If I were a blooming maid

Of sweet seventeen-

With a sylph-like form

With a radiant charm

With a winning smile

With silken tresses

With almond eyes,

Then, youths with romantic vein

Unbidden sing my praise.

In vain they liken me

To a blooming flower,

Hail me queen, greet me goddess;

Poets with inspired visions

Offer lays of love and life,

And wait with bated breath

For my lacerating glance of love.

If I were a blooming maid

Of sweet seventeen-

Cast in Cupid's comely form,

A dreaming world, a loving world,

Fain would fawn at my lotus-feet

And kiss the dust turned holy by my tread.