Oft as by chance, a little while apart br The pall of empty, loveless hours withdrawn, br Sweet Beauty, opening on the impoverished heart, br Beams like the jewel on the breast of dawn: br Not though high heaven should rend would deeper awe br Fill me than penetrates my spirit thus, br Nor all those signs the Patmian prophet saw br Seem a new heaven and earth so marvelous; br But, clad thenceforth in iridescent dyes, br The fair world glistens, and in after days br The memory of kind lips and laughing eyes br Lives in my step and lightens all my face, -- br So they who found the Earthly Paradise br Still breathed, returned, of that sweet, joyful place.