Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Ireland: Vol. V. 1876–79.

Arranmore, the Island

Arranmore

By Thomas Moore (1779–1852)

O ARRANMORE, loved Arranmore,

How oft I dream of thee,

And of those days when by thy shore

I wandered young and free!

Full many a path I ’ve tried since then,

Through pleasure’s flowery maze,

But ne’er could find the bliss again

I felt in those sweet days.

How blithe upon the breezy cliffs

At sunny morn I ’ve stood,

With heart as bounding as the skiffs

That danced along the flood!

Or when the western wave grew bright

With daylight’s parting wing,

Have sought that Eden in its light

Which dreaming poets sing,—

That Eden where the immortal brave

Dwell in a land serene,

Whose bowers beyond the shining wave,

At sunset, oft are seen;

Ah, dream, too full of saddening truth!

Those mansions o’er the main

Are like the hopes I built in youth,—

As sunny and as vain!