Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FLOWERS, by JOHN BANISTER TABB


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FLOWERS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: They are not ours
Last Line: It blooms and vanishes again.
Alternate Author Name(s): Father Tabb
Subject(s): Flowers


They are not ours,
The fleeting flowers,
But lights of God
That through the sod
Flash upwards from the world beneath --
That region peopled wide with death --
And tell us, in each subtle hue,
That life renewed is passing through
Our world again to seek the skies,
Its native realm of Paradise.

How brief their day!
They cannot stay;
Our mother earth
Beholds their birth

And spreads her ample bosom deep
Some relic of their stay to keep,
And each in benediction flings
A virtue from its dainty wings;

But lo! she treasure it in vain;
It blooms and vanishes again.





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