222 the lover’s offering, 
In the happy spring I’ll come, 
And deck your silent home, 
Creeping, silently creeping everywhere. 
Here I come creeping, creeping everywhere; 
My humble song of praise 
Most gratefully I raise 
To Him at whose command 
I beautify the land, 
Creeping, silently creeping everywhere. 
—— 
DAHLIA. 
Bloom on in thy beauty, sweet child of the west, 
By the sunlight of heaven so softly caress’d ; 
Bloom on in thy pride, and with statelier show, 
Fling around the rich charm of thy colour and glow; 
Shed on each patient heart the sweet smile of thy 
face, 
And teach us our duty in life’s pressing race. 
’Tis beauty that charms and enraptures the sense, 
And gives to each moment a bliss more intense; 
’Tis beauty that wins us to virtue and truth, 
Making hope a fair shadow to guide us in youth; 
And wherever we meet it the joys of the heart 
Come around like the incense that flowers impart. 
Like new hope to a lost one all sadly forlorn, 
Thou bringest thy blossom when summer is gone; 
