The Gardener

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For Violet

In the garden she hath found
  Herb of grace and fever-few;
Woundwort there doth much abound,
  Heartsease too.

Where she laid dead things away
  In the chilly earth, what stir!
Whisper of Spring-time, green and gay,
  Comes to her.

All Sweet-Nancies, daffodils,
  Talking in their beds below
Of sweet vales and shining hills
  Whither they go.

In the garden there's no grief;
  God walks there and He is kind,
When the first dear crumpled leaf
  Shakes in the wind.

There's no death now. Winter's done.
  All's given back. The dead again
Walk with her in the wind and sun
  And the sweet rain.

Heartsease in her garden plot,
  Ladders-to-Heaven scale the skies;
While the dear forget-me-not
  Brightens her eyes.

© Katharine Tynan