ROSE OF AILEEN.
I
It is not long since last we met, and you are still the same,
Yet, oh! I saw you knew me not, until I told my name;
You mourn the change, and well you know how deep my grief has been,
For you were with me when I won the love of Rose Aileen.
II
I grieve to think my looks betray the anguish of my heart,
In death I'd proudly still deny that I had felt the dart:
Assuming smiles, amid the gay I fain would still be seen,
I would not have the world believe I sigh for Rose Aileen.
III
Yet do not heed my selfish boast, a motive far more pure
Would make me struggle to conceal the anguish I endure;
I'd rather mourn in solitude, unpitied and unseen,
Than that my gloom should seem to chide the smiles of Rose Aileen.
