I SOUGHT the fair throughout the valley

I SOUGHT the fair throughout the valley, And hy'd me to her fav'rite brook; The pink, the violet, and the lilly, Adorn'd and flourish'd round her crook. My Isabel in accents moving, Attuned her lay; and thus she sung, Where is my Colin roving?

Ye conscious groves, where off my lover, In accents dear, reveal'd his flame; Say, can ye Colin's heart discover, —Ah! is my true love still the same? While ev'ry look declar'd him loving, His words were balm to heal my soul; —Where is my Colin roving?

Oh! how my heart, transported flutter'd, When she confess'd her love so true, Such soothing words so sweetly uttered, New joy inspir'd, to her I flew. I knelt, I sigh'd, a falling tear, Proclaim'd my ardent love sincere; —Ah! could I then be roving?

The world itself shall fade and perish, Ere I my Isabel forsake; With love and truth my fair I'll cherish, Her joys and miseries partake— She blush'd and smil'd with grace serene, I thus address'd fair beauty's queen, —Adieu to all my roving.