Sheds all its bitterness; delighting still

To tell the many miseries that flit

At times across me! Those I lightly prize

Partake the sunshine of my happier hours,

Although I seek them with far less delight!

The loud laugh dwells not here, the sportive dance,

The carol of unconscious levity,

And yet how oft, how willingly I come!"

"Know'st thou not, Lora," cried the youthful sage,

"That there are things the mind must prize above