This illustration by Millicent Sowerby accompanies the poem 'The Gardener' in the book A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. The edition was published in 1908 by Chatto & Windus.
The Gardener
The gardener does not love to talk,
He makes me keep the gravel walk;
And when he puts his tools away,
He locks the door and takes the key.
Away behind the currant row,
Where no one else but cook may go,
Far in the plots, I see him dig,
Old and serious, brown and big.
He digs the flowers, green, red, and blue,
Nor wishes to be spoken to.
He digs the flowers and cuts the hay,
And never seems to want to play.
Silly gardener! summer goes,
And winter comes with pinching toes,
When in the garden bare and brown
You must lay your barrow down.
Well now, and while the summer stays,
To profit by these garden days
O how much wiser you would be
To play at Indian wars with me!
The Gardener - Framed Antique Print
Image Number: 1050
Title: The Gardener
Medium: Child’s Book IllustrationFramed size (h x w): 287x 227mm
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