WITH BEATING HEART AND TREMBLING STEP.
I
With beating heart and trembling step, the maiden left her home,
She clung for aid to one who spoke of happy days to come:
The victim heard not then the voice of conscience whispering low:
“Such bliss as guiltless thou hast known, the guilty never know.”
II
He promis'd splendour, gems, and gold; she heard of these unmov'd;
He promis'd changeless constancy, she listen'd and she lov'd!
Why was there not some watchful friend to warn her of the foe:
“Such bliss as guiltless thou hast known, the guilty never know.”
III
Again she sees her native vale, again she looks for some
Who lov'd in her that mean abode, which once she called her home:
But there in hopeless solitude repentant tears must flow:
“Such bliss as guiltless thou hast known, the guilty never know.”
