Alice Cary

A Dream

I DREAMED I had a plot of ground,
  Once when I chanced asleep to drop,
And that a green hedge fenced it round,
  Cloudy with roses at the top.

I saw a hundred mornings rise, --
  So far a little dream may reach, --
And Spring with Summer in her eyes
  Making the chiefest charm of each.

A thousand vines were climbing o'er
  The hedge, I thought, but as I tried
To pull them down, for evermore
  The flowers dropt off the other side!

Waking, I said, "These things are signs
  Sent to insruct us that 'tis ours
Duly to keep and dress our vines, --
  Waiting in patience for the flowers.

"And when the angel feared of all
  Across my hearth its shadow spread,
The rose that climbed my garden wall
  Has bloomed the other side," I said.