'Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song;
But the man worth read more

'Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song;
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
When everything does dead wrong;
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
But the smile that is worth the praise of earth
Is the smile that comes through tears.
. . . .
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile--
It is these that are worth the homage of earth,
For we find them but once in a while.

Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss?
Three angels gave me at once a kiss.

Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss?
Three angels gave me at once a kiss.

For smiles from reason flow
To brute deny'd, and are of love the food.

For smiles from reason flow
To brute deny'd, and are of love the food.

You have seen
Sunshine and rain at once--her smiles and tears
Were like, a better way: those read more

You have seen
Sunshine and rain at once--her smiles and tears
Were like, a better way: those happy smilets
That played on her ripe lip seemed not to know
What guests were in her eyes, which parted thence
As pearls from diamonds dropped.

And she hath smiles to earth unknown--
Smiles that with motion of their own
Do spread, and read more

And she hath smiles to earth unknown--
Smiles that with motion of their own
Do spread, and sink, and rise.

Eternal smiles his emptiness betray,
As shallow streams run dimpling all the way.

Eternal smiles his emptiness betray,
As shallow streams run dimpling all the way.

A smile that glow'd
Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue.

A smile that glow'd
Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue.

Reproof on her lip, but a smile in her eye.

Reproof on her lip, but a smile in her eye.

But owned that smile, if oft observed and near,
Waned in its mirth, and wither'd to a sneer.

But owned that smile, if oft observed and near,
Waned in its mirth, and wither'd to a sneer.