IN MY NEIGHBOR'S GARDEN by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER

IN the bound of mine own enclosure
The flowers are fair to see;
But the rose in my neighbor's garden
Is fairer than all to me.

So white and slender and stately,
So gemmed with sparkling dew,
This rose that blooms for another,
Is the sweetest ever that grew.

My heart to its grace and beauty
Goes forth as to a shrine;
And I sigh to its mystical fragrance—
"If it were only mine!"

And yet if not my neighbor,
But I, in fee and thrall,
Held all that marvellous glory
On the other side of the wall,

I might, perhaps, grow weary
Of its royal pomp and grace,
And love with my love some daisy
With a shy, uplifted face.

For since the gates of Eden
Were shut on Adam and Eve,
The flowers we have are never
So sweet as the flowers we leave;

And rich within my garden
Though many a flower might be,
The rose that bloomed for another
Might seem the best to me.

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