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God's Garden

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The poem “God's Garden” was written by Dorothy Frances Gurney and was published in 1913. The author wrote hymns as well as poetry. A garden is often a metaphor for heaven and some of the first gardens were those created around monasteries. They were created to grow medicinal plants, so were utilitarian rather than ornamental. Over time, the flowers on plants captivated those who grew them and now of course we grow plants for their beauty and flowers are sometimes described as being like a little bit of heaven on earth. Here is the poem.

The Lord God planted a garden
In the first days of the world,
And he set there an angel warden
In a garment of light unfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven
That the hawk might nest with the wren,
For there in the cool of even
God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes
With their shade and their sun-flecked sod
And their lilies and bowers of roses,
Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

Frances Hodgson Burnett who wrote "The Secret Garden" loved this poem. She is quoted as adding "As long as one has a garden, one has a future and as long as one has a future, one lives."

This is Moya Andrews, and today we focused on god’s garden.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Johann Wenzel Peter

Johann Wenzel Peter's painting "Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden," 1800-1829. (Pinacoteca Vaticana, Wikimedia)

The poem “God's Garden” was written by Dorothy Frances Gurney and was published in 1913. The author wrote hymns as well as poetry. A garden is often a metaphor for heaven and some of the first gardens were those created around monasteries. They were created to grow medicinal plants, so were utilitarian rather than ornamental. Over time, the flowers on plants captivated those who grew them, and now, of course, we grow plants for their beauty and flowers are sometimes described as being like a little bit of heaven on earth. Here is the poem.

The Lord God planted a garden
In the first days of the world,
And he set there an angel warden
In a garment of light unfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven
That the hawk might nest with the wren,
For there in the cool of even
God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes
With their shade and their sun-flecked sod
And their lilies and bowers of roses,
Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon
The song of the birds for mirth
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

Frances Hodgson Burnett who wrote "The Secret Garden" loved this poem. She is quoted as adding "As long as one has a garden, one has a future and as long as one has a future, one lives."

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