From thy own smile I snatched the snake.

From thy own smile I snatched the snake.

Nobly he yokes
A smiling with a sigh, as if the sigh
Was that it was for read more

Nobly he yokes
A smiling with a sigh, as if the sigh
Was that it was for not being such a smile;
The smile mocking the sigh that it would fly
From so divine a temple to commix
With winds that sailors rail at.

Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit
read more

Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit
That could be moved to smile at anything.

Her very frowns are fairer far
Than smiles of other maidens are.

Her very frowns are fairer far
Than smiles of other maidens are.

For smiles from reason flow
To brute deny'd, and are of love the food.

For smiles from reason flow
To brute deny'd, and are of love the food.

I feel in every smile a chain.

I feel in every smile a chain.

But owned that smile, if oft observed and near,
Waned in its mirth, and wither'd to a sneer.

But owned that smile, if oft observed and near,
Waned in its mirth, and wither'd to a sneer.

'Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song;
But the man worth read more

'Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song;
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
When everything does dead wrong;
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
But the smile that is worth the praise of earth
Is the smile that comes through tears.
. . . .
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile--
It is these that are worth the homage of earth,
For we find them but once in a while.

Smiles form the channels of a future tear.

Smiles form the channels of a future tear.