The Smile

THERE is a smile of love,

And there is a smile of deceit,

And there is a smile of smiles

In which these two smiles meet.

And there is a frown of hate,

And there is a frown of disdain,

And there is a frown of frowns

Which you strive to forget in vain,

For it sticks in the heart’s deep core

And it sticks in the deep backbone—

And no smile that ever was smil’d,

But only one smile alone,

That betwixt the cradle and grave

It only once smil’d can be;

And, when it once is smil’d,

There’s an end to all misery.