The Flowers: There Hides Still More
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Flowers: There Hides Still More
Scripture Reference:
- Luke 12 (further images / scripture text)
Description: Two women view the flowers in a garden. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649–1712) was responsible for drawing this emblem and composed the poem that accompanies it. The etching was executed by Jan Luiken or his son Casper Luiken (1672–1708), who had used this image in an earlier work, which may be found in the Digital Image Archive under the call number 1699Weig. The attendant scripture text is Luke 12:27.
Motto:
He who smells and sees the little flower,
Should not forget the Creator.
Poem:
The Flowers join in harmony,
In Songs of praise without words,
When they meet us on our way;
As Messengers, from the Blessed Court,
Of the paradise full of praise and reverence,
Trodden on by pious feet.
Should, through a fluke of nature,
Another such beauty reveal itself,
We let thee then consider,
What the Holy earth promises,
As adornment around the blessed head,
Whereto these things beckon us!
But the Earthly Flower, however beautiful,
Withers, decays, and perishes;
So also the bloom of earthly life,
Colored with much comfort,
From wealth and desires of this Time.
Who sees, before long, where it remained?
He who then from the little Flower, beautiful in the eye,
Sucked a twofold nourishment,
First; that it points him upward,
And again, the unworthiness
Of all beauty of this Time,
That would be praiseworthy for the wise Soul.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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Rights Status: No Copyright - United States
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