I Love Thy Smiles — But Oh! Thy Tears ! [poem by Philip Durham Lorimer]

[Editor: This poem by Philip Durham Lorimer was published in Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, 1901.]

I Love Thy Smiles — But Oh! Thy Tears !

I love thy smiles — but oh ! thy tears,
They swell devotion’s sigh,
And bind thee closer to my heart
With an eternal tie.
They fall — but oh ! they linger on
My breast with sweet embrace,
Till one by one they disappear,
And leave their resting-place.
Like dew-drops in the morn they fall,
And leave the bud to shed
A smile of blushing loveliness
O’er Beauty’s leaves outspread.

I love thy smiles — but oh ! thine eyes
When sorrow’s tear-drops flow,
They glisten in the darken’d hour
Like snow-drops in the snow ;
Though chilled by winter’s storm, they peep,
And ever fondly bring
A ray of Summer’s joy untinged,
A brightness of the Spring.
When clouds our path have overcast,
And life is full of sighs,
Oh ! like the snow-drop give to me
The beauty of thine eyes.

Sydney, August 6, 1871.

Source:
E. A. Petherick (editor). Songs and Verses by Philip Durham Lorimer: An Australian Bush Poet, William Clowes and Sons, London, 1901, pages 92-93