In Her Garden
STILL swings the scarlet pentstemonLike threaded rubies on its stem,In the hid spot she loved so well;Still bloom wild roses brave and fair,And like a bubble borne in airFloats the shy Mariposa’s bell.
Like torches lit for carnival,The fiery lilies, straight and tall,Burn where the deepest shadow is;Still dance the columbines cliff-hung,And like a broidered veil outflungThe mazy-blossomed clematis.
Her garden! All is silent now,Save bell-note from some wandering cow,Or rippling lark-song far away,Or whisper from the wind-stirred leaves,Or mourning dove which grieves and grieves,And “Lost! lost! lost!” still seems to say.
Where is the genius of the place,—The happy voice, the happy face,The feet whose light, unerring treadNeeded no guide in wildwood ways,But trod the rough and tangled mazeBy natural instinct taught and led?
Upon the wind-blown mountain-spurChosen and loved as best by her,Watched over by near sun and star,Encompassed by wide skies, she sleeps,And not one jarring murmur creepsUp from the plain her rest to mar.
Sleep on, dear heart! we would not breakThy slumber for our sorrow’s sake:The cup of life, with all its zest,Thy ardent nature quaffed at full;Now, in the twilight long and cool,Take thou God’s final gift of rest.
And still below the grape-vine swings;The Mariposa’s fragile wingsFlutter, red lilies light their flame,Larks float, the dove still plains and grieves;But while one heart that loved thee lives,Still shall thy garden bear thy name.
Words in this poem
- clematis n.
- A genus of flowering plants, of many species, mostly climbers, having feathery styles, which greatly enlarge in the fruit; -- called also virgin's bower.
- unerring a.
- Committing no mistake; incapable or error or failure certain; sure; unfailing; as, the unerring wisdom of God.
- wildwood n.
- A wild or unfrequented wood. Also used adjectively; as, wildwood flowers; wildwood echoes. Burns.
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- jarring a.
- Shaking; disturbing; discordant. [See Jar.]
- zest n.
- A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Her Garden is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, In Her Garden, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/in-her-garden.html, id L23443.
Form and metre
In Her Garden is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABCCB, in 3 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 --ABBA pentstemon · stem · wellA · fairB · airB · bellA
- 2 AA-BB- carnivalA · tallA · is · hungB · outflungB · clematis
- 3 AABCCB nowA · cowA · awayB · leavesC · grievesC · sayB
- 4 AABCCB placeA · faceA · treadB · waysC · mazeC · ledB
- 5 AABCCB spurA · herA · starB · sleepsC · creepsC · marB
- 6 AAB--B breakA · sakeA · zestB · full · cool · restB
- 7 AAB--B swingsA · wingsA · flameB · grieves · lives · nameB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| STILL swings the scarlet pentstemon | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like threaded rubies on its stem, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In the hid spot she loved so well; | 8 | ········ |
| Still bloom wild roses brave and fair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And like a bubble borne in air | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Floats the shy Mariposa’s bell. | 8 | ········ |
| Like torches lit for carnival, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The fiery lilies, straight and tall, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Burn where the deepest shadow is; | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Still dance the columbines cliff-hung, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And like a broidered veil outflung | 8 | ········ |
| The mazy-blossomed clematis. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Her garden! All is silent now, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Save bell-note from some wandering cow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or rippling lark-song far away, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Or whisper from the wind-stirred leaves, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or mourning dove which grieves and grieves, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And “Lost! lost! lost!” still seems to say. | 8 | ········ |
| Where is the genius of the place,— | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The happy voice, the happy face, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The feet whose light, unerring tread | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Needed no guide in wildwood ways, | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| But trod the rough and tangled maze | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By natural instinct taught and led? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Upon the wind-blown mountain-spur | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Chosen and loved as best by her, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Watched over by near sun and star, | 8 | ········ |
| Encompassed by wide skies, she sleeps, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And not one jarring murmur creeps | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Up from the plain her rest to mar. | 8 | ········ |
| Sleep on, dear heart! we would not break | 8 | ········ |
| Thy slumber for our sorrow’s sake: | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| The cup of life, with all its zest, | 8 | ········ |
| Thy ardent nature quaffed at full; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Now, in the twilight long and cool, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Take thou God’s final gift of rest. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And still below the grape-vine swings; | 8 | ········ |
| The Mariposa’s fragile wings | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Flutter, red lilies light their flame, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Larks float, the dove still plains and grieves; | 8 | ········ |
| But while one heart that loved thee lives, | 8 | ········ |
| Still shall thy garden bear thy name. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.