reaper

There is a reaper whose name is Death
And with his sickle keen
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath
And the flowers that grow between

"Shall I have naught that is fair?" Saith he
"Have naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of the flowers is sweet to me
I will give them all back again"

He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes
He kissed their drooping leaves
It was for the Lord of Paradise
He bound them in his sheaves

"My Lord has need of these flowerets gay"
The Reaper said and smiled
"Dear tokens of the earth are they
where he was once a child"

"They shall all bloom in fields of light
Transplanted by my care
And saints upon their garments white
These sacred blossoms wear"

And the mother gave, in tears and pain
The flowers she most did love
She knew she would find them all again
In the fields of light above

O not in cruelty, not in wrath
The reaper came that day
Twas an angel visited the green earth
And took the flowers away