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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  584. The Light of Other Days

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Thomas Moore. 1779–1852

584. The Light of Other Days

OFT, in the stilly night, 
  Ere slumber’s chain has bound me, 
Fond Memory brings the light 
  Of other days around me: 
    The smiles, the tears         5
    Of boyhood’s years, 
  The words of love then spoken; 
    The eyes that shone, 
    Now dimm’d and gone, 
  The cheerful hearts now broken!  10
Thus, in the stilly night, 
  Ere slumber’s chain has bound me, 
Sad Memory brings the light 
  Of other days around me. 
 
When I remember all  15
  The friends, so link’d together, 
I’ve seen around me fall 
  Like leaves in wintry weather, 
    I feel like one 
    Who treads alone  20
  Some banquet-hall deserted, 
    Whose lights are fled, 
    Whose garlands dead, 
  And all but he departed! 
Thus, in the stilly night,  25
  Ere slumber’s chain has bound me. 
Sad Memory brings the light 
  Of other days around me.