Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms

Thomas Moore

Believe me if all those endearing young charms
Which I gaze on so fondly today
Were to change by tomorrow and fleet in my arms
Like fairy gifts fading away
Though would’st still be adored as this moment thou art
Let thy loveliness fade as it will
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear
That the ferver and faith of a soul can be known
To which time will but make thee more dear
No the heart that has truly loved never forgets
But as truly loves on to the close
As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets
The same look which she’d turned when he rose

It is said Moore wrote the lyrics for the wife of the Duke of Wellington when she suffered facial scars from smallpox, though there is some doubt that this is true, as they were married in 1806, and their relationship was known not to be an affectionate one. Another theory is that Moore wrote it for his own wife.