Thomas Moore: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

We may roam thro' this world, like a child at a feast

Thomas Moore

“We may roam thro' this world, like a child at a feast” as printed in Irish Melodies (1821).

Thomas Moore: Collected Lyrics Text 25 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

We may roam thro' this world, like a child at a feast,

Who but sips of a sweet, and then flies to the rest;

And, when pleasure begins to grow dull in the east,

We may order our wings and be off to the west;

But if hearts, that feel, and eyes, that smile,

Are the dearest gifts that heaven supplies,

We never need leave our own green isle,

For sensitive hearts and for sun-bright eyes.

Then remember, wherever your goblet is crown'd,

Thro' this world whether eastward or westward you roam,

When a cup to the smile of dear woman goes round,

Oh! remember the smile which adorns her at home.

Verse 2

In England, the garden of beauty is kept

By a dragon of prudery, plac'd within call;

But so oft this unamiable dragon has slept,

That the garden's but carelessly watch'd after all.

Verse 3

Oh! they want the wild, sweet-briery fence,

Which round the flowers of Erin dwells,

Which warns the touch, while winning the sense,

Nor charms us least, when it most repels.

Then remember, wherever your goblet is crown'd,

Thro' this world whether eastward or westward you roam,

When a cup to the smile of dear woman goes round,

Oh! remember the smile which adorns her at home.

Verse 4

In France, when the heart of a woman sets sail

On the ocean of wedlock its fortune to try,

Love seldom goes far in a vessel so frail,

But just pilots her off, and then bids her good-bye!

While the daughters of Erin keep the boy

Ever smiling beside his faithful oar,

Through billows of woe and beams of joy

The same as he look'd, when he left the shore.

Then remember, wherever your goblet is crown'd,

Thro' this world whether eastward or westward you roam,

When a cup to the smile of dear woman goes round,

Oh! remember the smile which adorns her at home.

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), “We may roam thro' this world, like a child at a feast”

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

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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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