Poems (Scudder)/Rain in an English Garden
RAIN IN AN ENGLISH GARDEN
From shaken boughs of myrtle and of box Drop topaz, jacinth, peridot enough To pay an elf-king's ransom. Hollyhocks Each in deep-flouncing silks with pleated ruff Bend in the courtly fashion of old beaux And toss their diamonds of blinding sheen In the gold-lily's lap. The damask rose Droops jewel-fettered like a captive queen. Faint promise of the sun seems everywhere, Delicate rainbows flash—and perched aloft The quivering phlox that butterfly again To spread his drenched and tattered wings would dare— When, eerie-wild and mischievous and soft, The rush and teasing laughter of the rain.