SENTIMENT IN A SERMON.
"Piety flourishes best in a soil watered by tears, and often succeeds where harvests of temporal good have failed."
Hope's soft petals love the beam
That cheer'd them into birth,
Pleasure seeks a glittering stream
Bright oozing from the earth,
Knowledge yields his lofty fruit
To those who climb with toil,
But Heaven's pure plant strikes deepest root
Where tears have dew'd the soil.
Hope with flow'rets strews the blast
When adverse winds arise,
Pleasure's garlands wither fast
Before inclement skies,
Knowledge often mocks pursuit,
Involved in mazy shade,
But Piety yields richer fruit
When earthly harvests fade.