WHEN THE SOFT TEAR STEALS SILENTLY. Susanna Blamire Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG UK
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive
Taylor Institution Library St Giles' Oxford OX1 3NA UK info@eighteenthcenturypoetry.org https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/
Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Blamire, Susanna, 1747-1794. The Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire “The muse of Cumberland.” Now for the first time collected by Henry Lonsdale, M.D. with a preface, memoir, and notes by Patrick Maxwell, ... Edinburgh John Menzies, 61 Princes Street; R. Tyas, London; D. Robertson, Glasgow; and C. Thurnam, Carlisle. MDCCCXLII. 1842 pp. 186-187.

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WHEN THE SOFT TEAR STEALS SILENTLY . WHEN the soft tear steals silently down from the eye , Take no note of its course , nor detect the slow sigh ; From some spring of shy sorrow its origin flows , Some tender remembrance that weeps as it goes . Ah ! it is not to say what will bring to the mind The sweet joys departed , the friends left behind ; A tune , or a song , or the time of the year , Strikes the key of reflection , and moans in the ear . Thro' the gay scenes of youth the remembrancer strays , Till mem'ry steps back on old pleasures to gaze ; Fleeting shadows they seem that glide calmly away , The remains of past hours , and the ghosts of a day . When we set out in life every thing has its charms , Enkindles the fancy , and all the heart warms ; 'Tis this makes us look on the joys that are past With an eye that turns coolly to glance on the last . Let the tear then flow on , nor mark the full eye , 'Tis the soul's secret off'ring no mortal should spy ; Few hearts are prepar'd for a rite so divine , When the feelings alone sacrifice at the shrine .