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by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)

The Legacy 
Language: English 
When in death I shall calm recline, 
O bear my heart to my mistress dear;   
Tell her it lived upon smiles, and wine
Of the brightest hue, while it linger'd here; 
Bid her not shed one tear of sorrow 
To sully a heart so brilliant and light, 
But balmy drops of the red grape borrow, 
To bathe the relic from morning to night. 

When the light of my song is o'er, 
Then take my harp to your ancient hall; 
Hang it up at the friendly door 
Where weary travellers love to call; 
Then if some bard, who roams forsaken,
Revive its soft note in passing along, 
Oh!  let one thought of its master waken 
Your warmest smile for the child of song. 

Keep this cup, which is now o'erflowing, 
To grace your revel when I'm at rest;
Never, oh never, its balm bestowing 
On lips that beauty hath seldom blest! 
But when some warm devoted lover 
To her he adores shall bathe its brim, 
Oh!  then my spirit around shall hover, 
And hallow each drop that foams for him.

Confirmed with Thomas Moore, Melodies, Songs, Sacred Songs, and National Airs, now first collected and arranged, and containing many never before published, New York: W. B. Gilley, 1825, page 27. Appears in Irish Melodies.


Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "The Legacy ", appears in Irish Melodies [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Oskar Falke (1827 - 1883) , "Vermächtnis", appears in Irische Melodien von Thomas Moore ; composed by Gustav Bergmann.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this page: Melanie Trumbull

This text was added to the website: 2021-01-15
Line count: 24
Word count: 179

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