The Germs of the Beautiful

The Germs of the Beautiful

Scatter the germs of the beautiful,

By the wayside let them fall,

That the rose may spring by the cottage,

And the vine by the garden wall;

Cover the rough and the rude of earth

With a veil of leaves and flowers,

And mark with the opening bud and cup

The march of summer hours!

Scatter the germs of the beautiful

In the holy shrine of home;

Let the pure, and the fair, and graceful there

In the loveliest lustre come;

Leave not a trace of deformity

In the temple of the heart,

But gather about its hearth the gems

Of Nature and of Art.

Scatter the germs of the beautiful

In the temples of our God—

The God who starred the uplifted sky,

And flowered the trampled sod:

When he built a temple for himself.

And a home for his priestly race,

He reared each arm in symmetry,

And curved each line in grace.

Scatter the germs of the beautiful

In the depths of the human soul:

They shall bud and blossom, and bear the fruit.

While the endless ages roll:

Plant with the flowers of charity

The portals of the tomb,

And the fair and the pure about thy path

In Paradise shall bloom!

Unattributed

1:11, p. 4

10.12.1861