"Oh! Have I Not Been True to Thee" (1848)
A Song
Written and Adapted to a Beautiful Melody
by John Hill Hewitt, 1801-1890

Baltimore, MD: George Willig, Jr.
Plate No. 2142
[Source: 640380@LoC]

1.
Oh! have I not been true to thee; 
In joy and sorrow still the same? 
Has e’en your coldness alter’d me, 
Or sterness check’d my bosom’s flame? 
Thou’st bid me hush my plaintive song, 
And still my lute’s wild melody; 
Yet, yet its strain will float along, 
Oh! have I not been true to thee?

2.
Thy falcon now has thy caress, 
Thy hound leaps gladly to thy beck; 
But she who loves to wild excess 
Cannot one pulse of feeling wake. 
This should not be, I cannot brook 
The icy smile thou givest me; 
There’s death in each reproachful look-- 
Oh! have I not been true to thee?