I SHALL not tell thee that I love thee!

Nay! by the Star in Heaven burning,

Its ray to me at midnight turning

To tell me that it beams above thee—

Nay! though thou wert, as I am, yearning,

I should not tell thee that I love thee!

I know what secret thought once blossomed

Into a blush that seemed a kiss,

Some swift suppressed extreme of bliss

In thy most fearful sigh embosomed.