O! girls fantastic creatures are,
Vexing us--teasing us;
Now they’re here, now they’re there,
Perplexing us--pleasing us;
See you here a soft blue ee,
O! beware--O! beware;
For it melteth but to be
For a snare--for a snare.
I have loved a gentle girl;
How I loved--how I loved--
Witness it, my bosom’s whirl
When she moved--when she moved;
Life, soul, feeling, all sincere,
Bound up in her--bound up in her;
She has left me, and I’m here,
A wound up sinner--a wound up sinner.
Left me, and without a smile,
Save a cold one--save a cold one;
Not a word there fell the while,
Save some old one--save some old one;
My heart about to burst, and chain’d
As by a spell--as by a spell;
She could falter, unconstrained,
Fare thee well--fare thee well.
O! I loved her; (may I be
For it forgiven--for it forgiven;)
Rather, than a thing of clay,
As a thing of Heaven--a thing of Heaven;
Feelings, none I had but went
Straightway there--straightway there;
When I prayed, her image blent
With my prayer--with my prayer.
When she went, there was I,
Like her shade--like her shade--
When she call’d, I was by,
And there I staid--there I staid;
If her soft eye sadden’d seem’d,
I could smile--I could smile--
Till that soft eye gladden’d seemed,
As erewhile--as erewhile.
I presented her a ring,
Which she took--which she took;
And her words fell murmuring,
Like a brook--like a brook;
Soft her eye’s glance fell upon me,
Even there--even there--
When its gentle meanings won me
Like a prayer--like a prayer.
She has left me, and I’m here,
Desolate--desolate;
She has left me, nor a tear
For my fate--for my fate:
O! to be thus coldly parted,
Nor relief--nor relief--
And to be thus broken hearted,
This is grief--this is grief.
Yet, I love her--I confess it,
More than ever--more than ever;
Love’s a stream--you can’t repress it,
Mine’s a river! mine’s a river!
Life, soul, feeling, all are given,
All my store--all my store;
In her, round her--there’s my Heaven,
I want no more--I want no more.