‘These to His Mem’ry since He
held them Dear.’
![Page image: darkblue_02_09_386_thesetohismemry.jpg](https://hcmc.uvic.ca/~vicpoems/page_images/darkblue/02/darkblue_02_09_386_thesetohismemry.jpg)
The wise old gardener went through1
His plants to give them light and dew,2
And much he loved when green or gold3
Their leaves or calices unfold ;4
Oft wasted love on promising stem,5
And lower in their being’s scale6
The tender plants must oftenest fail7
To feel what he had felt for them.8
The few that with a swifter sense9
Were bless’d or curs’d, with silent praise,10
Would vibrate, poor dumb recompense11
For his wise guidance of their days.12
And when he pass’d away, a tear13
Stained one rooted flow’r, which wrench’d14
That petal with a pang unquench’d,15
And the winds bore it to his bier.16