EMBOSOMED deep it lies, the fount of tears Untapped for sterile years, Till floating down from God One hovers o'er the arid human sod, Equipped methinks with a divining rod That pointing truly, lo! The spring is won, and soon refreshing waters flow. They flow, the ready tears, at his behest From the impassioned breast, Flow lightly, sadly oft, Now in full volume, now in trickling soft, Unstemmed though angels frowned and demons scoffed, -- To-day, in wild despair, To-morrow, in some darling hope none else may share. Upwelling, oft unwillingly they rise And brim the tell-tale eyes; Glistening with rainbow gleam If spirit radiance flash a happy beam; Or dim as bubbles on a turgid stream If gloom holds sunless sway, In strife perchance lest deep heart secrets they betray. Vain strife, ye traitor drops! too hard the task: What Stoic wears a mask That never falls? The trace Of stifled passion lingers in the face Tho' eyes be tearless, and unruffled grace Hold empire o'er the form: Chance looks, unguarded tones, bespeak the smothered storm. They flow and ebb, unswayed by tidal laws, And oft from scarce a cause; No feeling, thought or mood But starts or stanches them -- a gesture rude, A tender glance, a dream of vanished good, And the weak wistful heart Yields a fresh tribute to her lord's imperious art. Ye ask his name? 'Tis all-subduing Love Divining from above And sinking down -- whose spell Fails not, tho' hard the soil, and deep the well. True tears! I scorn you never, for ye tell Of pure reviving strife, And fruitfulness, and all that drowns dark death in life. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BIT OF SKY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON INEVITABLY (2) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON LOVE'S TENDRILS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON ITALIAN PICTURES: COSTA MAGIC by MINA LOY CHILD OF MY HEART by EDWIN MARKHAM APPELLATE JURISDICTION by MARIANNE MOORE |