  Sweet roses! and they bloomed as pure As shining cloud and shining dew, And when I asked why such sweet buds From out the cold, damp hillsides grew; The roses nodded in the wind, And every velvet lip replied, “We came to tell the love of God, And tell the sweet, old story wide. And that we might the longer stay To light the path and cheer the way, Where’er the little children stray, Our stems are wisely wrapped in thorn, That weary night and golden morn, From baby lips to wake a smile ’Mid baby thoughts all pure from guile.” endpaper divider |
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