Poetry Sunday (06-28-09 edition)

Tell Me, My Heart, if This Be Love

When Delia on the plain appears,
Awed by a thousand fears,
I would approach, but dare not move;--
Tell me, my heart, if this be love.

Whene'er she speaks, my ravished ear
No other voice than hers can hear;
No other wit but hers approve;--
Tell me, my heart, if this be love.

If she some other swain commend,
Though I was once his fondest friend,
His instant enemy I prove;--
Tell me, my heart, if this be love.

When she is absent, I no more
Delight in all that pleased before,
The clearest spring, the shadiest grove;--
Tell me, my heart, if this be love.

When fond of power, of beauty vain,
Her nets she spread for every swain,
I strove to hate, but vainly strove;--
Tell me, my heart, if this be love.

George Littleton