He cometh forth like a _flower_, and is cut down.--Job, xiv. 1, 2. As for man, his days are as grass: as a _flower_ of the field, so he flourisheth.--Psalm ciii. 15. Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith.--Luke, xii. 27, 28. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich in that he is made low: because as the _flower_ of the grass, he shall pass away.--James, i. 9, 10. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the _flower_ of grass. The grass withereth, and the _flower_ thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.--I. Peter, i. 24, 25. When with a serious musing I behold The grateful and obsequious marigold; How duly every morning she displays Her open breast. When Titan spreads his rays, How she observes him in his daily walk. Still bending towards him her small slender stalk. For when he down declines, she droops and mourns, Bedew’d as ’twere, with tears till he returns; And how she veils her _flowers_ when he is gone, As if she scorned to be looked on By an inferior eye, or did contemn To wait upon a meaner light than him. When thus I meditate, methinks the _flowers_ Have spirits far more generous than ours; And give us fair examples to despise The servile fawning and idolatries Wherewith we court these earthly things below, Which merit not the service we bestow. _George Wither._ To me the meanest _flower_ that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. _Wordsworth._ Foster the good, and thou shalt tend the _flower_ Already sown on earth;-- Foster the beautiful, and every hour, Thou call’st new _flowers_ to birth. _Schiller._ The enlivening sap, Obedient to Thy laws, through fitted tubes Ascends fermenting, and, at length, matured, Breaks forth in gems, and germinates in leaves. By Thee each family of _flowers_ is clothed In one unvarying dress, and breathes the same Transmitted essences; and though the loom No virgin fingers ply to swell her pride, The lily shines, more gorgeously arrayed Than monarchs, where the East, with hand profuse, Showers on their pomp barbaric, pearl and gold. _Smart._