Etchings in Verse (Underhill)/Je Ne Vous Aime Pas
JE NE VOUS AIME PAS.
"NE m'aimes-tu pas?" you once asked, O Élise,And I'll tell you the truth—all the truth, if you please;For a year—yes, a year now has over us flown,Since I told you I loved you—and loved you alone!
I have lingered, my sweet, all entranced by your side;I have gazed in your eyes that the dark lashes hide;I've been thrilled by the touch of those soft finger-tips;I have tasted the rapture that breathes from your lips.
I have thought of you oft in the still, starry night.Your face flickers up in the wan fire-light;And oft in my dreamings a woman I see,With soft hazel eyes, bearing kisses to me.
Wild reveries these! Foolish fancies at best!Can kisses and dreams fill the void of the breast?Beware, O fond youth! Look thou deeper by far,Where tenderness, truth, and unselfishness are!
Your red ruby lips asked a question, ma chère;So I gazed in your eyes, but no question was there."Ah, she trifles!" said I, "and her smile is deceit;And woe to the Strephon that sighs at her feet."
Then, Élise, when you ask if I love you, I say—Tho' perhaps it is cruel—"My answer is, nay."But since lips framed the query, tho' cold was your eye,To your lips in a kiss I will give the reply.