University of Virginia Library


44

LIX.
FIRST LOVE.

Oh! precious is the flow'r that Passion brings
To his first shrine of beauty, when the heart
Runs over in devotion, and no art
Checks the free gush of the wild lay he sings;—
But the rapt eye, and the impetuous thought
Declare the pure affection; and a speech,
Such as the ever-tuned affections teach,
Delivers love's best confidence unbought;—
And all is glory in the o'er-arching sky,
And all is beauty in the uplifting earth,
And from the wood, and o'er the wave, a mirth,
Such as mocks hope with immortality,
Declares that all the loved ones are at hand,
With still the turtle's voice, the loudest in the land.