TRUE happiness laughs on secure Like rippling stream, nor witness seeks; Who of his sweetheart's love is sure Ne'er to the crowd his triumph speaks. O sound well-known of footsteps light, Fond kiss from lips that shame the rose, Sighs that no eloquence can write, Words that are neither verse nor prose. What song, what music can express The charms that in your voice conspire? Ah! Love is such full happiness! It has no time to touch the lyre. But he who is beloved of none, Who has no loving lips to kiss, Must clasp his lifeless harp alone, Which thrills with sorrow such as his. By fame he would his soul prevent Of its drear solitude to think. Thus does his craving heart present A cup whence all the world may drink. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOW MY HEART SINKS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO -, WITH A ROSE by SIDNEY LANIER SPRING WIND IN LONDON by KATHERINE MANSFIELD CONSECRATED GROUND; READ AT THE NEW YORK CITY HALL by EDWIN MARKHAM |