Once a Week (magazine)/Series 1/Volume 10/The love-cheat

by John Alfred Langford

THE LOVE-CHEAT.

 

I.

She loved me, she said, and she swore it;
She swore it a thousand times:
She treasured my letters like jewels;
She learned and repeated my rhymes.

 

II.

And numberless tokens she gave me;
Her kisses were many and sweet;
And I thought her an angel from heaven
While she was but a womanly cheat.

 

III.

She robbed me of rest and of comfort,
And gave me bright hopes in return
And now, by the fireside lonely,
Her letters I smilingly burn.

 

IV.

For loud are the marriage-bells pealing;
The priest, too, is blessing the bride;
And she leans on the arm of another,
Who once was my love and my pride.

 

V.

Ah, well! let her live and be married:
Her letters are burnt, and I see
'Tis better be rid of such tokens,
And keep the heart healthy and free.

J. A. Langford.