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MAZEPPA.
17

“But on my lips they died again,250
“The accents tremulous and weak,
“Until one hour.—There is a game,
“A frivolous and foolish play,
“Wherewith we while away the day;
“It is—I have forgot the name—
“And we to this, it seems, were set,
“By some strange chance, which I forget:
“I reck’d not if I won or lost,
“It was enough for me to be
“So near to hear, and oh! to see260
“The being whom I loved the most.—
“I watch’d her as a sentinel,
“(May ours this dark night watch as well!)
“Until I saw, and thus it was,
“That she was pensive, nor perceived
“Her occupation, nor was grieved
“Nor glad to lose or gain; but still
“Play’d on for hours, as if her will
“Yet bound her to the place, though not

“That hers might be the winning lot.270
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