Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


REVISITATION by JOHN FREEMAN

First Line: IT IS HERE-THE LIME TREE IN THE GARDEN PATH
Last Line: THE HARSH GATE JARS UPON ITS HINGES STILL.
Subject(s): FORESTS; GARDENS & GARDENING; LIME TREES; NATURE; WOODS;

IT is here—the lime-tree in the garden path,
The lilac by the wall, the ivied wall
That was so high, the heavy, close-leaved creeper,
The harsh gate jarring on its hinges still,
The echoing clean flags—all
The same, the same, and never more the same.

That mound was once a hill,
The old lime-tree a forest (now as small
As the poor lilac by the ivied wall),
And this neglected narrow greenery
A wilderness, and I its king and keeper;
Lying upon the grass I saw the sky
And all its clouds: the garden edged the sky.

The harsh gate jars upon its hinges still.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net