[ { "title": "The Episode of Nisus and Euryalus. a Paraphrase From the \"ÆNeid,\" Lib. 9", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Nisus, the guardian of the portal, stood,", "Eager to gild his arms with hostile blood;", "Well skill'd, in fight, the quivering lance to wield,", "Or pour his arrows thro' th' embattled field:", "From Ida torn, he left his sylvan cave,", "And sought a foreign home, a distant grave.", "To watch the movements of the Daunian host,", "With him Euryalus sustains the post;", "No lovelier mien adorn'd the ranks of Troy,", "And beardless bloom yet grac'd the gallant boy;", "Though few the seasons of his youthful life,", "As yet a novice in the martial strife,", "'Twas his, with beauty, Valour's gifts to share--", "A soul heroic, as his form was fair:", "These burn with one pure flame of generous love;", "In peace, in war, united still they move;", "Friendship and Glory form their joint reward;", "And, now, combin'd they hold their nightly guard.", "", "\"What God,\" exclaim'd the first, \"instils this fire?", "Or, in itself a God, what great desire?", "My lab'ring soul, with anxious thought oppress'd,", "Abhors this station of inglorious rest;", "The love of fame with this can ill accord,", "Be't mine to seek for glory with my sword.", "See'st thou yon camp, with torches twinkling dim,", "Where drunken slumbers wrap each lazy limb?", "Where confidence and ease the watch disdain,", "And drowsy Silence holds her sable reign?", "Then hear my thought:--In deep and sullen grief", "Our troops and leaders mourn their absent chief:", "Now could the gifts and promised prize be thine,", "(The deed, the danger, and the fame be mine,)", "Were this decreed, beneath yon rising mound,", "Methinks, an easy path, perchance, were found;", "Which past, I speed my way to Pallas' walls,", "And lead Æneas from Evander's halls.\"", "", " With equal ardour fir'd, and warlike joy,", "His glowing friend address'd the Dardan boy:--", "\"These deeds, my Nisus, shalt thou dare alone?", "Must all the fame, the peril, be thine own?", "Am I by thee despis'd, and left afar,", "As one unfit to share the toils of war?", "Not thus his son the great Opheltes taught:", "Not thus my sire in Argive combats fought;", "Not thus, when Ilion fell by heavenly hate,", "I track'd Æneas through the walks of fate:", "Thou know'st my deeds, my breast devoid of fear,", "And hostile life-drops dim my gory spear.", "Here is a soul with hope immortal burns,", "And _life_, ignoble _life_, for _Glory_ spurns.", "Fame, fame is cheaply earn'd by fleeting breath:", "The price of honour, is the sleep of death.\"", "", " Then Nisus:--\"Calm thy bosom's fond alarms:", "Thy heart beats fiercely to the din of arms.", "More dear thy worth, and valour than my own,", "I swear by him, who fills Olympus' throne!", "So may I triumph, as I speak the truth,", "And clasp again the comrade of my youth!", "But should I fall,--and he, who dares advance", "Through hostile legions, must abide by chance,--", "If some Rutulian arm, with adverse blow,", "Should lay the friend, who ever lov'd thee, low,", "Live thou--such beauties I would fain preserve--", "Thy budding years a lengthen'd term deserve;", "When humbled in the dust, let some one be,", "Whose gentle eyes will shed one tear for me;", "Whose manly arm may snatch me back by force,", "Or wealth redeem, from foes, my captive corse;", "Or, if my destiny these last deny,", "If, in the spoiler's power, my ashes lie;", "Thy pious care may raise a simple tomb,", "To mark thy love, and signalise my doom.", "Why should thy doating wretched mother weep", "Her only boy, reclin'd in endless sleep?", "Who, for thy sake, the tempest's fury dar'd,", "Who, for thy sake, war's deadly peril shar'd;", "Who brav'd what woman never brav'd before,", "And left her native, for the Latian shore.\"", "", "\"In vain you damp the ardour of my soul,\"", "Replied Euryalus; \"it scorns controul;", "Hence, let us haste!\"--their brother guards arose,", "Rous'd by their call, nor court again repose;", "The pair, buoy'd up on Hope's exulting wing,", "Their stations leave, and speed to seek the king.", "", " Now, o'er the earth a solemn stillness ran,", "And lull'd alike the cares of brute and man;", "Save where the Dardan leaders, nightly, hold", "Alternate converse, and their plans unfold.", "On one great point the council are agreed,", "An instant message to their prince decreed;", "Each lean'd upon the lance he well could wield,", "And pois'd with easy arm his ancient shield;", "When Nisus and his friend their leave request,", "To offer something to their high behest.", "With anxious tremors, yet unaw'd by fear,", "The faithful pair before the throne appear;", "Iulus greets them; at his kind command,", "The elder, first, address'd the hoary band.", "", "\"With patience\" (thus Hyrtacides began)", "\"Attend, nor judge, from youth, our humble plan.", "Where yonder beacons half-expiring beam,", "Our slumbering foes of future conquest dream,", "Nor heed that we a secret path have trac'd,", "Between the ocean and the portal plac'd;", "Beneath the covert of the blackening smoke,", "Whose shade, securely, our design will cloak!", "If you, ye Chiefs, and Fortune will allow,", "We'll bend our course to yonder mountain's brow,", "Where Pallas' walls, at distance, meet the sight,", "Seen o'er the glade, when not obscur'd by night:", "Then shall Æneas in his pride return,", "While hostile matrons raise their offspring's urn;", "And Latian spoils, and purpled heaps of dead", "Shall mark the havoc of our Hero's tread;", "Such is our purpose, not unknown the way,", "Where yonder torrent's devious waters stray;", "Oft have we seen, when hunting by the stream,", "The distant spires above the valleys gleam.\"", "", " Mature in years, for sober wisdom fam'd,", "Mov'd by the speech, Alethes here exclaim'd,--", "\"Ye parent gods! who rule the fate of Troy,", "Still dwells the Dardan spirit in the boy;", "When minds, like these, in striplings thus ye raise,", "Yours is the godlike act, be yours the praise;", "In gallant youth, my fainting hopes revive,", "And Ilion's wonted glories still survive.\"", "Then in his warm embrace the boys he press'd,", "And, quivering, strain'd them to his agéd breast;", "With tears the burning cheek of each bedew'd,", "And, sobbing, thus his first discourse renew'd:--", "\"What gift, my countrymen, what martial prize,", "Can we bestow, which you may not despise?", "Our Deities the first best boon have given--", "Internal virtues are the gift of Heaven.", "What poor rewards can bless your deeds on earth,", "Doubtless await such young, exalted worth;", "Æneas and Ascanius shall combine", "To yield applause far, far surpassing mine.\"", "", " Iulus then:--\"By all the powers above!", "By those Penates, who my country love!", "By hoary Vesta's sacred Fane, I swear,", "My hopes are all in you, ye generous pair!", "Restore my father, to my grateful sight,", "And all my sorrows, yield to one delight.", "Nisus! two silver goblets are thine own,", "Sav'd from Arisba's stately domes o'erthrown;", "My sire secured them on that fatal day,", "Nor left such bowls an Argive robber's prey.", "Two massy tripods, also, shall be thine,", "Two talents polish'd from the glittering mine;", "An ancient cup, which Tyrian Dido gave,", "While yet our vessels press'd the Punic wave:", "But when the hostile chiefs at length bow down,", "When great Æneas wears Hesperia's crown,", "The casque, the buckler, and the fiery steed", "Which Turnus guides with more than mortal speed,", "Are thine; no envious lot shall then be cast,", "I pledge my word, irrevocably past:", "Nay more, twelve slaves, and twice six captive dames,", "To soothe thy softer hours with amorous flames,", "And all the realms, which now the Latins sway,", "The labours of to-night shall well repay.", "But thou, my generous youth, whose tender years", "Are near my own, whose worth my heart reveres,", "Henceforth, affection, sweetly thus begun,", "Shall join our bosoms and our souls in one;", "Without thy aid, no glory shall be mine,", "Without thy dear advice, no great design;", "Alike, through life, esteem'd, thou godlike boy,", "In war my bulwark, and in peace my joy.\"", "", " To him Euryalus:--\"No day shall shame", "The rising glories which from this I claim.", "Fortune may favour, or the skies may frown,", "But valour, spite of fate, obtains renown.", "Yet, ere from hence our eager steps depart,", "One boon I beg, the nearest to my heart:", "My mother, sprung from Priam's royal line,", "Like thine ennobled, hardly less divine,", "Nor Troy nor king Acestes' realms restrain", "Her feeble age from dangers of the main;", "Alone she came, all selfish fears above,", "A bright example of maternal love.", "Unknown, the secret enterprise I brave,", "Lest grief should bend my parent to the grave;", "From this alone no fond adieus I seek,", "No fainting mother's lips have press'd my cheek;", "By gloomy Night and thy right hand I vow,", "Her parting tears would shake my purpose now:", "Do thou, my prince, her failing age sustain,", "In thee her much-lov'd child may live again;", "Her dying hours with pious conduct bless,", "Assist her wants, relieve her fond distress:", "So dear a hope must all my soul enflame,", "To rise in glory, or to fall in fame.\"", "Struck with a filial care so deeply felt,", "In tears at once the Trojan warriors melt;", "Faster than all, Iulus' eyes o'erflow!", "Such love was his, and such had been his woe.", "\"All thou hast ask'd, receive,\" the Prince replied;", "\"Nor this alone, but many a gift beside.", "To cheer thy mother's years shall be my aim,", "Creusa's style but wanting to the dame;", "Fortune an adverse wayward course may run,", "But bless'd thy mother in so dear a son.", "Now, by my life!--my Sire's most sacred oath--", "To thee I pledge my full, my firmest troth,", "All the rewards which once to thee were vow'd,", "If thou should'st fall, on her shall be bestow'd.\"", "Thus spoke the weeping Prince, then forth to view", "A gleaming falchion from the sheath he drew;", "Lycaon's utmost skill had grac'd the steel,", "For friends to envy and for foes to feel:", "A tawny hide, the Moorish lion's spoil,", "Slain 'midst the forest in the hunter's toil,", "Mnestheus to guard the elder youth bestows,", "And old Alethes' casque defends his brows;", "Arm'd, thence they go, while all th' assembl'd train,", "To aid their cause, implore the gods in vain.", "More than a boy, in wisdom and in grace,", "Iulus holds amidst the chiefs his place:", "His prayer he sends; but what can prayers avail,", "Lost in the murmurs of the sighing gale?", "", " The trench is pass'd, and favour'd by the night,", "Through sleeping foes, they wheel their wary flight.", "When shall the sleep of many a foe be o'er?", "Alas! some slumber, who shall wake no more!", "Chariots and bridles, mix'd with arms, are seen,", "And flowing flasks, and scatter'd troops between:", "Bacchus and Mars, to rule the camp, combine;", "A mingled Chaos this of war and wine.", "\"Now,\" cries the first, \"for deeds of blood prepare,", "With me the conquest and the labour share:", "Here lies our path; lest any hand arise,", "Watch thou, while many a dreaming chieftain dies;", "I'll carve our passage, through the heedless foe,", "And clear thy road, with many a deadly blow.\"", "His whispering accents then the youth repress'd,", "And pierced proud Rhamnes through his panting breast:", "Stretch'd at his ease, th' incautious king repos'd;", "Debauch, and not fatigue, his eyes had clos'd;", "To Turnus dear, a prophet and a prince,", "His omens more than augur's skill evince;", "But he, who thus foretold the fate of all,", "Could not avert his own untimely fall.", "Next Remus' armour-bearer, hapless, fell,", "And three unhappy slaves the carnage swell;", "The charioteer along his courser's sides", "Expires, the steel his sever'd neck divides;", "And, last, his Lord is number'd with the dead:", "Bounding convulsive, flies the gasping head;", "From the swol'n veins the blackening torrents pour;", "Stain'd is the couch and earth with clotting gore.", "Young Lamyrus and Lamus next expire,", "And gay Serranus, fill'd with youthful fire;", "Half the long night in childish games was pass'd;", "Lull'd by the potent grape, he slept at last:", "Ah! happier far, had he the morn survey'd,", "And, till Aurora's dawn, his skill display'd.", "In slaughter'd folds, the keepers lost in sleep,", "His hungry fangs a lion thus may steep;", "'Mid the sad flock, at dead of night he prowls,", "With murder glutted, and in carnage rolls", "Insatiate still, through teeming herds he roams;", "In seas of gore, the lordly tyrant foams.", "", " Nor less the other's deadly vengeance came,", "But falls on feeble crowds without a name;", "His wound unconscious Fadus scarce can feel,", "Yet wakeful Rhæsus sees the threatening steel;", "His coward breast behind a jar he hides,", "And, vainly, in the weak defence confides;", "Full in his heart, the falchion search'd his veins,", "The reeking weapon bears alternate stains;", "Through wine and blood, commingling as they flow,", "One feeble spirit seeks the shades below.", "Now where Messapus dwelt they bend their way,", "Whose fires emit a faint and trembling ray;", "There, unconfin'd, behold each grazing steed,", "Unwatch'd, unheeded, on the herbage feed:", "Brave Nisus here arrests his comrade's arm,", "Too flush'd with carnage, and with conquest warm:", "\"Hence let us haste, the dangerous path is pass'd;", "Full foes enough, to-night, have breath'd their last:", "Soon will the Day those Eastern clouds adorn;", "Now let us speed, nor tempt the rising morn.\"", "", " What silver arms, with various art emboss'd,", "What bowls and mantles, in confusion toss'd,", "They leave regardless! yet one glittering prize", "Attracts the younger Hero's wandering eyes;", "The gilded harness Rhamnes' coursers felt,", "The gems which stud the monarch's golden belt:", "This from the pallid corse was quickly torn,", "Once by a line of former chieftains worn.", "Th' exulting boy the studded girdle wears,", "Messapus' helm his head, in triumph, bears;", "Then from the tents their cautious steps they bend,", "To seek the vale, where safer paths extend.", "", " Just at this hour, a band of Latian horse", "To Turnus' camp pursue their destin'd course:", "While the slow foot their tardy march delay,", "The knights, impatient, spur along the way:", "Three hundred mail-clad men, by Volscens led,", "To Turnus with their master's promise sped:", "Now they approach the trench, and view the walls,", "When, on the left, a light reflection falls;", "The plunder'd helmet, through the waning night,", "Sheds forth a silver radiance, glancing bright;", "Volscens, with question loud, the pair alarms:--", "\"Stand, Stragglers! stand! why early thus in arms?", "From whence? to whom?\"--He meets with no reply;", "Trusting the covert of the night, they fly:", "The thicket's depth, with hurried pace, they tread,", "While round the wood the hostile squadron spread.", "", " With brakes entangled, scarce a path between,", "Dreary and dark appears the sylvan scene:", "Euryalus his heavy spoils impede,", "The boughs and winding turns his steps mislead;", "But Nisus scours along the forest's maze,", "To where Latinus' steeds in safety graze,", "Then backward o'er the plain his eyes extend,", "On every side they seek his absent friend.", "\"O God! my boy,\" he cries, \"of me bereft,", "In what impending perils art thou left!\"", "Listening he runs--above the waving trees,", "Tumultuous voices swell the passing breeze;", "The war-cry rises, thundering hoofs around", "Wake the dark echoes of the trembling ground.", "Again he turns--of footsteps hears the noise--", "The sound elates--the sight his hope destroys:", "The hapless boy a ruffian train surround,", "While lengthening shades his weary way confound;", "Him, with loud shouts, the furious knights pursue,", "Struggling in vain, a captive to the crew.", "What can his friend 'gainst thronging numbers dare?", "Ah! must he rush, his comrade's fate to share?", "What force, what aid, what stratagem essay,", "Back to redeem the Latian spoiler's prey?", "His life a votive ransom nobly give,", "Or die with him, for whom he wish'd to live?", "Poising with strength his lifted lance on high,", "On Luna's orb he cast his frenzied eye:--", "", "\"Goddess serene, transcending every star!", "Queen of the sky, whose beams are seen afar!", "By night Heaven owns thy sway, by day the grove,", "When, as chaste Dian, here thou deign'st to rove;", "If e'er myself, or Sire, have sought to grace", "Thine altars, with the produce of the chase,", "Speed, speed my dart to pierce yon vaunting crowd,", "To free my friend, and scatter far the proud.\"", "Thus having said, the hissing dart he flung;", "Through parted shades the hurtling weapon sung;", "The thirsty point in Sulmo's entrails lay,", "Transfix'd his heart, and stretch'd him on the clay:", "He sobs, he dies,--the troop in wild amaze,", "Unconscious whence the death, with horror gaze;", "While pale they stare, thro' Tagus' temples riven,", "A second shaft, with equal force is driven:", "Fierce Volscens rolls around his lowering eyes;", "Veil'd by the night, secure the Trojan lies.", "Burning with wrath, he view'd his soldiers fall.", "\"Thou youth accurst, thy life shall pay for all!