The Garden

The Lord planted a garden
In the first white days of the world,
And he set there an angel warden
In a garment of light enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven,
That the hawk might nest with the wren,
For there in the cool of the even�
God walked with the first of men.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth -
One is nearer God�s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

~Dorothy Frances Gurney