On the Garden Wall

Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)



Oh, once I walked a garden
In dreams. 'Twas yellow grass.
And many orange-trees grew there
In sand as white as glass.
The curving, wide wall-border
Was marble, like the snow.
I walked that wall a fairy-prince
And, pacing quaint and slow,
Beside me were my pages,
Two giant, friendly birds.
Half swan they were, half peacock.
They spake in courtier-words.
Their inner wings a charriot,
Their outer wings for flight,
They lifted me from dreamland.
We bade those trees good-night.
Swiftly above the stars we rode.
I looked below me soon.
The white-walled garden I had ruled
Was one lone flower--the moon.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
138

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBDEFEGHIHJJJJJKJK
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 609
Words 105
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20

Vachel Lindsay

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. more…

All Vachel Lindsay poems | Vachel Lindsay Books

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