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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE SEA GARDEN; TO ELLEN PAINTER CUNNINGHAM by PERCY STICKNEY GRANT

First Line: YOU SNATCHED YOUR GARDEN FROM OUT THE SEA
Last Line: TILL EARTH LOCKS TIGHT WHAT THE HEAVENS LOSE.
Subject(s): GARDENS & GARDENING;

You snatched your garden from out the sea;
You fenced in your garden from the wave;
But lip to lip, they seem to me,
Like lovers that contact crave.

The tulips taste the delicate foam;
The ocean quivers at perfumes sweet;
A crested wave is her sparkling comb;
Rose petals are wings for his feet.

Sea birds tempted away from the sea,
Landward lured o'er your flowers hover,
The butterfly and the honey bee,
Are lost in mists -- the breakers' cover.

The heavens at dawn, sea at sun-setting,
Mantle your garden with magic hues,
Flame seizing on it, stays forgetting,
Till earth locks tight what the heavens lose.



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