Friday, April 13, 2012

Sweet Wild Rose



My Wild Rose.

I had a garden, which I kept
With busy hands and tender care;
And once, while carelessly I slept,
Fanned softly by the drowsy air,
A wild rose to my garden crept,
And blossomed there.

O, sweet surprise. It seemed to me,
Some fair hand, my heart to bless,
Had brought it there, from wood or lee.
It came unsought 'twas loved no less;
I stooped and touched it tenderly,
With soft caress.

I grew to love it passing well;
While strange exotics, rich and rare,
With heart of gold and crimson bell,
Paid grudgingly for constant care,
My wild rose, as in a woodland dell,
Bloomed fresh and fair.

I watered not, I did not prune,
I tied it not with cord or thong;
Yet, morn by morn and noon by noon,
Through days of summer, hot and long,
And underneath the midnight moon,
From branches strong.

Hung clustered blossoms sweet and red;
And day by day and week by week,
I trod the path which toward it lead.
Whate'er my mood. I did not speak,
But close against bowed my head
And pressed my cheek.

I think of it with sudden thrill.
Now wide lands lie, deep water flows,
Smiles many a vale, looms many a hill
Between me and the garden-close;
Yet fondly I remember still
My sweet wild rose.

~ Ellen P. Allerton. Walls of Corn and Other Poems 1894

9 comments:

Country Gal said...

Lovely poem and photo ! Have a good day !

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I love your verses, and can't believe how you always find the perfect one!!

Miriam said...

This reminds me of a life lesson I seem to have to keep relearning: that if something seems easy and natural, I'm probably doing it the right way. It works for gardening as much as anything else, as your wild rose attests! Thanks again for a lovely poem!

Tweedles -- that's me said...

I love wild roses too!
A very beautiful poem!
love
tweedles

Anonymous said...

Wonderful poem, thank you so much for sharing.
Have a wonderful weekend.

Patsy said...

Lovely!
The storms will get us Sunday so look out for the rain. We do need rain but not the bad Oklahoma storms.

La Maison des Plaines said...

Hi! Jo,

Ahhhhhh! what a lovely post. The poem is inspirational. Very nice!

Have a sunny weekend!

Blessings & Hugs,
Marlene

Anonymous said...

so lovely!

L. D. said...

That would be such a great place in which to sit.