Whene'er I See Those Smiling Eyes

by Thomas Moore

Whene'er I see those smiling eyes,
All filled with hope, and joy, and light,
As if no cloud could ever rise
To dim a heaven so purely bright --
I sigh to think how soon that brow
In grief may lose its every ray,
And that light heart so joyous now,
Almost forget it once was gay.

For Time will come with all his blights,
The ruined hope -- the friend unkind --
The love that leaves, where'er it lights,
A chilled or burning heart behind!
While youth, that now like snow appears,
Ere sullied by the darkening rain,
When once 'tis touched by sorrow's tears,
Will never shine so bright again.