Death found strange beauty on that cherub brow,
And dash’d it out. There was a tint of rose
On cheek and lip;–he touch’d the veins with ice,
And the rose faded.–Forth from those blue eyes
There spoke a wishful tenderness,–a doubt
Whether to grieve or sleep, which Innocence
Alone can wear. With ruthless haste he bound
The silken fringes of the curtaining lids
For ever. There had been a murmuring sound
With which the babe would claim its mother’s ear,
Charming her even to tears. The spoiler set
His seal of silence. But there beam’d a smile
So fix’d and holy from that marble brow,–
Death gazed and left it there;–he dared not steal
The signet-ring of Heaven.
(Lydia Howard Huntley Sigourney)
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Based on Topics: Death & Dying Poems, Heaven Poems, Sleep Poems, Smiling Poems, Silence PoemsBased on Keywords: curtaining, signet-ring