DOST THOU REMEMBER.
Reading edition
(PORTUGUESE AIR.)
Dost thou remember that place so lonely, A place for lovers and lovers only, Where first I told thee all my secret sighs? When, as the moonbeam that trembled o'er thee Illumed thy blushes, I knelt before thee, And read my hope's sweet triumph in those eyes? Then, then, while closely heart was drawn to heart, Love bound us—never, never more to part!
And when I called thee by names the dearest[1] That love could fancy, the fondest, nearest,— "My life, my only life!" among the rest; In those sweet accents that still enthral me, Thou saidst, "Ah!" wherefore thy life thus call me? "Thy soul, thy soul's the name I love best; "For life soon passes,—but how blest to be "That Soul which never, never parts from thee!"
[1] The thought in this verse is borrowed from the original Portuguese words.