Littell's Living Age/Volume 140/Issue 1813/"More Sweet than Smiles"

by Charlotte Elliot

More sweet than smiles are tears which rise unbidden
⁠When some fair scene first dawns upon our eyes,
A gift of joy, by nature long kept hidden,
⁠That thrills us with the rapture of surprise.

But dearer yet and deeper is our feeling
⁠When some fair deed by one we love is wrought,
Some unexpected grace of soul revealing,
⁠The lovely blossom of some secret thought.

Oh! in those moments of divine emotion
⁠The darkening veil of doubt is rent apart;
More near us seems the God of our devotion,
⁠The heaven we hope for dwells within our heart.

Spectator.Lady Charlotte Elliott.