THE REJECTED LOVER *

Say Celia, must I then repine
            Beneath the powerful charm of love?
Can’t all these prayers and vows of mine,
                                  Thy stony bosom move?

Long did my passion lie conceal’d,

And long I curb’d the rising flame;
            Long was it e’er my tongue reveal’d
                                  To Celia dear the same.

But when I told her that my heart
            Was firmly bound in Cupid’s chain,

And that t’was only her dear self
                                  Could ease me of my pain;

She bade me from her presence fly;
            My tender tale she would not hear; —
I bade her quietly good b’ye

Port Talbot, U. C. [Page 29]

* This poem appeared in The Scribbler (Montreal), I. 287 (28 February, 1822). [back]