Poems (Griffin)/The Tear-Drop on the Heart

THE TEAR-DROP ON THE HEART.
SHE moves amid the dancers,
The gayest of the throng,
And her smiles seem breathing answers
To a soul of love and song.
Her laugh, like music's numbers,
Seem from joyous depths to start;
But the Eye that never slumbers,
Sees a tear-drop on the heart.

She sings the gayest ballads,
And plays the happiest airs,
And her light and sportive sallies
Drive from every heart its cares.
No sigh or murmur e'er was known
Her smiling lips to part,
Nor ever through her blue eyes shone
The tear-drop on the heart.

But ever with an airy song,
Or light and playful word,
She mingles in the joyous throng,
Gay as a summer's bird.
The light of joy and beaming love
Seem of her being part;
Still, angel eyes see, from above,
The tear-drop on the heart.

For, deep within the hidden cell,
Where fancy's fingers weave,
From memory's sweets, the mystic spell
That magic dreamings give,
Is an idol shrine forever,
Which no power can bid depart;
And close beside it, ever
Lies the tear-drop on the heart.