The Garden Party How peaceful is the summer air, In yonder garden bright and fair; The lily leaves so soft unwind Their tender beauty, to be shrined In memory’s treasure-house of gold, As on the banks of her purling stream, My heart must be always with her whole.

For there the gentle breezes roam, And sweetly call each flowered dome. The day seems all too short to know That peace and love and joy must flow.

So clear I hear the heaven-sent songs Of rustling leaves through cadence strong; While time seems like a breath of air, In yonder garden bright and fair.

• Christina Rossetti