 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
The Life of the Flower
Know'st thou the life of a single flower,
How it blooms from out the earth?
Whence came its beauty? and what the Power,
That gave its beauty birth?
How it blooms from out the earth?
Whence came its beauty? and what the Power,
That gave its beauty birth?
How long has the seed of that flower been sown,
In the ages past away;
Since first on the earth its form was known,
And it oped to the light of day?
In the ages past away;
Since first on the earth its form was known,
And it oped to the light of day?
In the hardened rock its form is found,
Ere man the earth had trod;
Ere his toiling hands had tilled the ground,
Or sowed with its seed the sod.
Ere man the earth had trod;
Ere his toiling hands had tilled the ground,
Or sowed with its seed the sod.
Before the bird, or the beast was made,
The desolate earth still in gloom;
Ere a tree o'er the dry land had spread its shade,
Did the flower in its beauty bloom.
The desolate earth still in gloom;
Ere a tree o'er the dry land had spread its shade,
Did the flower in its beauty bloom.
451
Thou may'st trace its life to the single cell,
By the aid which Science gives;
But can'st thou by searching the secret tell,
Whence the seed, or how it lives?
By the aid which Science gives;
But can'st thou by searching the secret tell,
Whence the seed, or how it lives?
Oh no: for the secret is hid from thee,
Known to none save the Perfect Mind;
Whom thou in his works alone can see,
But not to perfection find.
Known to none save the Perfect Mind;
Whom thou in his works alone can see,
But not to perfection find.
For the life of the flower, like the life of the soul,
Is hid in God above;
And the humblest flower, like the mighty Whole,
Sprang forth from his boundless love.
Is hid in God above;
And the humblest flower, like the mighty Whole,
Sprang forth from his boundless love.
Poem No. 313; c. 28 December 1872
| Jones Very : The Complete Poems | |