'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...A VOICE FROM THE SWEAT-SHOPS (A HYMN WITH RESPONSES) by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THESEUS by THOMAS STURGE MOORE UNDERNEATH THE BOUGH by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS FULL-CIRCLE by MAXWELL ANDERSON THE RED COUNTRY by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |