 | Miscellaneous Poems |  |
112
Flowers
Children of dew and sunshine, balmy flowers!
Ye seem like creatures of a heavenly mould
That linger in this fallen earth of ours,
Fair relics of her Paradise of old.
Ye seem like creatures of a heavenly mould
That linger in this fallen earth of ours,
Fair relics of her Paradise of old.
Amidst her tombs and ruins, gentle things,
Ye smile and glitter in celestial bloom;
Like radiant feathers dropped from angel wings,
Or tiny rainbows of a world of gloom.
Ye smile and glitter in celestial bloom;
Like radiant feathers dropped from angel wings,
Or tiny rainbows of a world of gloom.
Yes; there is heaven about you: in your breath
And hues it dwells. The stars of heaven ye shine;
Bright strangers in a land of sin and death,
That talk of God, and point to realms divine.
And hues it dwells. The stars of heaven ye shine;
Bright strangers in a land of sin and death,
That talk of God, and point to realms divine.
113
O mutely eloquent! the heart may read
In books like you, in tinted leaf or wing,
Fragrance, and music, lessons that exceed
The formal lore that graver pages bring.
In books like you, in tinted leaf or wing,
Fragrance, and music, lessons that exceed
The formal lore that graver pages bring.
Ye speak of frail humanity: ye tell
How man, like you, shall flourish and shall fall.
But, ah! ye speak of Heavenly Love as well,
And say, the God of flowers is God of all.
How man, like you, shall flourish and shall fall.
But, ah! ye speak of Heavenly Love as well,
And say, the God of flowers is God of all.
While Faith in you her Maker's goodness views
Beyond her utmost need, her boldest claim,
She catches something of your smiles and hues,
Forgets her fears, and glows and smiles the same.
Beyond her utmost need, her boldest claim,
She catches something of your smiles and hues,
Forgets her fears, and glows and smiles the same.
Childhood and you are playmates; matching well
Your sunny cheeks, and mingling fragrant breath.
Ye help young Love his faltering tale to tell;
Ye scatter sweetness o'er the bed of Death.
Your sunny cheeks, and mingling fragrant breath.
114
Ye scatter sweetness o'er the bed of Death.
Sweet flowers, sweet flowers, be mine to dwell with you!
Ye talk of song and sunshine, hope and love:
Ye breathe of all bright things, and lead us through
The best of earth to better still above.
Ye talk of song and sunshine, hope and love:
Ye breathe of all bright things, and lead us through
The best of earth to better still above.
Sweet flowers, sweet flowers! the rich exuberance
Of Nature's heart in her propitious hours:
When glad emotions in her bosom dance,
She vents her happiness in laughing flowers.
Of Nature's heart in her propitious hours:
When glad emotions in her bosom dance,
She vents her happiness in laughing flowers.
I love you, when along the fields in spring
Your dewy eyes look countless from the turf;
I love you, when from summer boughs you swing,
As light and silvery as the ocean surf.
Your dewy eyes look countless from the turf;
I love you, when from summer boughs you swing,
As light and silvery as the ocean surf.
115
I love your earliest beauties, and your last:
Come when you may, you still are welcome here;
Flinging your sweets on Autumn's dying blast,
Or weaving chaplets for the infant year.
Come when you may, you still are welcome here;
Flinging your sweets on Autumn's dying blast,
Or weaving chaplets for the infant year.
I love your gentle eyes and smiling faces,
Bright with the sun, or wet with balmy showers;
Your looks and language in all times and places,
In lordly gardens, or in woodland bowers.
Bright with the sun, or wet with balmy showers;
Your looks and language in all times and places,
In lordly gardens, or in woodland bowers.
But most, sweet flowers, I love you, when ye talk
As Jesus taught you when He o'er you trod;
And, mingling smiles and morals, bid us walk
Content o'er earth to glory and to God.
As Jesus taught you when He o'er you trod;
And, mingling smiles and morals, bid us walk
Content o'er earth to glory and to God.
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