A DESERTED GARDEN.

Tangled ivy creeps and twines

Where once bloomed my Lady’s flowers;

And the twisting wild woodbines

Weave o’er all their clustering bowers;

And the fruit-trees from the wall

Droop forgotten and forlorn,

And the rose-trees, thick and tall,

From their trellis-work are torn.

Dewy paths—once velvet-smooth

For the dainty steps of youth—

Weedy now, and overgrown

With the rank grass all unmown.

Here and there, amid confusion,

Gleams a berry scarlet-hued,

And pale bindweed in profusion

(By the summer breezes wooed),

Creeps, where once verbenas grew,

Or the myrtle flowered so fair

In the warm and scented air;

And the speedwell—deepest blue—

Shakes its frail flowers everywhere.

So, amid these paths—all haunted

By the memory of old flowers—

Grow these wild-wood blooms undaunted,

Through the glowing autumn hours.

Ah! how long ago it seems

Since bright faces glowed and smiled

In this garden of our dreams.

Now so desolate and wild!

They will come again no more,

And no time shall e’er restore

Golden days and fairy flowers

To these wearied hearts of ours.

Printed and Published by W. & R. Chambers, 47 Paternoster Row, London, and 339 High Street, Edinburgh.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A cool summer drink or cup, made of Rhine wine, in which the herb Waldmeister plays a prominent part.