Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Irish Robert Burns

Hector Berlioz, Charles Ives, and Benjamin Britten have adapted his work

A poem for Halloween

A Ballad: The Lake of the Dismal Swamp

Written at Norfolk, in Virginia

  • “They made her a grave, too cold and damp 
  • For a soul so warm and true; 
  • And she’s gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp, 
  • Where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp, 
  • She paddles her white canoe.
  • “And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see, 
  • And her paddle I soon shall hear; 
  • Long and loving our life shall be, 
  • And I’ll hide the maid in a cypress tree, 
  • When the footstep of death is near.”
  • Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds— 
  • His path was rugged and sore, 
  • Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds, 
  • Through many a fen where the serpent feeds, 
  • And man never trod before.
  • And when on the earth he sunk to sleep, 
  • If slumber his eyelids knew, 
  • He lay where the deadly vine doth weep 
  • Its venomous tear and nightly steep 
  • The flesh with blistering dew!
  • And near him the she-wolf stirr’d the brake, 
  • And the copper-snake breath’d in his ear, 
  • Till he starting cried, from his dream awake, 
  • “Oh! when shall I see the dusky Lake, 
  • And the white canoe of my dear?”
  • He saw the Lake, and a meteor bright 
  • Quick over its surface play’d— 
  • “Welcome,” he said, “my dear one’s light!” 
  • And the dim shore echoed for many a night 
  • The name of the death-cold maid.
  • Till he hollow’d a boat of the birchen bark, 
  • Which carried him off from shore; 
  • Far, far he follow’d the meteor spark, 
  • The wind was high and the clouds were dark, 
  • And the boat return’d no more.
  • But oft, from the Indian hunter’s camp, 
  • This lover and maid so true 
  • Are seen at the hour of midnight damp 
  • To cross the Lake by a fire-fly lamp, 
  • And paddle their white canoe!
Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was an Irish poet as well known for his songs and musical stage performances as he was for his verse. His best known lyrics—which serve equally well as poems in their own right—are “The Minstrel Boy” and “The Last Rose of Summer.” He is often referred to as the Irish Robert Burns—while Burns is often referred to as the Scottish Thomas Moore (no doubt a controversy often warmly discussed over a pint, a dram, and a peaty fire glowing in a tavern hearth). His work has been put to music by several composers, including Hector Berlioz, Charles Ives, and Benjamin Britten.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance

A poem for Halloween

A Ballad: The Lake of the Dismal Swamp

Written at Norfolk, in Virginia

  • “They made her a grave, too cold and damp 
  • For a soul so warm and true; 
  • And she’s gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp, 
  • Where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp, 
  • She paddles her white canoe.
  • “And her fire-fly lamp I soon shall see, 
  • And her paddle I soon shall hear; 
  • Long and loving our life shall be, 
  • And I’ll hide the maid in a cypress tree, 
  • When the footstep of death is near.”
  • Away to the Dismal Swamp he speeds— 
  • His path was rugged and sore, 
  • Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds, 
  • Through many a fen where the serpent feeds, 
  • And man never trod before.
  • And when on the earth he sunk to sleep, 
  • If slumber his eyelids knew, 
  • He lay where the deadly vine doth weep 
  • Its venomous tear and nightly steep 
  • The flesh with blistering dew!
  • And near him the she-wolf stirr’d the brake, 
  • And the copper-snake breath’d in his ear, 
  • Till he starting cried, from his dream awake, 
  • “Oh! when shall I see the dusky Lake, 
  • And the white canoe of my dear?”
  • He saw the Lake, and a meteor bright 
  • Quick over its surface play’d— 
  • “Welcome,” he said, “my dear one’s light!” 
  • And the dim shore echoed for many a night 
  • The name of the death-cold maid.
  • Till he hollow’d a boat of the birchen bark, 
  • Which carried him off from shore; 
  • Far, far he follow’d the meteor spark, 
  • The wind was high and the clouds were dark, 
  • And the boat return’d no more.
  • But oft, from the Indian hunter’s camp, 
  • This lover and maid so true 
  • Are seen at the hour of midnight damp 
  • To cross the Lake by a fire-fly lamp, 
  • And paddle their white canoe!
Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was an Irish poet as well known for his songs and musical stage performances as he was for his verse. His best known lyrics—which serve equally well as poems in their own right—are “The Minstrel Boy” and “The Last Rose of Summer.” He is often referred to as the Irish Robert Burns—while Burns is often referred to as the Scottish Thomas Moore (no doubt a controversy often warmly discussed over a pint, a dram, and a peaty fire glowing in a tavern hearth). His work has been put to music by several composers, including Hector Berlioz, Charles Ives, and Benjamin Britten.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.