88 Old Time Gardens 



bears two exquisite verses the gift of one poet to 

 another of Dr. Henry Van Dyke to the garden's 

 mistress, Katrina Trask. These dial mottoes are 

 unusual, and perfect examples of that genius which 

 with a few words can shape a lasting gem of our 

 English tongue. At the edge of the dial face is this 

 motto : 



" Hours fly, 

 Flowers die, 

 New Days, 

 New Ways, 

 Pass by ; 

 Love stays." 



At the base of the gnomon is the second motto : 



Time is 



Too Slow for those who Wait, 

 Too Swift for those who Fear, 

 Too Long for those who Grieve, 

 Too Short for those who Rejoice ; 

 But for those who Love, 



Time is 



Eternity. 



I have for years been a student of sun-dial lore, 

 a collector of sun-dial mottoes and inscriptions, of 

 which I have many hundreds. I know nowhere, 

 either in English, on English or Scotch sun-dials, 

 or in the Continental tongues, any such exquisite 

 dial legends as these two so slight of form, so 

 simple in wording, so pure in diction, yet of senti- 

 ment, of thought, how full! how impressive ! They 

 stamp themselves forever on the memory as beauti- 

 ful examples of what James Russell Lowell called 

 verbal magic; that wonderful quality which comes, 



