"O Were My Love Yon Lilac Fair Then, lady, dread not here deceit, Nor fear to suffer wrong, For friends in all the aged you'll meet, And lovers in the young. But when they find that you have blessed They'll bid aspiring passion rest, And act a brother's part: Nor fear to suffer wrong; For friends in all the aged you'll meet, And brothers in the young. 599 Richard Brinsley Sheridan [1751-1816] MEETING My Damon was the first to wake The faithful bosom's softest sigh: O cast it from thy thought away! Buried be all that has been done, Or say that naught is done amiss; Or with a tender look reprove; And now let naught in memory live But that we meet, and that we love. "O WERE MY LOVE YON LILAC FAIR" O WERE my Love yon lilac fair, Wi' purple blossoms to the spring, And I a bird to shelter there, When wearied on my little wing; How I wad mourn when it was torn By autumn wild and winter rude! But I wad sing on wanton wing When youthfu' May its bloom renewed. O gin my Love were yon red rose Into her bonnie breast to fa'; Robert Burns [1759-1796] "BONNIE WEE THING" BONNIE wee thing! cannie wee thing! In that bonnie face o' thine; Wit and grace, and love and beauty, Goddess o' this soul o' mine! Lovely wee thing, wert thou mine, I wad wear thee in my bosom, Lest my jewel I should tine. Robert Burns [1759-1796] ROSE AYLMER Ан, what avails the sceptered race! Ah, what the form divine! Rose Aylmer, all were thine. "Take Back the Virgin Page" 601 Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes May weep, but never see, A night of memories and sighs I consecrate to thee. eyes Far, far away I roam, Should calmer thoughts arise Towards you and home; Fancy may trace some line Worthy those eyes to meet, Pure, calm, and sweet. And as o'er ocean far Seamen their records keep, Led by some hidden star Through the cold deep; Tell through what storms I stray, You still the unseen light Guiding my way. BELIEVE me, if all those endearing young charms, Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms, Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art, And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart It is not while beauty and youth are thine own, That the fervor and faith of a soul may be known, As the sunflower turns to her god when he sets THE NUN IF you become a nun, dear, A friar I will be; In any cell you run, dear, Pray look behind for me. The roses all turn pale, too; The blind will see the show; Το If you become a nun, dear, Will chant, "We trust in thee!" The water turn to wine: What! you go take the vows, my dear? You may--but they'll be mine. 603 Leigh Hunt [1784-1859] SONG LOVE me if I live! Love me if I die! What to me is life or death, Once I loved thee rich, Now I love thee poor; Ah! what is there I could not Kiss me for my love! Pay me for my pain! Come! and murmur in my ear How thou lov'st again! Bryan Waller Procter [1787-1874] ΤΟ ONE word is too often profaned One feeling too falsely disdained For thee to disdain it. One hope is too like despair For prudence to smother, And Pity from thee more dear Than that from another. |