Be Gentle to this Garden Spot

Gardens of Goodwood

From a Hodges' scrapbook:

PRAYER FOR A GARDEN

by Daniel Whitehead Hicky

O God, be gentle to this garden spot.

Here have I rested on a summer day,

Drinking the wine of this forget-me-not,

Breaking the bred that full-blown roses lay

Before my hungry eyes; filling my ear

With bells of tulips ringing bright and clear.

Here have I slept when night came to each flower,

Wrapped in these shadows, pillowed at my head

With velvet pansies through the dark's blue hour;

Here have I dreamed, and I was comforted.

O kindly Father, write upon Your scroll:

This is a petaled tavern for the soul.

About the poet:  Daniel Whitehead "Jack" Hicky was born in 1900 in Social Circle, Georgia, and settled in Atlanta.  His poems were published from the 1920s to the 1970s.  He died in Atlanta in 1976.  A contemporary critic praised his work, declaring him the "the leading lyric voice of the American South."  Rel Davis, who knew Hicky, wrote an nice article about his life.