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A smile and a tear, the sun and the shower,
How sweet they flash and flow!
Like sunlight clear, through the sparkling tear
Shines thy soul, refreshed by woe.
From Count Tolstoi
Believe It Not
Believe it not, when in excess of sorrow
I murmur that my love for thee is o’er!
When ebbs the tide, think not the sea’s a traitor—
He will return and love the land once more.
I still am pining, full of former passion,
To thee, again, my freedom I’ll restore,
E’en as the waves, with homeward murmur flowing,
Roll back from far to the belovèd shore.