Classic Poem

BY JAMES H. PERKINS .

It is not learning's borrowed gleam,
It is not beauty's holier light,
It is not wealth, that makes thee seem
So lovely in our sight.

The worth may leave Potosi's ore,
Golconda's diamond lose its sheen,
But thine is the exhaustless store
Of innocence serene.

The beauty of the eye must fade,
The beauty of the cheek decay,
But from thy spirit, guileless maid,
No charin shall pass away.

The learning of the gifted mind,
Its gathered wisdom, may depart,
But in thy ignorance, I find
The wisdom of the heart.

And that, nor earthly change nor ill,
Nor time nor malady can blight;
And it is that, that makes thee still
So lovely in our sight.