Love

Tell Me, Jessie, Tell Me Why?

by John Hamilton died 1814

From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, vol. 1 (1855–57)

Love

Tell me, Jessie, tell me why
My fond suit you still deny?
Is your bosom cold as snow?
Did you never feel for woe?
Can you hear, without a sigh,
Him complain who for you could die?
If you ever shed a tear,
Hear me, Jessie, hear, O hear!

Life to me is not more dear
Than the hour brings Jessie here;
Death so much I do not fear
As the parting moment near.
Summer smiles are not so sweet
As the bloom upon your cheek;
Nor the crystal dew so clear
As your eyes to me appear.

These are part of Jessie's charms,
Which the bosom ever warms;
But the charms by which I 'm stung,
Come, O Jessie, from thy tongue!
Jessie, be no longer coy;
Let me taste a lover's joy;
With your hand remove the dart,
And heal the wound that 's in my heart.

MLA

Hamilton, John. “Tell Me, Jessie, Tell Me Why?” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/hamilton/4/.

Chicago

Hamilton, John. “Tell Me, Jessie, Tell Me Why?” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/hamilton/4/.

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