Sara Teasdale’s speaker stands in a bright tropical garden, but the beauty around her feels urgent and fragile. Hibiscus blossoms are “cups of fire,” and a scarlet poinsettia leaf blows away in the wind. Each vivid image turns into a plea: love me now, kiss me before noon, because life will not wait. Even the lizard seems to pause and listen. The speaker wants her lover to hide her in the shade of the ceiba tree from a great black vulture circling overhead. That vulture darkens the scene, bringing a quiet awareness of death into all the heat and color. The mood is passionate and intimate but also uneasy—love and danger feel close together, and the speaker’s repeated requests sound like someone trying to hold onto a moment before it disappears.
In a Cuban Garden — Summary
Hibiscus flowers are cups of fire, (Love me, my lover, life will not stay) The bright poinsettia shakes in the wind, A scarlet leaf is blowing away.
A lizard lifts his head and listens-- Kiss me before the noon goes by, Here in the shade of the ceiba hide me From the great black vulture circling the sky.