gleam vs sparkle

gleam

verb
  • To shine, especially in an indistinct or intermittent manner; to glisten, to glitter. 

  • Chiefly in conjunction with an adverb: to cause (light) to shine. 

  • To be strongly but briefly apparent. 

noun
  • A bright, but intermittent or short-lived, appearance of something. 

  • An appearance of light, especially one which is indistinct or small, or short-lived. 

  • A look of joy or liveliness on one's face. 

  • An indistinct sign of something; a glimpse or hint. 

sparkle

verb
  • To shine as if throwing off sparks; to emit flashes of light; to scintillate; to twinkle 

  • To manifest itself by, or as if by, emitting sparks; to glisten; to flash. 

  • To emit sparks; to throw off ignited or incandescent particles 

  • To emit little bubbles, as certain kinds of liquors; to effervesce 

  • To emit in the form or likeness of sparks. 

noun
  • Brilliance; luster. 

  • Liveliness; vivacity. 

  • The quality of being sparkling or fizzy; effervescence. 

  • A little spark; a scintillation. 

How often have the words gleam and sparkle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )