Love
Believe, If You Can
From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, vol. 6 (1855–57)
Hope cannot cheat us,
Or Fancy betray;
Tempests ne'er scatter
The blossoms of May;
The wild winds are constant,
By method and plan;
Oh! believe me, believe me,
Believe if you can!
Young Love, who shews us
His midsummer light,
Spreads the same halo
O'er Winter's dark night;
And Fame never dazzles
To lure and trepan;
Oh! believe me, believe me,
Believe if you can!
Friends of the sunshine
Endure in the storm;
Never they promise
And fail to perform.
And the night ever ends
As the morning began;
Oh! believe me, believe me,
Believe if you can!
Words softly spoken
No guile ever bore;
Peaches ne'er harbour
A worm at the core;
And the ground never slipp'd
Under high-reaching man;
Oh! believe me, believe me,
Believe if you can!
Seas undeceitful,
Calm smiling at morn,
Wreck not ere midnight
The sailor forlorn.
And gold makes a bridge
Every evil to span;
Oh! believe me, believe me,
Believe if you can.
Codex Note
Music by the Author.
Cite this poem
MLA
Mackay, Charles, LL.D. “Believe, If You Can.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/mackay_c/5/.
Chicago
Mackay, Charles, LL.D. “Believe, If You Can.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/mackay_c/5/.
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