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42 THE POETRY OF FLOWERS. 
surround us at our board, cheer us at our fireside, 
smooth the couch on which we slumber, and even 
follow our wandering steps long, long after we 
have ceased to regard them with gratitude or joy. 
I speak of the thorn which accompanies these 
pleasures not with murmuring or complaint; I 
speak of the' wounds inflicted by this thorn with 
a living consciousness of their poignancy and 
anguish ; because exquisite and dear as mere 
earthly pleasures may sometimes be, I would still 
contrast them with such as are not earthly. I 
would contrast the thorn and the wound, the dis- 
appointment and the pain, which accompany all 
such pleasures as are merely temporal, with the 
fulness of happiness, the peace, and the crown, 
accompanying those which are eternal. 
Mes. Ellis. 
They smilingly fulfil 
Their Maker's will, 
All meekly bending 'neath the tempest's weight; 
By pride unvisited, 
Though richly raimented, 
As is a monarch in his robes of state. 
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