The works of Lord Byron A new, revised and enlarged edition, with illustrations. Edited by Ernest Hartley Coleridge and R. E. Prothero |
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 | The works of Lord Byron |  |
TO LESBIA!
1
Lesbia! since far from you I've rang'd,Our souls with fond affection glow not;
You say, 'tis I, not you, have chang'd,
I'd tell you why,—but yet I know not.
2
Your polish'd brow no cares have crost;And Lesbia! we are not much older,
Since, trembling, first my heart I lost,
Or told my love, with hope grown bolder.
3
Sixteen was then our utmost age,Two years have lingering pass'd away, love!
And now new thoughts our minds engage,
At least, I feel disposed to stray, love!
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4
'Tis I that am alone to blame,I, that am guilty of love's treason;
Since your sweet breast is still the same,
Caprice must be my only reason.
5
I do not, love! suspect your truth,With jealous doubt my bosom heaves not;
Warm was the passion of my youth,
One trace of dark deceit it leaves not.
6
No, no, my flame was not pretended;For, oh! I lov'd you most sincerely;
And though our dream at last is ended
My bosom still esteems you dearly.
7
No more we meet in yonder bowers;Absence has made me prone to roving;
But older, firmer hearts than ours
Have found monotony in loving.
8
Your cheek's soft bloom is unimpair'd,New beauties, still, are daily bright'ning,
Your eye, for conquest beams prepar'd,
The forge of love's resistless lightning.
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9
Arm'd thus, to make their bosoms bleed,Many will throng, to sigh like me, love!
More constant they may prove, indeed;
Fonder, alas! they ne'er can be, love!
| The works of Lord Byron | |