And shineth through life's prison walls.

Our converse is of earthly things:

Our little world of joys is pure,

And silvery laughter peals and rings,

Like flute-sounds in an overture,

Swelling with sudden rise aloft,

Or toning to a cadence soft.

The firelight dances on the walls,

In wavering streams of ruby light;

A human ray that gladly falls,