Giving
See the rivers flowing
Downward 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 they heart’s best treasures;
From fair nature learn;
Give they 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.
Adelaide Procter