Classic Poem

(A Song.)

Dear Lela is my joy and crown,
My brightest gem and sunshine, too,
Her sweetness often kills a frown
And plants a pleasure where it grew;
Her voice my soul with rapture fills,
Her sparkling eye my being thrills.

Chorus.

Priceless, darling Lela,
Thou alone my heart can cheer;
O, my precious Lela,
How I love thee, Lela, dear.

She helps to roll away the stone
Of envy, pride, and self-conceit,
To raise my virtue to a throne
And crush the evils at my feet;
She brings my wounds a healing balm,
And for each tempest proves a calm.

Her purity and loving smile,
My pains dispel, with all that harms,
My better nature all the while,
Responds in full to Lela's charms.
When cares of life have made me sad,
One look upon her makes me glad.

The richest diamond of earth
My darling is to me, my friends;
No tongue can tell her matchless worth,
Before 'tis told, the language ends;
My greatest spur to do the right,
Is when dear Lela comes to sight.