The names of Byron and Moore are associated for their attainments; they were kindred in their friendship. The last lines, written by lord Byron, on his native soil, were addressed to Mr. Moore:
My boat is on the shore,
And my bark is on the sea;
But ere I go, Tom Moore,
Here’s a double health to thee.
Here’s a sigh for those I love,
And a smile for those I hate,
And, whatever sky’s above,
Here’s a heart for any fate.
Though the ocean roars around me,
It still shall bear me on;
Though a desert should surround me
It hath springs that may be won.
Were it the last drop in the well,
As I gasped on the brink,
Ere my fainting spirits fell,
’Tis to thee that I would drink.
In that water, as this wine,
The libation I would pour
Should be—Peace to thee and thine,
And a health to thee, Tom Moore.
Forbearing to estimate him whom the low and the lofty alike assume to measure, a passage from his own pen may fitly conclude this notice:—
Beautiful!
How beautiful is all this visible world!
How glorious in its action and itself;
But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we,
Half dust, half deity, alike unfit
To sink or soar, with our mix’d essence make
A conflict of its elements, and breathe
The breath of degradation and of pride,
Contending with low wants and lofty will
Till our mortality predominates,
And men are—what they name not to themselves,
And trust not to each other.