BELIEVE ME, IF ALL THOSE ENDEARING YOUNG CHARMS. BY THOMAS MOORE.
Reading edition
In the early part of the last century, when the star of Moore was at its zenith, no song was more popular than this, perhaps as much for the charming air to which it is set as for the beauty and rhythm of its words.
Believe me, if all those endearing charms, Which I gaze on so fondly today, Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms, Like fairy-gifts fading away, Thou wouldst still be ador’d, as this moment thou art, Let thy loveliness fade as it will And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart Would entwine itself verdantly still.
It is not while beauty and youth are thine own, And thy cheeks unprofan’d by a tear, That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known, To which time will but make thee more dear; No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets, But as surely loves on to the close, As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, The same look that she turned when he rose.