Classic Poem

I found my love alone
Within her bower,
And to her made my moan,
O happy hour!
I knelt and clasped her fragrant knees
And told my grief in words like these.

" O save me, save," I cried,
" Before I fall
And vanish from your side
Beyond recall.
Have mercy, see; one fleeting breath
Is all that parts me now from death."

She wept to hear me speak
My doleful tale;
Softly she dried her cheek,
Her cheek so pale.
But ah! she would not let me stay
And those soft hands drove me away.