Sara Teasdale turns the speaker’s heart into a garden in late autumn. It is weary and overgrown, full of heavy dahlias and bending asters, but in the hazy sunlight it still remembers April: rain, a bright snowdrop, daffodils in cold wind, and tulips holding rainwater. Those remembered flowers stand for earlier energy and feeling. Now the garden is about to be hushed with snow and forgotten. The closing question—“After the stillness, will spring come again?”—leaves real uncertainty. The mood is quiet, sad, and tired, yet not entirely without hope. The speaker longs to know whether life and feeling can return after a long numb season. It is a poem about aging or emotional exhaustion, posed as a gentle, wistful question rather than a statement.
The Garden — Summary
My heart is a garden tired with autumn, Heaped with bending asters and dahlias heavy and dark, In the hazy sunshine, the garden remembers April, The drench of rains and a snow-drop quick and clear as a spark;
Daffodils blowing in the cold wind of morning, And golden tulips, goblets holding the rain-- The garden will be hushed with snow, forgotten soon, forgotten-- After the stillness, will spring come again?