| Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907. | | | Poems.
V. A Discovery | | By Menella Bute Smedley (1820–1877) |
| | | THE LANGUID world went by me as I found | |
| A jewel on the ground, | |
| Under a silent weed, | |
| A nameless glory set for none to heed. | |
| “Stoop, see, and wonder!” was my joyful cry, | 5 |
| But still the languid world went only by. | |
| |
| I drew it forth, and set it on a hill; | |
| They passed it still. | |
| Some turned to look, | |
| And said it was a pebble from the brook, | 10 |
| A dewdrop, only made to melt away, | |
| A worthless mirror, with a bordered ray. | |
| |
| Then on my knees I shouted forth its praise, | |
| For nights and days. | |
| “See with your eyes | 15 |
| A diamond shining only for the wise! | |
| How is it that you love not at first sight, | |
| This unfamiliar treasure of pure light?” | |
| |
| I set it on my breast. Then, with a sneer, | |
| The world drew near, | 20 |
| They knew the sign | |
| And secret of my praise; the thing was mine. | |
| They left it to me with a bland disdain, | |
| And hugged their tinsel to their hearts again. | |
| |
| I showed it to the dearest soul I had: | 25 |
| “You are not mad; | |
| Let them go by; | |
| We know it is a diamond, you and I.” | |
| Coldly he answered, “If you love it so, | |
| You need not me to praise it. Let me go.” | 30 |
| |
| “It is my sin,” I cried with bitter tears, | |
| “That no man hears. | |
| I’ll fling it down; | |
| Some nobler hand shall set it in a crown. | |
| I shall behold it honoured ere I die; | 35 |
| But no one could have loved it more than I! | | | | |
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