MILLER'S DALE, DERBYSHIRE.
o you remember, Love, the lake
We used to meet beside?
The only sound upon the air
The ripples on the tide.
Do you remember, Love, the hour
When first the moonbeam shone,
Rising above the distant hills,
We used to meet alone.
You knew not then my rank and state,
You only knew my love,
Whose gentle witness was the moon,
That watched us from above.
The valley, silvered with her light,
Was lovely as a shrine;
The truth within that young fresh heart
Felt there was truth in mine.
You are a Countess now, sweet Love,
And dwell in stately halls;
The red gold shines upon the board,
The silk upon the walls.
A thousand watch my Lady's eye,
The minstrel sings her name;
None were so fair at Henry's court,
Where all the fairest came.
For the soft moonshine's rising light,
The pearls are on your brow:
Now, were you, lovely Ladye mine,
The happiest then, or now?
"Nor lake, nor castle," soft she said,
"Have any choice of mine;
"I know in life one only lot,
"So long as I am thine!"
22
