Classic Poem

Maiden, go! If thou hast lost
All that made thee once so dear,
Let not now our parting cost
Thee a sigh, or me a tear;
Go, with fashion's heartless train,
Go, where wealth and pleasure wait,
Seek them all nor seek in vain,
Go, and leave me to my fate:
And, if 'mid thy gay career,
Thought of love and me intrude,
Check the rising thought, nor e'er
Let it mar thy lighter mood.

Maiden, go! A sadden'd brow
Haply serves but to conceal;
Tears, methinks, are idle now,
Waste them not, unless you feel:
If your bosom is too cold
Still to prize a loyal heart,
If you value sullen gold
More than love, 'tis best we part.
Go, and when your heart has learned
How love flies the courtly door,
Learn that true affections spurned
Droop to death and bloom no more.

Maiden, go! And should you rue
All your coldness here hath done,
Know that Nature, ever true,
Will not now desert her son.
If you she gave the cold desire
To flaunt in fortune's glittering train,
For me she framed a heart and lyre,
Which will not let me live in vain.
The simple chords of that rude lyre,
The plain warm homage of that heart,
Alike were yours; nor shall the fire
That warmed in joy, in grief depart.

Maiden, go! I will not call
A blush again to shame that brow,
But may you in the festal hall
Be tranquil as you leave me now:
Still my lot in life must be
In some dim secluded spot,
Undisturbed by thoughts of thee,
Dreams of love and all forgot;
But not the Tajo's sands of gold,
Nor all the treasures of the deep
Could pay you for the peace you've sold,
Pleasant dreams and quiet sleep.