When Delia on the plain appears

M. White

When Delia on the plain appears,

Aw'd by a thousand tender fears,

I would approach, but dare not move:

Tell me, my heart, if this be love?

Whene'er she speaks, my ravish'd ear

No other voice but her's can hear,

No other wit but her's approve:

Tell me, my heart, if this be love?

If she some other youth commend,

Though I was once his fondest friend,

His instant enemy I prove:

Tell me, my heart, if this be love?

When she is absent, I no more

Delight in all that pleas'd before,

The clearest spring, or shadiest grove:

Tell me, my heart, if this be love?

When, fond of power, of beauty vain,

Her nets she spread for every swain,

I strove to hate, but vainly strove:

Tell me, my heart, if this be love?