 | Carmina crucis |  |
115
DECLENSION AND REVIVAL.
“From Me is thy fruit found.”
—Hosea xiv. 8.
Die to thy root, sweet flower!
If so God wills, die even to thy root;
Live there awhile an uncomplaining, mute,
Blank life, with darkness wrapp'd about thy head,
And fear not for the silence round thee spread.
This is no grave, though thou among the dead
Art counted, but the Hiding-place of Power;
Die to thy root, sweet flower!
If so God wills, die even to thy root;
Live there awhile an uncomplaining, mute,
Blank life, with darkness wrapp'd about thy head,
And fear not for the silence round thee spread.
This is no grave, though thou among the dead
Art counted, but the Hiding-place of Power;
Die to thy root, sweet flower!
Spring from thy root, sweet flower!
When so God wills, spring even from thy root;
Send through the earth's warm breast a quicken'd shoot,
Spread to the sunshine, spread unto the shower,
And lift into the sunny air thy dower
Of bloom and odour; life is on the plains
And in the woods a sound of buds and rains
That sing together; lo! the winter's cold
Is past! sweet scents revive, thick buds unfold;
Be thou, too, willing in the Day of Power,
Spring from thy root, sweet flower!
When so God wills, spring even from thy root;
Send through the earth's warm breast a quicken'd shoot,
Spread to the sunshine, spread unto the shower,
And lift into the sunny air thy dower
Of bloom and odour; life is on the plains
And in the woods a sound of buds and rains
116
Is past! sweet scents revive, thick buds unfold;
Be thou, too, willing in the Day of Power,
Spring from thy root, sweet flower!
| Carmina crucis | |