Earth's Tribute
by John Banister Tabb
First the grain, and then the blade --
The one destroyed, the other made;
Then stalk and blossom, and again
The gold of newly minted grain.
So Life, by Death the reaper cast
To earth, again shall rise at last;
For 't is the service of the sod
To render God the things of God.
Source:
PoemsCopyright 1894
John Lane, LondonCopeland and Day, Boston