 | [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary with introduction and notes |  |
423
MAIDEN FEARS.
He knows that I love him;
O, how could he tell
What I thought I would keep
In my bosom so well,
By guarding each action,
Each word, I might say!
Yet he knows that I love him,—
O, woe to the day!
O, how could he tell
What I thought I would keep
In my bosom so well,
By guarding each action,
Each word, I might say!
Yet he knows that I love him,—
O, woe to the day!
To hide it I tried
By each innocent art,
And thought I had kept it
Down deep in my heart:
Yet vain was my effort,
My pride through the past,
Since my weakness, my folly,
Have shown it at last.
By each innocent art,
And thought I had kept it
Down deep in my heart:
Yet vain was my effort,
My pride through the past,
Since my weakness, my folly,
Have shown it at last.
'T was last night that he learned it,
When down in the grove
He whispered me something
Of hope and of love;
'T was not that I faltered,
I dared not to speak,—
But the blood mounted up
From my heart to my cheek.
When down in the grove
He whispered me something
Of hope and of love;
'T was not that I faltered,
I dared not to speak,—
But the blood mounted up
From my heart to my cheek.
Not mine was the fault
That such weakness was shown,—
O, he should not have kissed me
By starlight alone!
And I thought, till I saw
How he guessed at my love,
I thought that the shadows
Were deeper above!
That such weakness was shown,—
O, he should not have kissed me
By starlight alone!
And I thought, till I saw
How he guessed at my love,
I thought that the shadows
Were deeper above!
Nay, thou canst not console me,
My hopes are undone;
He will say that too lightly
My heart has been won;
And this spot on my forehead
Forever will burn,
For he knows that I love him,—
He will not return!
My hopes are undone;
He will say that too lightly
My heart has been won;
424
Forever will burn,
For he knows that I love him,—
He will not return!
He will say 't was unmaidly
Thus to reveal
What I might not, I could not,
That moment conceal;
And the heart he has won
Will cast lightly aside;—
O, I would, ere he knew it,
I would I had died!
Thus to reveal
What I might not, I could not,
That moment conceal;
And the heart he has won
Will cast lightly aside;—
O, I would, ere he knew it,
I would I had died!
O thou who hast never
Been faithless to me,
Crushed, bleeding, and broken
My heart turns to thee:
Friend, counsellor, sister,
Through all things the same
Let me hide in thy bosom
My blushes of shame!
Been faithless to me,
Crushed, bleeding, and broken
My heart turns to thee:
Friend, counsellor, sister,
Through all things the same
Let me hide in thy bosom
My blushes of shame!
| [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary with introduction and notes | |