“Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms”

Description

"Believe me if all those endearing young charms Which I gaze on so fondly today Were to change by tomorrow... Thou wouldst still be adores As this moment thou art." The singer says he loves her for herself; she didn't create her beauty anyway

Notes

If Granger's Index to Poetry is any guide, this is the most popular of all Moore's songs, appearing in no fewer than 18 of the anthologies it cites. And yet, I know of no traditional collections at all. - RBW

Broadsides

• Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 3070 View 2 of 3[very difficult to read], "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms", T. Batchelar (London), 1817-1828; also Firth b.26(511), Firth c.18(31), "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms"

Recordings

• Henry Burr, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (Little Wonder 105, 1915; Little Wonder 836, 1918)
• James McCool, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (Victor 4594, 1906)
• Unknown tenor, "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (Emerson 758, 1916)

References

1. O'Conor, p. 120, "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (1 text)
2. Silber-FSWB, p. 252, "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (1 text)
3. Fuld-WFM, pp. 138-139, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms -- (Fair Harvard)"
4. Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 378, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (1 text)
5. BI, FSWB252A