Poems - Gardening & Nature
‘In the garden at dusk’ by Joyce Grenfell
In the cool of the garden when the evening draws in
Serenity waits where the shadows begin
In the fragrance of dusk and the murmur of clover
The concerns that we carried pass peacefully over
Flowers in their fullness shed blessings about
And the turmoil of living fades quietly out
Hope glimmers through each evening star
And our cares will shrink to the size that they are.
‘Autumn’ by Rainer Maria Rilke
The leaves are falling, falling as from far off,
as though far gardens withered in the skies;
they are falling with denying gestures.
And in the nights the heavy earth is falling
from all the stars down into loneliness.
We are all falling. This hand falls.
And look at others; it is in them all.
And yet there is One who holds this falling
endlessly gently in his hands.
‘I am there’ by Iris Hesselden
Look for me when the tide is high
And the gulls are wheeling overhead
When the autumn wind sweeps the cloudy sky
And one by one the leaves are shed
Look for me when the trees are bare
And the stars are bright in the frosty sky
When the morning mist hangs on the air
And shorter darker days pass by.
I am there, where the river flows
And salmon leap to a silver moon
Where the insects hum and the tall grass grows
And sunlight warms the afternoon
I am there in the busy street
I take you hand in the city square
In the market place where the people meet
In your quiet room - I am there
I am the love you cannot see
And all I ask is - look for me
‘Farewell, Sweet Dust’ by Elinor Wylie
Now I have lost you, I must scatter
All of you on the air henceforth;
Not that to me it can ever matter
But it‘s only fair to the rest of the earth.
Now especially, when it is winter
And the sun‘s not half as bright as it was,
Who wouldn‘t be glad to find a splinter
That once was you, in the frozen grass?
Snowflakes, too, will be softer feathered,
Clouds, perhaps, will be whiter plumed;
Rain, whose brilliance you caught and gathered,
Purer silver have resumed.
Farewell, sweet dust; I never was a miser:
Once, for a minute, I made you mine:
Now you are gone, I am none the wiser
But the leaves of the willow are as bright as wine.
‘A poem’ by Ewan McColl (taken from the lyrics of Joy of Living)
Take me to some high place
Of heather, rock or ling
Scatter my dust and ashes
Feed me to the wind
So that I will be
Part of all you see
The air you are breathing
I’ll be part of the curlew’s cry
And the soring hawk
The blue milkwort
And the sundew hung with diamonds
I’ll be riding the gentle wind
That blows through your hair
Reminding you of how we shared
In the joy of living
‘Digging’ by Seamus Heaney
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.
Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging. I look down
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.
My, the old man could handle a spade.
Just like his old man.
My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner’s bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf. Digging.
The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I’ll dig with it.
'A Child's Vision' by Alfred Noyes
Under the sweet-peas I stood
And drew deep breaths, they smelt so good.
Then, with strange enchanted eyes,
I saw them change to butterflies.
Higher than the skylark sings
I saw their fluttering crimson wings
Leave their garden-trellis bare
And fly into the upper air.
Standing in an elfin trance
Through the clouds I saw them glance….
Then I stretched my hands up high
And touched them in the distant sky.
At once the coloured wing came back
From wandering in the zodiac.
Under the sweet-peas I stood
And drew deep breaths. They smelt so good.
‘I sit beside the fire and think’ by JRR Tolkien
I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,
and people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.
'I Heard Your Voice In the Wind Today' Author unknown
I heard your voice in the wind today
and I turned to see your face.
The warmth of the wind caressed me
as I stood silently in place.
I felt your touch in the sun today
as its warmth filled the sky.
I closed my eyes for your embrace
and my spirit soared high.
I saw your eyes in the windowpane
as I watched the falling rain.
It seemed as each raindrop fell
it quietly said your name.
I held you close in my heart today
it made me feel complete.
You may have died.... but you are not gone
you will always be a part of me.
As long as the sun shines...
the wind blows...
the rain falls...
You will live on inside of me forever
for that is all my heart knows.
Reading - 'Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature' by Kathleen Dean Moore
May the light that reflects on water be this wild prayer.
May water lift us with its unexpected strength.
May we find comfort in the "repeated refrains of nature," the softly sheltering snow, the changing seasons, the return of blackbirds to the marsh.
May we find strength in light that pours in under snow and laughter that breaks through tears.
May we go out into the light-filled snow, among meadows in bloom, with gratitude for life that is deep and alive.
May Earth's fire burn in our hearts, and may we know ourselves part of this flame--one thing, never alone, never weary of life.
'Loveliest of trees, the cherry now’ from ‘A Shropshire Lad’ by A.E.Housman
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
'Japanese Maple' by Clive James
Your death, near now, is of an easy sort.
So slow a fading out brings no real pain.
Breath growing short
Is just uncomfortable. You feel the drain
Of energy, but thought and sight remain:
Enhanced, in fact. When did you ever see
So much sweet beauty as when fine rain falls
On that small tree
And saturates your brick back garden walls,
So many Amber Rooms and mirror halls?
Ever more lavish as the dusk descends
This glistening illuminates the air.
It never ends.
Whenever the rain comes it will be there,
Beyond my time, but now I take my share.
