Famous Moore Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Moore poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous moore poems. These examples illustrate what a famous moore poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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We May Roam Through This World

by Thomas Moore
 We may roam through this world, like a child at a feast, 
Who but sips of a sweet, and then flies to the rest; 
And, when pleasure begins to grow dull in the east, 
We may order our wings and be off to the west: 
But if hearts that feel, and eyes that smile, 
Are the dearest gifts that...Read more of this...

Though Humble the Banquet

by Thomas Moore
 Though humble the banquet to which I invite thee, 
Thou'lt find there the best a poor bard can command; 
Eyes, beaming with welcome, shall throng round, to light thee, 
And Love serve the feast with his own willing hand. 

And though Fortune may seem to have turn'd from the dwelling 
Of him thou regardest her favouring ray, 
Thou wilt...Read more of this...

The Pangolin

by Marianne Moore
 Another armored animal--scale
 lapping scale with spruce-cone regularity until they
form the uninterrupted central
 tail-row! This near artichoke with head and legs and grit-equipped
 gizzard,
the night miniature artist engineer is,
 yes, Leonardo da Vinci's replica--
 impressive animal and toiler of whom we seldom hear.
 Armor seems extra. But for him,
 the closing ear-ridge--
 or bare ear lacking even this small
...Read more of this...

Peter

by Marianne Moore
 Strong and slippery,
built for the midnight grass-party
confronted by four cats, he sleeps his time away--
the detached first claw on the foreleg corresponding
to the thumb, retracted to its tip; the small tuft of fronds
or katydid-legs above each eye numbering all units
in each group; the shadbones regularly set about the mouth
to droop or rise in unison like porcupine-quills.
He lets himself be...Read more of this...

The Donkey and His Panniers

by Thomas Moore
 A Donkey, whose talent for burdens was wondrous,
So much that you'd swear he rejoic'd in a load,
One day had to jog under panniers so pond'rous,
That -- down the poor Donkey fell smack on the road!

His owners and drivers stood round in amaze --
What! Neddy, the patient, the prosperous Neddy,
So easy to drive, through the dirtiest ways,
For every description of...Read more of this...

To Thomas Moore

by George (Lord) Byron
 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...Read more of this...

Tis the Last Rose of Summer

by Thomas Moore
 Tis the last rose of summer 
Left blooming alone; 
All her lovely companions 
Are faded and gone: 
No flower of her kindred, 
No rose-bud is nigh, 
To reflect back her blushes, 
Or give sigh for sigh. 

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one! 
To pine on the stem; 
Since the lovely are sleeping, 
Go, sleep thou with them. 
Thus...Read more of this...

Where is the Slave

by Thomas Moore
 Oh, where's the slave so lowly, 
Condemn'd to chains unholy, 
Who, could he burst 
His bonds at first, 
Would pine beneath them slowly? 
What soul, whose wrongs degrade it, 
Would wait till time decay'd it, 
When thus its wing 
At once may spring 
To the throne of Him who made it? 

Farewell, Erin, -- farewell, all, 
Who live to...Read more of this...

He Made This Screen

by Marianne Moore
 not of silver nor of coral, 
but of weatherbeaten laurel. 

Here, he introduced a sea 
uniform like tapestry; 

here, a fig-tree; there, a face; 
there, a dragon circling space -- 

designating here, a bower; 
there, a pointed passion-flower....Read more of this...

Nevertheless

by Marianne Moore
 you've seen a strawberry
that's had a struggle; yet
was, where the fragments met,

a hedgehog or a star-
fish for the multitude
of seeds. What better food

than apple seeds - the fruit
within the fruit - locked in
like counter-curved twin

hazelnuts? Frost that kills
the little rubber-plant -
leaves of kok-sagyyz-stalks, can't

harm the roots; they still grow 
in frozen ground. Once where
there was a prickley-pear - 

leaf...Read more of this...

When First I Met Thee

by Thomas Moore
 When first I met thee, warm and young, 
There shone such truth about thee, 
And on thy lip such promise hung, 
I did not dare to doubt thee. 
I saw thee change, yet still relied, 
Still clung with hope the fonder, 
And thought, though false to all beside, 
From me thou couldst not wander. 
But go, deceiver! go, 
The...Read more of this...

Come Send Round the Wine

by Thomas Moore
 Come, send round the wine, and leave points of belief 
To simpleton sages and reasoning fools; 
This moment's a flower too fair and brief 
To be wither'd and stain'd by the dust of the schools. 
Your glass may be purple, and mine may be blue, 
But, while they are fill'd from the same bright bowl, 
The fool who would...Read more of this...

The Minstrel Boy

by Thomas Moore
 The Minstrel-Boy to the war is gone, 
In the ranks of death you'll find him; 
His father's sword he has girded on, 
And his wild harp slung behind him. 
"Land of song!" said the warrior-bard, 
"Though all the world betrays thee, 
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, 
One faithful harp shall praise thee!" 

