THERE is no grief for me
Nor sadness any more;
For since I first knew thee
Great Joy has kept my door.
–
That angel of the calm
All-comprehending smile,
No menace can dismay,
No falsity beguile.
–
Out of the house of life
Before him fled away
Languor, regret, and strife
And sorrow on that day.
–
Grim fear, unmanly doubt,
And impotent despair
Went at his bidding forth
Among the things that were,-
–
Leaving a place all clean,
Resounding of the sea
And decked with forest green,
To be a home for thee.
– The Angel of Joy by William Bliss Carman