To Miss Fannie Kettlenvell
"Do I Not Love Thee" (6 Jan 1852)
Words by Mrs. H. Marion Stephens
Music by John Hill Hewitt, 1801-1890

Baltimore, MD: G. Willig Jr.
Plate No. 2427
[Source: 520210@LoC]

1.
Do I not love thee? I ask the hours
  That slowly creeping on,
Seem spectres of past blissfulness,
  When thou, my love, are gone.
Bid them give up a just account
  Of all my hopes and fears,
Of woman's weary loneliness,
  Of woman's bitter tears.

2.
Do I not thee? Seek the shell
  Forsaken by the sea--
And list its moan, for thus my heart
  Forever pleads for thee!
And when-- no, no it cannot be--
  Yet when its dream is o'er,
My shrouded sky must bear to lose
  One brilliant sunbeam more!

3.
Do I not love thee? Ah, my heart,
  So desolate for years,
Has fled in trustingness to thee,
  For thou hast shared its fears!
But keep thine own, like some lone star,
  Forever bright and free--
I'll be content to know it shines
  One little thought for me!