She hath left me here all alone,
All alone as unknown,
Who sometimes did me lead with herself,
And me loved as her own:
What 's the cause that she leaves you alone,
And a new way doth take:
Who loved you once as her own
And her joy did you make?
I have loved her all my youth,
But now, old as you see,
Love likes not the falling fruit
From the withered tree:
Know that Love is a careless child
And forgets promise past,
He is blind, he is deaf, when he list,
And in faith never fast:
His desire is a dureless content,
And a trustless joy;
He is won with a world of despair,
And is lost with a toy.
Of women-kind such indeed is the love,
Or the word love abused;
Under which, many childish desires
And conceits are excused:
But true love is a durable fire
In the mind ever burning;
Never sick, never old, never dead,
From itself never turning.
[ 71 ]
