Page:Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse.pdf/191

 of the most High. And when I knew that this man was once the teachable child that I had loved the beautiful infant that I had gazed upon with delight I said in my bitterness, "I have seen an end of all perfection;" and I laid my mouth in the dust.

 

I SAW a rose perfect in beauty; it rested gracefully upon its stalk, and its perfume filled the air. Many stopped to gaze upon it, many bowed to taste its fragrance, and the owner hung over it with delight. I past by again, and behold, it was gone—its stem was leafless—its root had withered; the enclosure which surrounded it was broken down. The spoiler had been there; he saw that many admired it—he knew it was dear to him who planted it, and beside it he had no other plant to love. Yet he snatched it secretly from the hand that cherished it; he wore it on his bosom till it hung its head and faded, and