The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore Collected by Himself. In Ten Volumes |
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 | The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore |  |
282
TO THE FIRE-FLY.
At morning, when the earth and sky
Are glowing with the light of spring,
We see thee not, thou humble fly!
Nor think upon they gleaming wing.
Are glowing with the light of spring,
We see thee not, thou humble fly!
Nor think upon they gleaming wing.
But when the skies have lost their hue,
And sunny lights no longer play,
Oh then we see and bless thee too
For sparkling o'er the dreary way.
And sunny lights no longer play,
Oh then we see and bless thee too
For sparkling o'er the dreary way.
283
Thus let me hope, when lost to me
The lights that now my life illume,
Some milder joys may come, like thee,
To cheer, if not to warm, the gloom!
The lights that now my life illume,
Some milder joys may come, like thee,
To cheer, if not to warm, the gloom!
The lively and varying illumination, with which these fire-flies light up the woods at night, gives quite an idea of enchantment. “Puis ces mouches se developpant de l'obscurité de ces arbres et s'approchant de nous, nous les voyions sur les orangers voisins, qu'ils mettoient tout en feu, nous rendant la vue de leurs beaux fruits dorés que la nuit avoit ravie,” &c. &c. —See L'Histoire des Antilles, art. 2. chap.4. liv. i.
| The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore | |