Quick! We Have But A Second.

Quick! we have but a second,
    Fill round the cup, while you may;
For Time, the churl, hath beckoned,
    And we must away, away!
Grasp the pleasure that's flying,
    For oh, not Orpheus' strain
Could keep sweet hours from dying,
    Or charm them to life again.
        Then, quick! we have but a second,
            Fill round the cup while you may;
        For Time, the churl, hath beckoned,
            And we must away, away!

See the glass, how it flushes.
    Like some young Hebe's lip,
And half meets thine, and blushes
    That thou shouldst delay to sip.
Shame, oh shame unto thee,
    If ever thou see'st that day,
When a cup or lip shall woo thee,
    And turn untouched away!
        Then, quick! we have but a second,
            Fill round, fill round, while you may;
        For Time, the churl, hath beckoned,
            And we must away, away!

Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, and songwriter, celebrated for his Irish Melodies, which are now considered a staple of Irish cultural heritage. Born on May 28, 1779, in Dublin, Ireland, Moore gained fame for his lyrical songs, many of which were set to traditional Irish tunes. Not only a poet, but he was also a staunch advocate of Irish nationalism, often incorporating themes of national identity and resistance into his work. Moore's influential collection 'Irish Melodies' became popular in both Ireland and Britain and helped to define the literary output of the era. He passed away on February 25, 1852, but his legacy in Irish literature and music endures.

Thomas Moore

To The Lord Viscount Forbes.

Thomas Moore, Simple Poetry

Odes Of Anacreon - Ode LII.

Thomas Moore, Simple Poetry

Odes Of Anacreon - Ode LV.

Thomas Moore, Simple Poetry

Go, Now, And Dream. (Sicilian Air.)

Thomas Moore, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Drink Of This Cup.

Drink of this cup;--you'll find there's a spell in
    Its every drop 'gainst the ills of mortality;
Talk of the cordial that sparkled for Helen!
    Her cup was a fiction, but this is reality.
Would you forget the dark world we are in,
    Just taste of the bubble that gleams on the top of it;
But would you rise above earth, till akin
    To Immortals themselves, you must drain every drop of it;
Send round the cup--for oh there's a spell in
    Its every drop 'gainst the ills of mortality;
Talk of the cordial that sparkled for Helen!
    Her cup was a fiction, but this is reality.

Never was philter formed with such power
    To charm and bewilder as this we are quaffing;
Its magic began when, in Autumn's rich hour,
    A harvest of gold in the fields it stoo...

Thomas Moore

Hip, Hip, Hurra!

Come, fill round a bumper, fill up to the brim,
He who shrinks from a bumper I pledge not to him;
Here's the girl that each loves, be her eye of what hue,
Or lustre, it may, so her heart is but true.
        Charge! (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, hurra!

Come charge high, again, boy, nor let the full wine
Leave a space in the brimmer, where daylight may shine;
Here's "the friends of our youth--tho' of some we're bereft,
May the links that are lost but endear what are left!"
        Charge! (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, hurra!

Once more fill a bumper--ne'er talk of the hour;
On hearts thus united old Time has no power.
May our lives, tho', alas! like the wine of to-night,
They must soon have an end, to the last flow as bright.
        Charge! (drinks) hip, hip, hurra, ...

Thomas Moore

Bring The Bright Garlands Hither.

Bring the bright garlands hither,
    Ere yet a leaf is dying;
If so soon they must wither.
    Ours be their last sweet sighing.
Hark, that low dismal chime!
'Tis the dreary voice of Time.
Oh, bring beauty, bring roses,
    Bring all that yet is ours;
Let life's day, as it closes,
    Shine to the last thro' flowers.

Haste, ere the bowl's declining,
    Drink of it now or never;
Now, while Beauty is shining,
    Love, or she's lost for ever.
Hark! again that dull chime,
'Tis the dreary voice of Time.
Oh, if life be a torrent,
    Down to oblivion going,
Like this cup be its current,
    Bright to the last drop flowing!

Thomas Moore

One Bumper At Parting.

One bumper at parting!--tho' many
    Have circled the board since we met,
The fullest, the saddest of any
    Remains to be crowned by us yet.
The sweetness that pleasure hath in it,
    Is always so slow to come forth,
That seldom, alas, till the minute
    It dies, do we know half its worth.
But come,--may our life's happy measure
    Be all of such moments made up;
They're born on the bosom of Pleasure,
    They die midst the tears of the cup.

'Tis onward we journey, how pleasant
    To pause and inhabit awhile
Those few sunny spots, like the present,
    That mid the dull wilderness smile!
But Time, like a pitiless master,
    Cries "Onward!" and spurs the gay hours--
Ah, never doth Time travel faster,
    Than when his way lies among...

Thomas Moore

Song Of The Two Cupbearers.

FIRST CUPBEARER.

Drink of this cup--Osiris sips
    The same in his halls below;
And the same he gives, to cool the lips
    Of the dead, who downward go.

Drink of this cup--the water within
    Is fresh from Lethe's stream;
'Twill make the past, with all its sin,
    And all its pain and sorrows, seem
    Like a long forgotten dream;
The pleasure, whose charms
    Are steeped in woe;
The knowledge, that harms
    The soul to know;

The hope, that bright
    As the lake of the waste,
Allures the sight
    And mocks the taste;

The love, that binds
    Its innocent wreath,
Where the serpent winds
    In venom beneath!--

All that of evil or false, by thee
    Hath ever been known or seen,
Shalt ...

Thomas Moore

Odes Of Anacreon - Ode LXXVIII.

When Cupid sees how thickly now,
The snows of Time fall o'er my brow,
Upon his wing of golden light.
He passes with an eaglet's flight,
And flitting onward seems to say,
"Fare thee well, thou'st had thy day!"

Cupid, whose lamp has lent the ray,
That lights our life's meandering way,
That God, within this bosom stealing,
Hath wakened a strange, mingled feeling.
Which pleases, though so sadly teasing,
And teases, though so sweetly pleasing!

            *            *            *            *            *

Let me resign this wretched breath
    Since now remains to me
No other balm than kindly death,
    To soothe my misery!

            *            *            *            *            *

I know thou lovest a brimming meas...

Thomas Moore