South Garden at The Art Institute of Chicago (Ken Lund)On the Art Institute of Chicago’s South Garden and Other Poetry by Adam Sedia The Society June 3, 2025 Art, Beauty, Poetry 8 Comments . In Urbe Hortus —June afternoon in the South Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago Hard stone and brick, cold glass and steel Shrink behind the canopy Of intertwining leafy boughs Sprawling from each vine-wrapped tree; The roar of engines, rush of traffic, Clamor of the roiling crowd, Beyond those green walls fade, while stillness Hangs, a thick, protecting shroud— Only the splash of gushing fountains Whispers in this hidden place Over the thorn-trees’ crisscrossed shadows Checkering the pavement’s face. Eye in the midst of the hurricane, Calm in the midst of the storm! Lull in the midst of the battle, Peace in the midst of the swarm! Refuge from the overwhelming Clash of cloying sights and sounds, Offering sweet sanctuary From the chaos that surrounds. Even silent inner tumults Flee before your shaded gates; Cares, fears, woes dissolve, forgotten— Even time eludes this space. . . Veiled Moon Your crescent glows Though dimmed and blurred By cloud-wisps stirred As night’s wind blows— Translucent shroud, Silvery, pale; Gossamer veil Of swirling cloud. Behind its play Of shifting shade You half-evade, Half-glance our way, Yet still deign show The sleeping world Through shades half-furled Your silver glow. Is it wry glee, A curving smile Of cunning guile Or mockery? Or do you hide Your lover’s eye, Keen yet too shy To dare confide? Or blendedly The smirk that knows Our faults yet glows With sympathy? It seems you plumb Our depths, O moon, In perfect tune Yet wisely dumb. . . Adam Sedia (b. 1984) lives in his native Northwest Indiana and practices law as a civil and appellate litigator. He has published four books of poetry and his poems, essays, and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. He is also a composer, and his musical works may be heard on his YouTube channel. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. ***Read Our Comments Policy Here*** 8 Responses Roy Eugene Peterson June 3, 2025 I am enamored with both of your poems, Adam. I can feel the insulation from the world in the arboretum of the Art Institute. I wonder how many know about it and how many make the time to visit it? There are some strikingly beautiful deep thoughts in your second poem as you “seem to plumb our own depths.” Each verse is a precious gem. Reply Cynthia L Erlandson June 3, 2025 “In Urbe Hortus” is a beautiful portrait of this garden, as well as a lovely meditation on the peace that the garden creates even in the midst of urban chaos and noise. “Veiled Moon” is a clever and engaging personification of the moon, with beautiful imagery portraying both the moon and its veil. I love the dimeters. Reply Brian Yapko June 3, 2025 Both poems are truly beautiful, Adam. Especially ‘Urbe Hortus”. I could use a visit there and am glad to be able to now do so in my imagination. I’m very impressed by the dimeter of “Veiled Moon.” It takes a lot of skill and patience to craft something in such a demandingly tight space which nonetheless communicates both meaning and beauty. Reply Joseph S. Salemi June 3, 2025 I have a strong attachment to poems about walled gardens, which always seem to evoke Marvell’s famous words about “a green thought in a green shade.” The word “Paradise” itself comes from Old Persian, and means an enclosed park or garden — a place of total bliss and quietude, broken only by the soft trickle of a fountain. The enjambment of each of the first two quatrains is superb, and there is a sharp tightness in these two lines of the third quatrain: Over the thorn-trees’ crisscrossed shadows Checkering the pavement’s face. What’s great about those lines is the unexpectedness of the imagery in what would ordinarily be a simple comment on shadows. The third quatrain threw me a bit, because it departed from the tetrameter rhythm. But then I guessed that it had something to do with the two exclamation points, which gave the quatrain an emotionally high stressing. Brian is right about the difficulty of handling dimeters well. The use of an ABBA rhyme scheme is the correct choice in the second piece, because an ABAB structure would have made the poem somewhat sing-songish. The poem is, rhetorically, a series of either/or contrasts: Glows, or dimmed and blurred? Veil, or shroud? Play, or evade? Glee, or mockery? The moon is made to be a silent observer whose attitude is hard to figure out. I am reminded of three lines from a very early T.S. Eliot poem: Romeo, grand serieux, to importune With Juliet in the usual debate Of love, beneath a bored but courteous moon… Reply Joseph S. Salemi June 3, 2025 Correction — I meant the fourth quatrain when I spoke of a departure from tetrameter. Reply Paul A. Freeman June 3, 2025 I read Veiled Moon first. The staccato four-beat lines pile up the imagery quickly, as if the Moon is making the most of itself nightly sojourn and ever changing shape. I particularly liked the last stanza. In the first poem, you seem to have found a wonderful sanctuary. I loved the lines ‘the thorn-trees’ crisscrossed shadows / Checkering the pavement’s face’ followed by the ‘midst’ stanza, which felt distinctly Shakespearean. Thanks for the reads, Adam. Your voice shines through. Reply Margaret Coats June 4, 2025 Very much like your garden design, Adam. Starting with typical, unattractive urban materials in the