The loyalty of love
Language: English
I love thee, I love thee;
In vain I endeavour
To fly from thine image;
It haunts me for ever.
All things that rejoiced me
Now weary and pall;
I feel in thine absence
Bereft of mine all.
My heart is the dial;
Thy looks are the sun;
I count but the moments
Thou shinest upon.
Oh royal, believe me,
It is to controul [sic]
Two mighty dominions,
The Heart and the Soul.
To know that thy whisper
Each pang can beguile;
And feel that creation
Is lit by thy smile.
Yet every dominion
Needs care to retain --
Dost thou know when thou pain'st me
Or smile at the pain?
Alas the heart-sickness
The doubt and the dread,
When some word that we pine for
Cold lips have not said!
When no pulses respond to
The feelings we prove;
And we tremble to question
'If this can be love;'
At moments comparing
Thy heart with mine own,
I mourn not my bondage,
I sigh for thy throne.
For if thou forsake me
Too well I divine
That no love could defend thee
From sorrow like mine.
And this, Oh ungrateful,
I most should deplore--
That heart thou hadst broken
Could shield thee no more!
Confirmed with The Poetical and Dramatic Works of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., Vol. III, London: Chapman and Hall, 1853, pages 223-225.
Submitted by Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
Authorship
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
Text added to the website: 2012-10-22.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:05:04
Line count: 44
Word count: 204
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