Verses To A Child

O raise those eyes to me again And smile again so joyously, And fear not, love; it was not pain Nor grief that drew these tears from me; Beloved child, thou canst not tell The thoughts that in my bosom dwell Whene'er I look on thee!

Thou knowest not that a glance of thine Can bring back long departed years And that thy blue eyes' magic shine Can overflow my own with tears, And that each feature soft and fair And every curl of golden hair, Some sweet remembrance bears.

Just then thou didst recall to me A distant long forgotten scene, One smile, and one sweet word from thee Dispelled the years that rolled between; I was a little child again, And every after joy and pain Seemed never to have been.

Tall forest trees waved over me, To hide me from the heat of day, And by my side a child like thee Among the summer flowerets lay. He was thy sire, thou merry child. Like thee he spoke, like thee he smiled, Like thee he used to play.

O those were calm and happy days, We loved each other fondly then; But human love too soon decays, And ours can never bloom again. I never thought to see the day When Florian's friendship would decay Like those of colder men.

Now, Flora, thou hast but begun To sail on life's deceitful sea, O do not err as I have done, For I have trusted foolishly; The faith of every friend I loved I never doubted till I proved Their heart's inconstancy.

'Tis mournful to look back upon Those long departed joys and cares, But I will weep since thou alone Art witness to my streaming tears. This lingering love will not depart, I cannot banish from my heart The friend of childish years.

But though thy father loves me not, Yet I shall still be loved by thee, And though I am by him forgot, Say wilt thou not remember me! I will not cause thy heart to ache; For thy regretted father's sake I'll love and cherish thee.