INVITATION 



C©ME in ! A greeting waits you at my gate. : ' 

 Come in! My windows smile a welcome — come 

 Each framed in ivy, with geraniurris'. pink; 

 My pathway's lined with ancient close-clipped box 

 And at my doorway stand two sturdy firs.. 

 Within my house are spacious, pleasant halls, 

 Rooms that are lived in^ such as friends enjoy. 

 Come in! This is the indoor of my home. 



,JX 



COM E out ! My garden is my love, my ever dear delight 

 I long to share its charm and beauty with true friends 

 But hide it from the dust and turmoil of the town, 

 And build a wall to keep the prying out. , 

 There -do I go and take my ease,-. • _ ' ' ■' % 



Listen enchanted tq the droning bees. 

 Or watch' the flight of humming birds that .go' .. 

 Excursionihg amid .my. garden joys.. ' * . ; 



H^re roses livfi, abandoning all form;- - 

 And larkspur, hollyhocks and vines;' . • .. -- 



A wondrous spreading elm beneath whose shady boughs . 

 My friends and I drink tea-^ : . • . , 



Come out! This is the outdoor of my home. .. ; ' , 



GOME in ! , -Come out! - . 

 : A welcome waits ypu--rin: or 'out ! 



S. Mitchell- Neilson 



260 



