Analysis of Fill the Bumper Fair

Thomas Moore 1779 (Dublin) – 1852 (Bromham)



Fill the bumper fair!
Every drop we sprinkle
O'er the brow of Care
Smooths away a wrinkle.
Wit's electric flame
Ne'er so swiftly passes,
As when through the frame
It shoots from brimming glasses.
Fill the bumper fair!
Every drop we sprinkle
O'er the brow of Care
Smooths away a wrinkle.

Sages can, they say,
Grasp the lightning's pinions,
And bring down its ray
From the starr'd dominions:
So we, Sages, sit,
And, 'mid bumpers brightening,
From the Heaven of Wit
Draw down all its lightning.
Fill the bumper, etc.

Wouldst thou know what first
Made our souls inherit
This ennobling thirst
For wine's celestial spirit?
It chanced, upon that day,
When, as bards inform us,
Prometheus stole away
The living fires that warm us:
Fill the bumper etc.

The careless Youth, when up
To Glory's fount aspiring,
Took nor urn nor cup
To hide the pilfer'd fire in. --
But oh, his joy, when, round
The halls of heaven spying,
Among the stars he found,
The bowl of Bacchus lying!
Fill the bumper, etc.

Some drops were in that bowl,
Remains of last night's pleasure,
With which the Sparks of Soul
Mix'd their burning treasure.
Hence the goblet's shower
Hath such spells to win us;
Hence its mighty power
O'er that flame within us.
Fill the bumper fair!
Every drop we sprinkle
O'er the brow of Care
Smooths away a wrinkle.


Scheme ABABcdcdABAB ededfgfgH ijijekekH lglxmgmgH nonookokABAB
Poetic Form
Metre 10101 1001110 100111 101010 10101 111010 11101 1111010 10101 1001110 100111 101010 10111 1011 01111 1011 11101 0110100 101011 111110 1010100 11111 1101010 10101 1101010 110111 111011 1101 01010111 1010100 010111 111010 11111 11010100 111111 0111010 010111 0111010 1010100 110011 0111110 110111 111010 10110 111111 111010 1011011 10101 1001110 100111 101010
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,311
Words 234
Sentences 17
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 12, 9, 9, 9, 12
Lines Amount 51
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 202
Words per stanza (avg) 46
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:14 min read
90

Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore was an Irish poet singer songwriter and entertainer now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and the The Last Rose of Summer more…

All Thomas Moore poems | Thomas Moore Books

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