The last few lines of the first verse always remind me of another song, the Tipperary Anthem,Slievenamon, with its verses

It was not the grace of her queenly aire
Nor her cheek of the rose's glow
Nor her soft black eyes, not her flowing hair
Nor was it her lily white brow,

Twas the soul of truth, and of melting ruth
And the smile like a summer dawn
That sold my heart away on a soft summer day
In the valley near Slievenamon.

I've never been sure which song came first, but I'm inclined to think that there's an echo of the first in the second.