My daughter’s choice, the maple tree is new.
Come autumn and its leaves will turn to flame.
What I must do
Is live to see that. That will end the game
For me, though life continues all the same:
Filling the double doors to bathe my eyes,
A final flood of colours will live on
As my mind dies,
Burned by my vision of a world that shone
So brightly at the last, and then was gone.
'Warm Summer Sun' by Mark Twain
Warm summer sun,
Shine kindly here,
Warm southern wind,
Blow softly here.
Green sod above,
Lie light, lie light.
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night.
'Her laughter was better than birds in the morning' by Cecil Day Lewis
(gender can be adapted i.e she,her)
Her laughter was better than birds in the morning,
Her smile turned the edge of the wind,
Her memory disarms death and charms the surly grave.
Early she went to bed, too early we
Saw her light put out; yet we could not grieve
More than a little while,
For she lives in the earth around us, laughs from the sky
‘Many Winters’ by Nancy Wood
The earth is all that lasts.
The earth is what I speak to when
I do not understand my life
Nor why I am not heard.
The earth answers me with the same song
That it sang for my fathers when
Their tears covered up the sun.
The earth sings a song of gladness.
The earth sings a song of praise.
The earth rises up and laughs at me
Each time that I forget
How spring begins with winter
And death begins with birth.
‘Come to the Forest to Visit Me’ by Lurana Brown
Come to the forest to visit me
Down by the roots of a tree
Waste not your tears on cold stone graves
Water a flower for me
Give me to the earth when my winter comes
Bury me deep in the ground
Mark not my place with statues or caves
Find me where life can be found
Come to the woods when autumn leaves turn
Golden and copper and red
Rustle up memories, seeds of joy stored
Kick up the leaves in my stead
Visit a garden on warm, summer days
Keep company with blossoms and bees
Remember my heart blooms forever in yours
Take comfort from shushing shade trees
Let springtime surround you with life and the living
Birdsong and budding green leaves
Look up at the sky; give thanks for sun and rain
When you think of me, smile more than grieve
Come to the forest to visit me
Down by the roots of a tree
Live every day that is given to you
Water a new flower for me
'Margaritae Sorori' by W.E. Henley
(This poem offers a serene and peaceful view of death as a natural part of life)
A late lark twitters from the quiet skies:
And from the West,
where the sun, his day’s work ended,
Lingers as in content,
There falls on the old, gray city
An influence luminous and serene,
A shining peace.
The smoke ascends
In a rosy-and-golden haze. The spires
Shine and are changed. In the valley
Shadows rise. The lark sings on. The sun,
Closing his benediction,
Sinks, and the darkening air
Thrills with a sense of the triumphing night –
Bight with her train of stars
And her great gift of sleep.
So be my passing!
My task accomplished and long day done,
My wages taken, and in my heart
Some late lark singing,
Let me be gathered to the quiet West,
The sundown splendid and serene,
Death.
‘Rose Garden’ by Liz Newman
(gender can be adapted i.e he,his)
But loved ones, remember:
For all the roses that grew
She tended and planted
Whole gardens in you.
Her heart warm and nurturing,
Her love strong and deep
Resilient and rooted
Yours to tend and to keep.
Her humor a harvest
Her love gently blooms
Her comforting presence
Still fills up a room.
For now we’re her roses.
Her legacy of light and care.
The whole world will marvel
and know that she was there.
‘Go Now’ by Caroline L Wilkes
Go now into those hills.
Where the sun meets the land with its permanent spills
of orangey glows and promise of dawn.
Be part of the sunrise as each day is born.
Go now, go to the lakes where the water of glassy light mirrors the sky.
Where the freedom and memory breathe through the land
and those gone before take hold of your hand.
Go now to where you can wander,
where your warrior spirit can now take some rest.
Camp under the stars, your battles are through
there’s only adventure waiting for you.
But just look behind to where you once lived,
To the pride we feel in all that you were.
Respecting you more than perhaps you did know.
But now it’s your time and we must let go’
'Footprints' by Robert Longley
Few things are as fleeting
As footprints in the sand;
Sometimes we walk alone
And sometimes hand in hand.
Both paths tell a story
That waves may wash away;
As long as we have the memory
They live with us each day.
Come to the beach and remember;
Make some footprints of your own,
And think of days now absent
And the memories we’ve known.
The water can be healing –
It always was for me –
Just take time to remember
And I think that you will see.
‘Take Time’ Author unknown
Take time to gaze at a sunset sky
Where colours blaze to dazzle the eye.
Take time to watch a moonlit sea
And look in awe at a towering tree.
Take time to look in the heart of a flower
Adorned with diamonds from a gentle shower.
Take time to view a mountain high
With snowy peak ‘gainst bluest sky.
Take time to listen to the song of birds
A paean of joy without need of words.
Take time to tell your closest friend
Your love and loyalty will never end.
Take time to stop and stand and stare
At wonders round you everywhere.
Take time to make time
Take Time.
'Into a Brighter Day' Helen Steiner Rice
There is no night without a dawning
No winter without a spring
And beyond the dark horizon.
Our hearts will once more sing…
For those who leave us for a while
Have only gone away
Out of a restless, care worn world
Into a brighter day