Love's Pains

I
This love, I canna' bear it
It cheats me night and day;
This love, I canna' wear it,
It takes my peace away.

II
This love, wa' once a flower;
But now it is a thorn, -
The joy o' evening hour,
Turn'd to a pain e're morn.

III
This love, it wa' a bud,
And a secret known to me;
Like a flower within a wood;
Like a nest within a tree.

IV
This love, wrong understood.
Oft' turned my joy to pain;
I tried to throw away the bud,
But the blossom would remain.

                     - - - -John Clare