 | Fifty lyrical ballads |  |
1
MY HARP OF SIGHS.
Alas I am not what I was
When last I sang to thee,
The playful song that won thy smile,
Is not the song for me:
My harp of smiles upon the earth
Unstrung, and broken lies;
And well I know that one so young
Will scorn my harp of sighs.
When last I sang to thee,
The playful song that won thy smile,
Is not the song for me:
My harp of smiles upon the earth
Unstrung, and broken lies;
And well I know that one so young
Will scorn my harp of sighs.
2
I have no song of youth and hope
That does not close in care,
I have no tale of woman's love
That ends not in despair;
I only breathe the name of joy
To tell how soon it dies,
I only sing the songs that suit
My dear—dear harp of sighs.
That does not close in care,
I have no tale of woman's love
That ends not in despair;
I only breathe the name of joy
To tell how soon it dies,
I only sing the songs that suit
My dear—dear harp of sighs.
I could not—if I would—be gay,
For when I touch the chords
I throw a shade of sadness o'er
The melody, and words:
Grief thro' her darkened glass, discerns
No sunshine in the skies,
The voice must mourn that mingles with
Thy notes, my harp of sighs!
For when I touch the chords
I throw a shade of sadness o'er
The melody, and words:
Grief thro' her darkened glass, discerns
No sunshine in the skies,
The voice must mourn that mingles with
Thy notes, my harp of sighs!
| Fifty lyrical ballads | |