Celtic Woman: The Last Rose Of Summer

Thank you my friend Lt Col Charlie Brown for sharing the music video of Celtic Woman performing "The Last Rose Of Summer"
"The Last Rose Of Summer" is a poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore who wrote it in 1805.while staying at Jenkinstown Park in County Kilkenny, Ireland, where he was said to have been inspired by a specimen of Rosa 'Old Blush'. The poem is set to a traditional tune called "Aislean an Oigfear", or "The Young Man's Dream", which was transcribed by Edward Bunting in 1792, based on a performance by harper Denis Hempson (Donnchadh Ó hÁmsaigh) at the Belfast Harp Festival

Lyrics
"'Tis the last rose of summer left blooming alone
All her lovely companions are faded and gone
No flower of her kindred, no rosebud is nigh
To reflect back her blushes and 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?
This bleak world alone."

Background on this poem
"Poem
Sheet music of The Last Rose of Summer
'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud 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?

Musical settings
Classical
The following is an incomplete selection of "theme and variations" created during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Ludwig van Beethoven used "The Last Rose of Summer" twice:
as no. 6 "Sad and Luckless was the Season" in volume 2 of his Irish Songs WoO 153 (written 1814, published 1816)
as no. 4 of his Six National Airs with Variations op. 105 for flute and piano (composed 1818, published 1819)

The Last Rose Of Summer
The Last Rose of Summer is a poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore, who was a friend of Byron and Shelley. Moore wrote it in 1805 while at Jenkinstown Park in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Sir John Stevenson set the poem to its beautiful melody and it was published in a collection of Moore's work called Irish Melodies (1807-34). It was made popular in the twenty first century in a recording by Charlotte Church and the Irish Tenors.

This melody was used extensively throughout Friedrich von Flotow's opera "Martha," first performed in 1847 in Vienna. According to the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1954), this opera was a remodelling from a ballet written in conjunction with Burgmuller and Deldevez and produced in Paris in 1844 as "Lady Henriette." It stands to reason, based on the evidence, that Flotow made liberal use of Stevenson's melody.
It is sung in the Musical group Celtic Woman by Méav Ní Mhaolchatha and Hayley Westenra
https://youtu.be/pA-RhXu1Krw

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC Wayne Brandon LTC Bill Koski Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Capt Seid Waddell Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SSgt Robert Marx PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt Jason McClish AN Christopher Crayne SPC Tom DeSmet SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT (Join to see) SSG David Andrews

SPC Margaret Higgins SFC (Join to see) Samantha S. Nicci Eisenhauer SGT (Join to see) Maj Marty Hogan SGT Mark Halmrast SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO3 Bob McCord 1SG Carl McAndrews SGT John " Mac " McConnell CWO3 Dennis M. Sgt Randy Wilber SCPO Morris Ramsey Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MSgt Stephen Council LTC (Join to see) LTC Stephan Porter

Love this song; the lyrics can be meaningful in so many different ways!