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,
Of boyhood's years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone,
Now dimm'd and gone,
The cheerful hearts now broken!
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain hath bound me,
Sad memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
When I remember all
The friends, so link'd together,
I've seen around me fall,
Like leaves in wintry weather;
I feel like one
Who 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 light
Of other days around me.
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The Poem
From guest Aiman (contact)
I read this poem for the first time last night because I have an assessment test of ENGLISH LITERATURE in a week. I loved this poem the very first time I read it. Sadly, it is the sheer reality od life which we cannot change. Its one poem that I won't forget. -
Means so much
We had this poem in school, I forget which grade. I could not appreciate its fine metaphors and similies then but it stayed with me in bits and pieces. Much later as one by one, my dad's friends passed away and he grew lonelier, I came to realise how well this poem described his life and it became a very special poem to me. Sadly I never shared it with him. Now he too has left to join those who once left him and I wish I had read it out to him at least once. -
Thomas Moore expresses the feeling of melancholy very well here. "the cheerful hearts now broken!" he describes how he feels like he is treading the world alone. good description.
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