WHEN FIRST I LOVED
by: Taj Mahjomed
- HEN first I loved, I gave my very soul
- Utterly unreserved to Love's control,
- But Love deceived me, wrenched my youth away
- And made the gold of life for ever grey.
- Long I lived lonely, yet I tried in vain
- With any other Joy to stifle pain;
- There is no other joy, I learned to know,
- And so returned to Love, as long ago.
- Yet I, this little while ere I go hence,
- Love very lightly now, in self-defence.
- TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY LAURENCE HOPE (1865-1904)
"When First I Loved" is reprinted from India's Love Lyrics. Trans. Laurence Hope. New York: John Lane Co., 1906. |
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