Homesick

by Julia Dorr

O my garden! Lying whitely in the moonlight and the dew,
Far across the leagues of distance flies my heart to-night to you,
And I see your stately lilies In the tender radiance gleam
With a dim, mysterious splendor, like the angels of a dream!
I can see the trellised arbor, and the roses crimson
And the lances of the larkspurs all glittering, row on row,
And the wilderness of hollyhocks, where brown bees seek their spoil,
And butterflies dance all day long, in glad and gay turmoil.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

Today is the birthday of the heartfelt American poet and writer - known as Rutland's poet and Vermont's unofficial poet laureate - Julia Dorr, born on this day, February 13, 1825.

As a girl, her pseudonym was Flora or Florillla.

The poet William Cullen Bryant once read one of her poems and wrote to tell her how much he loved the beauty of its imagery. And Ralph Waldo Emerson visited her and included one of her poems - called Outgrown - in his book called Parnassus.

As you read her poems, imagine Julia Dorr writing in her little study next to the parlor. She had a window by her desk that overlooked her flower garden, which she called "her refuge and inspiration."


As featured on
The Daily Gardener podcast:

Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all.
Homesick

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