THE MEMORY OF THE HEART

If stores of dry and learned lore we gain,
We keep them in the memory of the brain;
Names, things, and facts,
-whate’er we knowledge call,-
There is common ledger for them all;
And images on this cold surface traced
Make slight impression, and are soon effaced.
But we’ve a page, more glowing and more bright,
On which our friendship and our love to write;
That these may never from the soul depart,
We trust them to the memory of the heart.
There is no dimming, no effacement there;
Each new pulsation keeps the record clear;
Warm, golden letters all the tablet fill,
Nor lose their luster till the heart stands still.

Daniel Webster