Bab Ballads (version 2) — To Phoebe

TO PHŒBE

“GENTLE, modest little flower, Sweet epitome of May, Love me but for half an hour, Love me, love me, little fay.

” Sentences so fiercely flaming In your tiny shell-like ear, I should always be exclaiming If I loved you, PHŒBE dear.

“Smiles that thrill from any distance Shed upon me while I sing!

Please ecstaticize existence, Love me, oh, thou fairy thing!

” Words like these, outpouring sadly You’d perpetually hear, If I loved you fondly, madly;— But I do not, PHŒBE dear.

BAINES CAREW, GENTLEMAN