Sonnets. Part II, VII

Poems

Original Text

"Sonnets. Part II, VII." Poems (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1864): 205. Internet Archive

1His heart was in his garden; but his brain

2Wandered at will among the fiery stars:

3Bards, heroes, prophets, Homers, Hamilcars,

4With many angels, stood, his eye to gain;

5The devils, too, were his familiars.

6And yet the cunning florist held his eyes

7Close to the ground, -- a tulip-bulb his prize, --

8And talked of tan and bone-dust, cutworms, grubs,

9As though all Nature held no higher strain;

10Or, if he spoke of Art, he made the theme

11Flow through box-borders, turf, and flower-tubs;

12Or, like a garden-engine's, steered the stream, --

13Now spouted rainbows to the silent skies;

14Now kept it flat, and raked the walks and shrubs.

Publication Start Year

1860

RPO poem Editors

Data entry: Sharine Leung

RPO Edition

2012

Rhyme

Form