Page:Ethel Churchill Fragments I.pdf/32



There is in life no blessing like affection: It soothes, it hallows, elevates, subdues, And bringeth down to earth its native heaven. It sits besides the cradle patient hours, Whose sole contentment is to watch and love; It bendeth o'er the death-bed, and conceals Its own despair with words of faith and hope. Life has nought else that may supply its place: Void is ambition, cold is vanity, And wealth an empty glitter, without love.