Believe me, if all those endearing young charms Which I gaze on so fondly today Were to change by tomorrow and fleet in my arms Like fairy gifts fading away, Thou wouldst still be adored as this moment thou art Let thy loveliness fade as it will And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart Would entwine itself verdantly still.
It is not while beauty and youth are thine own And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known To which time will but make thee more dear. No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets But as truly loves on to the close As the sunflower turns to her God when he sets The same look which she turned when he rose.
There is not in this wide world a valley so sweet
As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet;
O, the last ray of feeling and life must depart …
At the mid hour of night, when stars are weeping, I fly
To the lone vale we loved, when life shone warm in thine eye;
And I think oft, if spirits can steal from the regions of air, …