Poems (Hoffman)/Consider the Lilies

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4566989Poems — Consider the LiliesMartha Lavinia Hoffman
"CONSIDER THE LILIES"

"Consider the lilies," they toil not nor spin
Nor lose their fresh sweetness in striving to win
The raiment they wear;
Yet Solomon clad in his glory complete
With the lilies so perfect, so pure and so sweet,
That sprang up to blossom and fade at his feet,
Could never compare.

"Consider the lilies," in each bud concealed
Lies a wonderful lesson in beauty revealed
Of trust and content;
Behold how they bloom in the fresh sunny air
Without thought of complaint, without murmur of care,
For the Lord has provided the raiment they wear
"T1ll their short lives are spent.

"Consider the lilies," how soon their sweet breath
Is scattered and lost and they molder in death
In the soil where they grew;
Yet from the green turf where their fair forms are laid
From the dew-sprinkled sod where they wither and fade
They shall spring in new verdure and freshness arrayed
To blossom anew.

"Consider the lilies," shall He who bestows
Such care on a flower that a little while grows
Then yields to its fate,
Neglect for His children their wants to provide
With whom He has promised to ever abide.
And their forms from the turf where they fade side by side
Anew to create?

"Consider the lilies," behold how they grow!
Arrayed in such glory as none could bestow
But an infinite God;
And back to the garden of Gethsemane
And the lily-wreathed waters of deep Galilee
They carry us surely as streams to the sea
To the paths that He trod.