I.
Two rose bushes grew side by side:
The light of heaven bathed them both;
The dews of heaven decked them both;
Yet one grew tall and beauteous to behold,
The other drooped and died,
Its beauty all untold.
The dews that decked the one to bloom,
But decked the other for the tomb;—
What mystery in their growth!
II.
Shadows were they of something real,
Shadows which none may ever see,
But every heart may feel.
The light of heaven bathed them both,
The dews of heaven decked them both,
And both were wrapped in mystery;
Yet one was doomed to sturdy growth,—
The other doomed to die!
And who may ask the reason why?
Having been something, can they be
Nothing to all eternity?