 | Australian Lyrics &c |  |
A TRANSFORMATION.
How strange! She was but yesterday as other girls to me,
Just better looking, in a way, than most are that I see;
To-day she is the loveliest of all upon our earth,
The woman that I hold the best for beauty and for worth.
Just better looking, in a way, than most are that I see;
To-day she is the loveliest of all upon our earth,
The woman that I hold the best for beauty and for worth.
What was it that transformed her so?—what auburnized her hair?
What gave her cheek that fairy glow and made me thus aware
Of all the subtle loveliness that lurks about her face,
And forced my reason to confess the magic of her grace?
What gave her cheek that fairy glow and made me thus aware
Of all the subtle loveliness that lurks about her face,
And forced my reason to confess the magic of her grace?
The casual eye would but detect a change of hue or shape
About the clothes with which she's decked, or the becoming cape
Of sables round her shoulders thrown and clinging to her throat,
Now that the autumn breezes moan and summer sheds his coat.
About the clothes with which she's decked, or the becoming cape
Of sables round her shoulders thrown and clinging to her throat,
Now that the autumn breezes moan and summer sheds his coat.
31
Is it the sable and dark green she wears that witches me,
Or the light that was never seen upon the land or sea?
I know not; all I know is this, that she who yesterday
Was nought to me, to-day matches in glamour with a fay.
Or the light that was never seen upon the land or sea?
I know not; all I know is this, that she who yesterday
Was nought to me, to-day matches in glamour with a fay.
As the bud opens into flower upon the primroses,
As butterflies in one short hour spring from the chrysalis
In all their pride, and brave it by unfolding to the sun
Their surcoats' fresh embroidery and plumy habergeon,
As butterflies in one short hour spring from the chrysalis
In all their pride, and brave it by unfolding to the sun
Their surcoats' fresh embroidery and plumy habergeon,
So burst she into beauty's bloom within a single night,
And from her chrysalis did loom as marvellously bright
As were the ladies of old song—Iseult of the white hand,
And Guinevere, when she was young, and Mary of Scotland.
And from her chrysalis did loom as marvellously bright
As were the ladies of old song—Iseult of the white hand,
And Guinevere, when she was young, and Mary of Scotland.
Adieu! beloved and beautiful! I may not care for thee;
Not that I am in heart-lore dull, but that I am not free.
I have my own, a happy home—a loved and loving wife;
I can but pray that there may come to thee nor want nor strife.
Not that I am in heart-lore dull, but that I am not free.
I have my own, a happy home—a loved and loving wife;
I can but pray that there may come to thee nor want nor strife.
| Australian Lyrics &c | |