"You are dear to me, that I may be permitted to confess--and to see you thus fills me with grief.

But now--if I am dear to you, and I know you care for me--cease to torture me so cruelly.

You are dear to me.

I have said it, and it must be spoken, that everything may be clearly understood between us.

You are dear to me, like the beautiful by-gone days of my youth, like pleasant dreams, like a noble song, in which we take delight, and which refreshes our souls, whenever we hear or remember it--but more you are not, more you can never be.