Oft, in the stilly night,
Ere slumber"s chain has bound me, Fond Memory brings the lightOf other days around me : The smiles, the tearsOf boyhood"s years,
The words of love then spoken; The eyes that shone,Now dimmed and gone,
The cheerful hearts now broken. Thus, in the stilly night,Ere slumber"s chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the lightOf other days around me.
When I remember all
The friends, so linked together, I"ve seen around me fallLike leaves in wintry weather, I feel like oneWho treads alone
Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled,Whose garlands dead, And all but he departed !
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere slumber"s chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the lightOf other days around me.
Thomas Moore
Author.-Thomas Moore (1779-1852), one of the best-known of Irish poets, was born in Dublin and educated at Dublin University. He went to London to study law, but devoted himself to literature, In time, he became a world-famous song-writer. His chief poetical works are his Irish Melodies and Lalla Rookh. He wrote also a history of Ireland, and lives of Sheridan and Byron, but he excelled in light, musical verse.
General.-How many can sing this song? What feeling does it express?
Does the supposed singer live in the past or in the present? Is the banquet- hall comparison an apt one? What makes you think so? How many comparisons are made in the two stanzas? Pick them out. Which do you think the choicest phrase?