A Double Toast To Tom Moore

When last we left off, we’d looked at the Duke of Windsor and how he may have influenced the team that supported photographer Bruce Weber in his legendary photo shoots for Polo Ralph Lauren. One of the recurring models was actually a regular guy: an architect named Tom Moore who played a benevolent and elegant patriarch surrounded by at least two generations of fellow Polo models. We paid tribute to him last year, and now frequent comment-leaver GS has sent in a few pics I hadn’t seen. Ergo, an encore:

And, since images are delightful but so are words, some verses. Lord Byron was the first poet I read seriously, during the dog days of a sweltering summer I spent in Japan during college (I still have the Byron book, which I bought while there). I always enjoyed this tribute Byron wrote to his friend, whose name, naturally, was Tom Moore. It’s about raising a toast, so here’s cheers to you, Ivy Style reader, and all the Tom Moores of the world. — CC

I.

My boat is on the shore,
   And my bark is on the sea;
But, before I go, Tom Moore,
   Here’s a double health to thee!

II.

Here’s a sigh to those who love me,
   And a smile to those who hate;
And, whatever sky’s above me,
   Here’s a heart for every fate.

III.

Though the ocean roar around me,
   Yet it still shall bear me on;
Though a desert should surround me,
   It hath springs that may be won.

IV.

Were’t the last drop in the well,
   As I gasp’d upon the brink,
Ere my fainting spirit fell,
   ‘Tis to thee that I would drink.

V.

With that water, as this wine,
   The libation I would pour
Should be — peace with thine and mine,
   And a health to thee, Tom Moore.