Page:Poems Cook.djvu/300

Alas alas they failed to note
 That he had not one magic shaft ;
That all the "billets-doux" he wrote
 Were pencill'd on a banker's draft.

They did not heed his missing bow,
 They asked not for his absent birds;
He offered riches—whisper'd low,
 And they believed his cheating words.

Full soon they murmur'd, sigh'd and sorrow'd;
 The rogue had gone, and bliss had flown;
True, he had left them all he borrow'd,
 But not one relic of his own.

Full many a spirit proved too late
 That homes in gold-mines may be lonely;
And cursed the hour and mourn'd the fate
 That gave them wealth, but gave wealth only.

For though great gain is well enough
 To feed our hope and crown our pride;
Yet who would choose the shining stuff
 Without a tithe of love beside?

This villain trick is known to be
 Too often played among us here;
So mind, good people, when you see
 The bowless, blind boy coming near.

The imp may seem a spendthrift giver
 Of all that dazzles eyes and hearts;
But trust not to a gleaming quiver
 That's fill'd with coins, instead of darts.

Be sure he has his birds and flowers,
 And dons no masquerading trim;
And when he talks of "deeds and dowers,"
 Just ask if they belong to him.

284