\"", "Quick from the sheath his flaming glaive he drew,", "And, raging, on the boy defenceless flew.", "Nisus, no more the blackening shade conceals,", "Forth, forth he starts, and all his love reveals;", "Aghast, confus'd, his fears to madness rise,", "And pour these accents, shrieking as he flies;", "\"Me, me,--your vengeance hurl on me alone;", "Here sheathe the steel, my blood is all your own;", "Ye starry Spheres! thou conscious Heaven! attest!", "He could not--durst not--lo! the guile confest!", "All, all was mine,--his early fate suspend;", "He only lov'd, too well, his hapless friend:", "Spare, spare, ye Chiefs! from him your rage remove;", "His fault was friendship, all his crime was love.\"", "He pray'd in vain; the dark assassin's sword", "Pierced the fair side, the snowy bosom gor'd;", "Lowly to earth inclines his plume-clad crest,", "And sanguine torrents mantle o'er his breast:", "As some young rose whose blossom scents the air,", "Languid in death, expires beneath the share;", "Or crimson poppy, sinking with the shower,", "Declining gently, falls a fading flower;", "Thus, sweetly drooping, bends his lovely head,", "And lingering Beauty hovers round the dead.", "", "But fiery Nisus stems the battle's tide,", "Revenge his leader, and Despair his guide;", "Volscens he seeks amidst the gathering host,", "Volscens must soon appease his comrade's ghost;", "Steel, flashing, pours on steel, foe crowds on foe;", "Rage nerves his arm, Fate gleams in every blow;", "In vain beneath unnumber'd wounds he bleeds,", "Nor wounds, nor death, distracted Nisus heeds;", "In viewless circles wheel'd his falchion flies,", "Nor quits the hero's grasp till Volscens dies;", "Deep in his throat its end the weapon found,", "The tyrant's soul fled groaning through the wound.", "Thus Nisus all his fond affection prov'd--", "Dying, revenged the fate of him he lov'd;", "Then on his bosom sought his wonted place,", "And death was heavenly, in his friend's embrace!", "", "Celestial pair! if aught my verse can claim,", "Wafted on Time's broad pinion, yours is fame!", "Ages on ages shall your fate admire,", "No future day shall see your names expire,", "While stands the Capitol, immortal dome!", "And vanquished millions hail their Empress, Rome!", "", "From Ida torn he left his native grove,", "Through distant climes, and trackless seas to rove.'", "", " --they hold the nightly guard'." ], "linecount": "409" }, { "title": "The Death of Calmar and Orla. an Imitation of MacPherson's \"Ossian\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Dear are the days of youth! Age dwells on their remembrance through the", "mist of time. In the twilight he recalls the sunny hours of morn. He", "lifts his spear with trembling hand. \"Not thus feebly did I raise the", "steel before my fathers!\" Past is the race of heroes! But their fame", "rises on the harp; their souls ride on the wings of the wind; they hear", "the sound through the sighs of the storm, and rejoice in their hall of", "clouds. Such is Calmar. The grey stone marks his narrow house. He looks", "down from eddying tempests: he rolls his form in the whirlwind, and", "hovers on the blast of the mountain.", "", "In Morven dwelt the Chief; a beam of war to Fingal. His steps in the", "field were marked in blood. Lochlin's sons had fled before his angry", "spear; but mild was the eye of Calmar; soft was the flow of his", "yellow locks: they streamed like the meteor of the night. No maid was", "the sigh of his soul: his thoughts were given to friendship,--to", "dark-haired Orla, destroyer of heroes! Equal were their swords in", "battle; but fierce was the pride of Orla:--gentle alone to Calmar.", "Together they dwelt in the cave of Oithona.", "", "From Lochlin, Swaran bounded o'er the blue waves. Erin's sons fell", "beneath his might. Fingal roused his chiefs to combat. Their ships", "cover the ocean! Their hosts throng on the green hills. They come to the", "aid of Erin.", "", "Night rose in clouds. Darkness veils the armies. But the blazing oaks", "gleam through the valley. The sons of Lochlin slept: their dreams", "were of blood. They lift the spear in thought, and Fingal flies. Not so", "the Host of Morven. To watch was the post of Orla. Calmar stood by his", "side. Their spears were in their hands. Fingal called his chiefs: they", "stood around. The king was in the midst. Grey were his locks, but strong", "was the arm of the king. Age withered not his powers. \"Sons of Morven,\"", "said the hero, \"to-morrow we meet the foe. But where is Cuthullin, the", "shield of Erin? He rests in the halls of Tura; he knows not of our", "coming. Who will speed through Lochlin, to the hero, and call the chief", "to arms? The path is by the swords of foes; but many are my heroes. They", "are thunderbolts of war. Speak, ye chiefs! Who will arise?\"", "", "\"Son of Trenmor! mine be the deed,\" said dark-haired Orla, \"and mine", "alone. What is death to me? I love the sleep of the mighty, but little", "is the danger. The sons of Lochlin dream. I will seek car-borne", "Cuthullin. If I fall, raise the song of bards; and lay me by the stream", "of Lubar.\"--\"And shalt thou fall alone?\" said fair-haired Calmar. \"Wilt", "thou leave thy friend afar? Chief of Oithona! not feeble is my arm in", "fight. Could I see thee die, and not lift the spear? No, Orla! ours has", "been the chase of the roebuck, and the feast of shells; ours be the path", "of danger: ours has been the cave of Oithona; ours be the narrow", "dwelling on the banks of Lubar.\"--\"Calmar,\" said the chief of Oithona,", "\"why should thy yellow locks be darkened in the dust of Erin? Let me", "fall alone. My father dwells in his hall of air: he will rejoice in his", "boy; but the blue-eyed Mora spreads the feast for her Son in Morven. She", "listens to the steps of the hunter on the heath, and thinks it is the", "tread of Calmar. Let her not say, 'Calmar has fallen by the steel of", "Lochlin: he died with gloomy Orla, the chief of the dark brow.' Why", "should tears dim the azure eye of Mora? Why should her voice curse Orla,", "the destroyer of Calmar? Live Calmar! Live to raise my stone of moss;", "live to revenge me in the blood of Lochlin. Join the song of bards above", "my grave. Sweet will be the song of Death to Orla, from the voice of", "Calmar. My ghost shall smile on the notes of Praise.\" \"Orla,\" said the", "son of Mora, \"could I raise the song of Death to my friend? Could I give", "his fame to the winds? No, my heart would speak in sighs: faint and", "broken are the sounds of sorrow. Orla! our souls shall hear the song", "together. One cloud shall be ours on high: the bards will mingle the", "names of Orla and Calmar.\"", "", "They quit the circle of the Chiefs. Their steps are to the Host of", "Lochlin. The dying blaze of oak dim-twinkles through the night. The", "northern star points the path to Tura. Swaran, the King, rests on his", "lonely hill. Here the troops are mixed: they frown in sleep; their", "shields beneath their heads. Their swords gleam, at distance in heaps.", "The fires are faint; their embers fail in smoke. All is hushed; but the", "gale sighs on the rocks above. Lightly wheel the Heroes through the", "slumbering band. Half the journey is past, when Mathon, resting on his", "shield, meets the eye of Orla. It rolls in flame, and glistens through", "the shade. His spear is raised on high. \"Why dost thou bend thy brow,", "chief of Oithona?\" said fair-haired Calmar: \"we are in the midst of", "foes. Is this a time for delay?\" \"It is a time for vengeance,\" said Orla", "of the gloomy brow. \"Mathon of Lochlin sleeps: seest thou his spear? Its", "point is dim with the gore of my father. The blood of Mathon shall reek", "on mine: but shall I slay him sleeping, Son of Mora? No! he shall feel", "his wound: my fame shall not soar on the blood of slumber. Rise, Mathon,", "rise! The Son of Conna calls; thy life is his; rise to combat.\" Mathon", "starts from sleep: but did he rise alone? No: the gathering Chiefs bound", "on the plain. \"Fly! Calmar, fly!\" said dark-haired Orla. \"Mathon is", "mine. I shall die in joy: but Lochlin crowds around. Fly through the", "shade of night.\" Orla turns. The helm of Mathon is cleft; his shield", "falls from his arm: he shudders in his blood. He rolls by the side", "of the blazing oak. Strumon sees him fall: his wrath rises: his weapon", "glitters on the head of Orla: but a spear pierced his eye. His brain", "gushes through the wound, and foams on the spear of Calmar. As roll the", "waves of the Ocean on two mighty barks of the North, so pour the men of", "Lochlin on the Chiefs. As, breaking the surge in foam, proudly steer the", "barks of the North, so rise the Chiefs of Morven on the scattered crests", "of Lochlin. The din of arms came to the ear of Fingal. He strikes his", "shield; his sons throng around; the people pour along the heath. Ryno", "bounds in joy. Ossian stalks in his arms. Oscar shakes the spear. The", "eagle wing of Fillan floats on the wind. Dreadful is the clang of death!", "many are the Widows of Lochlin. Morven prevails in its strength.", "", "Morn glimmers on the hills: no living foe is seen; but the sleepers are", "many; grim they lie on Erin. The breeze of Ocean lifts their locks; yet", "they do not awake. The hawks scream above their prey.", "", "Whose yellow locks wave o'er the breast of a chief? Bright as the gold", "of the stranger, they mingle with the dark hair of his friend. 'Tis", "Calmar: he lies on the bosom of Orla. Theirs is one stream of blood.", "Fierce is the look of the gloomy Orla. He breathes not; but his eye is", "still a flame. It glares in death unclosed. His hand is grasped in", "Calmar's; but Calmar lives! he lives, though low. \"Rise,\" said the king,", "\"rise, son of Mora: 'tis mine to heal the wounds of Heroes. Calmar may", "yet bound on the hills of Morven.\"", "", "\"Never more shall Calmar chase the deer of Morven with Orla,\" said the", "Hero. \"What were the chase to me alone? Who would share the spoils of", "battle with Calmar? Orla is at rest! Rough was thy soul, Orla! yet soft", "to me as the dew of morn. It glared on others in lightning: to me a", "silver beam of night. Bear my sword to blue-eyed Mora; let it hang in my", "empty hall. It is not pure from blood: but it could not save Orla. Lay", "me with my friend: raise the song when I am dark!\"", "", "They are laid by the stream of Lubar. Four grey stones mark the dwelling", "of Orla and Calmar. When Swaran was bound, our sails rose on the blue", "waves. The winds gave our barks to Morven:--the bards raised the song.", "", "\"What Form rises on the roar of clouds? Whose dark Ghost gleams on the", "red streams of tempests? His voice rolls on the thunder. 'Tis Orla, the", "brown Chief of Oithona. He was unmatched in war. Peace to thy soul,", "Orla! thy fame will not perish. Nor thine, Calmar! Lovely wast thou, son", "of blue-eyed Mora; but not harmless was thy sword. It hangs in thy cave.", "The Ghosts of Lochlin shriek around its steel. Hear thy praise, Calmar!", "It dwells on the voice of the mighty. Thy name shakes on the echoes of", "Morven. Then raise thy fair locks, son of Mora. Spread them on the arch", "of the rainbow, and smile through the tears of the storm." ], "linecount": "122" }, { "title": "To the Earl of Clare", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Tu semper amoris", " Sis memor, et cari comitis ne abscedat imago.", "", " VAL. FLAC. 'Argonaut', iv. 36.", "", "Friend of my youth! when young we rov'd,", "Like striplings, mutually belov'd,", " With Friendship's purest glow;", "The bliss, which wing'd those rosy hours,", "Was such as Pleasure seldom showers", " On mortals here below.", "", "The recollection seems, alone,", "Dearer than all the joys I've known,", " When distant far from you:", "Though pain, 'tis still a pleasing pain,", "To trace those days and hours again,", " And sigh again, adieu!", "", "My pensive mem'ry lingers o'er,", "Those scenes to be enjoy'd no more,", " Those scenes regretted ever;", "The measure of our youth is full,", "Life's evening dream is dark and dull,", " And we may meet--ah! never!", "", "As when one parent spring supplies", "Two streams, which from one fountain rise,", " Together join'd in vain;", "How soon, diverging from their source,", "Each, murmuring, seeks another course,", " Till mingled in the Main!", "", "Our vital streams of weal or woe,", "Though near, alas! distinctly flow,", " Nor mingle as before:", "Now swift or slow, now black or clear,", "Till Death's unfathom'd gulph appear,", " And both shall quit the shore.", "", "Our souls, my Friend! which once supplied", "One wish, nor breathed a thought beside,", " Now flow in different channels:", "Disdaining humbler rural sports,", "'Tis yours to mix in polish'd courts,", " And shine in Fashion's annals;", "", "'Tis mine to waste on love my time,", "Or vent my reveries in rhyme,", " Without the aid of Reason;", "For Sense and Reason (critics know it)", "Have quitted every amorous Poet,", " Nor left a thought to seize on.", "", "Poor LITTLE! sweet, melodious bard!", "Of late esteem'd it monstrous hard", " That he, who sang before all;", "He who the lore of love expanded,", "By dire Reviewers should be branded,", " As void of wit and moral.", "", "And yet, while Beauty's praise is thine,", "Harmonious favourite of the Nine!", " Repine not at thy lot.", "Thy soothing lays may still be read,", "When Persecution's arm is dead,", " And critics are forgot.", "", "Still I must yield those worthies merit", "Who chasten, with unsparing spirit,", " Bad rhymes, and those who write them:", "And though myself may be the next", "By critic sarcasm to be vext,", " I really will not fight them.", "", "Perhaps they would do quite as well", "To break the rudely sounding shell", " Of such a young beginner:", "He who offends at pert nineteen,", "Ere thirty may become, I ween,", " A very harden'd sinner.", "", "Now, Clare, I must return to you;", "And, sure, apologies are due:", " Accept, then, my concession.", "In truth, dear Clare, in Fancy's flight", "I soar along from left to right;", " My Muse admires digression.", "", "I think I said 'twould be your fate", "To add one star to royal state;--", " May regal smiles attend you!", "And should a noble Monarch reign,", "You will not seek his smiles in vain,", " If worth can recommend you.", "", "Yet since in danger courts abound,", "Where specious rivals glitter round,", " From snares may Saints preserve you;", "And grant your love or friendship ne'er", "From any claim a kindred care,", " But those who best deserve you!", "", "Not for a moment may you stray", "From Truth's secure, unerring way!", " May no delights decoy!", "O'er roses may your footsteps move,", "Your smiles be ever smiles of love,", " Your tears be tears of joy!", "", "Oh! if you wish that happiness", "Your coming days and years may bless,", " And virtues crown your brow;", "Be still as you were wont to be,", "Spotless as you've been known to me,--", " Be still as you are now.", "", "And though some trifling share of praise,", "To cheer my last declining days,", " To me were doubly dear;", "Whilst blessing your beloved name,", "I'd _waive_ at once a _Poet's_ fame,", " To _prove_ a _Prophet_ here." ], "linecount": "105" }, { "title": "I Would I Were a Careless Child", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I would I were a careless child,", " Still dwelling in my Highland cave,", "Or roaming through the dusky wild,", " Or bounding o'er the dark blue wave;", "The cumbrous pomp of Saxon pride,", " Accords not with the freeborn soul,", "Which loves the mountain's craggy side,", " And seeks the rocks where billows roll.", "", "Fortune! take back these cultur'd lands,", " Take back this name of splendid sound!", "I hate the touch of servile hands,", " I hate the slaves that cringe around:", "Place me among the rocks I love,", " Which sound to Ocean's wildest roar;", "I ask but this--again to rove", " Through scenes my youth hath known before.", "", "Few are my years, and yet I feel", " The World was ne'er design'd for me:", "Ah! why do dark'ning shades conceal", " The hour when man must cease to be?", "Once I beheld a splendid dream,", " A visionary scene of bliss:", "Truth!--wherefore did thy hated beam", " Awake me to a world like this?", "", "I lov'd--but those I lov'd are gone;", " Had friends--my early friends are fled:", "How cheerless feels the heart alone,", " When all its former hopes are dead!", "Though gay companions, o'er the bowl", " Dispel awhile the sense of ill;", "Though Pleasure stirs the maddening soul,", " The heart--the heart--is lonely still.", "", "How dull! to hear the voice of those", " Whom Rank or Chance, whom Wealth or Power,", "Have made, though neither friends nor foes,", " Associates of the festive hour.", "Give me again a faithful few,", " In years and feelings still the same,", "And I will fly the midnight crew,", " Where boist'rous Joy is but a name.", "", "And Woman, lovely Woman! thou,", " My hope, my comforter, my all!", "How cold must be my bosom now,", " When e'en thy smiles begin to pall!", "Without a sigh would I resign,", " This busy scene of splendid Woe,", "To make that calm contentment mine,", " Which Virtue knows, or seems to know.", "", "Fain would I fly the haunts of men -", " I seek to shun, not hate mankind;", "My breast requires the sullen glen,", " Whose gloom may suit a darken'd mind.", "Oh! that to me the wings were given,", " Which bear the turtle to her nest!", "Then would I cleave the vault of Heaven,", " To flee away, and be at rest." ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "The Prayer of Nature", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Father of Light! great God of Heaven!", " Hear'st thou the accents of despair?", "Can guilt like man's be e'er forgiven?", " Can vice atone for crimes by prayer?", "", "Father of Light, on thee I call!", " Thou see'st my soul is dark within;", "Thou, who canst mark the sparrow's fall,", " Avert from me the death of sin.", "", "No shrine I seek, to sects unknown;", " Oh, point to me the path of truth!", "Thy dread Omnipotence I own;", " Spare, yet amend, the faults of youth.", "", "Let bigots rear a gloomy fane,", " Let Superstition hail the pile,", "Let priests, to spread their sable reign,", " With tales of mystic rites beguile.", "", "Shall man confine his Maker's sway", " To Gothic domes of mouldering stone?", "Thy temple is the face of day;", " Earth, Ocean, Heaven thy boundless throne.", "", "Shall man condemn his race to Hell,", " Unless they bend in pompous form?", "Tell us that all, for one who fell,", " Must perish in the mingling storm?", "", "Shall each pretend to reach the skies,", " Yet doom his brother to expire,", "Whose soul a different hope supplies,", " Or doctrines less severe inspire?", "", "Shall these, by creeds they can't expound,", " Prepare a fancied bliss or woe?", "Shall reptiles, groveling on the ground,", " Their great Creator's purpose know?", "", "Shall those, who live for self alone,", " Whose years float on in daily crime--", "Shall they, by Faith, for guilt atone,", " And live beyond the bounds of Time?", "", "Father! no prophet's laws I seek,--", " _Thy_ laws in Nature's works appear;--", "I own myself corrupt and weak,", " Yet will I _pray_, for thou wilt hear!", "", "Thou, who canst guide the wandering star,", " Through trackless realms of aether's space;", "Who calm'st the elemental war,", " Whose hand from pole to pole I trace:", "", "Thou, who in wisdom plac'd me here,", " Who, when thou wilt, canst take me hence,", "Ah! whilst I tread this earthly sphere,", " Extend to me thy wide defence.", "", "To Thee, my God, to thee I call!", " Whatever weal or woe betide,", "By thy command I rise or fall,", " In thy protection I confide.", "", "If, when this dust to dust's restor'd,", " My soul shall float on airy wing,", "How shall thy glorious Name ador'd", " Inspire her feeble voice to sing!", "", "But, if this fleeting spirit share", " With clay the Grave's eternal bed,", "While Life yet throbs I raise my prayer,", " Though doom'd no more to quit the dead.", "", "To Thee I breathe my humble strain,", " Grateful for all thy mercies past,", "And hope, my God, to thee again", " This erring life may fly at last." ], "linecount": "64" }, { "title": "On the Eyes of Miss a----H---", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Anne's Eye is liken'd to the _Sun_,", " From it such Beams of Beauty fall;", "And _this_ can be denied by none,", " For like the _Sun_, it shines on _All_.", "", "Then do not admiration smother,", " Or say these glances don't become her;", "To _you_, or _I_, or _any other_", " Her _Sun_, displays perpetual Summer." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Farewell to the Muse", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Thou Power! who hast ruled me through Infancy's days,", " Young offspring of Fancy, 'tis time we should part;", "Then rise on the gale this the last of my lays,", " The coldest effusion which springs from my heart.", "", "This bosom, responsive to rapture no more,", " Shall hush thy wild notes, nor implore thee to sing;", "The feelings of childhood, which taught thee to soar,", " Are wafted far distant on Apathy's wing.", "", "Though simple the themes of my rude flowing Lyre,", " Yet even these themes are departed for ever;", "No more beam the eyes which my dream could inspire,", " My visions are flown, to return,--alas, never!", "", "When drain'd is the nectar which gladdens the bowl,", " How vain is the effort delight to prolong!", "When cold is the beauty which dwelt in my soul,", " What magic of Fancy can lengthen my song?", "", "Can the lips sing of Love in the desert alone,", " Of kisses and smiles which they now must resign?", "Or dwell with delight on the hours that are flown?", " Ah, no! for those hours can no longer be mine.", "", "Can they speak of the friends that I lived but to love?", " Ah, surely Affection ennobles the strain!", "But how can my numbers in sympathy move,", " When I scarcely can hope to behold them again?", "", "Can I sing of the deeds which my Fathers have done,", " And raise my loud harp to the fame of my Sires?", "For glories like theirs, oh, how faint is my tone!", " For Heroes' exploits how unequal my fires!", "", "Untouch'd, then, my Lyre shall reply to the blast--", " 'Tis hush'd; and my feeble endeavours are o'er;", "And those who have heard it will pardon the past,", " When they know that its murmurs shall vibrate no more.", "", "And soon shall its wild erring notes be forgot,", " Since early affection and love is o'ercast:", "Oh! blest had my Fate been, and happy my lot,", " Had the first strain of love been the dearest, the last.", "", "Farewell, my young Muse! since we now can ne'er meet;", " If our songs have been languid, they surely are few:", "Let us hope that the present at least will be sweet--", " The present--which seals our eternal Adieu." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "To an Oak at Newstead", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Young Oak! when I planted thee deep in the ground,", " I hoped that thy days would be longer than mine;", "That thy dark-waving branches would flourish around,", " And ivy thy trunk with its mantle entwine.", "", "Such, such was my hope, when in Infancy's years,", " On the land of my Fathers I rear'd thee with pride;", "They are past, and I water thy stem with my tears,--", " Thy decay, not the _weeds_ that surround thee can hide.", "", "I left thee, my Oak, and, since that fatal hour,", " A stranger has dwelt in the hall of my Sire;", "Till Manhood shall crown me, not mine is the power,", " But his, whose neglect may have bade thee expire.", "", "Oh! hardy thou wert--even now little care", " Might revive thy young head, and thy wounds gently", " heal:", "But thou wert not fated affection to share--", " For who could suppose that a Stranger would feel?", "", "Ah, droop not, my Oak! lift thy head for a while;", " Ere twice round yon Glory this planet shall run,", "The hand of thy Master will teach thee to smile,", " When Infancy's years of probation are done.", "", "Oh, live then, my Oak! tow'r aloft from the weeds,", " That clog thy young growth, and assist thy decay,", "For still in thy bosom are Life's early seeds,", " And still may thy branches their beauty display.", "", "Oh! yet, if Maturity's years may be thine,", " Though _I_ shall lie low in the cavern of Death,", "On thy leaves yet the day-beam of ages may shine,", " Uninjured by Time, or the rude Winter's breath.", "", "For centuries still may thy boughs lightly wave", " O'er the corse of thy Lord in thy canopy laid;", "While the branches thus gratefully shelter his grave,", " The Chief who survives may recline in thy shade.", "", "And as he, with his boys, shall revisit this spot,", " He will tell them in whispers more softly to tread.", "Oh! surely, by these I shall ne'er be forgot;", " Remembrance still hallows the dust of the dead.", "", "And here, will they say, when in Life's glowing prime,", " Perhaps he has pour'd forth his young simple lay,", "And here must he sleep, till the moments of Time", " Are lost in the hours of Eternity's day." ], "linecount": "41" }, { "title": "To a Youthful Friend", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Few years have pass'd since thou and I", " Were firmest friends, at least in name,", "And Childhood's gay sincerity", " Preserved our feelings long the same.", "", "But now, like me, too well thou know'st", " What trifles oft the heart recall;", "And those who once have loved the most", " Too soon forget they lov'd at all.", "", "And such the change the heart displays,", " So frail is early friendship's reign,", "A month's brief lapse, perhaps a day's,", " Will view thy mind estrang'd again.", "", "If so, it never shall be mine", " To mourn the loss of such a heart;", "The fault was Nature's fault, not thine,", " Which made thee fickle as thou art.", "", "As rolls the Ocean's changing tide,", " So human feelings ebb and flow;", "And who would in a breast confide", " Where stormy passions ever glow?", "", "It boots not that, together bred,", " Our childish days were days of joy:", "My spring of life has quickly fled;", " Thou, too, hast ceas'd to be a boy.", "", "And when we bid adieu to youth,", " Slaves to the specious World's controul,", "We sigh a long farewell to truth;", " That World corrupts the noblest soul.", "", "Ah, joyous season! when the mind", " Dares all things boldly but to lie;", "When Thought ere spoke is unconfin'd,", " And sparkles in the placid eye.", "", "Not so in Man's maturer years,", " When Man himself is but a tool;", "When Interest sways our hopes and fears,", " And all must love and hate by rule.", "", "With fools in kindred vice the same,", " We learn at length our faults to blend;", "And those, and those alone, may claim", " The prostituted name of friend.", "", "Such is the common lot of man:", " Can we then 'scape from folly free?", "Can we reverse the general plan,", " Nor be what all in turn must be?", "", "No; for myself, so dark my fate", " Through every turn of life hath been;", "Man and the World so much I hate,", " I care not when I quit the scene.", "", "But thou, with spirit frail and light,", " Wilt shine awhile, and pass away;", "As glow-worms sparkle through the night,", " But dare not stand the test of day.", "", "Alas! whenever Folly calls", " Where parasites and princes meet,", "(For cherish'd first in royal halls,", " The welcome vices kindly greet,)", "", "Ev'n now thou'rt nightly seen to add", " One insect to the fluttering crowd;", "And still thy trifling heart is glad", " To join the vain and court the proud.", "", "There dost thou glide from fair to fair,", " Still simpering on with eager haste,", "As flies along the gay parterre,", " That taint the flowers they scarcely taste.", "", "But say, what nymph will prize the flame", " Which seems, as marshy vapours move,", "To flit along from dame to dame,", " An ignis-fatuus gleam of love?", "", "What friend for thee, howe'er inclin'd,", " Will deign to own a kindred care?", "Who will debase his manly mind,", " For friendship every fool may share?", "", "In time forbear; amidst the throng", " No more so base a thing be seen;", "No more so idly pass along;", " Be something, any thing, but--mean." ], "linecount": "76" }, { "title": "Fill the Goblet Again. a Song", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Fill the goblet again! for I never before", "Felt the glow which now gladdens my heart to its core;", "Let us drink!--who would not?--since, through life's varied round,", "In the goblet alone no deception is found.", "", "I have tried in its turn all that life can supply;", "I have bask'd in the beam of a dark rolling eye;", "I have lov'd!--who has not?--but what heart can declare", "That Pleasure existed while Passion was there?", "", "In the days of my youth, when the heart's in its spring,", "And dreams that Affection can never take wing,", "I had friends!--who has not?--but what tongue will avow,", "That friends, rosy wine! are so faithful as thou?", "", "The heart of a mistress some boy may estrange,", "Friendship shifts with the sunbeam--thou never canst change;", "Thou grow'st old--who does not?--but on earth what appears,", "Whose virtues, like thine, still increase with its years?", "", "Yet if blest to the utmost that Love can bestow,", "Should a rival bow down to our idol below,", "We are jealous!--who's not?--thou hast no such alloy;", "For the more that enjoy thee, the more we enjoy.", "", "Then the season of youth and its vanities past,", "For refuge we fly to the goblet at last;", "There we find--do we not?--in the flow of the soul,", "That truth, as of yore, is confined to the bowl.", "", "When the box of Pandora was open'd on earth,", "And Misery's triumph commenc'd over Mirth,", "Hope was left,--was she not?--but the goblet we kiss,", "And care not for Hope, who are certain of bliss.", "", "Long life to the grape! for when summer is flown,", "The age of our nectar shall gladden our own:", "We must die--who shall not?--May our sins be forgiven,", "And Hebe shall never be idle in Heaven." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Stanzas to a Lady, on Leaving England", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Tis done--and shivering in the gale", "The bark unfurls her snowy sail;", "And whistling o'er the bending mast,", "Loud sings on high the fresh'ning blast;", "And I must from this land be gone,", "Because I cannot love but one.", "", "But could I be what I have been,", "And could I see what I have seen--", "Could I repose upon the breast", "Which once my warmest wishes blest--", "I should not seek another zone,", "Because I cannot love but one.", "", "'Tis long since I beheld that eye", "Which gave me bliss or misery;", "And I have striven, but in vain,", "Never to think of it again:", "For though I fly from Albion,", "I still can only love but one.", "", "As some lone bird, without a mate,", "My weary heart is desolate;", "I look around, and cannot trace", "One friendly smile or welcome face,", "And ev'n in crowds am still alone,", "Because I cannot love but one.", "", "And I will cross the whitening foam,", "And I will seek a foreign home;", "Till I forget a false fair face,", "I ne'er shall find a resting-place;", "My own dark thoughts I cannot shun,", "But ever love, and love but one.", "", "The poorest, veriest wretch on earth", "Still finds some hospitable hearth,", "Where Friendship's or Love's softer glow", "May smile in joy or soothe in woe;", "But friend or leman I have none,", "Because I cannot love but one.", "", "I go--but wheresoe'er I flee", "There's not an eye will weep for me;", "There's not a kind congenial heart,", "Where I can claim the meanest part;", "Nor thou, who hast my hopes undone,", "Wilt sigh, although I love but one.", "", "To think of every early scene,", "Of what we are, and what we've been,", "Would whelm some softer hearts with woe--", "But mine, alas! has stood the blow;", "Yet still beats on as it begun,", "And never truly loves but one.", "", "And who that dear lov'd one may be,", "Is not for vulgar eyes to see;", "And why that early love was cross'd,", "Thou know'st the best, I feel the most;", "But few that dwell beneath the sun", "Have loved so long, and loved but one.", "", "I've tried another's fetters too,", "With charms perchance as fair to view;", "And I would fain have loved as well,", "But some unconquerable spell", "Forbade my bleeding breast to own", "A kindred care for aught but one.", "", "'Twould soothe to take one lingering view,", "And bless thee in my last adieu;", "Yet wish I not those eyes to weep", "For him that wanders o'er the deep;", "His home, his hope, his youth are gone,", "Yet still he loves, and loves but one.", "", "'To----on Leaving England.'", "", "'The land recedes his Bark is gone,", "Yet still he loves and laves but one.'" ], "linecount": "69" }, { "title": "Hints From Horace", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Who would not laugh, if Lawrence hired to grace", "His costly canvas with each flattered face,", "Abused his art, till Nature, with a blush,", "Saw cits grow Centaurs underneath his brush?", "Or, should some limner join, for show or sale,", "A Maid of Honour to a Mermaid's tail?", "Or low Dubost -as once the world has seen--", "Degrade God's creatures in his graphic spleen?", "Not all that forced politeness, which defends", "Fools in their faults, could gag his grinning friends.", "Believe me, Moschus, like that picture seems", "The book which, sillier than a sick man's dreams,", "Displays a crowd of figures incomplete,", "Poetic Nightmares, without head or feet.", "", " Poets and painters, as all artists know,", "May shoot a little with a lengthened bow;", "We claim this mutual mercy for our task,", "And grant in turn the pardon which we ask;", "But make not monsters spring from gentle dams--", "Birds breed not vipers, tigers nurse not lambs.", "", " A laboured, long Exordium, sometimes tends", "(Like patriot speeches) but to paltry ends;", "And nonsense in a lofty note goes down,", "As Pertness passes with a legal gown:", "Thus many a Bard describes in pompous strain", "The clear brook babbling through the goodly plain:", "The groves of Granta, and her Gothic halls,", "King's Coll-Cam's stream-stained windows, and old walls:", "Or, in adventurous numbers, neatly aims", "To paint a rainbow, or the river Thames.", "", " You sketch a tree, and so perhaps may shine -", "But daub a shipwreck like an alehouse sign;", "You plan a _vase_--it dwindles to a _pot_;", "Then glide down Grub-street--fasting and forgot:", "Laughed into Lethe by some quaint Review,", "Whose wit is never troublesome till--true.", "", "In fine, to whatsoever you aspire,", "Let it at least be simple and entire.", "", " The greater portion of the rhyming tribe", "(Give ear, my friend, for thou hast been a scribe)", "Are led astray by some peculiar lure.", "I labour to be brief--become obscure;", "One falls while following Elegance too fast;", "Another soars, inflated with Bombast;", "Too low a third crawls on, afraid to fly,", "He spins his subject to Satiety;", "Absurdly varying, he at last engraves", "Fish in the woods, and boars beneath the waves!", "", " Unless your care's exact, your judgment nice,", "The flight from Folly leads but into Vice;", "None are complete, all wanting in some part,", "Like certain tailors, limited in art.", "For galligaskins Slowshears is your man", "But coats must claim another artisan.", "Now this to me, I own, seems much the same", "As Vulcan's feet to bear Apollo's frame;", "Or, with a fair complexion, to expose", "Black eyes, black ringlets, but--a bottle nose!", "", " Dear Authors! suit your topics to your strength,", "And ponder well your subject, and its length;", "Nor lift your load, before you're quite aware", "What weight your shoulders will, or will not, bear.", "But lucid Order, and Wit's siren voice,", "Await the Poet, skilful in his choice;", "With native Eloquence he soars along,", "Grace in his thoughts, and Music in his song.", "", " Let Judgment teach him wisely to combine", "With future parts the now omitted line:", "This shall the Author choose, or that reject,", "Precise in style, and cautious to select;", "Nor slight applause will candid pens afford", "To him who furnishes a wanting word.", "Then fear not, if 'tis needful, to produce", "Some term unknown, or obsolete in use,", "(As Pitt has furnished us a word or two,", "Which Lexicographers declined to do;)", "So you indeed, with care,--(but be content", "To take this license rarely)--may invent.", "New words find credit in these latter days,", "If neatly grafted on a Gallic phrase;", "What Chaucer, Spenser did, we scarce refuse", "To Dryden's or to Pope's maturer Muse.", "If you can add a little, say why not,", "As well as William Pitt, and Walter Scott?", "Since they, by force of rhyme and force of lungs,", "Enriched our Island's ill-united tongues;", "'Tis then--and shall be--lawful to present", "Reform in writing, as in Parliament.", "", " As forests shed their foliage by degrees,", "So fade expressions which in season please;", "And we and ours, alas! are due to Fate,", "And works and words but dwindle to a date.", "Though as a Monarch nods, and Commerce calls,", "Impetuous rivers stagnate in canals;", "Though swamps subdued, and marshes drained, sustain", "The heavy ploughshare and the yellow grain,", "And rising ports along the busy shore", "Protect the vessel from old Ocean's roar,", "All, all, must perish; but, surviving last,", "The love of Letters half preserves the past.", "True, some decay, yet not a few revive;", "Though those shall sink, which now appear to thrive,", "As Custom arbitrates, whose shifting sway", "Our life and language must alike obey.", "", " The immortal wars which Gods and Angels wage,", "Are they not shown in Milton's sacred page?", "His strain will teach what numbers best belong", "To themes celestial told in Epic song.", "", " The slow, sad stanza will correctly paint", "The Lover's anguish, or the Friend's complaint.", "But which deserves the Laurel--Rhyme or Blank?", "Which holds on Helicon the higher rank?", "Let squabbling critics by themselves dispute", "This point, as puzzling as a Chancery suit.", "", " Satiric rhyme first sprang from selfish spleen.", "You doubt--see Dryden, Pope, St. Patrick's Dean.", "Blank verse is now, with one consent, allied", "To Tragedy, and rarely quits her side.", "Though mad Almanzor rhymed in Dryden's days,", "No sing-song Hero rants in modern plays;", "Whilst modest Comedy her verse foregoes", "For jest and 'pun' in very middling prose.", "Not that our Bens or Beaumonts show the worse,", "Or lose one point, because they wrote in verse.", "But so Thalia pleases to appear,", "Poor Virgin! damned some twenty times a year!", "", "Whate'er the scene, let this advice have weight:--", "Adapt your language to your Hero's state.", "At times Melpomene forgets to groan,", "And brisk Thalia takes a serious tone;", "Nor unregarded will the act pass by", "Where angry Townly \"lifts his voice on high.\"", "Again, our Shakespeare limits verse to Kings,", "When common prose will serve for common things;", "And lively Hal resigns heroic ire, -", "To \"hollaing Hotspur\" and his sceptred sire.", "", " 'Tis not enough, ye Bards, with all your art,", "To polish poems; they must touch the heart:", "Where'er the scene be laid, whate'er the song,", "Still let it bear the hearer's soul along;", "Command your audience or to smile or weep,", "Whiche'er may please you--anything but sleep.", "The Poet claims our tears; but, by his leave,", "Before I shed them, let me see 'him' grieve.", "", " If banished Romeo feigned nor sigh nor tear,", "Lulled by his languor, I could sleep or sneer.", "Sad words, no doubt, become a serious face,", "And men look angry in the proper place.", "At double meanings folks seem wondrous sly,", "And Sentiment prescribes a pensive eye;", "For Nature formed at first the inward man,", "And actors copy Nature--when they can.", "She bids the beating heart with rapture bound,", "Raised to the Stars, or levelled with the ground;", "And for Expression's aid, 'tis said, or sung,", "She gave our mind's interpreter--the tongue,", "Who, worn with use, of late would fain dispense", "(At least in theatres) with common sense;", "O'erwhelm with sound the Boxes, Gallery, Pit,", "And raise a laugh with anything--but Wit.", "", " To skilful writers it will much import,", "Whence spring their scenes, from common life or Court;", "Whether they seek applause by smile or tear,", "To draw a Lying Valet, or a Lear,", "A sage, or rakish youngster wild from school,", "A wandering Peregrine, or plain John Bull;", "All persons please when Nature's voice prevails,", "Scottish or Irish, born in Wilts or Wales.", "", " Or follow common fame, or forge a plot;", "Who cares if mimic heroes lived or not!", "One precept serves to regulate the scene:", "Make it appear as if it _might_ have _been_.", "", " If some Drawcansir you aspire to draw,", "Present him raving, and above all law:", "If female furies in your scheme are planned,", "Macbeth's fierce dame is ready to your hand;", "For tears and treachery, for good and evil,", "Constance, King Richard, Hamlet, and the Devil!", "But if a new design you dare essay,", "And freely wander from the beaten way,", "True to your characters, till all be past,", "Preserve consistency from first to last.", "", " Tis hard to venture where our betters fail,", "Or lend fresh interest to a twice-told tale;", "And yet, perchance,'tis wiser to prefer", "A hackneyed plot, than choose a new, and err;", "Yet copy not too closely, but record,", "More justly, thought for thought than word for word;", "Nor trace your Prototype through narrow ways,", "But only follow where he merits praise.", "", " For you, young Bard! whom luckless fate may lead", "To tremble on the nod of all who read,", "Ere your first score of cantos Time unrolls,", "Beware--for God's sake, don't begin like Bowles!", "\"Awake a louder and a loftier strain,\" -", "And pray, what follows from his boiling brain?--", "He sinks to Southey's level in a trice,", "Whose Epic Mountains never fail in mice!", "Not so of yore awoke your mighty Sire", "The tempered warblings of his master-lyre;", "Soft as the gentler breathing of the lute,", "\"Of Man's first disobedience and the fruit\"", "He speaks, but, as his subject swells along,", "Earth, Heaven, and Hades echo with the song.", "Still to the \"midst of things\" he hastens on,", "As if we witnessed all already done;", "Leaves on his path whatever seems too mean", "To raise the subject, or adorn the scene;", "Gives, as each page improves upon the sight,", "Not smoke from brightness, but from darkness--light;", "And truth and fiction with such art compounds,", "We know not where to fix their several bounds.", "", " If you would please the Public, deign to hear", "What soothes the many-headed monster's ear:", "If your heart triumph when the hands of all", "Applaud in thunder at the curtain's fall,", "Deserve those plaudits--study Nature's page,", "And sketch the striking traits of every age;", "While varying Man and varying years unfold", "Life's little tale, so oft, so vainly told;", "Observe his simple childhood's dawning days,", "His pranks, his prate, his playmates, and his plays:", "Till time at length the mannish tyro weans,", "And prurient vice outstrips his tardy teens!", "", " Behold him Freshman! forced no more to groan", "O'er Virgil's devilish verses and his own;", "Prayers are too tedious, Lectures too abstruse,", "He flies from Tavell's frown to \"Fordham's Mews;\"", "(Unlucky Tavell! doomed to daily cares", "By pugilistic pupils, and by bears,)", "Fines, Tutors, tasks, Conventions threat in vain,", "Before hounds, hunters, and Newmarket Plain.", "Rough with his elders, with his equals rash,", "Civil to sharpers, prodigal of cash;", "Constant to nought--save hazard and a whore,", "Yet cursing both--for both have made him sore:", "Unread (unless since books beguile disease,", "The P----x becomes his passage to Degrees);", "Fooled, pillaged, dunned, he wastes his terms away,", "And unexpelled, perhaps, retires M.A.;", "Master of Arts! as _hells_ and _clubs_ proclaim,", "Where scarce a blackleg bears a brighter name!", "", " Launched into life, extinct his early fire,", "He apes the selfish prudence of his Sire;", "Marries for money, chooses friends for rank,", "Buys land, and shrewdly trusts not to the Bank;", "Sits in the Senate; gets a son and heir;", "Sends him to Harrow--for himself was there.", "Mute, though he votes, unless when called to cheer,", "His son's so sharp--he'll see the dog a Peer!", "", " Manhood declines--Age palsies every limb;", "He quits the scene--or else the scene quits him;", "Scrapes wealth, o'er each departing penny grieves,", "And Avarice seizes all Ambition leaves;", "Counts cent per cent, and smiles, or vainly frets,", "O'er hoards diminished by young Hopeful's debts;", "Weighs well and wisely what to sell or buy,", "Complete in all life's lessons--but to die;", "Peevish and spiteful, doting, hard to please,", "Commending every time, save times like these;", "Crazed, querulous, forsaken, half forgot,", "Expires unwept--is buried--Let him rot!", "", " But from the Drama let me not digress,", "Nor spare my precepts, though they please you less.", "Though Woman weep, and hardest hearts are stirred,", "When what is done is rather seen than heard,", "Yet many deeds preserved in History's page", "Are better told than acted on the stage;", "The ear sustains what shocks the timid eye,", "And Horror thus subsides to Sympathy,", "True Briton all beside, I here am French--", "Bloodshed 'tis surely better to retrench:", "The gladiatorial gore we teach to flow", "In tragic scenes disgusts though but in show;", "We hate the carnage while we see the trick,", "And find small sympathy in being sick.", "Not on the stage the regicide Macbeth", "Appals an audience with a Monarch's death;", "To gaze when sable Hubert threats to sear", "Young Arthur's eyes, can _ours_ or _Nature_ bear?", "A haltered heroine Johnson sought to slay--", "We saved Irene, but half damned the play,", "And (Heaven be praised!) our tolerating times", "Stint Metamorphoses to Pantomimes;", "And Lewis' self, with all his sprites, would quake", "To change Earl Osmond's negro to a snake!", "Because, in scenes exciting joy or grief,", "We loathe the action which exceeds belief:", "And yet, God knows! what may not authors do,", "Whose Postscripts prate of dyeing \"heroines blue\"?", "", " Above all things, _Dan_ Poet, if you can,", "Eke out your acts, I pray, with mortal man,", "Nor call a ghost, unless some cursed scrape", "Must open ten trap-doors for your escape.", "Of all the monstrous things I'd fain forbid,", "I loathe an Opera worse than Dennis did;", "Where good and evil persons, right or wrong,", "Rage, love, and aught but moralise--in song.", "Hail, last memorial of our foreign friends,", "Which Gaul allows, and still Hesperia lends!", "Napoleon's edicts no embargo lay", "On whores--spies--singers--wisely shipped away.", "Our giant Capital, whose squares are spread", "Where rustics earned, and now may beg, their bread,", "In all iniquity is grown so nice,", "It scorns amusements which are not of price.", "Hence the pert shopkeeper, whose throbbing ear", "Aches with orchestras which he pays to hear,", "Whom shame, not sympathy, forbids to snore,", "His anguish doubling by his own \"encore;\"", "Squeezed in \"Fop's Alley,\" jostled by the beaux,", "Teased with his hat, and trembling for his toes;", "Scarce wrestles through the night, nor tastes of ease,", "Till the dropped curtain gives a glad release:", "Why this, and more, he suffers--can ye guess?--", "Because it costs him dear, and makes him dress!", "", " So prosper eunuchs from Etruscan schools;", "Give us but fiddlers, and they're sure of fools!", "Ere scenes were played by many a reverend clerk,", "(What harm, if David danced before the ark?)", "In Christmas revels, simple country folks", "Were pleased with morrice-mumm'ry and coarse jokes.", "Improving years, with things no longer known,", "Produced blithe Punch and merry Madame Joan,", "Who still frisk on with feats so lewdly low,", "'Tis strange Benvolio suffers such a show;", "Suppressing peer! to whom each vice gives place,", "Oaths, boxing, begging--all, save rout and race.", "", " Farce followed Comedy, and reached her prime,", "In ever-laughing Foote's fantastic time:", "Mad wag! who pardoned none, nor spared the best,", "And turned some very serious things to jest.", "Nor Church nor State escaped his public sneers,", "Arms nor the Gown--Priests--Lawyers--Volunteers:", "\"Alas, poor Yorick!\" now for ever mute!", "Whoever loves a laugh must sigh for Foote.", "", " We smile, perforce, when histrionic scenes", "Ape the swoln dialogue of Kings and Queens,", "When \"Crononhotonthologos must die,\"", "And Arthur struts in mimic majesty.", "", " Moschus! with whom once more I hope to sit,", "And smile at folly, if we can't at wit;", "Yes, Friend! for thee I'll quit my cynic cell,", "And bear Swift's motto, \"Vive la bagatelle!\"", "Which charmed our days in each Ægean clime,", "As oft at home, with revelry and rhyme.", "Then may Euphrosyne, who sped the past,", "Soothe thy Life's scenes, nor leave thee in the last;", "But find in thine--like pagan Plato's bed,", "Some merry Manuscript of Mimes, when dead.", "", " Now to the Drama let us bend our eyes,", "Where fettered by whig Walpole low she lies;", "Corruption foiled her, for she feared her glance;", "Decorum left her for an Opera dance!", "Yet Chesterfield, whose polished pen inveighs", "'Gainst laughter, fought for freedom to our Plays;", "Unchecked by Megrims of patrician brains,", "And damning Dulness of Lord Chamberlains.", "Repeal that act! again let Humour roam", "Wild o'er the stage--we've time for tears at home;", "Let Archer plant the horns on Sullen's brows,", "And Estifania gull her \"Copper\" spouse;", "The moral's scant--but that may be excused,", "Men go not to be lectured, but amused.", "He whom our plays dispose to Good or Ill", "Must wear a head in want of Willis' skill;", "Aye, but Macheath's example--psha!--no more!", "It formed no thieves--the thief was formed before;", "And spite of puritans and Collier's curse,", "Plays make mankind no better, and no worse.", "Then spare our stage, ye methodistic men!", "Nor burn damned Drury if it rise again.", "But why to brain-scorched bigots thus appeal?", "Can heavenly Mercy dwell with earthly Zeal?", "For times of fire and faggot let them hope!", "Times dear alike to puritan or Pope.", "As pious Calvin saw Servetus blaze,", "So would new sects on newer victims gaze.", "E'en now the songs of Solyma begin;", "Faith cants, perplexed apologist of Sin!", "While the Lord's servant chastens whom he loves,", "And Simeon kicks, where Baxter only \"shoves.", "", " Whom Nature guides, so writes, that every dunce ", "Enraptured, thinks to do the same at once;", "But after inky thumbs and bitten nails ", "And twenty scattered quires, the coxcomb fails.", "", " Let Pastoral be dumb; for who can hope", "To match the youthful eclogues of our Pope?", "Yet his and Philips' faults, of different kind,", "For Art too rude, for Nature too refined,", "Instruct how hard the medium 'tis to hit", "'Twixt too much polish and too coarse a wit.", "", " A vulgar scribbler, certes, stands disgraced", "In this nice age, when all aspire to taste;", "The dirty language, and the noisome jest,", "Which pleased in Swift of yore, we now detest;", "Proscribed not only in the world polite ", "But even too nasty for a City Knight!", "", " Peace to Swift's faults! his wit hath made them pass,", "Unmatched by all, save matchless Hudibras!", "Whose author is perhaps the first we meet,", "Who from our couplet lopped two final feet;", "Nor less in merit than the longer line,", "This measure moves a favourite of the Nine.", "Though at first view eight feet may seem in vain", "Formed, save in Ode, to bear a serious strain ", "Yet Scott has shown our wondering isle of late", "This measure shrinks not from a theme of weight,", "And, varied skilfully, surpasses far", "Heroic rhyme, but most in Love and War,", "Whose fluctuations, tender or sublime,", "Are curbed too much by long-recurring rhyme.", "", " But many a skilful judge abhors to see,", "What few admire--irregularity.", "This some vouchsafe to pardon; but 'tis hard", "When such a word contents a British Bard.", "", " And must the Bard his glowing thoughts confine,", "Lest Censure hover o'er some faulty line?", "Remove whate'er a critic may suspect,", "To gain the paltry suffrage of \"Correct\"?", "Or prune the spirit of each daring phrase,", "To fly from Error, not to merit Praise?", "", " Ye, who seek finished models, never cease ", "By day and night, to read the works of Greece.", "But our good Fathers never bent their brains", "To heathen Greek, content with native strains.", "The few who read a page, or used a pen,", "Were satisfied with Chaucer and old Ben;", "The jokes and numbers suited to their taste", "Were quaint and careless, anything but chaste;", "Yet, whether right or wrong the ancient rules,", "It will not do to call our Fathers fools!", "Though you and I, who eruditely know", "To separate