Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems By the Lady E. Stuart Wortley. In Three Vols |
 | I, II, III. |
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OH! COULD WE LOVE BUT LITTLE! |
 | Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems |  |
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OH! COULD WE LOVE BUT LITTLE!
Oh! could we love but little, we were wise;
But to the heights of feeling still we rise!—
We love, love fearlessly, and all the while
Our happiness is hanging on a smile—
But to the heights of feeling still we rise!—
We love, love fearlessly, and all the while
Our happiness is hanging on a smile—
We give our very Souls away—and bare
Our Being's core to Destiny's chill air;
We cast away the mantle and the shield,
And the empire of ourselves to others yield.
Our Being's core to Destiny's chill air;
We cast away the mantle and the shield,
And the empire of ourselves to others yield.
Oh! could we love but little, we were wise;
But first—love cometh in a light disguise,
And beckons us, and tempts, and leads us on,
Until our way is lost—and we—undone!
But first—love cometh in a light disguise,
And beckons us, and tempts, and leads us on,
Until our way is lost—and we—undone!
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The instant that we bend before him first
We well may shrink, and sigh, and fear his worst!
For who hath strength—who courage to defy—
That tyrant bright—that Heavenly Enemy?
We well may shrink, and sigh, and fear his worst!
For who hath strength—who courage to defy—
That tyrant bright—that Heavenly Enemy?
Oh! could we love but little, we were wise!
So should we shun unuttered agonies—
So should we still with blameless feelings glow,
And so escape the wildness and the woe.
So should we shun unuttered agonies—
So should we still with blameless feelings glow,
And so escape the wildness and the woe.
But who doth thus?—Alas! the grief—the fear—
Grow in themselves too precious and too dear;
And so in love are we with love's excess—
That we forget 'twere wise to make it less!
Grow in themselves too precious and too dear;
And so in love are we with love's excess—
That we forget 'twere wise to make it less!
Could I love thee a little—I were wise!—
But, oh! from heights to heights of love I rise—
Each moment love thee better than before,
Yet think I never can enough adore!
But, oh! from heights to heights of love I rise—
Each moment love thee better than before,
Yet think I never can enough adore!
| Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems | |