Duett

FIRST VOICE.

Thus the weeping shepherd spoke,
While his heart with anguish broke,
To the maiden of his bosom:
It can never be!

I shall see thee smile no more;
Thou art rich, and I am poor:
Leave me--be serene and happy--
To my misery!

SECOND VOICE.

Then the youthful shepherdess
Heaved a sigh for his distress,
Gently utter’d, calm and sorrowing,
It can never be?

Thou art mine--for ever mine;
What though poverty be thine?
They who have love’s fount of riches
Know no poverty!

FIRST VOICE.

I am of unhonour’d line,
And the world alone--is mine:
How the proud, and how the noble
Will thy choice reprove!

SECOND VOICE.

Slander is their joy--they know
Nothing of affection’s glow:
Ancestry and pride I seek not--
But I seek thy love!

FIRST VOICE.

Smiles and joy thy steps await:--
Misery is at my gate:
Tears are bitter--but most bitter
Tears of penitence!

SECOND VOICE.

Unpartaken pleasure cloys,
But divided woes are joys;
Where our common tears are mingled
Grief will fly from thence!

FIRST VOICE.

Corn-flowers and forget-me-not,
And narcissus, ne’er I sought;
Now I’ll seek the sweetest flow’rets
For my smiling fair!

SECOND VOICE.

Strange a shepherd’s life to me,
Yet a shepherdess I’ll be;
Though my father’s rich, I’ll braid thee
Garlands for thy hair!

BOTH.

Thou hast made life’s burthen lighter,
Every star and flower is brighter;
Now with thine my heart is blended,
Every thought and breath!

Tears and sorrow, if they come,
Shall not wear the garb of gloom;
Life with thee is crown’d with beauty--
Beautiful is death!