Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. V. Browning to Rupert Brooke

Coventry Patmore (1823–1896)

Eros

BRIGHT thro’ the valley gallops the brooklet;

Over the welkin travels the cloud;

Touch’d by the zephyr, dances the harebell;

Cuckoo sits somewhere, singing so loud;

Two little children, seeing and hearing,

Hand in hand wander, shout, laugh, and sing:

Lo, in their bosoms, wild with the marvel,

Love, like the crocus, is come ere the Spring.

Young men and women, noble and tender,

Yearn for each other, faith truly plight,

Promise to cherish, comfort and honour;

Vow that makes duty one with delight.

Oh, but the glory, found in no story,

Radiance of Eden unquench’d by the Fall;

Few may remember, none may reveal it,

This the first first-love, the first love of all!