'Poem for the week' -- "The Smile of Innocence":
There is a smile of bitter scorn,
Which curls the lip, which lights the eye;
There is a smile in beauty’s morn,
Just rising o’er the midnight sky.
There is a smile of youthful joy,
When Hope’s bright star’s the transient guest;
There is a smile of placid age,
Like sunset on the billow’s breast.
There is a smile, the maniac’s smile,
Which lights the void which reason leaves,
And, like the sunshine through a cloud,
Throws shadows o’er the song she weaves.
There is a smile of love, of hope,
Which shines a meteor through life’s gloom;
And there’s a smile, Religion’s smile,
Which lights the weary to the tomb.
There is a smile, an angel’s smile,
That sainted souls behind them leave;
There is a smile that shines through toil,
And warms the bosom though in grief;
And there’s a smile on Nature’s face,
When Evening spreads her shades around;
A pensive smile when twinkling stars
Are glimmering through the vast profound.
But there’s a smile, ’tis sweeter still,
’Tis one far dearer to my soul;
It is a smile which angels might
Upon their brightest list enroll.
It is the smile of innocence,
Of sleeping infancy’s light dream;
Like lightning on a summer’s eve,
It sheds a soft and pensive gleam.
It dances round the dimpled cheek,
And tells of happiness within;
It smiles what it can never speak,—
A human heart devoid of sin.
-- Lucretia Maria Davidson
