ON THE THEORY OF A GARDEN. 5 



trance the new life that grows in the womb of the 

 tomb is happy augury to the soul that passes away, 

 immature and but half-expressed, of lusty days and 

 consummate powers in the everlasting garden of 

 God. It is this very garden's message, " the best is 

 yet to be," that smothers the self-pitying whine in 

 poor David Gray's Elegy * and braces his spirit with 

 the tonic of a wholesome pride. To the human 

 flower that is born to blush unseen, or born, per- 

 chance, not to bloom at all, but only to feel the 

 quickening thrill of April-passion the first sweet 

 consciousness of life the electric touch in the soul 

 like the faint beatings in the calyx of the rose and 

 then to die, to die " not knowing what it was to 

 live " to such seemingly cancelled souls the gar- 

 den's message is " trust, acquiesce, be passive in the 

 Master's hand : the game of life is lost, but not for 

 aye 



' " There is life with God 

 In other Kingdom of a sweeter air : 

 In Eden every flower is blown." 



To come back to lower ground, a garden re- 

 presents what one 'may call the first simplicity of. 



' " My Epitaph." 



" Below lies one whose name was traced in sand 

 He died, not knowing what it was to live ; 

 Died while the first sweet consciousness of manhood 

 And maiden thought electrified his soul : 

 Faint beatings in the calyx of the rose. 

 Bewildered reader, pass without a sigh 

 In a proud sorrow ! There is life with God, 

 In other Kingdom of a sweeter air ; 

 In Eden every flower is blown. Amen." 

 DAVID GRAY ("A Poet's Sketch-book, R. Buchanan, p. 8 1.) 



