My tables--meet it is I set it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
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My tables--meet it is I set it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark.

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.

Her very frowns are fairer far
Than smiles of other maidens are.

Her very frowns are fairer far
Than smiles of other maidens are.

There is a snake in thy smile, my dear,
And bitter poison within thy tear.

There is a snake in thy smile, my dear,
And bitter poison within thy tear.

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.

From thy own smile I snatched the snake.

From thy own smile I snatched the snake.

The smile of her I love is like the dawn
Whose touch makes Menmon sing:
O see read more

The smile of her I love is like the dawn
Whose touch makes Menmon sing:
O see where wide the golden sunlight flows--
The barren desert blossoms as the rose!

'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.

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.