The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul. Alfred Austin More Quotes by Alfred Austin More Quotes From Alfred Austin Doth Nature draw me, 'tis because, Unto my seeming, there doth lurk A lawlessness about her laws, More mood than purpose in her work. Alfred Austin nature purpose law Faded smiles oft linger in the face, While grief's first flakes fall silent on the heart! Alfred Austin grief heart fall No one can rightly call his garden his own unless he himself made it. Alfred Austin made-it self-made garden Is life worth living? Yes, so long As Spring revives the year, And hails us with the cuckoo's song, To show that she is here. Alfred Austin spring song years When held up to the window pane, What fixed my baby stare? The glory of the glittering rain, And newness everywhere. Alfred Austin window-panes rain baby Imagination in poetry, as distinguished from mere fancy is the transfiguring of the real or actual to the ideal. Alfred Austin fancy real imagination Pale January lay Alfred Austin pale cradle january We are all alike, and we love to keep passion aglow at our feet, Like one that sitteth in shade and complacently smiles at the heat. Alfred Austin shade passion feet The bright incarnate spirit of the Morn. Alfred Austin spirit morning From sunny woof and cloudy weft Fell rain in sheets; so, to myself I hummed these hazard rhymes, and left The learned volume on the shelf. Alfred Austin sunny hazards rain Tis true among fields and woods I sing, Aloof from cities--that my poor strains Were born, like the simple flowers you bring, In English meadows and English lanes. Alfred Austin flower cities simple No verse which is unmusical or obscure can be regarded as poetry whatever other qualities it may possess. Alfred Austin obscure quality may Perhaps a maiden's bashfulness is more A matron's lesson than our lips aver. Alfred Austin maidens lips lessons In vain would science scan and trace Firmly her aspect. All the while, There gleams upon her far-off face A vague unfathomable smile. Alfred Austin gleam vain faces Never did form more fairy thread the dance Than she who scours the hills to find it flowers; Never did sweeter lips chained ears entrance Than hers that move, true to its striking hours; No hands so white e'er decked the warrior's lance, As those which tend its lamp as darkness lours; And never since dear Christ expired for man, Had holy shrine so fair a sacristan. Alfred Austin warrior flower moving Through the dripping weeks that follow One another slow, and soak Summer's extinguished fire and autumn's drifting smoke. Alfred Austin autumn fire summer Falling stars are high examples sent To warn, not lure. Gross fancy says they are Substantial meteors; but that is not so. They are the merest phantasies of Night, When she's asleep, and, dimly visited By past effects, she dreams of Lucifer Hurled out of Heaven. Alfred Austin stars dream fall Is life worth living? Yes, so long As there is wrong to right. Alfred Austin So long as faith with freedom reigns And loyal hope survives, And gracious charity remains To leaven lowly lives; While there is one untrodden tract For intellect or will, And men are free to think and act, Life is worth living still. Alfred Austin Tears are the summer showers to the soul. Alfred Austin showers sad tears soul summer
