The Songs that Quinte Sang/St. Valentine’s Eve
St. Valentine’s Eve.
“Good St. Valentine, listen to me,
Good St. Valentine, let me see
Who my future love will be?”
I was all alone at the window
On the eve of St. Valentine’s day,
And the moon shed a soft, silver lustre,
O’er the earth clad in snowy array.
And I hope, dear, you’ll not think me foolish
When you hear what I have to tell,
But sitting alone in the moonlight
I thought of the old love-spell.
They say if you stand in the moonlight
And pray to St. Valentine
For a glimpse of your future lover
In the words of a quaint, old rhyme,
That the good Saint never refuses
To answer a prayer sincere,
And the form of the one who loves you
That night in your dreams will appear.
So I thought if he listened to others
He might answer a prayer of mine,
For you know he’s the friend of lovers,
This dear old Saint Valentine.
But I fear I’m a bit of sceptic,
For I hadn’t much faith in the charm,
Still I thought to myself, “I will try it,
As it surely can do no harm.”
And the moon shed its glories around me
As I whispered the quaint old rhyme,
And of course, dear, I need not tell you
I was thinking of you all the time.
Oh! I whispered it ever so softly
For fear I might be overheard,
But the moon and the stars seemed to listen
And I know that they caught every word.
And I fancied the moon was smiling
And the stars seemed to laugh overhead,
And I felt half ashamed of my folly
As I silently crept to my bed.
But, dear, I awoke in the morning
Convinced that the charm was true,
And I know that the good Saint heard me,
For, darling, I dreamed of you.