Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known

Strange fits of passion I have known:And I will dare to tell,But in the Lover's ear alone,What once to me befel.

When she I loved was strong and gay,And like a rose in June,I to her cottage bent my way,Beneath the evening Moon.

Upon the Moon I fixed my eye,AH over the wide lea:My Horse trudged on—and we drew nighThose paths so dear to me.

And now we reached the orchard plot;And, as we climbed the hill,Towards the roof of Lucy's cotThe Moon descended still.

In one of those sweet dreams I slept,Kind Nature's gentlest boon!And, all the while, my eyes I keptOn the descending Moon.

My Horse moved on; hoof after hoofHe raised, and never stopp'd:When down behind the cottage roofAt once the bright Moon dropp'd.

What fond and wayward thoughts will slideInto a Lover's head—"O mercy!" to myself I cried,"If Lucy should be dead!"