“His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.”
No. 35, "Light Shining out of Darkness".
Olney Hymns (1779)
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William Cowper 174
(1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist 1731–1800Related quotes
On the 60's flower children
Edie : Girl On Fire (2006)
Context: It's sort of like a mockery in a way of reality because they think everything is smiles and sweetness and flowers when there is something bitter to taste. And to pretend there isn't is foolish. I mean the ones that wonder around and know, at the same time, and yet wear flowers, and they deserve to wear flowers. And they've earned their smile... you can tell by people's eyes.
Intellect
1840s, Essays: First Series (1841)
“With equal sweetness the commissioned hours
Shed light and dew upon both weeds and flowers.”
Life Without and Life Within (1859), The Thankful and the Thankless
Context: With equal sweetness the commissioned hours
Shed light and dew upon both weeds and flowers.
The weeds unthankful raise their vile heads high,
Flaunting back insult to the gracious sky;
While the dear flowers, wht fond humility,
Uplift the eyelids of a starry eye
In speechless homage, and, from grateful hearts,
Perfume that homage all around imparts.
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 470.
“Gather the flowers, but spare the buds.”
The Picture of Little T.C. in a Prospect of Flowers.
Bk. II, No. 13, I Have Loved Flowers That Fade http://www.poetry-online.org/bridges_i_have_loved_flowers_that_fade.htm, st. 1 (1879).
Shorter Poems (1879-1893)