OH, LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 17 
Flowers have from time immemorial 
been associated with sepulchral rites. 
They have been placed on the body of the 
deceased in the narrow coffin by mourning 
friends, as a token of their esteem and af¬ 
fection. Such a custom seems to say;— 
Like a flower thou wast beautiful—like a 
flower thou hast faded and perished—but 
hope, founded on Divine revelation, adds, 
Faded flower, thou shaft more beautifully 
bloom again at the resurrection of the just, 
never, never to fade again, in the Paradise 
of God ; for there are no elements of des¬ 
truction there. 
Then why in anguish weep ? 
Hope beams upon my view; 
’Tis but a winter’s sleep— 
My flowers shall spring anew; 
Each darling flower in earth that sleeps 
O’er which fond memory hangs and wf eps. 
All to new life shall rise, 
In heavenly beauty blight, 
Shall charm my ravish’d eyes 
In tints of rainbow light; 
Shull bloom unfading in the skies, 
And drink the dews of paradise. 
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