Katharine Tynan Hinkson (1861–1931)

GOOD is an Orchard, the Saint saith,

To meditate on life and death,

With a cool well, a hive of bees,

A hermit’s grot below the trees.

Good is an Orchard: very good,

Though one should wear no monkish hood;

Right good when Spring awakes her flute,

And good in yellowing time of fruit:

Very good in the grass to lie

And see the network ’gainst the sky,

A living lace of blue and green

And boughs that let the gold between.

The bees are types of souls that dwell

With honey in a quiet cell;

The ripe fruit figures goldenly

The soul’s perfection in God’s eye.

Prayer and praise in a country home

Honey and fruit: a man might come

Fed on such meats to walk abroad

And in his Orchard talk with God.