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A lover's diary

Cary, Alice (1820-1871)

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DEDICATION.
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PART I. DREAM-LAND.
  
MONA, SEVEN YEARS OLD.
  
MONA, EIGHT YEARS OLD.
  
MONA, AT SCHOOL.
  
MONA, TEN YEARS OLD.
  
MONA, FOURTEEN.
  
MONA, SLEEPING.
  
MONA, SPINNING.
  
MONA, KNITTING.
  
MONA, MILKING.
  
KRUMLEY.
  
MONA, FIFTEEN.
  
MONA, PERFECT.
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PART II. SERENADES.
 1. 
I. APRIL.
 2. 
II. MAY.
 3. 
III. JUNE.
 4. 
IV. JULY.
 5. 
V. JULY.
 6. 
VI. AUGUST.
 7. 
VII. AUGUST.
 8. 
VIII. SEPTEMBER.
 9. 
IX. NOVEMBER.
 10. 
X. DECEMBER.
 11. 
XI. DECEMBER.
 12. 
XII. JANUARY.
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PART III. RHAPSODIES.
 1. 
[I. My beautiful little one]
 2. 
II. SPRING.
 3. 
III. CRAZY.
 4. 
IV. IN ABSENCE.
 5. 
V. ALL IN ALL.
 6. 
VI. VAGARIES.
 7. 
VII. MONA, SAD.
 8. 
VIII. MONA, SICK.
 9. 
IX. MONA, SICK.
 10. 
X. INSPIRED.
 11. 
[XI. Who wills it so, may praise]
 12. 
XII. WEARY.
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PART IV. REJECTED.
  
[I] PROPOSAL.
  
[II] REFUSAL.
 3. 
[III. Thou, that drawest aside the curtain]
 4. 
[IV. Kiss me, though you make believe]
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PART V. IN DESPAIR.
 1. 
[I. Through her I felt the evening's hush]
 2. 
II. TO THE MARCH FLOWERS.
 3. 
[III. I wish the rose were not so red]
 4. 
[IV. The violets, O the violets]
 5. 
V. AUGUST.
 6. 
[VI. The moon that was a crescent yesterday]
 7. 
[VII. O for the summers when]
 8. 
VIII. OCTOBER.
 9. 
[IX. Some quiet beams at daylight's close]
 10. 
[X. The nights they come and the nights they go]
 11. 
[XI. Her mouth was red, and you would say]
 12. 
[XII. I know not what the world may be]
 13. 
[XIII. My heart, my heart! I'm weary of your sighing]
 14. 
[XIV. The sun comes up and the sun goes down]
 15. 
[XV. The sun has vanished out o' my sight]
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PART VI. LOVE-LETTERS.
 1. 
I. TO MONA.
 2. 
II. MONA'S ANSWER.
 3. 
III. TO MONA.
 4. 
IV. MONA'S ANSWER.
 5. 
[V. My cruel little Mona]
 6. 
[VI. Before the daybreak I arise]
 7. 
[VII. My days dawn upon me in sadness]
 8. 
VIII. ON RECEIVING SOME FADED FLOWERS.
 9. 
IX. WHEN SHE HAD PROMISED TO MEET ME.
 10. 
X. AFTER WE MET.
 11. 
[XI. Would you bide in sweet content]
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PART VII. SOLILOQUIES.
 1. 
[I. As one who from a troubled dream]
 2. 
[II. Why hast thou forgot the snow]
 3. 
[III. Mona hath a slender waist]
 4. 
[IV. Down either way, from gentle, dove-like eyes]
 5. 
[V. Love's light is strange to you? Ah me]
 6. 
[VI. Whene'er I see the evening's sober gray]
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PART VIII. LIGHT AND SHADOW.
  
LANDMARKS.
  
MONA'S MOTHER.
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PART IX. MONA'S SONGS.
 1. 
[I. All day yesterday as I spun]
 2. 
[II. Wind that criest and moanest so]
 3. 
[III. Low, sweet and low]
 4. 
[IV. Six skeins and three, six skeins and three]
 5. 
[V. Like a poet in the splendor]
 6. 
[VI. Dear heart, a love so truly true]
 7. 
[VII. Little daisy, go to bed]
 8. 
[VIII. Come from your long, long roving]
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PART X. CONVERSATIONS.
 1. 
[I. Ah, blame me gently, though I sit for hours]
 2. 
II MONA ASKS ME TO SING.
 3. 
III. I ASK MONA TO SING.
 4. 
[IV. I said, “I have a tale to tell!”]
 5. 
[V. Forgive me, but I needs must press]
 6. 
[VI.“I was blind till yesterday.—”]
 7. 
[VII. I asked my darling once if she]
 8. 
[VIII. How, my love, shall I make thy bed]
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PART XI. AFTER MARRIAGE.
 1. 
[I. Say, do you love me as in the olden]
 2. 
[II. We have been lovers now, my dear]
 3. 
III. CHARITY.
 4. 
[IV. The clouds in many a windy rack]

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29

MONA, PERFECT.

Her language is so sweet and fit
You never have enough of it.
If she smiles, the house is bright
Without any candle-light.
Whether that her hair is rolled
Round an ivory comb, or gold,
Pinned or no, I cannot tell,
In itself it shines so well.
Whether she doth wear her coat
Loose, or buttoned to the throat,
Hems or ruffles, plain or gay,
Seems to me the sweetest way.
30

She 's so pitiful to all,
Sighs, as if by chance, do fall,
Daily, in her childlike prayers,
Getting heavenward unawares.
Every little word she speaks
Sends the color to her cheeks,
Rippling high and rippling low
Over bosom, over brow;
So, if stripped of dress and veil,
Like Godiva in the tale,
Modesty with blushes sweet
Would clothe her all from head to feet.
By her innocence she awes
Evil from her; through love's laws,
That so bind us like a cord,
Each to all, she seeks the Lord.
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