AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 231 
BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS. 
We have searched, as we roamed, for the haunts of the 
flowers, 
And gazed on their features, and drunk in their love ; 
And oft we have called back those beautiful hours, 
Like spirits descending to earth from above ! 
Yes ! flowers are surpassingly lovely, and full 
Of a language that speaks to our innermost heart ; 
Not the meanest, or least, you can venture to cull, 
But something of sweetness and love can impart ! 
Yes! Earth has no gift that is fairer than flowers ! 
They smile o’er the meadow and sleep in the grove ; 
Bedecking the hedgerow, perfuming the bowers, 
And gleaming in sunshine wherever you rove. 
And flowers, by similitude, teach us of man, 
Of the prime of his thought and the grace of his mind ; 
Of the joys of his soul, and the width of its span, 
Of his noblest emotions, deep, lasting, and kind ; 
Of the best of his actions,—the bloom of his life, 
Devotion and dignity, pity Divine, 
Undying affection, true courage in strife, 
And many an offering on Charity’s shrine. 
We have flowers, too, of time, though they fade with the 
hour, 
Opportunities precious, as fleeting their speed ; 
And the breezes of heaven conveying the shower, 
Bear with them the blossom, or scatter the seed. 
