Down In A Shaded Garden

Down in a shaded garden I laid upon earth my head: The deep trees murmured, darkly fresh, Over my bed; I looked through living leaves to the sky, Odours and songs were quivering nigh; The warm grass touched my cheek as I lay And care from me was far away. As a child to its mother, to Earth I drew; I felt her true. Of Life, sweet Life, enamoured, I closed my eyes, to feel The sweetness pierce to the inmost veins And the whole heart steal; Sacred Life, more sweet and fair Than all her children of earth and air, Fountain dearer than joy in the breast, In the blue I adored, in the grass I caressed: Then Earth, my mother, leaned to my ear, And spoke me clear. To thee the rose her odour, Her glory dedicates; And thee the pink's sweet--budded fringe Of snow awaits. For thee is the sprinkled fire of the broom, For thee the azalea burns her bloom; O child, does thy heart not tell thee how Thy joy is answered from every bough? In the throat of the bird, in the sap of the tree, 'Tis all for thee! Stricken with joy and wonder I raised my eyes around, And saw what mystery flowered for me In that enchanted ground! The roses, the roses, rich--entwined, Heavy with love to me inclined; Yearning up from the dusk of death They trembled toward me with living breath. O none that loved me is dead, I knew, And each is true.