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The poems of Mary Howitt cover

The poems of Mary Howitt

Chapter 61: THE USE OF FLOWERS.

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About This Book

A varied volume of lyrical and narrative poems, hymns, and moral pieces that blend domestic sentiment, Christian reflection, and close observation of the natural world. Organized into thematic sections—hymns and fireside verses, birds and flowers, sketches of natural history, tales in verse, and miscellaneous pieces—the poems range from gentle meditations on mortality and virtue to ballads and dramatic monologues, often aimed at or suitable for young readers. The collection pairs simple didactic storytelling with vivid rural imagery, and is accompanied by a brief memoir outlining the poet’s upbringing and literary influences.

THE USE OF FLOWERS.

God might have bade the earth bring forth

Enough for great and small,

The oak-tree and the cedar-tree,

Without a flower at all.

We might have had enough, enough

For every want of ours,

For luxury, medicine and toil,

And yet have had no flowers.

The ore within the mountain mine

Requireth none to grow;

Nor doth it need the lotus-flower

To make the river flow.

The clouds might give abundant rain;

The nightly dews might fall,

And the herb that keepeth life in man

Might yet have drunk them all.

Then wherefore, wherefore were they made,

All dyed with rainbow-light,

All fashioned with supremest grace

Upspringing day and night:—

Springing in valleys green and low,

And on the mountains high,

And in the silent wilderness

Where no man passes by?

Our outward life requires them not—

Then wherefore had they birth?—

To minister delight to man,

To beautify the earth;

To comfort man—to whisper hope,

Whene’er his faith is dim,

For who so careth for the flowers

Will much more care for him!