Poems (Davidson)/The Smile of Innocence

by Lucretia Maria Davidson

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.