My heart a garden is, a garden walled;
And in the wide white spaces near the gates
Grow tall and showy flowers, sun-loving flowers,
Where they are seen of every pa**er-by;
Who straightway faring on doth bear the tale
How bright my garden is and filled with sun.
But there are shaded walks far from the gates,
So far the pa**er-by can never see,
Where violets grow for thoughts of those afar,
And rue for memories of vanished days,
And sweet forget-me-nots to bid me think
With tenderness,—lest I grow utter cold
And hard as women grow who never weep.
And when come times I fear that Love is dead
And Sorrow rules as King the world's white ways,
I go with friends I love among these beds.
Where friend and flower do speak alike to me,
Sometimes with silences, sometimes with words.
'Tis then I thank my God for those high walls
That shut the friends within, the world without,
That pa**ers-by may only see the sun.
That friends I loVe may share the quiet shade.