Page:Halleck.djvu/241

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TO HER WHO CAN UNDERSTAND THEM.

Air: “To ladies’ eyes a round, boy!”

The song that o’er me hovered,
In summer’s hour, in summer’s hour,
To-day with joy has covered
My winter bower, my winter bower.
Blest be the lips that breathe it,
As mine have been, as mine have been,
When pressed in dreams beneath it,
To hers unseen, to hers unseen.
And may her heart, wherever
Its hope may be, its hope may be,
Beat happily, though never
To beat for me, to beat for me!

Is she a spirit given
One hour to earth, one hour to earth,
To bring me dreams from heaven,
Her place of birth, her place of birth?
Or minstrel maiden hidden,
Like cloistered nun, like cloistered nun,
A bud, a flower forbidden,
To air and sun, to air and sun?