I do think Perl is a good first language. Easy to follow, free-form, can do a lot while knowing a little, etc... But, I would choose Lisp (Common Lisp) as a first language if not Perl. Why? As ESR said, "LISP is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use LISP itself a lot."

Cheers,
KM