Skip to content
Linespedia

New-Fashioned Echoes.

By Thomas Moore

Topics: classic

Sir,--     Most of your readers are no doubt acquainted with the anecdote told of a certain not over-wise judge who, when in the act of delivering a charge in some country court-house, was interrupted by the braying of an ass at the door. "What noise is that?" asked the angry judge. "Only an extraordinary echo there is in court, my Lord," answered one of the counsel.     As there are a number of such "extraordinary echoes" abroad just now, you will not, perhaps, be unwilling, Mr. Editor, to receive the following few lines suggested by them.     Yours, etc. S.             huc coeamus,[1] ait; nullique libentius unquam responsura sono, coeamus, retulit echo.             OVID.     There are echoes, we know, of all sorts,         From the echo that "dies in the dale,"     To the "airy-tongued babbler" that sports         Up the tide of the torrent her "tale."     There are echoes that bore us, like Blues,         With the latest smart mot they have heard;     There are echoes extremely like shrews         Letting nobody have the last word.     In the bogs of old Paddy-land, too.         Certain "talented" echoes[2]    there dwell,     Who on being askt, "How do you do?"         Politely reply, Pretty well,"     But why should I talk any more         Of such old-fashioned echoes as these,     When Britain has new ones in store,         That transcend them by many degrees?     For of all repercussions of sound         Concerning which bards make a pother,     There's none like that happy rebound         When one blockhead echoes an other;--     When Kenyon commences the bray,         And the Borough-Duke follows his track;     And loudly from Dublin's sweet bay         Rathdowne brays, with interest, back!--     And while, of most echoes the sound         On our ear by reflection doth fall,     These Brunswickers[3] pass the bray round,         Without any reflection at all.     Oh Scott, were I gifted like you,         Who can name all the echoes there are     From Benvoirlich to bold Benvenue,         From Benledi to wild Uamvar;     I might track thro' each hard Irish name         The rebounds of this asinine strain,     Till from Neddy to Neddy, it came         To the chief Neddy, Kenyon, again;     Might tell how it roared in Rathdowne,         How from Dawson it died off genteelly--     How hollow it hung from the crown         Of the fat-pated Marquis of Ely;     How on hearing my Lord of Glandine,         Thistle-eaters the stoutest gave way,     Outdone in their own special line         By the forty-ass power of his bray!     But, no--for so humble a bard         'Tis a subject too trying to touch on;     Such noblemen's names are too hard,         And their noddles too soft to dwell much on.     Oh Echo, sweet nymph of the hill,         Of the dell and the deep-sounding shelves;     If in spite of Narcissus you still         Take to fools who are charmed with themselves,     Who knows but, some morning retiring,         To walk by the Trent's wooded side,     You may meet with Newcastle, admiring         His own lengthened ears in the tide!     Or, on into Cambria straying,         Find Kenyon, that double tongued elf,     In his love of ass-cendency, braying         A Brunswick duet with himself!

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"Sir,--..."

Exploring the themes of classic, Thomas Moore delivers a powerful performance in "New-Fashioned Echoes."... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:Thomas Moore

"Sir,--..." by Thomas Moore

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"[1]     When wine I quaff, before my eyes     Dreams of poetic glory rise;[2]     And freshened by the goblet's dews,     My soul invokes the he"

"doctoribus loetamur tribus.     1826.     Tho' many great Doctors there be,         There are three that all Doctors out-top,"

"FROM ALCIPHRON AT ALEXANDRIA TO CLEON AT ATHENS.     Well may you wonder at my flight         From those fair Gardens in whose bowers     Lin"

"Music in Italy.--Disappointed by it.--Recollections or other Times and Friends.--Dalton.--Sir John Stevenson.--His Daughter.--Musical Evenings togethe"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Thomas Moore

About Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore (1779–1852) was an Irish poet, singer, and songwriter best known for "Irish Melodies" (1808–1834), a collection of songs including "The Last Rose of Summer" and "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms." He was the most popular poet of his era in the British Isles.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"[1]     When wine I quaff, before my eyes     Dr..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.