The Minstrel fell! --...Read more of this...

Erin! The Tear and the Smile in Thine Eyes

by Thomas Moore
 Erin! the tear and the smile in thine eyes 
Blend like the rainbow that hangs in thy skies, 
Shining through sorrow's stream, 
Saddening through pleasure's beam, 
Thy suns with doubtful gleam, 
Weep while they rise. 

Erin, thy silent tear never shall cease, 
Erin, thy languid smile ne'er shall increase, 
Till, like the rainbow's light, 
Thy various tints unite, 
And...Read more of this...

The Princes Day

by Thomas Moore
 Though dark are our sorrows, today we'll forget them, 
And smile through our tears, like a sunbeam in showers: 
There never were hearts, if our rulers would let them, 
More form'd to be grateful and blest than ours. 
But just when the chain, 
Has ceased to pain, 
And hope has enwreathed it round with flowers, 
There comes a new...Read more of this...

I Saw Thy Form in Youthful Prime

by Thomas Moore
 I saw thy form in youthful prime, 
Nor thought that pale decay 
Would steal before the steps of Time, 
And waste its bloom away, Mary! 
Yet still thy features wore that light, 
Which fleets not with the breath; 
And life ne'er look'd more truly bright 
Than in thy smile of death, Mary! 

As streams that run o'er golden mines,...Read more of this...

While Historys Muse

by Thomas Moore
 While History's Muse the memorial was keeping 
Of all that the dark hand of Destiny weaves, 
Beside her the Genius of Erin stood weeping, 
For hers was the story that blotted the leaves. 
But oh! how the tear in her eyelids grew bright, 
When, after whole pages of sorrow and shame, 
She saw History write, 
With a pencil of...Read more of this...

Omens

by Thomas Moore
 When daylight was yet sleeping under the pillow, 
And stars in the heavens still lingering shone, 
Young Kitty, all blushing, rose up from her pillow, 
The last time she e'er was to press it alone. 
For the youth whom she treasured her heart and her soul in 
Had promised to link the last tie before noon; 
And when once...Read more of this...

Sublime Was the Warning

by Thomas Moore
 Sublime was the warning that liberty spoke, 
And grand was the moment when Spaniards awoke 
Into life and revenge from the conqueror's chain. 
Oh, Liberty! let not this spirit have rest, 
Till it move, like a breeze, o'er the waves of the west -- 
Give the light of your look to each sorrowing spot, 
Nor, oh, be the Shamrock...Read more of this...

The Song of ORuark Prince of Breffni

by Thomas Moore
 The valley lay smiling before me, 
Where lately I left her behind; 
Yet I trembled, and something hung o'er me, 
That sadden'd the joy of my mind. 
I look'd for the lamp which, she told me, 
Should shine when her Pilgrim return'd; 
But, though darkness began to infold me, 
No lamp from the battlements burn'd! 

I flew to her...Read more of this...

The Time Ive Lost In Wooing

by Thomas Moore
 The time I've lost in wooing, 
In watching and pursuing 
The light that lies 
In woman's eyes, 
Has been my heart's undoing. 
Tho' Wisdom oft has sought me, 
I scorn'd the lore she brought me, 
My only books 
Were women's looks, 
And folly's all they taught me. 

Her smile when Beauty granted, 
I hung with gaze enchanted, 
Like him...Read more of this...

John Kinsellas Lament For Mrs. Mary Moore

by William Butler Yeats
 I

A bloody and a sudden end,
 Gunshot or a noose,
For Death who takes what man would keep,
 Leaves what man would lose.
He might have had my sister,
 My cousins by the score,
But nothing satisfied the fool
 But my dear Mary Moore,
None other knows what pleasures man
 At table or in bed.
What shall I do for pretty girls
 Now my...Read more of this...

Oh! Blame Not the Bard

by Thomas Moore
 Oh! blame not the bard, if he fly to the bowers 
Where Pleasure lies, carelessly smiling at Fame; 
He was born for much more, and in happier hours 
His soul might have burn'd with a holier flame. 
The string, that now languishes loose o'er the lyre, 
Might have bent a proud bow to the warrior's dart;
And the lip, which...Read more of this...

Alone in Crowds to Wander On

by Thomas Moore
 Alone in crowds to wander on, 
And feel that all the charm is gone 
Which voices dear and eyes beloved 
Shed round us once, where'er we roved -- 
This, this the doom must be 
Of all who've loved, and loved to see 
The few bright things they thought would stay 
For ever near them, die away. 

Though fairer forms...Read more of this...

Did Not

by Thomas Moore
 'Twas a new feeling - something more
Than we had dared to own before,
Which then we hid not;
We saw it in each other's eye,
And wished, in every half-breathed sigh,
To speak, but did not.

She felt my lips' impassioned touch - 
'Twas the first time I dared so much,
And yet she chid not;
But whispered o'er my burning brow,
'Oh, do you doubt I...Read more of this...

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