WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.320 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:06.870 align:middle line:84%
I'll begin with a poem called
"Incident in a Rose Garden,"

00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:14.520 align:middle line:84%
which is a sort of story poem
with three characters speaking.

00:00:14.520 --> 00:00:18.840 align:middle line:84%
I think you'll recognize how
that works as the poem goes.

00:00:18.840 --> 00:00:21.990 align:middle line:90%


00:00:21.990 --> 00:00:24.750 align:middle line:84%
It's a familiar story, really,
with a twist at the end.

00:00:24.750 --> 00:00:31.100 align:middle line:90%


00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:32.810 align:middle line:84%
And I should say,
also, I think that it's

00:00:32.810 --> 00:00:37.025 align:middle line:84%
set somewhat in the past when
people had gardeners to take

00:00:37.025 --> 00:00:38.150 align:middle line:90%
care of their rose gardens.

00:00:38.150 --> 00:00:40.910 align:middle line:90%


00:00:40.910 --> 00:00:43.490 align:middle line:84%
And therefore, the language
is slightly old-fashioned.

00:00:43.490 --> 00:00:48.340 align:middle line:90%


00:00:48.340 --> 00:00:54.700 align:middle line:84%
"The gardener came running,
an old man out of breath.

00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:58.540 align:middle line:90%
Fear had given him legs.

00:00:58.540 --> 00:01:03.790 align:middle line:84%
Sir, I encountered Death
just now among the roses.

00:01:03.790 --> 00:01:06.670 align:middle line:84%
Thin as a scythe,
he stood there.

00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:08.720 align:middle line:90%
I knew him by his pictures.

00:01:08.720 --> 00:01:15.190 align:middle line:84%
He had his black coat on, black
gloves, a broad black hat.

00:01:15.190 --> 00:01:19.510 align:middle line:84%
I think he would have spoken,
seeing his mouth stood open,

00:01:19.510 --> 00:01:21.595 align:middle line:90%
big it was, with white teeth.

00:01:21.595 --> 00:01:24.190 align:middle line:90%


00:01:24.190 --> 00:01:26.950 align:middle line:90%
As soon as he beckoned, I ran.

00:01:26.950 --> 00:01:29.200 align:middle line:90%
I ran until I found you.

00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.770 align:middle line:90%
Sir, I am quitting my job.

00:01:32.770 --> 00:01:36.820 align:middle line:84%
I want to see my sons
once more before I die.

00:01:36.820 --> 00:01:40.120 align:middle line:90%
I want to see California.

00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:41.470 align:middle line:90%
We shook hands.

00:01:41.470 --> 00:01:43.570 align:middle line:90%
He was off.

00:01:43.570 --> 00:01:46.480 align:middle line:84%
And there stood
Death in the garden,

00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:50.140 align:middle line:90%
dressed like a Spanish waiter.

00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:52.900 align:middle line:84%
He had the air of
someone who, because he

00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:56.350 align:middle line:84%
likes arriving at all
appointments early,

00:01:56.350 --> 00:02:00.160 align:middle line:90%
learns to think himself patient.

00:02:00.160 --> 00:02:04.000 align:middle line:84%
I watched him pinch one
bloom off and hold it

00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:10.180 align:middle line:84%
to his nose, a connoisseur
of roses, one bloom and then

00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:11.920 align:middle line:90%
another.

00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:16.180 align:middle line:84%
They strewed the
Earth around him.

00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:20.620 align:middle line:84%
Sir, you must be that stranger
who threatened my gardener.

00:02:20.620 --> 00:02:23.260 align:middle line:90%
This is my property, Sir.

00:02:23.260 --> 00:02:27.760 align:middle line:90%
I welcome only friends here.

00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:28.810 align:middle line:90%
Death grinned.

00:02:28.810 --> 00:02:33.520 align:middle line:84%
And his eyes lit up with a
pale glow of those lanterns

00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.610 align:middle line:84%
that workmen carry
sometimes to light

00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:40.060 align:middle line:90%
their way through the dusk.

00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:43.690 align:middle line:84%
Now with great care, he slid
the glove from his right hand

00:02:43.690 --> 00:02:49.900 align:middle line:84%
and held that out in greeting,
a little cage of bone.

00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:52.060 align:middle line:90%
Sir, I knew your father.

00:02:52.060 --> 00:02:55.420 align:middle line:90%
And we were friends at the end.

00:02:55.420 --> 00:02:58.480 align:middle line:84%
As for your gardener,
I did not threaten him.

00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:01.150 align:middle line:90%
Old men mistake my gestures.

00:03:01.150 --> 00:03:04.720 align:middle line:84%
I only meant to ask him
to show me to his master.

00:03:04.720 --> 00:03:07.620 align:middle line:90%
I take it you are he."

00:03:07.620 --> 00:03:11.000 align:middle line:90%