'O orphan smile! born since our mourner died - We ever long'd for thee, but saw thee not, Till now, in posthumous beauty; nought beside Could have so moved us, while our tears were hot And thrilling. Art thou not to each sad friend The symbol of a long-desired release? A lovely prelude of immortal peace, Now that the storm of life has reached its end?' Fresh from kind Hayley's page these words I wrote, As though I lean'd o'er Cowper, and beheld, As present fact, what I from records quote; By rapture of pure sympathy impell'd To join those first eye-witnesses, and note A death-smile, and the sorrow that it quelled. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 91. LOST ON BOTH SIDES by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI GRACE AND STRENGTH by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH CAPITAL SQUARE by PATRICK JOHN MCALISTER ANDERSON DUSK ON ENGLISH BAY by EARL (EARLE) BIRNEY THE GATES OF PARADISE; FOR THE SEXES by WILLIAM BLAKE THE CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE by BERTON BRALEY IN MEMORY OF JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT |