We were two pretty babes, the youngest she, The youngest and the loveliest far, I ween, And Innocence her name: the time has been, We two did love each other's company -- Time was, we two had wept to have been apart! But when with show of seeming good beguiled I left the garb and manners of a child, And my first love for man's society, Defiling with the world my virgin heart, My loved companion dropped a tear and fled, And hid in deepest shades her awful head! Beloved! who can tell me where thou art, In what delicious Eden to be found, That I may seek thee the wide world around! |