No Sentiment Unkind

Purest Blessing

Shun the thorn and grow the flower,
Speak no sentiment unkind;

Let thy life like balmy showers,

Give sweet fragrance to the mind.

For with days so swiftly passing,

Friends may go and come no more;

Let them hear thy purest blessing,

Giving but refills thy store.

Shaker song from "Hymns and Anthems in the Hour of Worship"

Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1872

Photo location: Ban Hintoom, Uthaitani province (Banana leaf)