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Poems (Commelin)/Faces

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4574100Poems — FacesAnna Olcott Commelin
FACES.
In the eye that lights to meet us, and the face that smiles to greet us,
Are the shadow of the future and the impress of the past;
And the cheek that, in its dawning, flushed as rosy as the morning,
Shows the outline of its beauty as it fades away at last.

And the little children's faces,—'mid their dimples are the traces
Of the maiden's glowing beauty and of manhood's brow of care
And the prophecy of gladness, and the shadow of the sadness,
To the thoughtful eye that gazeth, are they lurking ever there.

But the faces that are nearest, and the faces that are dearest,
Are the true, the tender faces that our trust and loving win:
Then, when comes to them the shading, when the roses shall be fading,
Like the vase, with light illumined, shall we see the soul within.