| Augustin S. Macdonald, comp. A Collection of Verse by California Poets. 1914. | | | | To My First Love | | By Crowquill |
| | | THIS heart has beat to many a one, | |
| To many, passing fair; | |
| But oh! the Love which first it knew, | |
| Still lingers fondly there;— | |
| Though brighter eyes have beamed on me,— | 5 |
| And rosier lips I’ve prest, | |
| The Love which first I felt for thee— | |
| Yet dwells within my breast. | |
| |
| Tho’ softer skies are o’er me now, | |
| And stars shine brighter here; | 10 |
| Tho’ Nature wears a sunny smile | |
| And birds sing all the year, | |
| Yet I would fain them all resign, | |
| To dwell once more with thee, | |
| For one sweet smile from lips like thine, | 15 |
| Were dearer far to me. | |
| |
| As memory clings around the spot, | |
| Where first the breath we drew, | |
| And all our kindlier thoughts are placed | |
| On scenes that first we knew— | 20 |
| So earliest Love still twines around | |
| The heart which beats to ours, | |
| As Summer’s sweetest dew is found | |
| Upon the earliest flowers. | | | | |
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