Poems (Temple)/The Death of Love—Song
The DEATH of LOVE.SONG.
I saw the leaves of Hope unclose
I drank their rich meridian bloom;
And oh! behold her fairest rose,
Stripp'd of its blush and gay perfume.
I drank their rich meridian bloom;
And oh! behold her fairest rose,
Stripp'd of its blush and gay perfume.
Yes! I beheld her brightest flow'r,
Laid low by rude Fate's cutting wind;
Speechless I view'd the tempest low'r,
And mark'd the rents it left behind.
Laid low by rude Fate's cutting wind;
Speechless I view'd the tempest low'r,
And mark'd the rents it left behind.
I watch'd the furtive glance of Love,
On me it dwelt, or seem'd to dwell;
And oh! in vain my weak heart strove,
To break its sweet and 'witching spell.
On me it dwelt, or seem'd to dwell;
And oh! in vain my weak heart strove,
To break its sweet and 'witching spell.
How I have gaz'd—to madness gaz'd,
On charms that others ne'er could find;
No faintest trace has time eras'd,
Of all that stole my passive mind.
On charms that others ne'er could find;
No faintest trace has time eras'd,
Of all that stole my passive mind.
I meet again the thrilling beam,
That caus'd my bosom's peace to die;
I hear once more those accents stream,
That woke the wild delirious sigh.
That caus'd my bosom's peace to die;
I hear once more those accents stream,
That woke the wild delirious sigh.
Yes! I have seen the gradual death,
Of all that Hope or Love could give;
And mutely watch'd their fading breath;
This have I seen! and yet I live.
Of all that Hope or Love could give;
And mutely watch'd their fading breath;
This have I seen! and yet I live.
Aug. 1804.