometimes feels pointless, met each time with a chill.
The mood is gentle and bittersweet. There is tiredness and doubt in the later stanzas, but also stubbornness: the speaker decides not to quit, knowing any climb could be the last. That thought gives the effort weight rather than just sadness. The ending is warm. Looking out, the speaker smiles at the memories made there and promises to remember the place for as long as they live. The hill works as a quiet measure of a life, showing how the speaker has changed while the place has stayed the same.