DULCIORA

A tear that trembles for a little while

Upon the trembling eyelid, till the world

Wavers within its circle like a dream,

Holds more of meaning in its narrow orb

Than all the distant landscape that it blurs.

A smile that hovers round a mouth beloved,

Like the faint pulsing of the Northern Light,

And grows in silence to an amber dawn

Born in the sweetest depths of trustful eyes,

Is dearer to the soul than sun or star.

A joy that falls into the hollow heart

From some far-lifted height of love unseen,

Unknown, makes a more perfect melody

Than hidden brooks that murmur in the dusk,

Or fall athwart the cliff with wavering gleam.

Ah, not for their own sake are earth and sky

And the fair ministries of Nature dear,

But as they set themselves unto the tune

That fills our life; as light mysterious

Flows from within and glorifies the world.

For so a common wayside blossom, touched

With tender thought, assumes a grace more sweet

Than crowns the royal lily of the South;

And so a well-remembered perfume seems

The breath of one who breathes in Paradise.