the elegant and low,", "Can also, when a hobbling line appears,", "Detect with fingers--in default of ears.", "", " In sooth I do not know, or greatly care", "To learn, who our first English strollers were;", "Or if, till roofs received the vagrant art,", "Our Muse, like that of Thespis, kept a cart;", "But this is certain, since our Shakespeare's days,", "There's pomp enough--if little else--in plays;", "Nor will Melpomene ascend her Throne", "Without high heels, white plume, and Bristol stone.", "", " Old Comedies still meet with much applause,", "Though too licentious for dramatic laws;", "At least, we moderns, wisely, 'tis confest,", "Curtail, or silence, the lascivious jest ", "", " Whate'er their follies, and their faults beside,", "Our enterprising Bards pass nought untried;", "Nor do they merit slight applause who choose", "An English subject for an English Muse,", "And leave to minds which never dare invent", "French flippancy and German sentiment.", "Where is that living language which could claim", "Poetic more, as philosophic, fame,", "If all our Bards, more patient of delay,", "Would stop, like Pope, to polish by the way?", "", " Lords of the quill, whose critical assaults", "O'erthrow whole quartos with their quires of faults ", "Who soon detect, and mark where'er we fail,", "And prove our marble with too nice a nail!", "Democritus himself was not so bad;", "He only 'thought'--but 'you' would make us--mad!", "", " But truth to say, most rhymers rarely guard", "Against that ridicule they deem so hard;", "In person negligent, they wear, from sloth,", "Beards of a week, and nails of annual growth;", "Reside in garrets, fly from those they meet,", "And walk in alleys rather than the street.", "", " With little rhyme, less reason, if you please,", "The name of Poet may be got with ease,", "So that not tuns of helleboric juice", "Shall ever turn your head to any use;", "Write but like Wordsworth--live beside a lake,", "And keep your bushy locks a year from Blake;", "Then print your book, once more return to town,", "And boys shall hunt your Bardship up and down.", "Am I not wise, if such some poets' plight,", "To purge in spring--like Bayes -before I write?", "If this precaution softened not my bile,", "I know no scribbler with a madder style;", "But since (perhaps my feelings are too nice)", "I cannot purchase Fame at such a price,", "I'll labour gratis as a grinders' wheel,", "And, blunt myself, give edge to other's steel,", "Nor write at all, unless to teach the art", "To those rehearsing for the Poet's part;", "From Horace show the pleasing paths of song, ", "And from my own example--what is wrong.", "", " Though modern practice sometimes differs quite,", "'Tis just as well to think before you write;", "Let every book that suits your theme be read,", "So shall you trace it to the fountain-head.", "", " He who has learned the duty which he owes", "To friends and country, and to pardon foes;", "Who models his deportment as may best", "Accord with Brother, Sire, or Stranger-guest;", "Who takes our Laws and Worship as they are,", "Nor roars reform for Senate, Church, and Bar;", "In practice, rather than loud precept, wise,", "Bids not his tongue, but heart, philosophize:", "Such is the man the Poet should rehearse,", "As joint exemplar of his life and verse.", "", " Sometimes a sprightly wit, and tale well told,", "Without much grace, or weight, or art, will hold", "A longer empire o'er the public mind", "Than sounding trifles, empty, though refined.", "", " Unhappy Greece! thy sons of ancient days", "The Muse may celebrate with perfect praise,", "Whose generous children narrowed not their hearts", "With Commerce, given alone to Arms and Arts.", "Our boys (save those whom public schools compel", "To \"Long and Short\" before they're taught to spell)", "From frugal fathers soon imbibe by rote,", "\"A penny saved, my lad, 's a penny got.\"", "Babe of a city birth! from sixpence take", "The third, how much will the remainder make?--", "\"A groat.\"--\"Ah, bravo! Dick hath done the sum!", "He'll swell my fifty thousand to a Plum.\"", "", " They whose young souls receive this rust betimes,", "'Tis clear, are fit for anything but rhymes;", "And Locke will tell you, that the father's right", "Who hides all verses from his children's sight;", "For Poets (says this Sage and many more,)", "Make sad mechanics with their lyric lore:", "And Delphi now, however rich of old,", "Discovers little silver, and less gold,", "Because Parnassus, though a Mount divine,", "Is poor as Irus, or an Irish mine.", "", " Two objects always should the Poet move,", "Or one or both,--to please or to improve.", "Whate'er you teach, be brief, if you design", "For our remembrance your didactic line;", "Redundance places Memory on the rack,", "For brains may be o'erloaded, like the back.", "", " Fiction does best when taught to look like Truth,", "And fairy fables bubble none but youth:", "Expect no credit for too wondrous tales,", "Since Jonas only springs alive from Whales!", "", " Young men with aught but Elegance dispense;", "Maturer years require a little Sense.", "To end at once:--that Bard for all is fit", "Who mingles well instruction with his wit;", "For him Reviews shall smile; for him o'erflow", "The patronage of Paternoster-row;", "His book, with Longman's liberal aid, shall pass", "(Who ne'er despises books that bring him brass);", "Through three long weeks the taste of London lead,", "And cross St. George's Channel and the Tweed.", "", "But every thing has faults, nor is't unknown", "That harps and fiddles often lose their tone,", "And wayward voices, at their owner's call,", "With all his best endeavours, only squall;", "Dogs blink their covey, flints withhold the spark,", "And double-barrels (damn them!) miss their mark.", "", "Where frequent beauties strike the reader's view,", "We must not quarrel for a blot or two;", "But pardon equally to books or men,", "The slips of Human Nature, and the Pen.", "Yet if an author, spite of foe or friend,", "Despises all advice too much to mend,", "But ever twangs the same discordant string,", "Give him no quarter, howsoe'er he sing.", "Let Havard's fate o'ertake him, who, for once,", "Produced a play too dashing for a dunce:", "At first none deemed it his; but when his name", "Announced the fact--what then?--it lost its fame.", "Though all deplore when Milton deigns to doze,", "In a long work 'tis fair to steal repose.", "", "As Pictures, so shall Poems be; some stand", "The critic eye, and please when near at hand;", "But others at a distance strike the sight;", "This seeks the shade, but that demands the light,", "Nor dreads the connoisseur's fastidious view,", "But, ten times scrutinised, is ten times new.", "", "Parnassian pilgrims! ye whom chance, or choice,", "Hath led to listen to the Muse's voice,", "Receive this counsel, and be timely wise;", "Few reach the Summit which before you lies.", "Our Church and State, our Courts and Camps, concede", "Reward to very moderate heads indeed!", "In these plain common sense will travel far;", "All are not Erskines who mislead the Bar:", "But Poesy between the best and worst", "No medium knows; you must be last or first;", "For middling Poets' miserable volumes", "Are damned alike by Gods, and Men, and Columns.", "Again, my Jeffrey--as that sound inspires,", "How wakes my bosom to its wonted fires!", "Fires, such as gentle Caledonians feel", "When Southrons writhe upon their critic wheel,", "Or mild Eclectics, when some, worse than Turks,", "Would rob poor Faith to decorate \"Good Works.\"", "Such are the genial feelings them canst claim--", "My Falcon flies not at ignoble game.", "Mightiest of all Dunedin's beasts of chase!", "For thee my Pegasus would mend his pace.", "Arise, my Jeffrey! or my inkless pen", "Shall never blunt its edge on meaner men;", "Till thee or thine mine evil eye discerns,", "\"Alas! I cannot strike at wretched kernes.\"", "Inhuman Saxon! wilt thou then resign", "A Muse and heart by choice so wholly thine?", "Dear d--d contemner of my schoolboy songs,", "Hast thou no vengeance for my Manhood's wrongs?", "If unprovoked thou once could bid me bleed,", "Hast thou no weapon for my daring deed?", "What! not a word!--and am I then so low?", "Wilt thou forbear, who never spared a foe?", "Hast thou no wrath, or wish to give it vent?", "No wit for Nobles, Dunces by descent?", "No jest on \"minors,\" quibbles on a name,", "Nor one facetious paragraph of blame?", "Is it for this on Ilion I have stood,", "And thought of Homer less than Holyrood?", "On shore of Euxine or Ægean sea,", "My hate, untravelled, fondly turned to thee.", "Ah! let me cease! in vain my bosom burns,", "From Corydon unkind Alexis turns:", "Thy rhymes are vain; thy Jeffrey then forego,", "Nor woo that anger which he will not show.", "What then?--Edina starves some lanker son,", "To write an article thou canst not shun;", "Some less fastidious Scotchman shall be found,", "As bold in Billingsgate, though less renowned.", "", " As if at table some discordant dish,", "Should shock our optics, such as frogs for fish;", "As oil in lieu of butter men decry,", "And poppies please not in a modern pie;", "If all such mixtures then be half a crime,", "We must have Excellence to relish rhyme.", "Mere roast and boiled no Epicure invites;", "Thus Poetry disgusts, or else delights.", "", " Who shoot not flying rarely touch a gun:", "Will he who swims not to the river run?", "And men unpractised in exchanging knocks", "Must go to Jackson ere they dare to box.", "Whate'er the weapon, cudgel, fist, or foil,", "None reach expertness without years of toil;", "But fifty dunces can, with perfect ease,", "Tag twenty thousand couplets, when they please.", "Why not?--shall I, thus qualified to sit", "For rotten boroughs, never show my wit?", "Shall I, whose fathers with the \"Quorum\" sate,", "And lived in freedom on a fair estate;", "Who left me heir, with stables, kennels, packs,", "To 'all' their income, and to--'twice' its tax;", "Whose form and pedigree have scarce a fault,", "Shall I, I say, suppress my Attic Salt?", "", " Thus think \"the Mob of Gentlemen;\" but you,", "Besides all this, must have some Genius too.", "Be this your sober judgment, and a rule,", "And print not piping hot from Southey's school,", "Who (ere another Thalaba appears),", "I trust, will spare us for at least nine years.", "And hark'ye, Southey! pray--but don't be vexed--", "Burn all your last three works--and half the next.", "But why this vain advice? once published, books", "Can never be recalled--from pastry-cooks!", "Though \"Madoc,\" with \"Pucelle,\" instead of Punk,", "May travel back to Quito--on a trunk!", "", " Orpheus, we learn from Ovid and Lempriere,", "Led all wild beasts but Women by the ear;", "And had he fiddled at the present hour,", "We'd seen the Lions waltzing in the Tower;", "And old Amphion, such were minstrels then,", "Had built St. Paul's without the aid of Wren.", "Verse too was Justice, and the Bards of Greece", "Did more than constables to keep the peace;", "Abolished cuckoldom with much applause,", "Called county meetings, and enforced the laws,", "Cut down crown influence with reforming scythes,", "And served the Church--without demanding tithes;", "And hence, throughout all Hellas and the East,", "Each Poet was a Prophet and a Priest,", "Whose old-established Board of Joint Controls", "Included kingdoms in the cure of souls.", "", " Next rose the martial Homer, Epic's prince,", "And Fighting's been in fashion ever since;", "And old Tyrtæus, when the Spartans warred,", "(A limping leader, but a lofty bard)", "Though walled Ithome had resisted long,", "Reduced the fortress by the force of song.", "", " When Oracles prevailed, in times of old,", "In song alone Apollo's will was told.", "Then if your verse is what all verse should be,", "And Gods were not ashamed on't, why should we?", "", " The Muse, like mortal females, may be wooed;", "In turns she'll seem a Paphian, or a prude;", "Fierce as a bride when first she feels affright,", "Mild as the same upon the second night;", "Wild as the wife of Alderman or Peer,", "Now for His Grace, and now a grenadier!", "Her eyes beseem, her heart belies, her zone--", "Ice in a crowd--and Lava when alone.", "", " If Verse be studied with some show of Art.", "Kind Nature always will perform her part;", "Though without Genius, and a native vein", "Of wit, we loathe an artificial strain,", "Yet Art and Nature joined will win the prize,", "Unless they act like us and our allies.", "", " The youth who trains to ride, or run a race,", "Must bear privations with unruffled face,", "Be called to labour when he thinks to dine,", "And, harder still, leave wenching and his wine.", "Ladies who sing, at least who sing at sight,", "Have followed Music through her farthest flight;", "But rhymers tell you neither more nor less,", "\"I've got a pretty poem for the Press;\"", "And that's enough; then write and print so fast;--", "If Satan take the hindmost, who'd be last?", "They storm the Types, they publish, one and all,", "They leap the counter, and they leave the stall.", "Provincial Maidens, men of high command,", "Yea! Baronets have inked the bloody hand!", "Cash cannot quell them; Pollio played this prank,", "(Then Phoebus first found credit in a Bank!)", "Not all the living only, but the dead,", "Fool on, as fluent as an Orpheus' Head;", "Damned all their days, they posthumously thrive,", "Dug up from dust, though buried when alive!", "Reviews record this epidemic crime,", "Those Books of Martyrs to the rage for rhyme.", "Alas! woe worth the scribbler! often seen", "In Morning Post, or Monthly Magazine.", "There lurk his earlier lays; but soon, hot pressed,", "Behold a Quarto!--Tarts must tell the rest.", "Then leave, ye wise, the Lyre's precarious chords", "To muse-mad baronets, or madder lords,", "Or country Crispins, now grown somewhat stale,", "Twin Doric minstrels, drunk with Doric ale!", "Hark to those notes, narcotically soft!", "The Cobbler-Laureats sing to Capel Lofft!", "Till, lo! that modern Midas, as he hears,", "Adds an ell growth to his egregious ears!", "There lives one Druid, who prepares in time", "'Gainst future feuds his poor revenge of rhyme;", "Racks his dull Memory, and his duller Muse,", "To publish faults which Friendship should excuse.", "If Friendship's nothing, Self-regard might teach", "More polished usage of his parts of speech.", "But what is shame, or what is aught to him?", "He vents his spleen, or gratifies his whim.", "Some fancied slight has roused his lurking hate,", "Some folly crossed, some jest, or some debate;", "Up to his den Sir Scribbler hies, and soon", "The gathered gall is voided in Lampoon.", "Perhaps at some pert speech you've dared to frown,", "Perhaps your Poem may have pleased the Town:", "If so, alas! 'tis nature in the man--", "May Heaven forgive you, for he never can!", "Then be it so; and may his withering Bays", "Bloom fresh in satire, though they fade in praise", "While his lost songs no more shall steep and stink", "The dullest, fattest weeds on Lethe's brink,", "But springing upwards from the sluggish mould,", "Be (what they never were before) be--sold!", "Should some rich Bard (but such a monster now,", "In modern Physics, we can scarce allow),", "Should some pretending scribbler of the Court,", "Some rhyming Peer--there's plenty of the sort-", "All but one poor dependent priest withdrawn,", "(Ah! too regardless of his Chaplain's yawn!)", "Condemn the unlucky Curate to recite", "Their last dramatic work by candle-light,", "How would the preacher turn each rueful leaf,", "Dull as his sermons, but not half so brief!", "Yet, since 'tis promised at the Rector's death,", "He'll risk no living for a little breath.", "Then spouts and foams, and cries at every line,", "(The Lord forgive him!) \"Bravo! Grand! Divine!\"", "Hoarse with those praises (which, by Flatt'ry fed,", "Dependence barters for her bitter bread),", "He strides and stamps along with creaking boot;", "Till the floor echoes his emphatic foot,", "Then sits again, then rolls his pious eye,", "As when the dying vicar will not die!", "Nor feels, forsooth, emotion at his heart;--", "But all Dissemblers overact their part.", "", " Ye, who aspire to \"build the lofty rhyme,\"", "Believe not all who laud your false \"sublime;\"", "But if some friend shall hear your work, and say,", "\"Expunge that stanza, lop that line away,\"", "And, after fruitless efforts, you return", "Without amendment, and he answers, \"Burn!\"", "That instant throw your paper in the fire,", "Ask not his thoughts, or follow his desire;", "But (if true Bard!) you scorn to condescend,", "And will not alter what you can't defend,", "If you will breed this Bastard of your Brains,", "We'll have no words--I've only lost my pains.", "", " Yet, if you only prize your favourite thought,", "As critics kindly do, and authors ought;", "If your cool friend annoy you now and then,", "And cross whole pages with his plaguy pen;", "No matter, throw your ornaments aside,--", "Better let him than all the world deride.", "Give light to passages too much in shade,", "Nor let a doubt obscure one verse you've made;", "Your friend's a \"Johnson,\" not to leave one word,", "However trifling, which may seem absurd;", "Such erring trifles lead to serious ills,", "And furnish food for critics, or their quills.", "", " As the Scotch fiddle, with its touching tune,", "Or the sad influence of the angry Moon,", "All men avoid bad writers' ready tongues,", "As yawning waiters fly Fitzscribble's lungs;", "Yet on he mouths--ten minutes--tedious each", "As Prelate's homily, or placeman's speech;", "Long as the last years of a lingering lease,", "When Riot pauses until Rents increase.", "While such a minstrel, muttering fustian, strays", "O'er hedge and ditch, through unfrequented ways,", "If by some chance he walks into a well,", "And shouts for succour with stentorian yell,", "\"A rope! help, Christians, as ye hope for grace!