Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton (1809–1885)

A SPLENDOR amid glooms, a sunny thread

Woven into a tapestry of cloud,

A merry child a-playing with the shroud

That lies upon a breathless mother’s bed,

A garland on the front of one new-wed,

Trembling and weeping while her troth is vowed,

A school-boy’s laugh that rises light and loud

In licensed freedom from ungentle dread;—

These are ensamples of the Happiness

For which our nature fits us. More and less

Are parts of all things to the mortal given,

Of Love, Joy, Truth, and Beauty. Perfect light

Would dazzle, not illuminate, our sight;

From Earth it is enough to glimpse at Heaven.