When 'Midst the Gay I Meet
- When 'midst the gay I meet
- That gentle smile of thine,
- Though still on me it turns most sweet,
- I scarce can call it mine:
- But when to me alone
- Your secret tears you show,
- Oh, then I feel those tears my own,
- And claim them while they flow.
- Then still with bright looks bless
- The gay, the cold, the free;
- Give smiles to those who love you less,
- But keep your tears for me.
-
- The snow on Jura's steep 1
- Can smile in many a beam,
- Yet still in chains of coldness sleep,
- How bright soe'er it seem.
- But, when some deep-felt ray,
- Whose touch is fire, appears,
- Oh, then the smile is warm'd away,
- And, melting, turns to tears.
- Then still with bright looks bless
- The gay, the cold, the free;
- Give smiles to those who love you less,
- But keep your tears for me.
First published in Poetical Works, 1840-41, by Longman, London.
- Jura is an island of the Hebrides, with three mountain peeks and a view to the Scottish west coast.
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