Classic Poem

Tears on a blooming cheek, — dew on a rose!
Who would not kiss them, and charm them away?
Called to soft eyes by the briefest of woes,
Showers from the blue of a morning in May.
Tears on a blooming cheek, — dew on a rose!
Rainbowed with smiles are the tears of the young;
Light is the sorrow that maidenhood knows;
Sweet is the solace by flattery sung.
Beauty need never seek
Vainly for Love to speak;
Tears on a blooming cheek, — dew on a rose!

Tears on a faded cheek, — rain on a tomb!
Yet who deplores them or wipes them away?
Wrung from a soul that has wandered in gloom,
Homeless and hopeless, for many a day;
Tears on a faded cheek, — rain on a tomb!
Bitter, alas, are the tears of the old,
Staining a face long forsaken of bloom;
Love has forgotten the story he told;
Faith has grown cold and weak;
Life's road is lone and bleak;
Tears on a faded cheek, — rain on a tomb!