FAIRER THAN VIOLETS ARE, a poem

FAIRER than violets are
     That blossom in the virgin Spring,
More sweet than the song of birds
     When first of love they sing,
A gift of pure and perfect worth,
She came to this our darkened earth
     A smile of God to bring:

She came that we might lay
     Our griefs, submissive, 'neath the sod;
She came that light might beam
     From every path she trod;
She came that memory might confer
Blessing and hope, for, knowing her,
     We know the love of God.

"Fairer Than Violets Are" by Florence Earle Coates. Published in The Unconquered Air (1912).