106
Planted by the River.
PLANTED BY THE RIVER.
HUMAN eyes never saw it,
That seed as it fell,
Till the tears of a mourner
Had watered it well.
No plume lifted upward
Its fair presence told;
No blossom-touch parted
The sombre-hued mould.
Out of sight, not forgotten
As seasons went by,
It waited its quick'ning,
And call from the sky,--
As safe as God's treasure,
As sure as His word,
Till the touch of His finger
The soul softly stirred.
And then, in sweet silence,
It blossomed its way
Out of grasses entangled
To sunlighted day.
What bloom-life, you ask me,
Was hidden so long,
Yet kept unforgotten,
Its purposes strong?
