Tears, - tears, who can muster
All the tears that surge and flow,
Shimmering in their dew-drop luster,
Or like saphire's blaze and glow.

Tears that well up- manifest,
Or in secret sorrow hidden;
In our loving Father's breast
All these various tears are written.

Angels keep punctilious score,
None is missing,- all are treasure,
Every tear's accounted for,
Prized and cherished beyond measure.

Can you count the tears that well
Flowing open or suppressed,
And as gleaming jewels swell
Tears, sweet tears by God are blessed.

None is missing, stored as treasure,
God can their their high worth esteem,
Worth and value beyond measure,
As in Father's heart they gleam.

Tears have power to arrest,
To restrain the cruel word,
And bust up the hornets nest,
And ward off just ire's sword.

Tears arrest wild fury’s cry,
Tears can halt the murderous hand,
Tears placate and pacify,
And redeem souls that repent.

Words may fail, but tears can prove
More than words and utterance,
Deep devotion and great love,
More than the cajoling glance.



Dry-eyed, fruitless is despair,-
Tears relieve, allay and calm,
Promissory harbinger
Of sweet consolation's balm.

Private tears and tears of masses
Now observed on our screens
When poor victims count their losses
As they do in New Orleans.

Tears redeem, wash, purge and clean
From the darkly spots of sin
Even though it can’t be seen
Through the wrath of Katherine


Tears aplenty Jesus shed,
Tears of sorrow and of grief,
At the Second Temple's spread
To come down for unbelief.

Tears the Saviour shed and cried
When with grief He was apprised
That friend Lazarus had died,
Tears shed then the Savior Christ.

And He groaned in lonely dread,
While disciples slept and snored,
And earth drank up bloody sweat
From our Savior and our Lord.

Dry-eyed,- fruitless is despair,
Tears relieve, allay and calm,-
Promissory harbinger
Of sweet consolation's balm.

Be ye kissed bright gems forever,
Gems,- of such infinite worth,
By the everlasting Lover
For your task to ransom earth!

© Elizabeth Dandy