Long time has tried your love to claim,
And vows 'twill e’er be true.
Then say at once you will incline
To be my faithful Valentine.
To me your vows you’ve oft addressed,
As oft a fervent love expressed;
But yon have altered much of late,—
I fear you seek another mate.
If so, why longer wear the mask?
If mine must be the painful task
To give you up, I’ll now resign
Him whom I thought my Valentine.
Oh! wo is me! my tender heart
Is pierced with Cupid’s fatal dart,
Long time against its point I strove,
But find it vain to strive ’gainst Love.
Dear youth, the maid who sends you this,
Entreats you’ll not take it amiss,
That thus to ease the painful smart
With which your absence grieves her heart,
She pens these lines, that they may prove
A pledge of her unceasing love.
If you would think dear youth, on me,
As fondly as I think on thee,
How happy then might be my life,
Thy chosen love, and wedded wife:
But if I may not hope to gain
The heart I’ve sighed for long in vain,
To none will I this hand resign,
But die—thy faithful Valentine.
Dear youth! I in these lines would tell,
How long I lov’d you, and how well:
