THOSE sweet summer flowers,
Blossoming with all their colors gay,
Sparkling within their leafy bowers,
Oh, bid them pass not away !
I would the meek, lovely train,
So beautiful in bloom,
Might ever their charms retain
And yield their rich perfume.
Yes, I would the lovely flowers
Might ever, ever live,
And to our hearts instruction bring,
And soothing influence give.
'Dearly do I love the summer flowers
And all their leafy bowers,
Whispering ever of the world above
Where spirits pure are joined in love.
But sad the thought, each gift is only lent,
For a brief, transient day ;
As, by a gentle zephyr's breath
They are quickly borne away.
Each lovely thing on earth,
Is doomed to fade from its birth,
The early dew, the sun's parting ray,
Are fading and passing away.
And so 'tis with each of us !
All that live must soon decay,
Each lovely thing to which we cling,
Must ere long give away.
Then let us seek a home on high,
Where flowers never, never die ;
Lay up our Treasures in the sky,
The Spirit's blest abode ;
