"Her love has borne him from thy arms,
And keeps him in those fairy regions,
Where Cleena blooms in matchless charms,
Attended by her fairy legions.
Yet kind and merciful's the queen;
And if thy woe by her were seen,
And all thy constancy were known,
Brave Gerald yet might be thine own."
"Oh! father," the pale maiden cried,
"Hath he forgotten quite his Ellen?
Thinks he no more of Shannon's side,
Where love so long had made his dwelling?"
"Alas! fair maid, I cannot tell
The thoughts that in the bosom dwell;
For ah! all vain is magic art,
To read the secrets of the heart."
To Carrigcleena Ellen wends,
With aching breast, and footsteps weary;
Low on her knees the maiden bends,
Before that rocky hill of fairy;
Pale as the moonbeam is her cheek;
With trembling fear she scarce can speak;
In agony her hands she clasps;
And thus her love-taught prayer she gasps.
"Oh! Cleena, queen of fairy charms,
Have mercy on my love-lorn maiden;
Restore my Gerald to my arms--
Behold! behold! how sorrow laden
And faint, and way-worn, here I kneel;
And, with clasped hands, to thee appeal:
Give to my heart, oh! Cleena give,
The being in whose love I live!
"Break not my heart, whose truth you see,
Oh! break it not by now refusing;
For Gerald's all the world to me,
Whilst thou hast all the world for choosing:
Oh! Cleena, fairest of the fair,
Grant now a love-lorn maiden's prayer;
Or, if to yield him you deny,
Let me behold him once, and die.
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