Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume III. Sorrow and Consolation. 1904. | | | | VI. Consolation | | Tears | | Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) |
| | | THANK God, bless God, all ye who suffer not | |
| More grief than ye can weep for. That is well— | |
| That is light grieving! lighter, none befell, | |
| Since Adam forfeited the primal lot. | |
| Tears! what are tears? The babe weeps in its cot, | 5 |
| The mother singing; at her marriage bell | |
| The bride weeps; and before the oracle | |
| Of high-faned hills, the poet has forgot | |
| Such moisture on his cheeks. Thank God for grace, | |
| Ye who weep only! If, as some have done, | 10 |
| Ye grope tear-blinded in a desert place, | |
| And touch but tombs,—look up! Those tears will run | |
| Soon in long rivers down the lifted face, | |
| And leave the vision clear for stars and sun. | | | | |
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