There 's nae love like early love,
Sae lasting an' sae leal;
It wins upon the youthfu' heart,
An' sets its magic seal.
The die that 's cast in early life,
Is nae vain airy dream;
But makes thee still in after years
The subject of my theme.
But years o' shade an' sunshine
Have flung alternately
Their fleeting shadows as they pass'd
Athwart life's changing sky.
Like troubled waters, too, the mind
'S been ruffled an' distress'd;
But with the placid calm return'd
Thine image to my breast.
Still I hae seen a fairer face,
Though fairer anes are few,
An' I hae marked kinder smiles
Than e'er I gat frae you.
But smiles, like blinks o' simmer sheen,
Leave not a trace behind;
While early love has forged chains
The freest heart to bind.
The mind from tyrant fetters
Is free as air to rove;
But powerful are the links that chain
The heart to early love.
Affections, like the ivy
In nature's leafy screen,
Entwine the boughs o' early love
Wi' foliage "ever green."