Thomas Moore: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

How oft has the Benshee cried

Thomas Moore

“How oft has the Benshee cried” as printed in Irish Melodies (1821).

Thomas Moore: Collected Lyrics Text 10 1821 · historical text
Public domainIrish songRomantic ballad
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from Irish Melodies, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

How oft has the Benshee cried!

How oft has death untied

Bright links that Glory wove,

Sweet bonds, entwin'd by Love!

Peace to each manly soul that sleepeth!

Rest to each faithful eye that weepeth!

Long may the fair and brave

Sigh o'er the hero's grave.

Verse 2

We're fallen upon gloomy days,

Star after star decays,

Every bright name, that shed

Light o'er the land, is fled.

Verse 3

Dark falls the tear of him who mourneth

Lost joy, or hope that ne'er returneth,

But brightly flows the tear,

Wept o'er a hero's bier!

Verse 4

Oh! quench'd are our beacon lights——

Thou, of the hundred fights*!

Thou, on whose burning tongue†

Truth, peace and freedom hung!

Both mute—but long as valour shineth,

Or mercy's soul at war repineth,

So long shall Erin's pride

Tell how they liv'd and died.

Credits

Written by Thomas Moore

Words by Thomas Moore (died 1852). Historical text published in Irish Melodies (1821); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

Irish Melodies (1821), “How oft has the Benshee cried”

Every lyric in this collection was written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) and first published between 1808 and 1821 (music arranged by John Stevenson, 1761-1833); both contributors died more than 170 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide, and the edition carries a pre-1931 United States public-domain tag. The credited author died in 1852.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-24. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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