A Smile and a Tear
You own I'm complacent, but tell me I'm cold,
Then must I my youth's early sorrows unfold,
Must waken remembrance to joys that are fled,
Now hope is extinguish'd, and passion is dead.
I have lost in life's morn all that life could endear,
And if I am chearful, I smile through a tear.
My parents, though humble, were happy and good,
We could boast of our honour, if not of our blood:
My lover, ah! how the sad tale shall I tell,
For his country he fought, for his country he fell:
He was brave, he was true, to my soul he was dear,
His fame claims a smile, but it shines through a tear.
In vain would I picture my agoniz'd heart,
My parents' soft soothings no balm could impart:
They sunk o'er the child whom they could not relieve,
And the cold hand of Death left me only to grieve:
Thus fated to suffer, that moment draws near,
When you'll neither distinguish a smile nor a tear.
Then must I my youth's early sorrows unfold,
Must waken remembrance to joys that are fled,
Now hope is extinguish'd, and passion is dead.
I have lost in life's morn all that life could endear,
And if I am chearful, I smile through a tear.
My parents, though humble, were happy and good,
We could boast of our honour, if not of our blood:
My lover, ah! how the sad tale shall I tell,
For his country he fought, for his country he fell:
He was brave, he was true, to my soul he was dear,
His fame claims a smile, but it shines through a tear.
In vain would I picture my agoniz'd heart,
My parents' soft soothings no balm could impart:
They sunk o'er the child whom they could not relieve,
And the cold hand of Death left me only to grieve:
Thus fated to suffer, that moment draws near,
When you'll neither distinguish a smile nor a tear.
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