The Gardener

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



The gardener does not love to talk,
He makes me keep the gravel walk;
And when he puts his tools away,
He locks the door and takes the key.

Away behind the currant row
Where no one else but cook may go,
Far in the plots, I see him dig
Old and serious, brown and big.

He digs the flowers, green, red and blue,
Nor wishes to be spoken to.
He digs the flowers and cuts the hay,
And never seems to want to play.

Silly gardener! summer goes,
And winter comes with pinching toes,
When in the garden bare and brown
You must lay your barrow down.

Well now, and while the summer stays
To profit by these garden days
O how much wiser you would be
To play at Indian wars with me!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

41 sec read
560

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABC DDEE FFBB GGHH IICC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 657
Words 137
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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