I Saw Thy Form in Youthful Prime
I Saw Thy Form in Youthful Prime | |
Thomas Moore, from Irish Melodies, vol. 4
| I saw thy form in youthful prime, Nor thought that pale decay Would steal before the steps of Time, And waste its bloom away, Mary! Yet still thy features wore that light, Which fleets not with the breath; And life ne'er look'd more truly bright Than in thy smile of death, Mary! | 2. As streams that run o'er golden mines, Yet humbly, calmly glide, Nor seem to know the wealth that shines Within their gentle tide, Mary! So, veil'd beneath the simplest guise, Thy radiant genius shone, And that which charm'd all other eyes Seem'd worthless in thine own, Mary! |
| 3. If souls could always dwell above, Thou ne'er hadst left that sphere; Or could we keep the souls we love, We ne'er had lost thee here, Mary! Though many a gifted mind we meet, Though fairest forms we see, To live with them is far less sweet Than to remember thee, Mary!* |
* I have here made a feeble effort to imitate that exquisite inscription of Shenstone's, "Heu! quanto minus est cum reliquis versari quam tui meminesse!"