When First I Loved Thee

Caroline Elizabeth Sheridan

1808 to 1877

Poem Image

When first I loved thee
There was a sunny gladness in my home, 
When time had proved thee,
Hope fled—and darkness shed a cheerless gloom! 
Young and light-hearted,
I made thee then an idol to adore!
When hope departed,
I said, "Farewell! I'll think on thee no more!"

Oh, they were weary hours,
When first I tried what I had been, to be— 
I brought my birds, my flowers,
Alas! they put me all in mind of thee!
Each thing reminds me
Which now I love, of what I loved before— 
Fond memory binds me
To think on thee—or else to think no more!