 | Hours at Naples, and Other Poems |  |
320
STANZAS.
[If thou art changed from what thou wert]
If thou art changed from what thou wert,
And if thou lovest me now no more—
If thou canst bear so false a heart,
Then all my love for thee is o'er!
And if thou lovest me now no more—
If thou canst bear so false a heart,
Then all my love for thee is o'er!
If thou art changed—I'm altered too—
A mutual Infidelity!
If thou art to thyself not true,
Say, how can I be true to thee?
A mutual Infidelity!
If thou art to thyself not true,
Say, how can I be true to thee?
If thou forget'st all precious ties
And provest thyself weak, worldly, vain—
And scorn'st my sufferings and my sighs,
Thy Lover can I still remain?
And provest thyself weak, worldly, vain—
And scorn'st my sufferings and my sighs,
Thy Lover can I still remain?
321
No! no!—I loved a guileless One—
Kind, constant, gentle, meek, and pure;
My heart's deep Love was hers alone,
And oh! that Love must still endure.
Kind, constant, gentle, meek, and pure;
My heart's deep Love was hers alone,
And oh! that Love must still endure.
Still must I love—even more and more
The Image in my Soul enshrined!
Still must I cherish and adore
That Idol throned within my Mind!
The Image in my Soul enshrined!
Still must I cherish and adore
That Idol throned within my Mind!
And yet my Love for thee is o'er!
My very Truth's Inconstancy!
That Image pure I still adore—
I love that still—but 'tis not thee!
My very Truth's Inconstancy!
That Image pure I still adore—
I love that still—but 'tis not thee!
| Hours at Naples, and Other Poems | |