Songs by the Way, by George Washington Doane (1860)

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"Songs by the Way"
The Poetical Writings of the Right Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D.

Arranged and Edited by His Son, William Croswell Doane

New York: D. Appleton, 1860.

THE ALL SAINTS FLOWERS,

With the Autumn leaves, from the Altar of the Chapel of St. Barnabas, were laid, by
the Priest, after the service on his grand-mother's grave.

SWEET flowers upon my mother's grave,
     Ye glad my eye and heart;
For ye were always her delight,
     And of her life, a part.
No roses ever bloomed like hers
     No lilies were so sweet;
And pansy, jasmine, mignionette,
     Ran riot, at her feet.

She treads a fairer garden mow;
     The Paradise of God:
And, walks, with reverent step, and slow,
     Where Jesu's feet have trod;
Reclines, beside the crystal streams,
     On banks of asphodel;
And, with the throng of saints, delights,
     The Saviour's love, to tell.

Sweet flowers, to which, the Altar, first,
     Its consecration, lent;
By filial hands, in grateful love,
     So beautifully blent;
Ye mind me of my mother's care,
     Which overflowed on me;
And, on my children, shed the grace,
     Of its benignity.

Sweet mother, these Autumnal leaves,
     With hectic beauty, bright,
Tell how, through long and lingering years,
     You faded on our sight;
And, then, they tell, of that bright time,
     When God, His saints shall bring;
And heaven's own beauty all, be thine--
     The Resurrection Spring.

ALL SAINTS DAY, 1858.

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