Flowers grow in sweet societies

Flowers grow in sweet societies

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

Flowers grow in sweet societies,
O'er meadow, hill, and dale;
Mingle their colours to our eyes,
Their perfumes in the gale.

296
Sprung from the dust, they rise above
The meanness of their birth;
They look to heaven, and yet they love
To beautify the earth.

Not birds more duly build and sing,
Nor stars in turn appear,
Than these their splendid legions bring,
To crown and close the year.

They toil not, neither do they spin,
And yet their Maker's will,
Exempt from sorrow, as from sin,
They live but to fulfil.

Ah! thus might He that made us see
Our Sabbath Schools increase;
And while we dwell in unity,
In Him may we have peace;--

Like flowers from Him receive, dispense
The fragrance of His grace;
And when, like flowers, transplanted hence,
May fairer fill our place.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

Author: James Montgomery

James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Flowers grow in sweet societies
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English

Instances

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Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #277

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