A lone speaker passes an entire night in grief, walking and weeping outdoors. Tearing a rose and dropping it to the ground suggests a loss or a love spoiled by sorrow. The speaker’s heart feels heavy as lead, and the whole night is spent listening in dread for some terrible sound that never quite arrives. The quiet natural world—a bent tree, dew dripping, warm earth, a solemn dawn—makes the scene feel hushed and almost sacred. Finally the speaker lies down in the grass, speaks a loved one’s name, and receives only silence in return. The title gestures toward the biblical garden of Gethsemane, so the poem carries overtones of lonely agony, betrayal, and a plea that goes unanswered. The mood is heavy, still, and desolate: a moment of isolation where comfort never comes.
Gethsemane — Summary
All that night I walked alone and wept. I tore a rose and dropped it on the ground. My heart was lead; all that night I kept Listening to hear a dreadful sound.
A tree bent down and dew dripped from its hair. The earth was warm; dawn came solemnly. I stretched full-length upon the grass and there I said your name but silence answered me.