XVIII.

Blossom for ever, blossoming Rod! Thou did'st not blossom once to die: That Life which, issuing forth from God, Thy life enkindled, runs not dry.

Without a root in sin-stained earth, 'Twas thine to bud Salvation's flower. No single soul the Church brings forth But blooms from thee and is thy dower.

Rejoice, O Eve! thy promise waned; Transgression nipt thy flower with frost But, lo! a mother man hath gained Holier than she in Eden lost.