F. C. Kolbe - Humility and Fruit lyrics

Only upon its tendrils blooms the vine, ---- Those tendrils by whose aid it soars aloft And lifts its bannered leaf*ge, broad and soft, Above the strong elm. Its gold shoots twine High up in the air in sweet mock-martial line As if its strength were all its own. Yet doff'd Of these its tendrils, prone upon the croft In barren weakness must it soon recline. Only the tendril blooms; only the flower Gives fruit; and only for the fruit it brings Does the vine live. The Christian soul likewise Only in humble clinging finds its power, And like the Master's Vine, piercing the skies, Bears fruit in that alone whereby it clings.