Etchings in Verse (Underhill)/Ne M'Aimes-Tu Pas?

by Andrew Findlay Underhill

NE M’AIMES-TU PAS?

"NE m'aimes-tu pas?" you have asked; I'll say:
 Je t'aime comme ma vie, si tu voudrais m'aimer."
"Pour toujours?" "Yes, forever—forever, and aye—
 Je t'aime comme ma vie, si tu voudrais m'aimer."

As the sun loves the flower that dreams on the lea;
 As the river, rejoicing, flows down to the sea;
And as each knows full well what love's answer will be,
 Si tu voudrais m'aimer, I could dearly love thee.

But should man bare his heart and his feelings for naught?
 Should he follow a path with uncertainty fraught—
Shall he burn with a love that perhaps is unsought,
 But to curse in the end the unrest it has brought?

For love is a fearful, and dangerous thing—
 Very pleasing it seems, but it has a sharp sting;
And the shafts that are feathered from Cupidon's wing,
 When they wound one of two certain death they will bring.

Then, Élise, when you ask if I love you, I say:
 "Je t'aime comme ma vie, si tu voudrais m'aimer."
"Pour toujours?" "Yes, forever—forever and aye,
 Comme ma vie, chère, je t'aime, si tu voudrais m'aimer."