\"", "Nor woman, man, nor child will stir a pace;", "For there his carcass he might freely fling,", "From frenzy, or the humour of the thing.", "Though this has happened to more Bards than one;", "I'll tell you Budgell's story,--and have done.", "", "Budgell, a rogue and rhymester, for no good,", "(Unless his case be much misunderstood)", "When teased with creditors' continual claims,", "\"To die like Cato,\" leapt into the Thames!", "And therefore be it lawful through the town", "For any Bard to poison, hang, or drown.", "Who saves the intended Suicide receives", "Small thanks from him who loathes the life he leaves;", "And, sooth to say, mad poets must not lose", "The Glory of that death they freely choose.", "", "Nor is it certain that some sorts of verse", "Prick not the Poet's conscience as a curse;", "Dosed with vile drams on Sunday he was found,", "Or got a child on consecrated ground!", "And hence is haunted with a rhyming rage--", "Feared like a bear just bursting from his cage.", "If free, all fly his versifying fit,", "Fatal at once to Simpleton or Wit:", "But 'him', unhappy! whom he seizes,--'him'", "He flays with Recitation limb by limb;", "Probes to the quick where'er he makes his breach,", "And gorges like a Lawyer--or a Leech." ], "linecount": "844" }, { "title": "The Curse of Minerva", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Pallas te hoc Vulnere Pallas", " Immolat et poenam scelerato ex Sanguine Sumit.", "", "Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run,", "Along Morea's hills the setting Sun;", "Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright,", "But one unclouded blaze of living light;", "O'er the hushed deep the yellow beam he throws,", "Gilds the green wave that trembles as it glows;", "On old Ægina's rock and Hydra's isle", "The God of gladness sheds his parting smile;", "O'er his own regions lingering loves to shine,", "Though there his altars are no more divine.", "Descending fast, the mountain-shadows kiss", "Thy glorious Gulf, unconquered Salamis!", "Their azure arches through the long expanse,", "More deeply purpled, meet his mellowing glance,", "And tenderest tints, along their summits driven,", "Mark his gay course, and own the hues of Heaven;", "Till, darkly shaded from the land and deep,", "Behind his Delphian rock he sinks to sleep.", "", " On such an eve his palest beam he cast", "When, Athens! here thy Wisest looked his last.", "How watched thy better sons his farewell ray,", "That closed their murdered Sage's latest day!", "Not yet--not yet--Sol pauses on the hill,", "The precious hour of parting lingers still;", "But sad his light to agonizing eyes,", "And dark the mountain's once delightful dyes;", "Gloom o'er the lovely land he seemed to pour,", "The land where Phoebus never frowned before;", "But ere he sunk below Cithaeron's head,", "The cup of Woe was quaffed--the Spirit fled;", "The soul of Him that scorned to fear or fly,", "Who lived and died as none can live or die.", "", " But lo! from high Hymettus to the plain", "The Queen of Night asserts her silent reign;", "No murky vapour, herald of the storm,", "Hides her fair face, or girds her glowing form;", "With cornice glimmering as the moonbeams play,", "There the white column greets her grateful ray,", "And bright around, with quivering beams beset,", "Her emblem sparkles o'er the Minaret;", "The groves of olive scattered dark and wide,", "Where meek Cephisus sheds his scanty tide,", "The cypress saddening by the sacred mosque,", "The gleaming turret of the gay kiosk,", "And sad and sombre 'mid the holy calm,", "Near Theseus' fane, yon solitary palm;", "All, tinged with varied hues, arrest the eye;", "And dull were his that passed them heedless by.", "Again the Ægean, heard no more afar,", "Lulls his chafed breast from elemental war:", "Again his waves in milder tints unfold", "Their long expanse of sapphire and of gold,", "Mixed with the shades of many a distant isle", "That frown, where gentler Ocean deigns to smile.", "", " As thus, within the walls of Pallas' fane,", "I marked the beauties of the land and main,", "Alone, and friendless, on the magic shore,", "Whose arts and arms but live in poets' lore;", "Oft as the matchless dome I turned to scan,", "Sacred to Gods, but not secure from Man,", "The Past returned, the Present seemed to cease,", "And Glory knew no clime beyond her Greece!", "", " Hour rolled along, and Dian's orb on high", "Had gained the centre of her softest sky;", "And yet unwearied still my footsteps trod", "O'er the vain shrine of many a vanished God:", "But chiefly, Pallas! thine, when Hecate's glare", "Checked by thy columns, fell more sadly fair", "O'er the chill marble, where the startling tread", "Thrills the lone heart like echoes from the dead.", "Long had I mused, and treasured every trace", "The wreck of Greece recorded of her race,", "When, lo! a giant-form before me strode,", "And Pallas hailed me in her own Abode!", "", " Yes,'twas Minerva's self; but, ah! how changed,", "Since o'er the Dardan field in arms she ranged!", "Not such as erst, by her divine command,", "Her form appeared from Phidias' plastic hand:", "Gone were the terrors of her awful brow,", "Her idle Ægis bore no Gorgon now;", "Her helm was dinted, and the broken lance", "Seemed weak and shaftless e'en to mortal glance;", "The Olive Branch, which still she deigned to clasp,", "Shrunk from her touch, and withered in her grasp;", "And, ah! though still the brightest of the sky,", "Celestial tears bedimmed her large blue eye;", "Round the rent casque her owlet circled slow,", "And mourned his mistress with a shriek of woe!", "", " \"Mortal!\"--'twas thus she spake--\"that blush of shame", "Proclaims thee Briton, once a noble name;", "First of the mighty, foremost of the free,", "Now honoured 'less' by all, and 'least' by me:", "Chief of thy foes shall Pallas still be found.", "Seek'st thou the cause of loathing!--look around.", "Lo! here, despite of war and wasting fire,", "I saw successive Tyrannies expire;", "'Scaped from the ravage of the Turk and Goth,", "Thy country sends a spoiler worse than both.", "Survey this vacant, violated fane;", "Recount the relics torn that yet remain:", "'These' Cecrops placed, 'this' Pericles adorned,", "'That' Adrian reared when drooping Science mourned.", "What more I owe let Gratitude attest--", "Know, Alaric and Elgin did the rest.", "That all may learn from whence the plunderer came,", "The insulted wall sustains his hated name:", "For Elgin's fame thus grateful Pallas pleads,", "Below, his name--above, behold his deeds!", "Be ever hailed with equal honour here", "The Gothic monarch and the Pictish peer:", "Arms gave the first his right, the last had none,", "But basely stole what less barbarians won.", "So when the Lion quits his fell repast,", "Next prowls the Wolf, the filthy Jackal last:", "Flesh, limbs, and blood the former make their own,", "The last poor brute securely gnaws the bone.", "Yet still the Gods are just, and crimes are crossed:", "See here what Elgin won, and what he lost!", "Another name with _his_ pollutes my shrine:", "Behold where Dian's beams disdain to shine!", "Some retribution still might Pallas claim,", "When Venus half avenged Minerva's shame.\"", "", " She ceased awhile, and thus I dared reply,", "To soothe the vengeance kindling in her eye:", "\"Daughter of Jove! in Britain's injured name,", "A true-born Briton may the deed disclaim.", "Frown not on England; England owns him not:", "Athena, no! thy plunderer was a Scot.", "Ask'st thou the difference? From fair Phyles' towers", "Survey Boeotia;--Caledonia's ours.", "And well I know within that bastard land", "Hath Wisdom's goddess never held command;", "A barren soil, where Nature's germs, confined", "To stern sterility, can stint the mind;", "Whose thistle well betrays the niggard earth,", "Emblem of all to whom the Land gives birth;", "Each genial influence nurtured to resist;", "A land of meanness, sophistry, and mist.", "Each breeze from foggy mount and marshy plain", "Dilutes with drivel every drizzly brain,", "Till, burst at length, each wat'ry head o'erflows,", "Foul as their soil, and frigid as their snows:", "Then thousand schemes of petulance and pride", "Despatch her scheming children far and wide;", "Some East, some West, some--everywhere but North!", "In quest of lawless gain, they issue forth.", "And thus--accursed be the day and year!", "She sent a Pict to play the felon here.", "Yet Caledonia claims some native worth,", "As dull Boeotia gave a Pindar birth;", "So may her few, the lettered and the brave,", "Bound to no clime, and victors of the grave,", "Shake off the sordid dust of such a land,", "And shine like children of a happier strand;", "As once, of yore, in some obnoxious place,", "Ten names (if found) had saved a wretched race.\"", "", " \"Mortal!\" the blue-eyed maid resumed, \"once more", "Bear back my mandate to thy native shore.", "Though fallen, alas! this vengeance yet is mine,", "To turn my counsels far from lands like thine.", "Hear then in silence Pallas' stern behest;", "Hear and believe, for Time will tell the rest.", "", " \"First on the head of him who did this deed", "My curse shall light,--on him and all his seed:", "Without one spark of intellectual fire,", "Be all the sons as senseless as the sire:", "If one with wit the parent brood disgrace,", "Believe him bastard of a brighter race:", "Still with his hireling artists let him prate,", "And Folly's praise repay for Wisdom's hate;", "Long of their Patron's gusto let them tell,", "Whose noblest, _native_ gusto is--to sell:", "To sell, and make--may shame record the day!--", "The State--Receiver of his pilfered prey.", "Meantime, the flattering, feeble dotard, West,", "Europe's worst dauber, and poor Britain's best,", "With palsied hand shall turn each model o'er,", "And own himself an infant of fourscore.", "Be all the Bruisers culled from all St. Giles',", "That Art and Nature may compare their styles;", "While brawny brutes in stupid wonder stare,", "And marvel at his Lordship's 'stone shop' there.", "Round the thronged gate shall sauntering coxcombs creep", "To lounge and lucubrate, to prate and peep;", "While many a languid maid, with longing sigh,", "On giant statues casts the curious eye;", "The room with transient glance appears to skim,", "Yet marks the mighty back and length of limb;", "Mourns o'er the difference of _now_ and _then_;", "Exclaims, 'These Greeks indeed were proper men!'", "Draws slight comparisons of 'these' with 'those',", "And envies Laïs all her Attic beaux.", "When shall a modern maid have swains like these?", "Alas! Sir Harry is no Hercules!", "And last of all, amidst the gaping crew,", "Some calm spectator, as he takes his view,", "In silent indignation mixed with grief,", "Admires the plunder, but abhors the thief.", "Oh, loathed in life, nor pardoned in the dust,", "May Hate pursue his sacrilegious lust!", "Linked with the fool that fired the Ephesian dome,", "Shall vengeance follow far beyond the tomb,", "And Eratostratus and Elgin shine", "In many a branding page and burning line;", "Alike reserved for aye to stand accursed,", "Perchance the second blacker than the first.", "", " \"So let him stand, through ages yet unborn,", "Fixed statue on the pedestal of Scorn;", "Though not for him alone revenge shall wait,", "But fits thy country for her coming fate:", "Hers were the deeds that taught her lawless son", "To do what oft Britannia's self had done.", "Look to the Baltic--blazing from afar,", "Your old Ally yet mourns perfidious war.", "Not to such deeds did Pallas lend her aid,", "Or break the compact which herself had made;", "Far from such counsels, from the faithless field", "She fled--but left behind her Gorgon shield;", "A fatal gift that turned your friends to stone,", "And left lost Albion hated and alone.", "", "\"Look to the East, where Ganges' swarthy race", "Shall shake your tyrant empire to its base;", "Lo! there Rebellion rears her ghastly head,", "And glares the Nemesis of native dead;", "Till Indus rolls a deep purpureal flood,", "And claims his long arrear of northern blood.", "So may ye perish!--Pallas, when she gave", "Your free-born rights, forbade ye to enslave.", "", " \"Look on your Spain!--she clasps the hand she hates,", "But boldly clasps, and thrusts you from her gates.", "Bear witness, bright Barossa! thou canst tell", "Whose were the sons that bravely fought and fell.", "But Lusitania, kind and dear ally,", "Can spare a few to fight, and sometimes fly.", "Oh glorious field! by Famine fiercely won,", "The Gaul retires for once, and all is done!", "But when did Pallas teach, that one retreat", "Retrieved three long Olympiads of defeat?", "", " \"Look last at home--ye love not to look there", "On the grim smile of comfortless despair:", "Your city saddens: loud though Revel howls,", "Here Famine faints, and yonder Rapine prowls.", "See all alike of more or less bereft;", "No misers tremble when there's nothing left.", "'Blest paper credit;' who shall dare to sing?", "It clogs like lead Corruption's weary wing.", "Yet Pallas pluck'd each Premier by the ear,", "Who Gods and men alike disdained to hear;", "But one, repentant o'er a bankrupt state,", "On Pallas calls,--but calls, alas! too late:", "Then raves for'----'; to that Mentor bends,", "Though he and Pallas never yet were friends.", "Him senates hear, whom never yet they heard,", "Contemptuous once, and now no less absurd.", "So, once of yore, each reasonable frog,", "Swore faith and fealty to his sovereign 'log.'", "Thus hailed your rulers their patrician clod,", "As Egypt chose an onion for a God.", "", " \"Now fare ye well! enjoy your little hour;", "Go, grasp the shadow of your vanished power;", "Gloss o'er the failure of each fondest scheme;", "Your strength a name, your bloated wealth a dream.", "Gone is that Gold, the marvel of mankind.", "And Pirates barter all that's left behind.", "No more the hirelings, purchased near and far,", "Crowd to the ranks of mercenary war.", "The idle merchant on the useless quay", "Droops o'er the bales no bark may bear away;", "Or, back returning, sees rejected stores", "Rot piecemeal on his own encumbered shores:", "The starved mechanic breaks his rusting loom,", "And desperate mans him 'gainst the coming doom.", "Then in the Senates of your sinking state", "Show me the man whose counsels may have weight.", "Vain is each voice where tones could once command;", "E'en factions cease to charm a factious land:", "Yet jarring sects convulse a sister Isle,", "And light with maddening hands the mutual pile.", "", " \"'Tis done, 'tis past--since Pallas warns in vain;", "The Furies seize her abdicated reign:", "Wide o'er the realm they wave their kindling brands,", "And wring her vitals with their fiery hands.", "But one convulsive struggle still remains,", "And Gaul shall weep ere Albion wear her chains,", "The bannered pomp of war, the glittering files,", "O'er whose gay trappings stern Bellona smiles;", "The brazen trump, the spirit-stirring drum,", "That bid the foe defiance ere they come;", "The hero bounding at his country's call,", "The glorious death that consecrates his fall,", "Swell the young heart with visionary charms.", "And bid it antedate the joys of arms.", "But know, a lesson you may yet be taught,", "With death alone are laurels cheaply bought;", "Not in the conflict Havoc seeks delight,", "His day of mercy is the day of fight.", "But when the field is fought, the battle won,", "Though drenched with gore, his woes are but begun:", "His deeper deeds as yet ye know by name;", "The slaughtered peasant and the ravished dame,", "The rifled mansion and the foe-reaped field,", "Ill suit with souls at home, untaught to yield.", "Say with what eye along the distant down", "Would flying burghers mark the blazing town?", "How view the column of ascending flames", "Shake his red shadow o'er the startled Thames?", "Nay, frown not, Albion! for the torch was thine", "That lit such pyres from Tagus to the Rhine:", "Now should they burst on thy devoted coast,", "Go, ask thy bosom who deserves them most?", "The law of Heaven and Earth is life for life,", "And she who raised, in vain regrets, the strife.\"" ], "linecount": "314" }, { "title": "The Waltz: An Apostrophic Hymn. by Horace Hornem, Esq", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"Qualis in Eurotæ ripis, aut per juga Cynthi,", " Exercet DIANA choros.\"", "", " VIRGIL, 'Æn'. i. 502.", "", " \"Such on Eurotas's banks, or Cynthus's height,", " Diana seems: and so she charms the sight,", " When in the dance the graceful goddess leads", " The quire of nymphs, and overtops their heads.\"", "", " DRYDEN'S _Virgil_.", "", "Muse of the many-twinkling feet! whose charms", "Are now extended up from legs to arms;", "Terpsichore!--too long misdeemed a maid--", "Reproachful term--bestowed but to upbraid--", "Henceforth in all the bronze of brightness shine,", "The least a Vestal of the Virgin Nine.", "Far be from thee and thine the name of Prude:", "Mocked yet triumphant; sneered at, unsubdued;", "Thy legs must move to conquer as they fly,", "If but thy coats are reasonably high!", "Thy breast--if bare enough--requires no shield;", "Dance forth--_sans armour_ thou shalt take the field", "And own--impregnable to _most_ assaults,", "Thy not too lawfully begotten \"Waltz.