Gardens of the Poets 219 



unusual aspect of demureness and delicacy, and the 

 plants seem to cling with affection and trust to the 

 path of their human protector ; they look simple 

 and confiding, and seem close both to nature and to 

 man. This homelike and modest quality is shown, 

 I think, even in the presentation in black and white 

 given on page 216 and opposite page, 218, though 

 it shows still more in the garden when the wide 

 range of tint of foliage is added. 



A most appropriate companion of the old flowers 

 in this Shakespeare Border is the sun-dial, which is 

 an exact copy of the one at Abbotsford, Scotland. 

 It bears the motto 'EPXETAI TAP NTS meaning, 

 " For the night cometh." It was chosen by Sir 

 Walter Scott, for his sun-dial, as a solemn monitor 

 to himself of the hour " when no man can work." 

 It was copied from a motto on the dial-plate of 

 the watch of the great Dr. Samuel Johnson ; and 

 it is curious that in both cases the word TAP 

 should be introduced, for it is not in the clause in 

 the New Testament from which the motto was taken. 

 It is a beautiful motto and one of singular appro- 

 priateness for a sun-dial. The pedestal of this 

 sun-dial is of simple lines, but it is dignified and 

 pleasing, aside from the great interest of association 

 which surrounds it. 



I had a happy sense, when walking through this 

 garden, that, besides my congenial living companion- 

 ship, I had the company of some noble Elizabethan 

 ghosts ; and I know that if Shakespeare and Jonson 

 and Herrick were to come to Hillside, they would 

 find the garden so familiar to them ; they would 



