Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

By The Prisoner of Love (1904). III. The Resurrection of the Flowers

Frederick William Orde Ward (1843–1922)

THE SEED was sown, perhaps in tears,

And then the miracle appears

Where once was only desert dearth;

And from a hidden realm and root

Leaps into life the tender shoot,

Out of its chambers in the earth;

It gathers grace of light and air,

And laughs to find itself so fair.

Ah, it may have a vision sweet,

Unmarked by us, of Holy Feet

Which are for ever passing by;

And washing these in dainty dew,

With kisses, it may thus renew

Its glories at eternity;

For when they break the scentless sod,

The flowers reflect the Face of God.

Each is a little word or line

Of the great Mystery Divine,

Each has a lesson in its look:

The varying hue, the virgin green,

To humble hearts that spell between

Are Revelation’s open book;

And still the Spirit moves in might,

For those that have the secret sight.