Page:Poems Cook.djvu/408

But at last they stood up in their strength, one by one,
And laugh'd out in the face of the beautiful sun,
With a perfume and colour they could not have done
              Were it not for the shower.

"It was sad while it lasted," the Mignonette said,
"To be splash'd by the dust and be stretch'd in the shade;"
Why, yes," said the Stock, "but how soon we should fade,
              And grow sickly and sour,

If we grumbled and whined 'neath the gold and the blue,
As we all have done lately,-between me and you,
I think that the very best thing we could do
              Was to ask for the shower."

Now "sermons in stones" we are told may be learn'd,
And methinks a quick eye may have aptly discern'd
That a rich draught of wisdom may often be urn'd
              In the cup of a flower.

Come read me the riddle, and read it aright,
All ye that have too much good luck in your sight,—
All ye that are faint in Prosperity's light,
              Just for want of a shower.

Have the wit of the blossoms, and ask for no more
At the hands of Dame Fortune, in station or store,
But think it a blessing if sorrow should pour,
              Or disquietude lower.

For the cloud and the rain-drop are exquisite things,
Though they dim for a season our butterfly wings,
And the sweetest and purest unceasingly springs
              After a shower.

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