To the Missus Clemens. Ballad. "I Set My Heart Upon a Flower" (1854) by Septimus Winner, 1827-1902 [using the alias "Alice Hawthorne"] Source: 127/100@Levy; Philadelphia: Lee & Walker, Plate No. 5729 4] 1. I set my heart upon a flow'r, And watch'd it bloom from day to day; But in a dark and stormy hour Its leaves were scatter'd far away; I could have wept when I beheld, That all my care had been in vain, But o'er my soul there came a hope To have it bud and bloom again. 2. I set my heart upon a form, And hoped to win an early love; But only lived to learn how vain And fruitless ev'ry hope could prove, And then I dream'd of other eyes, Of hearts that might as loving be, And with a friendship deep and warm I sought for one to welcome me. 3. But oh! the flow'r that bloom'd at first, Seem'd sweeter far than all the rest, And that one heart I sought to win I feel I could have lov'd the best; But tho' the world be fill'd with flow'rs, And hearts that beam thro' loving eyes, Oh! what are all their charms if not The first of all we learn to prize.