Over the wintry threshold <br />Who comes with joy today, <br />So frail, yet so enduring, <br />To triumph o'er dismay? <br /> <br />Ah, quick her tears are springing, <br />And quickly they are dried, <br />For sorrow walks before her, <br />But gladness walks beside. <br /> <br />She comes with gusts of laughter, - <br />The music as it rills; <br />With tenderness and sweetness, <br />The wisdom of the hills. <br /> <br />Her hands are strong to comfort, <br />Her heart is quick to heed; <br />She knows the signs of sadness, <br />She knows the voice of need; <br /> <br />There is no living creature, <br />However poor or small, <br />But she will know its trouble, <br />And hearken to its call. <br /> <br />Oh, well they fare forever, <br />By mighty dreams possessed, <br />Whose hearts have lain a moment <br />On that eternal breast.<br /><br />Bliss William Carman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/over-the-wintry-threshold/
