← The morning flowers display their sweets Hymns and Tunes (1888) · No. 919

The morning flowers display their sweets

1

The morning flowers display their sweets,And gay their silken leaves unfold,As careless of the noontide heats,As fearless of the evening cold.

2

Nipped by the wind's unkindly blast,Parched by the sun's directer ray.The momentary glories waste,The short-lived beauties die away.

3

So blooms the human face divineWhen youth its pride of beauty shows;Fairer than spring the colors shine,And sweeter than the virgin rose.

4

Or worn by slowly rolling years,Or broke by sickness in a day,The fading glory disappears,The short-lived beauties die away.

5

Yet these, new rising from the tomb,With luster brighter far shall shine,Revive with ever-during bloom,Safe from diseases and decline.

6

Let sickness blast, let death devour,If heaven but recompense our pains;Perish the grass, and fade the flower,If firm the word of God remains.