THOU GOEST…
Thou goest and through years of suff’ring For thee will long my dreary eyes, Of all thy being’s charms enamour’d, For thy sweet smile my spirit sighs.
My love’s not mild like tales of fairies, My love so painful tears my breast, And O thy soul is but a demon In beauteous form of marble dressed!
Thy face has all the charms of pallor, And moist and sparkling is thine eye, With coaxing looks thou art so thrilling, So full of wiles, so roguish, sly.
And when thou touchest me I quiver, And when I hear thy steps I start, Thy trembling lashes’ charm for ever Enthralls my life, my throbbing heart.
Thou goest and I shall no longer With deep regret for past days mourn, No more a victim, will no longer My heart with ruthless pain be torn.
And in my ear thy burning whisper My ravished mind no longer woos, Thy hand no longer smooths my forehead, To make me all my wits to lose.
O in my thought with names most shameful Thy conduct I could then reprove, I cursed thee with the wildest hatred, I cursed thee, O it was but love!
Now even this is left no longer And none have I to curse to-day, And as to-day will be to-morrow, So all my years will pass away.
An autumn which doth sadly linger Above a dreary fountain dry, And o’er it withered leaves are falling— They are my dreams that now must die.
And life to me seems but a madness, So spent before e’en it was born, In an eternity of darkness One moment’s bliss and thence forlorn.
O thence for ever from me flying My luck I never, never met, O give me back one moment’s treasure With all its years of deep regret!