ANGLO-IRISH   LITERARY   TEXTS

tricolor


THOMAS   MOORE

DEAR   HARP   OF   MY   COUNTRY


Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee,
    The cold chain of silence had hung o'er thee long,
When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee,
    And gave all thy chords to light, freedom, and song!

The warm lay of love and the light note of gladness
    Have waken'd thy fondest, thy liveliest thrill;
But, so oft hast thou echo'd the deep sigh of sadness,
    That ev'n in thy mirth it will steal from thee still.

Dear Harp of my Country! farewell to thy numbers,
    This sweet wreath of song is the last we shall twine!
Go, sleep with the sunshine of Fame on thy slumbers,
    Till touch'd by some hand less unworthy than mine

If the pulse of the patriot, soldier, or lover,
    Have throbb'd at our lay, 'tis thy glory alone;
I was but as the wind, passing heedlessly over,
    And all the wild sweetness I wak'd was thy own.




RJW

RETURN TO THE GENERAL INDEX

RETURN TO THE HOME PAGE