FLAX 
Utility. 
God might have made the earth bring forth 
Enough for great and small— 
The oak tree and the cedar tree— 
Without a flower at all. 
We might have had enough, enough 
For every want of ours, 
For luxury, medicine, and toil, 
And yet have had no flowers. 
The ore within the mountain mine 
Requireth none to grow, 
Nor does it need the lotus flower 
To make the river flow. 
And clouds might give abundant rain, 
The nightly dews might fall, 
And the herb that keepeth life in man 
Might yet have drunk them all. 
Then wherefore, wherefore were they made, 
And dyed with rainbow light, 
All fashioned with supremest grace, 
Up-springing day and night— 
Springing in valleys green and low, 
And on the mountain high, 
And in the silent wilderness, 
Where no man passeth by ? 
Our outward life requires them not— 
Then wherefore had they birth? 
To minister delight to man, 
To beautify the earth— 
To comfort man, to whisper hope 
Whene’er his faith is dim, 
For whoso careth for the flowers , 
Will much more care for Him ! ! 
Mary Howitt. 
11 
