Keys of love (1790)/The keys of love

THE KEYS OF LOVE.

AS I went out in ev'ning clear,
⁠down by a shady grove,
With hasty footsteps I went down,
⁠there I spy'd my love.
As she lay sleepng on the grass,
⁠most beautiful and fair,
You wou'd have sworn if you had view'd the lass,
⁠the Queen of love was there.

I first convey'd my ruby lips,
⁠unto her snow-white breast,
I next convey'd my quick'ning arms,
⁠around her slender waist,
She wak'd out of her drowsy sleep,
⁠like one been in surprize;
Her am'rous looks had stole my heart,
⁠by the moving of her eyes.

She said, I'm ruin'd and undone,
⁠and falsely I'm betray'd:
Is this the way you've ta'en to win,
⁠a simple harmless maid?
You Goddess, she cry'd, you've wounded me,
⁠wou'd you wrong a maid so young?
Her am'rous sayings stole my heart,
⁠by the moving of her tongue.

I love my love, and I make no doubt,
⁠but it's for love again;
And if she says she loves me not,
⁠I'll laugh at her disdain.
If she be constant, I'll be true,
⁠and so we will agree,
And if she says she loves me not,
⁠I'll change as well as she.

There is twelve months into the year,
⁠as I hear people say;
The merriest month, in all the year,
⁠are the months of June and May,
These are the months I choose my love,
⁠if it pleases her desire:
Young women carry the Keys of Love,
⁠men's hearts are still on fire.