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, 



