THE FORGOTTEN ONE
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802 – 1838) was a prolific published poet, author and playwright. This transcription of the poem is taken from The British Women Romantic Poets Project – a digital initiative of the University of California Davis General Library. ‘The Forgotten One’ is one of the ‘Fugitive Pieces’ from The Vow of the Peacock published in 1835.
The writing on this Grade II listed tablet is quite faded, with some parts hard to read, but the poem is as follows:
No shadow rests upon the place
Where once thy footsteps roved;
Nor leaf, nor blossom, bear a trace
Of how thou wert beloved.
The very night dew disappears
Too soon, as if it spared its tears.
Thou art forgotten!–thou, whose feet
Were listen’d for like song!
They used to call thy voice so sweet;–
It did not haunt them long.
Thou, with thy fond and fairy mirth–
How could they bear their lonely hearth!
There is no picture to recall
Thy glad and open brow;
No profiled outline on the wall
Seems like thy shadow now;
They have not even kept to wear
One ringlet of thy golden hair.
When here we shelter’d last, appears
But just like yesterday;
It startles me to think that years
Since then are pass’d away.
The old oak tree that was our tent,
No leaf seems changed, no bough seems rent.
A shower in June–a summer shower,
Drove us beneath the shade;
A beautiful and greenwood bower
The spreading branches made.
The raindrops shine upon the bough,
The passing rain–but where art thou?
But I forget how many showers
Have wash’d this old oak tree,
The winter and the summer hours,
Since I stood here with thee:
And I forget how chance a thought
Thy memory to my heart has brought.
I talk of friends who once have wept,
As if they still should weep;
I speak of grief that long has slept,
As if it could not sleep;
Have I, myself, forgotten less?
I’ve mingled with the young and fair,
Nor thought how there was laid
One fair and young as any there,
In silence and in shade.
How could I see a sweet mouth shine
With smiles, and not remember thine?
Ah! it is well we can forget,
Or who could linger on
Beneath a sky whose stars are set,
On earth whose flowers are gone?
For who could welcome loved ones near,
Thinking of those once far more dear,
Our early friends, those of our youth?
We cannot feel again
The earnest love, the simple truth,
Which made us such friends then.
We grow suspicious, careless, cold;
We love not as we loved of old.
No more a sweet necessity,
Love must and will expand,
Loved and beloving we must be,
With open heart and hand,
Which only ask to trust and share
The deep affections which they bear.
Our love was of that early time;
And now that it is past,
It breathes as of a purer clime
Than where my lot is cast.
My eyes fill with their sweetest tears
In thinking of those early years.
It shock’d me first to see the sun
Shine gladly o’er thy tomb;
To see the wild flowers o’er it run
In such luxuriant bloom.
Now I feel glad that they should keep
A bright sweet watch above thy sleep.
The heaven whence thy nature came
Only recall’d its own; It is
Hope that now breathes thy name,
Though borrowing Memory’s tone.
I feel this earth could never be
The native home of one like thee.
Farewell! the early dews that fall
Upon thy grass-grown bed
Are like the thoughts that now recall
Thine image from the dead. A blessing hallows thy dark cell–
I will not stay to weep. Farewell!
♦ browse the Swiss Garden ♦

LOWER POND
Just outside the entrance to the Swiss Garden, look out for fish in this small body of water.

MIDDLE POND

DOG CEMETERY
Burial place of Dorothy Shuttleworth’s beloved Japanese Chin dogs.

POND CASCADE BRIDGE
Clayton & Shuttleworth manufactured bridge c1870s, and with a Pulhamite cascade.

PENINSULA ISLAND
The plinth once boasted a prominent statue depicting Lord Ongley in empirical costume!

PUNT HARBOUR

THE AVIARY (RUIN)
Once home to exotic feathered fowl, and terminating one of the key view-lines from the Swiss Cottage.

EAGLE REDOUBT
A raised vantage point for viewing the garden, complete with a terracotta eagle.

ROCK GARDEN
A later Pulhamite addition (early 1900’s) to the garden, showcasing alpine plants and bulbs. It always looks particularly lovely in Spring.

THE BROADWALK
With impressive ironwork rose bowers, the ‘Night & Morning’ Vase, and two lion statues.

SWISS COTTAGE
The ‘heart’ and focal point of the garden. Views to and from the Swiss Cottage are key to the garden’s design.

PRIVY
A two-seated privy, but only one side in use at a time. An early example of a green loo!

THE FORGOTTEN ONE
A popular poem by Letitia Langdon, edited by Lord Ongley for the Swiss Garden.

TREE SEAT
Generously donated by Friends of Swiss Garden.

WOODLAND GATE & SCREEN
This marks the original entrance to the Swiss Garden as used by both the Ongley and Shuttleworth
families.

QUARRY GARDEN
With Istrian marble well-head dating from the 1900s.

CHAPEL
Delightful little building, highly reminiscent of a roadside shrine.

THE TERRACE
Popular with wedding photographers, it offers grand views of the Dolphin Tazza and undulating lawns leading to the Swiss Cottage.

DOLPHIN JARDINIÈRE & TAZZA
Manufactured and perfected by sculptor Felix Austin. It has an artificial ‘pudding stone’ finish.

CEDAR OF LEBANON
The tallest and oldest tree in the Swiss Garden, at around 250 years old. It is listed in the Champion Trees register and is a key focal point.

GROTTO & FERNERY
The amazing cave-like interior is formed from Pulhamite, added by the Shuttleworth family to house
their collection of ferns.

EAST LAWN
Find the colourful Acer tree here, the Rose Seat, and sun loungers during the warmer months of the year.

INDIAN KIOSK
The Indian Kiosk has a beautiful glass embossed rear panel and an interesting ‘room’ beneath it. It dates from c1830.

NORTH BRIDGE
Cato & Sons manufactured the North Bridge. It is quite steep, but this makes it an ideal spot for wedding photographers to capture romantic images!

MOAT BRIDGE
Also by Cato & Sons, manufactured in wrought and cast iron, it leads onto Middle Island with views of the Indian Kiosk.

GARDENERS’ COTTAGE
Joseph Shuttleworth re-roofed and extended this humble cottage in the 1870’s.

THE UNDERPASS
Built in the 1820s, this was pivotal to Lord Ongley’s vision for a ‘picturesque’, magical, hidden wonderland.

SERPENTINE LAKE

WOODLAND WALK

SCULPTURE TRAIL

PICNIC AREA

PEACOCKS

GARDEN ROOM
About the garden room