THE SHEPHERD WHO MAKES LOVE TO ME.

The shepherd who makes love to me,

Is the bravest you can see.

Ask me not to tell you more.

I lead my sheep upon the plain,

And my cows to browse again.

Ask me not to tell you more.

My lambkins feed along the glade,

And I am seated in the shade.

Ask me not to tell you more.

My shepherd comes to see me there,

And tells me I am sweet and fair.

Ask me not to tell you more.

In listening to his love words deep,

My eyelids close; I'm charmed to sleep.

Ask me not to tell you more.

I dream my shepherd is a dove,

And my fond heart his cage of love,

Ask me not to tell you more.

The maiden surprised by her lover as she lies asleep beneath the shade is a favorite subject in all folk-poetry, but it is seldom that it has been treated with a greater grace and charm than in La Belle Endormie. The sentiment has all the simplicity and purity of spontaneous love, and the language the sweet naïveté of folk-song, however much of its charm may have vanished in the translation.