| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909. | | | | Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms | | By Thomas Moore (1779–1852) |
| | | BELIEVE me, if all those endearing young charms, | |
| Which I gaze on so fondly to-day, | |
| Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms, | |
| Like fairy-gifts fading away, | |
| Thou would’st still be adored, as this moment thou art, | 5 |
| Let thy loveliness fade as it will, | |
| And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart | |
| Would entwine itself verdantly still. | |
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| It is not while beauty and youth are thine own, | |
| And thy cheeks unprofan’d by a tear, | 10 |
| That the fervour and faith of a soul can be known, | |
| To which time will but make thee more dear; | |
| No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets, | |
| But as truly loves on to the close, | |
| As the sun-flower turns on her god, when he sets, | 15 |
| The same look which she turn’d when he rose. | | | | |
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