i did not always know ’twas kind

of thee to let me pass,

and with my sacrilegious feet

walk lightly thru thy grass.

how could i know, when i was young

’twas one of thine own dreams,

to tender me the license of

thy hills and singing streams.

how could’st thou take even a part

of thy remotest time,

and weld me, poor unworthly link,

into this chain of thine.

one day i learned at cost of pain

among the shadows dim,

thy gift of violets, oh! god

their fragrance cutting in.

i set apart one hallowed day

forever dear to me.

because thou taughtest me to love

a flowering apple tree.{19}

and since i’ve older grown and drawn

to solitudes apart,

i find i cannot tell the lord

all that is in my heart.