\"", "", " Hail, nimble Nymph! to whom the young hussar,", "The whiskered votary of Waltz and War,", "His night devotes, despite of spur and boots;", "A sight unmatched since Orpheus and his brutes:", "Hail, spirit-stirring Waltz!--beneath whose banners", "A modern hero fought for modish manners;", "On Hounslow's heath to rival Wellesley's fame,", "Cocked, fired, and missed his man--but gained his aim;", "Hail, moving muse! to whom the fair one's breast", "Gives all it can, and bids us take the rest.", "Oh! for the flow of Busby, or of Fitz,", "The latter's loyalty, the former's wits,", "To \"energise the object I pursue,\"", "And give both Belial and his Dance their due!", "", " Imperial Waltz! imported from the Rhine", "(Famed for the growth of pedigrees and wine),", "Long be thine import from all duty free,", "And Hock itself be less esteemed than thee;", "In some few qualities alike--for Hock", "Improves our cellar--_thou_ our living stock.", "The head to Hock belongs--thy subtler art", "Intoxicates alone the heedless heart:", "Through the full veins thy gentler poison swims,", "And wakes to Wantonness the willing limbs.", "", " Oh, Germany! how much to thee we owe,", "As heaven-born Pitt can testify below,", "Ere cursed Confederation made thee France's,", "And only left us thy d--d debts and dances!", "Of subsidies and Hanover bereft,", "We bless thee still--George the Third is left!", "Of kings the best--and last, not least in worth,", "For graciously begetting George the Fourth.", "To Germany, and Highnesses serene,", "Who owe us millions--don't we owe the Queen?", "To Germany, what owe we not besides?", "So oft bestowing Brunswickers and brides;", "Who paid for vulgar, with her royal blood,", "Drawn from the stem of each Teutonic stud:", "Who sent us--so be pardoned all her faults--", "A dozen dukes, some kings, a Queen--and Waltz.", "", " But peace to her--her Emperor and Diet,", "Though now transferred to Buonapartè's \"fiat!\"", "Back to my theme--O muse of Motion! say,", "How first to Albion found thy Waltz her way?", "", " Borne on the breath of Hyperborean gales,", "From Hamburg's port (while Hamburg yet had _mails_),", "Ere yet unlucky Fame--compelled to creep", "To snowy Gottenburg-was chilled to sleep;", "Or, starting from her slumbers, deigned arise,", "Heligoland! to stock thy mart with lies;", "While unburnt Moscow yet had news to send,", "Nor owed her fiery Exit to a friend,", "She came--Waltz came--and with her certain sets", "Of true despatches, and as true Gazettes;", "Then flamed of Austerlitz the blest despatch,", "Which _Moniteur_ nor _Morning Post_ can match", "And--almost crushed beneath the glorious news--", "Ten plays, and forty tales of Kotzebue's;", "One envoy's letters, six composer's airs,", "And loads from Frankfort and from Leipsic fairs:", "Meiners' four volumes upon Womankind,", "Like Lapland witches to ensure a wind;", "Brunck's heaviest tome for ballast, and, to back it,", "Of Heynè, such as should not sink the packet.", "", " Fraught with this cargo--and her fairest freight,", "Delightful Waltz, on tiptoe for a Mate,", "The welcome vessel reached the genial strand,", "And round her flocked the daughters of the land.", "Not decent David, when, before the ark,", "His grand _Pas-seul_ excited some remark;", "Not love-lorn Quixote, when his Sancho thought", "The knight's _Fandango_ friskier than it ought;", "Not soft Herodias, when, with winning tread,", "Her nimble feet danced off another's head;", "Not Cleopatra on her Galley's Deck,", "Displayed so much of _leg_ or more of _neck_,", "Than Thou, ambrosial Waltz, when first the Moon", "Beheld thee twirling to a Saxon tune!", "", " To You, ye husbands of ten years! whose brows", "Ache with the annual tributes of a spouse;", "To you of nine years less, who only bear", "The budding sprouts of those that you _shall_ wear,", "With added ornaments around them rolled", "Of native brass, or law-awarded gold;", "To You, ye Matrons, ever on the watch", "To mar a son's, or make a daughter's match;", "To You, ye children of--whom chance accords--", "_Always_ the Ladies, and _sometimes_ their Lords;", "To You, ye single gentlemen, who seek", "Torments for life, or pleasures for a week;", "As Love or Hymen your endeavours guide,", "To gain your own, or snatch another's bride;--", "To one and all the lovely Stranger came,", "And every Ball-room echoes with her name.", "", " Endearing Waltz!--to thy more melting tune", "Bow Irish Jig, and ancient Rigadoon.", "Scotch reels, avaunt! and Country-dance forego", "Your future claims to each fantastic toe!", "Waltz--Waltz alone--both legs and arms demands,", "Liberal of feet, and lavish of her hands;", "Hands which may freely range in public sight", "Where ne'er before--but--pray \"put out the light.\"", "Methinks the glare of yonder chandelier", "Shines much too far--or I am much too near;", "And true, though strange--Waltz whispers this remark,", "\"My slippery steps are safest in the dark!\"", "But here the Muse with due decorum halts,", "And lends her longest petticoat to \"Waltz.\"", "", " Observant Travellers of every time!", "Ye Quartos published upon every clime!", "0 say, shall dull _Romaika's_ heavy round,", "_Fandango's_ wriggle, or _Bolero's_ bound;", "Can Egypt's _Almas_ -tantalising group--", "Columbia's caperers to the warlike Whoop--", "Can aught from cold Kamschatka to Cape Horn", "With Waltz compare, or after Waltz be born?", "Ah, no! from Morier's pages down to Galt's,", "Each tourist pens a paragraph for \"Waltz.\"", "", " Shades of those Belles whose reign began of yore,", "With George the Third's--and ended long before!--", "Though in your daughters' daughters yet you thrive,", "Burst from your lead, and be yourselves alive!", "Back to the Ball-room speed your spectred host,", "Fool's Paradise is dull to that you lost.", "No treacherous powder bids Conjecture quake;", "No stiff-starched stays make meddling fingers ache;", "(Transferred to those ambiguous things that ape", "Goats in their visage, women in their shape;)", "No damsel faints when rather closely pressed,", "But more caressing seems when most caressed;", "Superfluous Hartshorn, and reviving Salts,", "Both banished by the sovereign cordial \"Waltz.\"", "", " Seductive Waltz!--though on thy native shore", "Even Werter's self proclaimed thee half a whore;", "Werter--to decent vice though much inclined,", "Yet warm, not wanton; dazzled, but not blind--", "Though gentle Genlis, in her strife with Staël,", "Would even proscribe thee from a Paris ball;", "The fashion hails--from Countesses to Queens,", "And maids and valets waltz behind the scenes;", "Wide and more wide thy witching circle spreads,", "And turns--if nothing else--at least our _heads_;", "With thee even clumsy cits attempt to bounce,", "And cockney's practise what they can't pronounce.", "Gods! how the glorious theme my strain exalts,", "And Rhyme finds partner Rhyme in praise of \"Waltz!\"", "Blest was the time Waltz chose for her _début_!", "The Court, the Regent, like herself were new;", "New face for friends, for foes some new rewards;", "New ornaments for black-and royal Guards;", "New laws to hang the rogues that roared for bread;", "New coins (most new) to follow those that fled;", "New victories--nor can we prize them less,", "Though Jenky wonders at his own success;", "New wars, because the old succeed so well,", "That most survivors envy those who fell;", "New mistresses--no, old--and yet 'tis true,", "Though they be _old_, the _thing_ is something new;", "Each new, quite new--(except some ancient tricks),", "New white-sticks--gold-sticks--broom-sticks--_all new sticks_!", "With vests or ribands--decked alike in hue,", "New troopers strut, new turncoats blush in blue:", "So saith the Muse: my----, what say you?", "Such was the time when Waltz might best maintain", "Her new preferments in this novel reign;", "Such was the time, nor ever yet was such;", "Hoops are _ more_, and petticoats _not much_;", "Morals and Minuets, Virtue and her stays,", "And tell-tale powder--all have had their days.", "The Ball begins--the honours of the house", "First duly done by daughter or by spouse,", "Some Potentate--or royal or serene--", "With Kent's gay grace, or sapient Gloster's mien,", "Leads forth the ready dame, whose rising flush", "Might once have been mistaken for a blush.", "From where the garb just leaves the bosom free,", "That spot where hearts were once supposed to be;", "Round all the confines of the yielded waist,", "The strangest hand may wander undisplaced:", "The lady's in return may grasp as much", "As princely paunches offer to her touch.", "Pleased round the chalky floor how well they trip", "One hand reposing on the royal hip!", "The other to the shoulder no less royal", "Ascending with affection truly loyal!", "Thus front to front the partners move or stand,", "The foot may rest, but none withdraw the hand;", "And all in turn may follow in their rank,", "The Earl of--Asterisk--and Lady--Blank;", "Sir--Such-a-one--with those of fashion's host,", "For whose blest surnames--vide \"Morning Post.\"", "(Or if for that impartial print too late,", "Search Doctors' Commons six months from my date)--", "Thus all and each, in movement swift or slow,", "The genial contact gently undergo;", "Till some might marvel, with the modest Turk,", "If \"nothing follows all this palming work?\"", "True, honest Mirza!--you may trust my rhyme--", "Something does follow at a fitter time;", "The breast thus publicly resigned to man,", "In private may resist him--if it can.", "", " O ye who loved our Grandmothers of yore,", "Fitzpatrick, Sheridan, and many more!", "And thou, my Prince! whose sovereign taste and will", "It is to love the lovely beldames still!", "Thou Ghost of Queensberry! whose judging Sprite", "Satan may spare to peep a single night,", "Pronounce--if ever in your days of bliss", "Asmodeus struck so bright a stroke as this;", "To teach the young ideas how to rise,", "Flush in the cheek, and languish in the eyes;", "Rush to the heart, and lighten through the frame,", "With half-told wish, and ill-dissembled flame,", "For prurient Nature still will storm the breast--", "_Who_, tempted thus, can answer for the rest?", "", " But ye--who never felt a single thought", "For what our Morals are to be, or ought;", "Who wisely wish the charms you view to reap,", "Say--would you make those beauties quite so cheap?", "Hot from the hands promiscuously applied,", "Round the slight waist, or down the glowing side,", "Where were the rapture then to clasp the form", "From this lewd grasp and lawless contact warm?", "At once Love's most endearing thought resign,", "To press the hand so pressed by none but thine;", "To gaze upon that eye which never met", "Another's ardent look without regret;", "Approach the lip which all, without restraint,", "Come near enough--if not to touch--to taint;", "If such thou lovest--love her then no more,", "Or give--like her--caresses to a score;", "Her Mind with these is gone, and with it go", "The little left behind it to bestow.", "", " Voluptuous Waltz! and dare I thus blaspheme?", "Thy bard forgot thy praises were his theme.", "Terpsichore forgive!--at every Ball", "My wife _now_ waltzes--and my daughters _shall_;", "_My_ son--(or stop--'tis needless to inquire--", "These little accidents should ne'er transpire;", "Some ages hence our genealogic tree", "Will wear as green a bough for him as me)--", "Waltzing shall rear, to make our name amends", "Grandsons for me--in heirs to all his friends." ], "linecount": "265" }, { "title": "The Girl of Cadiz", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh never talk again to me", " Of northern climes and British ladies;", "It has not been your lot to see,", " Like me, the lovely Girl of Cadiz.", "Although her eye be not of blue,", " Nor fair her locks, like English lasses,", "How far its own expressive hue", " The languid azure eye surpasses!", "", "Prometheus-like from heaven she stole", " The fire that through those silken lashes", "In darkest glances seems to roll,", " From eyes that cannot hide their flashes:", "And as along her bosom steal", " In lengthened flow her raven tresses,", "You'd swear each clustering lock could feel,", " And curled to give her neck caresses.", "", "Our English maids are long to woo,", " And frigid even in possession;", "And if their charms be fair to view,", " Their lips are slow at Love's confession;", "But, born beneath a brighter sun,", " For love ordained the Spanish maid is,", "And who,--when fondly, fairly won,--", " Enchants you like the Girl of Cadiz?", "", "The Spanish maid is no coquette,", " Nor joys to see a lover tremble,", "And if she love, or if she hate,", " Alike she knows not to dissemble.", "Her heart can ne'er be bought or sold--", " Howe'er it beats, it beats sincerely;", "And, though it will not bend to gold,", " 'Twill love you long and love you dearly.", "", "The Spanish girl that meets your love", " Ne'er taunts you with a mock denial,", "For every thought is bent to prove", " Her passion in the hour of trial.", "When thronging foemen menace Spain,", " She dares the deed and shares the danger;", "And should her lover press the plain,", " She hurls the spear, her love's avenger.", "", "And when, beneath the evening star,", " She mingles in the gay Bolero,", "Or sings to her attuned guitar", " Of Christian knight or Moorish hero,", "Or counts her beads with fairy hand", " Beneath the twinkling rays of Hesper,", "Or joins Devotion's choral band,", " To chaunt the sweet and hallowed vesper;--", "", "In each her charms the heart must move", " Of all who venture to behold her;", "Then let not maids less fair reprove", " Because her bosom is not colder:", "Through many a clime 'tis mine to roam", " Where many a soft and melting maid is,", "But none abroad, and few at home,", " May match the dark-eyed Girl of Cadiz." ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "To Florence", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh Lady! when I left the shore,", " The distant shore which gave me birth,", "I hardly thought to grieve once more,", " To quit another spot on earth:", "", "Yet here, amidst this barren isle,", " Where panting Nature droops the head,", "Where only thou art seen to smile,", " I view my parting hour with dread.", "", "Though far from Albin's craggy shore,", " Divided by the dark-blue main;", "A few, brief, rolling seasons o'er,", " Perchance I view her cliffs again:", "", "But wheresoe'er I now may roam,", " Through scorching clime, and varied sea,", "Though Time restore me to my home,", " I ne'er shall bend mine eyes on thee:", "", "On thee, in whom at once conspire", " All charms which heedless hearts can move,", "Whom but to see is to admire,", " And, oh! forgive the word--to love.", "", "Forgive the word, in one who ne'er", " With such a word can more offend;", "And since thy heart I cannot share,", " Believe me, what I am, thy friend.", "", "And who so cold as look on thee,", " Thou lovely wand'rer, and be less?", "Nor be, what man should ever be,", " The friend of Beauty in distress?", "", "Ah! who would think that form had past", " Through Danger's most destructive path,", "Had braved the death-winged tempest's blast,", " And 'scaped a Tyrant's fiercer wrath?", "", "Lady! when I shall view the walls", " Where free Byzantium once arose,", "And Stamboul's Oriental halls", " The Turkish tyrants now enclose;", "", "Though mightiest in the lists of fame,", " That glorious city still shall be;", "On me 'twill hold a dearer claim,", " As spot of thy nativity:", "", "And though I bid thee now farewell,", " When I behold that wondrous scene--", "Since where thou art I may not dwell--", " 'Twill soothe to be where thou hast been." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Stanzas Composed During a Thunderstorm", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Chill and mirk is the nightly blast,", " Where Pindus' mountains rise,", "And angry clouds are pouring fast", " The vengeance of the skies.", "", "Our guides are gone, our hope is lost,", " And lightnings, as they play,", "But show where rocks our path have crost,", " Or gild the torrent's spray.", "", "Is yon a cot I saw, though low?", " When lightning broke the gloom--", "How welcome were its shade!--ah, no!", " 'Tis but a Turkish tomb.", "", "Through sounds of foaming waterfalls,", " I hear a voice exclaim--", "My way-worn countryman, who calls", " On distant England's name.", "", "A shot is fired--by foe or friend?", " Another--'tis to tell", "The mountain-peasants to descend,", " And lead us where they dwell.", "", "Oh! who in such a night will dare", " To tempt the wilderness?", "And who 'mid thunder-peals can hear", " Our signal of distress?", "", "And who that heard our shouts would rise", " To try the dubious road?", "Nor rather deem from nightly cries", " That outlaws were abroad.", "", "Clouds burst, skies flash, oh, dreadful hour!", " More fiercely pours the storm!", "Yet here one thought has still the power", " To keep my bosom warm.", "", "While wandering through each broken path,", " O'er brake and craggy brow;", "While elements exhaust their wrath,", " Sweet Florence, where art thou?", "", "Not on the sea, not on the sea--", " Thy bark hath long been gone:", "Oh, may the storm that pours on me,", " Bow down my head alone!", "", "Full swiftly blew the swift Siroc,", " When last I pressed thy lip;", "And long ere now, with foaming shock,", " Impelled thy gallant ship.", "", "Now thou art safe; nay, long ere now", " Hast trod the shore of Spain;", "'Twere hard if aught so fair as thou", " Should linger on the main.", "", "And since I now remember thee", " In darkness and in dread,", "As in those hours of revelry", " Which Mirth and Music sped;", "", "Do thou, amid the fair white walls,", " If Cadiz yet be free,", "At times from out her latticed halls", " Look o'er the dark blue sea;", "", "Then think upon Calypso's isles,", " Endeared by days gone by;", "To others give a thousand smiles,", " To me a single sigh.", "", "And when the admiring circle mark", " The paleness of thy face,", "A half-formed tear, a transient spark", " Of melancholy grace,", "", "Again thou'lt smile, and blushing shun", " Some coxcomb's raillery;", "Nor own for once thou thought'st on one,", " Who ever thinks on thee.", "", "Though smile and sigh alike are vain,", " When severed hearts repine,", "My spirit flies o'er Mount and Main,", " And mourns in search of _thine_." ], "linecount": "72" }, { "title": "Translation of the Famous Greek War Song, \"δεῦτε παῖδεσ τῶν ἑλλήνων.