Time & Brevity

'Tis the Last Rose of Summer

by Thomas Moore 1779–1852

From Irish Melodies

Time & BrevityNature

'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rose-bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
Or give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one!
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping.
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
And from Love's shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered,
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

✦ ✦ ✦

Set to a traditional Irish air, this became one of the most set and quoted lyrics of the nineteenth century — Flotow borrowed it whole for the opera Martha.

MLA

Moore, Thomas. “'Tis the Last Rose of Summer.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/moore/18/.

Chicago

Moore, Thomas. “'Tis the Last Rose of Summer.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/moore/18/.

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