Classic Poem

VERSE 1 HE :

Prepare yourself to hear the worst!
I'm sorry, but you're not the first
My heart to claim,
I own with shame.
I'm thankful that I have confessed:
My conscience now will be at rest.
You may forgive me and love me just the same.
To force myself to say so
I've had an awful tussle,
Yet still the fact I can't conceal:
I once loved Lillian Russell.

REFRAIN 1

But that was before I met you, dearie, dear,
That was before I met you.
Her image I've banished,
All passion has vanished,
I think you're a million
Times sweeter than Lillian.
Don't scold me,
You told me
To tell you the truth;
Just count it as one of the follies of youth:
I thought her a queen
When I was fourteen,
But that was before I met you.

VERSE 2 SHE :

My pet, I know just how you feel,
For I have something to reveal:
For, dear, I too
Once loved like you.
I shall be happier, no doubt,
When I have let my secret out.
In days gone by, dear, I idolized John Drew.
I used to hope that someday
We might become acquainted.
And when I got his autograph
I thought I should have fainted.

REFRAIN 2

But that was before I met you, dearie, dear,
That was before I met you.
His wonderful profile
Made all girls, you know, feel
That nothing could cheer them
If he wasn't near them.
Romances
My fancies
Would weave about John!
But love seemed to wane as the long years went on.
I thought him divine;
But then I was nine,
And that was before I met you.