I KNOW a garden, dainty sweet,
A trysting place for birds to meet;
Over the mossy fern-plumed wall
The roses nod, they grow so tall.
Strong sunflowers, with their flaming rays,
Stand sentinel in narrow ways,
And Mary lilies gleam a-row,
Pure golden hearts enshrined in snow.
Sweet shadowed by the flowering pea,
The mignonette enthralls the bee,
And pansies, with their kitten graces,
Raise purple, blue and golden faces.
So green, so still, it well might seem,
The perfect garden of a dream!
Yet, if I think what Hell may be,
That garden's picture comes to me!

I know a cave, a rocky shelf,
The sea has hollowed for itself;
Bitten it out in time bygone,
It still appears a wound in stone,