124 THE USE OF FLOWERS. 
The 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, 
All dyed with rainbow-light, 
All fashioned with supremest grace 
Upspringing day and night :— 
Springing in valleys green and low, 
And on the mountains high, 
And in the silent wilderness 
Where no man passes 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 who so careth for the flowers 
Will much more care for him! 
