Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (1a): “The Sunlight on the Garden”

I would be remiss if I neglected this addendum to my last post‘s “sun spots”: the opening stanza of a cherished poem I once had memorized, “The Sunlight on the Garden” by Irish poet Louis MacNeice.

The sunlight on the garden
Hardens and grows cold,
We cannot cage the minute
Within its nets of gold,
When all is told 
We cannot beg for pardon.

The regular meter, musical rhythm, and patterns of rhyme, as well as the poem’s simplicity and manageable length (24 lines), aid in its successful memorization and recitation. Published in 1938, it is half war poem and half nature poem, but at its heart, it is a nostalgic love song. I hope you’ll read it in its entirety.

In the next post of this nature verse series, I shine a spotlight on two Elizabeth Bishop poems.

For a different perspective on the sun, try: Original Poem: Of all the signs of spring

---

The entire Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry series

1. Nature Poetry by Famous Poets excerpting Thomas Hardy’s “The Darkling Thrush”
2. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (1a): “The Sunlight on the Garden”
3. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (2): Elizabeth Bishop
4. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (3): Wordsworth’s Daffodils
5. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (4): Promise of a Fruitful Plath
6. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (5): Of Mice, Men and Rabbie Burns
7. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (6): Hugh MacDiarmid in Scots
8. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (6)–Oh, NOW I Get It!: Hugh MacDiarmid in Scots
9. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (7): Black Legacies
10. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (8): “Corsons Inlet” by A. R. Ammons
11. Famous Poets’ Nature Poetry (9): “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”