i4 STEVENSON'S POEMS
ABOUT THE SHELTERED GARDEN GROUND
ABOUT the sheltered garden ground The trees stand strangely still. .
The vale ne'er seemed so deep before, Nor yet so high the hill.
An awful sense of quietness,
A fulness of repose, * Breathes from the dewy garden-lawns,
The silent garden rows.
As the hoof-beats of a troop of horse
Heard far across a plain, A nearer knowledge of great thoughts
Thrills vaguely through my brain.
I lean my head upon my arm,
My heart's too full to think ; Like the roar of seas, upon my heart
Doth the morning stillness sink.