The Garden
Lola Ridge 1873 – 1941
Bountiful Givers,
I look along the years
And see the flowers you threw…
Anemones
And sprigs of gray
Sparse heather of the rocks,
Or a wild violet
Or daisy of a daisied field…
But each your best.
I might have worn them on my breast
To wilt in the long day…
I might have stemmed them in a narrow vase
And watched each petal sallowing…
I might have held them so - mechanically -
Till the wind winnowed all the leaves
And left upon my hands
A little smear of dust.
Instead
I hid them in the soft warm loam
Of a dim shadowed place…
Deep
In a still cool grotto,
Lit only by the memories of stars
And the wide and luminous eyes
Of dead poets
That love me and that I love…
Deep… deep…
Where none may see - not even ye who gave -
About my soul your garden beautiful.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 08, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 39 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXXABXXXC CBDXXXXX XXDEXXXXXEXX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 755 |
Words | 155 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 8, 12 |
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"The Garden" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/25939/the-garden>.
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