Page:Poems Douglas.djvu/88

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82
the widow of nain.
But, whilst demon thoughts assailed her,
Hardening all within; the while
Gentle accents kindly hailed her,
And she met an angel smile.

One whose heart possessed that feeling
Wanting which, an angel's tongue,
All the light of heaven revealing,
Is but as a cymbal rung:

Smiled—and oh the erring felt it,
Felt it kindly, bade her stay:
All the adamant was melted,
She was not quite cast away.

"Saved," she wept, "from desolation,
Guilt and ruin—all that's vile:
'Tis that smile is my salvation,
Oh! that Christians all would smile!"


The Widow of Nain.
She bent in anguish o'er the dead, with tears embalmed his brow,
Grief had been hers in other days, yet oh! not such as now:
Tears had been hers, for she had seen her fondest hopes decay,
Beheld the husband of her youth borne to the tomb away.