Poems (E. L. F.)/Silent grief
"'TIS THE SILENT GRIEF THAT CUTS THE HEART-STRINGS."
The sudden burst of soul-subduing tearsMay soothe the saddening memory of years;The voice of sympathy may wake the heartTo other joys that gild life's brighter part;The tale of Woe, re-echoed o'er the mind,Leaves, shade by shade, the weight of grief behind;By slow degrees deep anguish wears away,As the dark midnight ere the coming day:—It is the silent agony of griefThat finds not, feels no shadow of relief;Consuming the young blossoms of the heart,And withering hopes that day by day depart.This, this is misery's hope-destroying might,And man the victim of its moral blight.