The Gardener

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.