VERSE: GIVE

By Adelaide Anne Procter

See the rivers flowing

Downwards to the sea,

Pouring all their treasures

Bountiful and free —

Yet to help their giving

Hidden springs arise;

Or, if need be, showers

Feed them from the skies!

Watch the princely flowers

Their rich fragrance spread,

Load the air with perfumes,

From their beauty shed —

Yet their lavish spending

Leaves them not in dearth,

With fresh life replenished

By their mother earth!

Give thy heart's best treasures —

From fair Nature learn;

Give thy love — and ask not,

Wait not a return!

And the more thou spendest

From thy little store,

With a double bounty,

God will give thee more.