The Old Garden

Spurge and sea-pink, hyssop blue,     Dragonhead of purple hue;     Catnip, frosted green and gray,     With blue butterflies a-sway,     These may point you out the way.     These and Summer's acolytes,     Crickets, singing days and nights,     Tell you the old road again;     And adown the tangled lane     Lead you to her window-pane.     Goldenrod and goldenglow     Crowd the gate in which you go;     To your arm they cling and catch,     Kiss the hand that lifts the latch,     Guide you to her garden-patch.     O'er the fence the hollyhock     Leans to greet you; and the stock     Looks as if it thought, "I knew     You were coming. Gave the cue     To the place to welcome you."     And the crumpled marigold     And the dahlia, big and bold,     With Sweet Williams, white and red,     Nod at you a drowsy head     From the sleepy flowerbed.     Where all day the brown bees croon,     Honey-drunk; and stars and moon     All night long lean down to hear,     In the silence far and near,     Whippoorwills a-calling clear.     While adown the dewy dark     Flits a flame, a firefly spark,     Leading to a place of myrrh,     Where, in lace and lavender,     Waits the Loveliness of her.