Poem: “Dulciora” by Henry Van Dyke

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American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke
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Dulciora

A tear that trembles for a little whileUpon the trembling eyelid, till the worldWavers within its circle like a dream,Holds more of meaning in its narrow orbThan all the distant landscape that it blurs.

A smile that hovers round a mouth beloved,Like the faint pulsing of the Northern Light,And grows in silence to an amber dawnBorn in the sweetest depths of trustful eyes,Is dearer to the soul than sun or star.

A joy that falls into the hollow heartFrom some far-lifted height of love unseen,Unknown, makes a more perfect melodyThan hidden brooks that murmur in the dusk,Or fall athwart the cliff with wavering gleam.

Ah, not for their own sake are earth and skyAnd the fair ministries of Nature dear,But as they set themselves unto the tuneThat fills our life; as light mysteriousFlows from within and glorifies the world.

For so a common wayside blossom, touchedWith tender thought, assumes a grace more sweetThan crowns the royal lily of the South;And so a well-remembered perfume seemsThe breath of one who breathes in Paradise.

1872.

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Three Alpine Sonnets > > >

American Literature – Children Books – American Poetry – Henry Van Dyke – Poems by Henry Van Dyke

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Dulciora

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