Page:Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, 1846).djvu/76

66 Picture and tale alternately

Their simple hearts delight,

And interest deep, and tempered glee,

Illume their aspects bright;

The parents, from their fireside place,

Behold that pleasant scene,

And joy is on the mother's face,

Pride, in the father's mien.

As Gilbert sees his blooming wife,

Beholds his children fair,

No thought has he of transient strife,

Or past, though piercing fear.

The voice of happy infancy

Lisps sweetly in his ear,

His wife, with pleased and peaceful eye.

Sits, kindly smiling, near.

The fire glows on her silken dress,

And shows its ample grace,

And warmly tints each hazel tress,

Curled soft around her face.

The beauty that in youth he wooed,

Is beauty still, unfaded,

The brow of ever placid mood

No churlish grief has shaded.

Prosperity, in Gilbert's home,

Abides, the guest of years;

There Want or Discord never come,

And seldom Toil or Tears.