Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore [1779-1852] was a great early Irish poet, but like Robert Burns he's often read best in short intervals. Take this excerpt for example from his "Farewell!--But Whenever". We today have difficulty reading so-called 'direct' poetry, that speaks simply straight to the reader. Well, at least many poetry lovers do! After years of Modernism and what came after it, a direct style sometimes seems too cliche or on the nose.

Here is the last stanza of his piece, try this alone and see if you hear the same echo of Keats that I do. It's lovely here alone without the rest of it, which you can read here:

[...]

Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of joy,
Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy;
Which come in the night-time of sorrow and care,
And bring back the features which joy used to wear.
Long, long be my heart with such memories filled!
Like the vase in which roses have once been distilled—
You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will,
But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.