first line, you go on to create a space that excludes expected urban sights and sounds. The even less expected apostrophes to the garden, in the fourth stanza, emphasize its unique character, which is specified as that of a refuge in the following stanza. The final stanza moves still further from your spiritual contrast of “sanctuary” with “chaos,” not only referring to the interior emotional settling possible in the area, but even asserting the timelessness of the space. That touch of eternity befits your classical paradise so welcome to persons surrounded by any modern city. The “Veiled Moon” in Japanese thought is said to be the kind with true interest for artists. A brilliant full moon in a clear sky has much less to say than one behind clouds few or many, and you prove this with the amusing personified lunar reticence your imagination questions, but can’t quite define. Reply Russel Winick June 4, 2025 Adam – I too admired and enjoyed both of these poems. Thank you for them! Another trip to that garden awaits! Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Roy Eugene Peterson June 3, 2025 I am enamored with both of your poems, Adam. I can feel the insulation from the world in the arboretum of the Art Institute. I wonder how many know about it and how many make the time to visit it? There are some strikingly beautiful deep thoughts in your second poem as you “seem to plumb our own depths.” Each verse is a precious gem. Reply
Cynthia L Erlandson June 3, 2025 “In Urbe Hortus” is a beautiful portrait of this garden, as well as a lovely meditation on the peace that the garden creates even in the midst of urban chaos and noise. “Veiled Moon” is a clever and engaging personification of the moon, with beautiful imagery portraying both the moon and its veil. I love the dimeters. Reply
Brian Yapko June 3, 2025 Both poems are truly beautiful, Adam. Especially ‘Urbe Hortus”. I could use a visit there and am glad to be able to now do so in my imagination. I’m very impressed by the dimeter of “Veiled Moon.” It takes a lot of skill and patience to craft something in such a demandingly tight space which nonetheless communicates both meaning and beauty. Reply
Joseph S. Salemi June 3, 2025 I have a strong attachment to poems about walled gardens, which always seem to evoke Marvell’s famous words about “a green thought in a green shade.” The word “Paradise” itself comes from Old Persian, and means an enclosed park or garden — a place of total bliss and quietude, broken only by the soft trickle of a fountain. The enjambment of each of the first two quatrains is superb, and there is a sharp tightness in these two lines of the third quatrain: Over the thorn-trees’ crisscrossed shadows Checkering the pavement’s face. What’s great about those lines is the unexpectedness of the imagery in what would ordinarily be a simple comment on shadows. The third quatrain threw me a bit, because it departed from the tetrameter rhythm. But then I guessed that it had something to do with the two exclamation points, which gave the quatrain an emotionally high stressing. Brian is right about the difficulty of handling dimeters well. The use of an ABBA rhyme scheme is the correct choice in the second piece, because an ABAB structure would have made the poem somewhat sing-songish. The poem is, rhetorically, a series of either/or contrasts: Glows, or dimmed and blurred? Veil, or shroud? Play, or evade? Glee, or mockery? The moon is made to be a silent observer whose attitude is hard to figure out. I am reminded of three lines from a very early T.S. Eliot poem: Romeo, grand serieux, to importune With Juliet in the usual debate Of love, beneath a bored but courteous moon… Reply
Joseph S. Salemi June 3, 2025 Correction — I meant the fourth quatrain when I spoke of a departure from tetrameter. Reply
Paul A. Freeman June 3, 2025 I read Veiled Moon first. The staccato four-beat lines pile up the imagery quickly, as if the Moon is making the most of itself nightly sojourn and ever changing shape. I particularly liked the last stanza. In the first poem, you seem to have found a wonderful sanctuary. I loved the lines ‘the thorn-trees’ crisscrossed shadows / Checkering the pavement’s face’ followed by the ‘midst’ stanza, which felt distinctly Shakespearean. Thanks for the reads, Adam. Your voice shines through. Reply
Margaret Coats June 4, 2025 Very much like your garden design, Adam. Starting with typical, unattractive urban materials in the first line, you go on to create a space that excludes expected urban sights and sounds. The even less expected apostrophes to the garden, in the fourth stanza, emphasize its unique character, which is specified as that of a refuge in the following stanza. The final stanza moves still further from your spiritual contrast of “sanctuary” with “chaos,” not only referring to the interior emotional settling possible in the area, but even asserting the timelessness of the space. That touch of eternity befits your classical paradise so welcome to persons surrounded by any modern city. The “Veiled Moon” in Japanese thought is said to be the kind with true interest for artists. A brilliant full moon in a clear sky has much less to say than one behind clouds few or many, and you prove this with the amusing personified lunar reticence your imagination questions, but can’t quite define. Reply
Russel Winick June 4, 2025 Adam – I too admired and enjoyed both of these poems. Thank you for them! Another trip to that garden awaits! Reply
