Tell me something, which has roots as nobody sees, Is taller than trees, Up, up it goes, And yet never grows?

Thousand coloured folds stretch towards the sky,
Atop a tender strand,
Rising from the land,
'Til killed by maiden's hand,
Perhaps a token of love, perhaps to say goodbye.

What is this?

It is as large as a mountain, as small as a pea, endlessly swimming in a waterless ocean.

What is it?

Tell me which grows when it eats, but dies when it drinks..

Which one is thick but thin as a puff
Which is short but tall as a bluff
What brings peace and calms the see
What dazzles the eyes of you and me?