 | Areytos or songs and ballads of the South |  |
226
TO THEE, WHEN RUDDY CUPS.
I.
To thee, when ruddy cups are glowing,And boards are gay, and hearts are light,
When song takes wing, and wit is flowing,
And eyes and thoughts alike are bright:
To thee still ever wedded only,
My thought returns, my fancies flee;
And 'midst the merry crowd still lonely,
I long, oh how I long for thee!
II.
The wit that shines—the song beguiling—Have not a charm to take thy place;
The smiles, the tones, whate'er their wiling,
But tell of thy superior grace:
They lack the art to teach forgetting,
And fail, of all their spells, to me;
The present chills—the past regretting—
I long, oh how I long for thee!
III.
Their songs but tell of music sweeter,In shady groves, with thee but near;
Their slowly-lapsing hours were fleeter,
If tones of thine were in mine ear;
These shouts of mirth, they do but sadden,
When memory, whispering soft to me,
Tells of thy sighs, that did but gladden,
And makes me long to sigh with thee.
227
IV.
Ah! 'midst the crowd, the gay confusion,Mix'd song and shout, and jest and cheer,
A spell o'er all, with sweet illusion,
These all expel, and bring thee near:
I see no wild and eager faces,
I hear no clamorous burst of glee;
Thou tak'st my gay companions' places,
And I am all alone with thee!
| Areytos or songs and ballads of the South | |