Poems (Sigourney, 1827)/Sentiment in a Sermon

by Lydia Sigourney

SENTIMENT IN A SERMON.

"Piety flourishes best in a soil watered by tears, and often succeeds where harvests of temporal good have failed."

Hope's soft petals love the beam
    That cheer'd them into birth,
Pleasure seeks a glittering stream
    Bright oozing from the earth,

Knowledge yields his lofty fruit
    To those who climb with toil,
But Heaven's pure plant strikes deepest root
    Where tears have dew'd the soil.

Hope with flow'rets strews the blast
    When adverse winds arise,
Pleasure's garlands wither fast
    Before inclement skies,
Knowledge often mocks pursuit,
    Involved in mazy shade,
But Piety yields richer fruit
    When earthly harvests fade.

---