To Thomas Moore

Portrait of Lord Byron
Lord Byron 1788–1824

My boat is on the shore, And my bark is on the sea; But, before I go, Tom Moore, Here's a double health to thee!

Here's a sigh to those who love me, And a smile to those who hate; And, whatever sky's above me, Here's a heart for every fate.

Though the ocean roar around me, Yet it still shall bear me on; Though a desert should surround me, It hath springs that may be won.

Were't the last drop in the well, As I gasp'd upon the brink, Ere my fainting spirit fell, 'Tis to thee that I would drink.

With that water, as this wine, The libation I would pour Should be—peace with thine and mine, And a health to thee, Tom Moore!

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  1. Oldnick

    Tom Moore was an Irish poet and friend of Byron who became Byron's literary executor. There is much more in Wikipedia

  2. Gabriel Austin United States

    Chesterton wrote of this poem: "The whole lyric goes swift and straight to its end like a single arrow; and he who appreciates it will have learned something of the nature of arrows and the nature of songs, and of why Apollo was an archer".

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