Sonnets. Part II, VII

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
Form