Sweetest of the flowers a blooming In the fragrant vernal days, Is the Lily-of-the-Valley With its soft retiring ways. Well, you chose this humble blossom, As the Nurse's emblem flower Who grows more like her idea Every day and every hour Like the Lily-of-the-Valley In her honesty and worth  - Oh! She blooms in truth and virtue In the humble works of earth. Though she stands erect in honor When the heart of mankind bleeds, Still she hides her own deserving In the beauty of her deeds. In the silence and the darkness,  When no eye may see or know,  There her footsteps shod with mercy  and fleet kindness, come and go. Not amid the sound of plaudits, Not before the garish day;  Does she shed her soul's sweet perfume,  Does she take her gentle way.  But alike her ideal flower,  With its honey-laden breath;  Still her heart blooms forth its beauty In the valley shades of death.