Poems (Edwards)/The Disappointed Lover's Song
THE DISAPPOINTED LOVER'S SONG.
Alas! alas! for the love of earth, It dies as the flowerets die,It glows a moment then fades away, Like a star from the morning sky;The love of earth! 'tis a fleeting thing, 'Tis a dream that is quickly o'er,It has touched my heart with its golden wing, But I can love,—can love no more.
The love of earth! I have deemed it true, I have bowed at its sunny-shrine,I have felt that the hearts which round me grew Were mine; in affection mine;But the dream is past, I have learned at last That all are not true below,Who whisper the fondest and kindest words; And now I can love no more.
Alas! alas! I have wound my heart 'Round the things that have soonest died,I have seen them vanish and perish all, Like flowerets at my side;And the friends I prized, are altered now; Alas! that it should be so,That the heart should be in its trust deceived, And learn to love no more.
I can love no more; they have deemed me cold, They shall deem me colder yet,For think, O think, can the wounded heart Its bleeding wounds forget? NeverLike the stricken dove that folds its wing, The trace of the dart to hide,Thus would I veil my heart from all, And vanish in stately pride,