FABLES OF FLORA. 
125 
An Aster raised its drooping eye, 
Yet filled with calm and heavenly light, 
And, with a cheerful, sweet reply, 
Dispersed his spirit’s gathering night 
‘ We fade, but do not wholly die ; 
For from our bloom some seed will fall 
That softer airs and balmier sky 
To richer beauty will recall. 
‘ And fear not, that bright Truth, o’erthrown, 
Shall perish wholly from the earth — 
Each little seed thy soul hath sown, 
Yet waits a new and nobler birth. 
O, keep within that soul the faith, 
That whatsoe’er of good is cast 
Within the reach of Heaven’s pure breath, 
Will find its perfect growth at last. 
«Long hidden, slumbering it may lie, 
Forgotten in the wintry night; 
But God’s own wisdom cannot die — 
It seeks eternally the light. 
So bide the long, dark, gloomy storm, 
And bide the dreary, barren waste; 
These o’er, thy soul, ’neath skies more warm, 
The fruits of all thy truths shall taste 1 ’ 
