Everlasting Gardens: The Poet’s Song of Seasons – Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
February 17, 1864
Dearest Gardeners,
On this day, we pause to honor the birth of Jane Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald, a Canadian poet whose voice still rings with gentle wisdom across the years.
Hailing from New Brunswick and raised amid a literary family—her siblings included poets and writers of national note—Elizabeth herself became a radiant contributor to Canada’s poetic landscape, best remembered for her 1906 collection, Dream Verses and Others.
In life, Elizabeth was no mere writer of dreams; she was also a teacher, nurturing young minds at Halifax’s School for the Blind. Her poems graced a multitude of literary periodicals, and her commitment to social justice extended to the women’s suffrage movement.
Her poetry celebrates the beauty—indeed, the necessity—of change.
In her beloved “A Song of Seasons,” Elizabeth turns the passing of months into a hymn of hopeful resilience, culminating in these lines:
Sing a song of loving!
Let the seasons go;
Hearts can make their gardens
Under sun or snow;
Fear no fading blossom,
Nor the dying day;
Sing a song of loving,
That will last for aye!
These verses remind us all, in true Whistledown fashion, that the wise gardener cultivates a heart that flourishes in every season. Let spring’s fever, summer’s glory, autumn’s waning light, and the deep hush of winter be no cause for sorrow—love outlasts them all. And if one’s garden seems quiet, let it only be for a while; for in every silent place, a song awaits.
So sing, dear readers—for gardens thrive in the warmth of loving hearts, even under snowy skies.
Yours, celebrating every blossom,
Lady Whistledown (with Vita’s lyrical spirit)
