[Intro] I reached our gate at gentle noon, The house lay still beneath the blue; Yet lilac airs from arbours drew My steps from doors to garden soon. I chose the green’s soft-humming psalm, And let my mind make marvels calm. [Verse 1] An iron gate with ivy bound Drew forth my fancy soon enough; I touched—and in my thought I found A threshold strewn with rust so rough. [Verse 2] Beyond, a well of weathered stone, Where doves went round in pearly flight; I leaned, and in my fancy heard Old secrets steeped in water’s light. [Verse 3] The path unrolled to meadows green, Where buttercups and skylarks throng; I dreamed a parliament convened In hum and wing and pollen-song. [Verse 4] A pavilion in roses drowned Lay green with shade and moth-wing lace; I pictured hares and squirrels bow, While mice went round with courtly grace. [Verse 5] Imagined mirth drew on my feet Through thorny turns and crimson screen; Each path would shift to what I’d meet, For roses read the thoughts between. [Bridge] At last I found the garden’s seam; The iron gate stood, hushed in its look; Yet in my chest the wonders gleam Like pressed spring flowers in a book. Before the porch, in prudent row, Lay hazelnuts that led me home.
