Sweet Words

By C.L. Beck
© 2007

Although this isn’t normally my day to publish a blog, I’m filling in for someone who is unable to post. I won't be continuing yesterday's saga of the Steller's jay ... yet. But please don’t hate me for that—a writer is supposed to keep the reader in suspense, and if I tell you the ending to the story now, you’ll have nothing to wonder about for the rest of the week.

Instead, I'd like to talk about the impact of words.

The written word has such power that it can make us laugh or cry. It can improve our mood or put us in a blue funk. The best writers have such command over language that in a small space, with just a few words on the page, they tug at our heartstrings.

Below is one of my favorite poems. Thomas Moore wrote it for his wife after she contracted small pox and the disease marred her face.

Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms
By Thomas Moore (1779-1852) from: Irish Melodies

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy gifts fading away.
Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
And the cheeks unprofaned by a tear,
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear,
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.

Do his words stir you? Do they make you want to weep over a love so deep it can only grow stronger with each tomorrow?

If you'd like, write a comment and tell me what you think of Thomas Moore's verse. Or post your own favorite poem ... the one that reaches out to you because it's filled with sweet words that touch your heart.