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Sons of the Greeks, arise!", " The glorious hour's gone forth,", "And, worthy of such ties,", " Display who gave us birth.", "", "CHORUS.", "", "Sons of Greeks! let us go", "In arms against the foe,", "Till their hated blood shall flow", " In a river past our feet.", "", "Then manfully despising", " The Turkish tyrant's yoke,", "Let your country see you rising,", " And all her chains are broke.", "Brave shades of chiefs and sages,", " Behold the coming strife!", "Hellénes of past ages,", " Oh, start again to life!", "At the sound of my trumpet, breaking", " Your sleep, oh, join with me!", "And the seven-hilled city seeking,", " Fight, conquer, till we're free.", "", " Sons of Greeks, etc.", "", "Sparta, Sparta, why in slumbers", " Lethargic dost thou lie?", "Awake, and join thy numbers", " With Athens, old ally!", "Leonidas recalling,", " That chief of ancient song,", "Who saved ye once from falling,", " The terrible! the strong!", "Who made that bold diversion", " In old Thermopylæ,", "And warring with the Persian", " To keep his country free;", "With his three hundred waging", " The battle, long he stood,", "And like a lion raging,", " Expired in seas of blood.", "", " Sons of Greeks, etc." ], "linecount": "39" }, { "title": "Translation of the Romaic Song,", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I enter thy garden of roses,", " Belovéd and fair Haidée,", "Each morning where Flora reposes,", " For surely I see her in thee.", "Oh, Lovely! thus low I implore thee,", " Receive this fond truth from my tongue,", "Which utters its song to adore thee,", " Yet trembles for what it has sung;", "As the branch, at the bidding of Nature,", " Adds fragrance and fruit to the tree,", "Through her eyes, through her every feature,", " Shines the soul of the young Haidée.", "", "But the loveliest garden grows hateful", " When Love has abandoned the bowers;", "Bring me hemlock--since mine is ungrateful,", " That herb is more fragrant than flowers.", "The poison, when poured from the chalice,", " Will deeply embitter the bowl;", "But when drunk to escape from thy malice,", " The draught shall be sweet to my soul.", "Too cruel! in vain I implore thee", " My heart from these horrors to save:", "Will nought to my bosom restore thee?", " Then open the gates of the grave.", "", "As the chief who to combat advances", " Secure of his conquest before,", "Thus thou, with those eyes for thy lances,", " Hast pierced through my heart to its core.", "Ah, tell me, my soul! must I perish", " By pangs which a smile would dispel?", "Would the hope, which thou once bad'st me cherish,", " For torture repay me too well?", "Now sad is the garden of roses,", " Belovéd but false Haidée!", "There Flora all withered reposes,", " And mourns o'er thine absence with me." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Farewell to Malta", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Adieu, ye joys of La Valette!", "Adieu, Sirocco, sun, and sweat!", "Adieu, thou palace rarely entered!", "Adieu, ye mansions where--I've ventured!", "Adieu, ye curséd streets of stairs!", "(How surely he who mounts them swears!)", "Adieu, ye merchants often failing!", "Adieu, thou mob for ever railing!", "Adieu, ye packets--without letters!", "Adieu, ye fools--who ape your betters!", "Adieu, thou damned'st quarantine,", "That gave me fever, and the spleen!", "Adieu that stage which makes us yawn, Sirs,", "Adieu his Excellency's dancers!", "Adieu to Peter--whom no fault's in,", "But could not teach a colonel waltzing;", "Adieu, ye females fraught with graces!", "Adieu red coats, and redder faces!", "Adieu the supercilious air", "Of all that strut _en militaire_!", "I go--but God knows when, or why,", "To smoky towns and cloudy sky,", "To things (the honest truth to say)", "As bad--but in a different way.", "", "Farewell to these, but not adieu,", "Triumphant sons of truest blue!", "While either Adriatic shore,", "And fallen chiefs, and fleets no more,", "And nightly smiles, and daily dinners,", "Proclaim you war and women's winners.", "Pardon my Muse, who apt to prate is,", "And take my rhyme--because 'tis \"gratis.\"", "", "And now I've got to Mrs. Fraser,", "Perhaps you think I mean to praise her--", "And were I vain enough to think", "My praise was worth this drop of ink,", "A line--or two--were no hard matter,", "As here, indeed, I need not flatter:", "But she must be content to shine", "In better praises than in mine,", "With lively air, and open heart,", "And fashion's ease, without its art;", "Her hours can gaily glide along.", "Nor ask the aid of idle song.", "", "And now, O Malta! since thou'st got us,", "Thou little military hot-house!", "I'll not offend with words uncivil,", "And wish thee rudely at the Devil,", "But only stare from out my casement,", "And ask, \"for what is such a place meant?\"", "Then, in my solitary nook,", "Return to scribbling, or a book,", "Or take my physic while I'm able", "(Two spoonfuls hourly, by this label),", "Prefer my nightcap to my beaver,", "And bless my stars I've got a fever." ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "Newstead Abbey", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In the dome of my Sires as the clear moonbeam falls", "Through Silence and Shade o'er its desolate walls,", "It shines from afar like the glories of old;", "It gilds, but it warms not--'tis dazzling, but cold.", "", "Let the Sunbeam be bright for the younger of days:", "'Tis the light that should shine on a race that decays,", "When the Stars are on high and the dews on the ground,", "And the long shadow lingers the ruin around.", "", "And the step that o'erechoes the gray floor of stone", "Falls sullenly now, for 'tis only my own;", "And sunk are the voices that sounded in mirth,", "And empty the goblet, and dreary the hearth.", "", "And vain was each effort to raise and recall", "The brightness of old to illumine our Hall;", "And vain was the hope to avert our decline,", "And the fate of my fathers had faded to mine.", "", "And theirs was the wealth and the fulness of Fame,", "And mine to inherit too haughty a name;", "And theirs were the times and the triumphs of yore,", "And mine to regret, but renew them no more.", "", "And Ruin is fixed on my tower and my wall,", "Too hoary to fade, and too massy to fall;", "It tells not of Time's or the tempest's decay,", "But the wreck of the line that have held it in sway." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Epistle to a Friend,", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"Oh! banish care\"--such ever be", "The motto of _thy_ revelry!", "Perchance of _mine,_ when wassail nights", "Renew those riotous delights,", "Wherewith the children of Despair", "Lull the lone heart, and \"banish care.\"", "But not in Morn's reflecting hour,", "When present, past, and future lower,", "When all I loved is changed or gone,", "Mock with such taunts the woes of one,", "Whose every thought--but let them pass--", "Thou know'st I am not what I was.", "But, above all, if thou wouldst hold", "Place in a heart that ne'er was cold,", "By all the powers that men revere,", "By all unto thy bosom dear,", "Thy joys below, thy hopes above,", "Speak--speak of anything but Love.", "", " 'Twere long to tell, and vain to hear,", "The tale of one who scorns a tear;", "And there is little in that tale", "Which better bosoms would bewail.", "But mine has suffered more than well", "'Twould suit philosophy to tell.", "I've seen my bride another's bride,--", "Have seen her seated by his side,--", "Have seen the infant, which she bore,", "Wear the sweet smile the mother wore,", "When she and I in youth have smiled,", "As fond and faultless as her child;--", "Have seen her eyes, in cold disdain,", "Ask if I felt no secret pain;", "And _I_ have acted well my part,", "And made my cheek belie my heart,", "Returned the freezing glance she gave,", "Yet felt the while that _woman's_ slave;--", "Have kissed, as if without design,", "The babe which ought to have been mine,", "And showed, alas! in each caress", "Time had not made me love the less.", "", " But let this pass--I'll whine no more,", "Nor seek again an eastern shore;", "The world befits a busy brain,--", "I'll hie me to its haunts again.", "But if, in some succeeding year,", "When Britain's \"May is in the sere,\"", "Thou hear'st of one, whose deepening crimes", "Suit with the sablest of the times,", "Of one, whom love nor pity sways,", "Nor hope of fame, nor good men's praise;", "One, who in stern Ambition's pride,", "Perchance not blood shall turn aside;", "One ranked in some recording page", "With the worst anarchs of the age,", "Him wilt thou _know_--and _knowing_ pause,", "Nor with the _effect_ forget the cause." ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "To Thyrza", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Without a stone to mark the spot,", " And say, what Truth might well have said,", "By all, save one, perchance forgot,", " Ah! wherefore art thou lowly laid?", "By many a shore and many a sea", " Divided, yet beloved in vain;", "The Past, the Future fled to thee,", " To bid us meet--no--ne'er again!", "Could this have been--a word, a look,", " That softly said, \"We part in peace,\"", "Had taught my bosom how to brook,", " With fainter sighs, thy soul's release.", "And didst thou not, since Death for thee", " Prepared a light and pangless dart,", "Once long for him thou ne'er shalt see,", " Who held, and holds thee in his heart?", "Oh! who like him had watched thee here?", " Or sadly marked thy glazing eye,", "In that dread hour ere Death appear,", " When silent Sorrow fears to sigh,", "Till all was past? But when no more", " 'Twas thine to reck of human woe,", "Affection's heart-drops, gushing o'er,", " Had flowed as fast--as now they flow.", "Shall they not flow, when many a day", " In these, to me, deserted towers,", "Ere called but for a time away,", " Affection's mingling tears were ours?", "Ours too the glance none saw beside;", " The smile none else might understand;", "The whispered thought of hearts allied,", " The pressure of the thrilling hand;", "The kiss, so guiltless and refined,", " That Love each warmer wish forbore;", "Those eyes proclaimed so pure a mind,", " Ev'n Passion blushed to plead for more.", "The tone, that taught me to rejoice,", " When prone, unlike thee, to repine;", "The song, celestial from thy voice,", " But sweet to me from none but thine;", "The pledge we wore--_I_ wear it still,", " But where is thine?--Ah! where art thou?", "Oft have I borne the weight of ill,", " But never bent beneath till now!", "Well hast thou left in Life's best bloom", " The cup of Woe for me to drain.", "If rest alone be in the tomb,", " I would not wish thee here again:", "But if in worlds more blest than this", " Thy virtues seek a fitter sphere,", "Impart some portion of thy bliss,", " To wean me from mine anguish here.", "Teach me--too early taught by thee!", " To bear, forgiving and forgiven:", "On earth thy love was such to me;", " It fain would form my hope in Heaven!" ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "Away, Away, Ye Notes of Woe!", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Away, away, ye notes of Woe!", " Be silent, thou once soothing Strain,", "Or I must flee from hence--for, oh!", " I dare not trust those sounds again.", "To me they speak of brighter days--", " But lull the chords, for now, alas!", "I must not think, I may not gaze,", " On what I _am_--on what I _was_.", "", "The voice that made those sounds more sweet", " Is hushed, and all their charms are fled;", "And now their softest notes repeat", " A dirge, an anthem o'er the dead!", "Yes, Thyrza! yes, they breathe of thee,", " Belovéd dust! since dust thou art;", "And all that once was Harmony", " Is worse than discord to my heart!", "", "'Tis silent all!--but on my ear", " The well remembered Echoes thrill;", "I hear a voice I would not hear,", " A voice that now might well be still:", "Yet oft my doubting Soul 'twill shake;", " Ev'n Slumber owns its gentle tone,", "Till Consciousness will vainly wake", " To listen, though the dream be flown.", "", "Sweet Thyrza! waking as in sleep,", " Thou art but now a lovely dream;", "A Star that trembled o'er the deep,", " Then turned from earth its tender beam.", "But he who through Life's dreary way", " Must pass, when Heaven is veiled in wrath,", "Will long lament the vanished ray", " That scattered gladness o'er his path." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "One Struggle More, and I Am Free", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "One struggle more, and I am free", " From pangs that rend my heart in twain;", "One last long sigh to Love and thee,", " Then back to busy life again.", "It suits me well to mingle now", " With things that never pleased before:", "Though every joy is fled below,", " What future grief can touch me more?", "", "Then bring me wine, the banquet bring;", " Man was not formed to live alone:", "I'll be that light unmeaning thing", " That smiles with all, and weeps with none.", "It was not thus in days more dear,", " It never would have been, but thou", "Hast fled, and left me lonely here;", " Thou'rt nothing,--all are nothing now.", "", "In vain my lyre would lightly breathe!", " The smile that Sorrow fain would wear", "But mocks the woe that lurks beneath,", " Like roses o'er a sepulchre.", "Though gay companions o'er the bowl", " Dispel awhile the sense of ill;", "Though Pleasure fires the maddening soul,", " The Heart,--the Heart is lonely still!", "", "On many a lone and lovely night", " It soothed to gaze upon the sky;", "For then I deemed the heavenly light", " Shone sweetly on thy pensive eye:", "And oft I thought at Cynthia's noon,", " When sailing o'er the Ægean wave,", "\"Now Thyrza gazes on that moon\"--", " Alas, it gleamed upon her grave!", "", "When stretched on Fever's sleepless bed,", " And sickness shrunk my throbbing veins,", "\"'Tis comfort still,\" I faintly said,", " \"That Thyrza cannot know my pains:\"", "Like freedom to the time-worn slave--", " A boon 'tis idle then to give--", "Relenting Nature vainly gave", " My life, when Thyrza ceased to live!", "", "My Thyrza's pledge in better days,", " When Love and Life alike were new!", "How different now thou meet'st my gaze!", " How tinged by time with Sorrow's hue!", "The heart that gave itself with thee", " Is silent--ah, were mine as still!", "Though cold as e'en the dead can be,", " It feels, it sickens with the chill.", "", "Thou bitter pledge! thou mournful token!", " Though painful, welcome to my breast!", "Still, still, preserve that love unbroken,", " Or break the heart to which thou'rt pressed.", "Time tempers Love, but not removes,", " More hallowed when its Hope is fled:", "Oh! what are thousand living loves", " To that which cannot quit the dead?" ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "Euthanasia", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When Time, or soon or late, shall bring", " The dreamless sleep that lulls the dead,", "Oblivion! may thy languid wing", " Wave gently o'er my dying bed!", "", "No band of friends or heirs be there,", " To weep, or wish, the coming blow:", "No maiden, with dishevelled hair,", " To feel, or feign, decorous woe.", "", "But silent let me sink to Earth,", " With no officious mourners near:", "I would not mar one hour of mirth,", " Nor startle Friendship with a fear.", "", "Yet Love, if Love in such an hour", " Could nobly check its useless sighs,", "Might then exert its latest power", " In her who lives, and him who dies.", "", "'Twere sweet, my Psyche! to the last", " Thy features still serene to see:", "Forgetful of its struggles past,", " E'en Pain itself should smile on thee.", "", "But vain the wish--for Beauty still", " Will shrink, as shrinks the ebbing breath;", "And Woman's tears, produced at will,", " Deceive in life, unman in death.", "", "Then lonely be my latest hour,", " Without regret, without a groan;", "For thousands Death hath ceased to lower,", " And pain been transient or unknown.", "", "\"Aye but to die, and go,\" alas!", " Where all have gone, and all must go!", "To be the nothing that I was", " Ere born to life and living woe!", "", "Count o'er the joys thine hours have seen,", " Count o'er thy days from anguish free,", "And know, whatever thou hast been,", " 'Tis something better not to be." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "And Thou Art Dead, As Young and Fair", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "And thou art dead, as young and fair", " As aught of mortal birth;", "And form so soft, and charms so rare,", " Too soon returned to Earth!", "Though Earth received them in her bed,", "And o'er the spot the crowd may tread", " In carelessness or mirth,", "There is an eye which could not brook", "A moment on that grave to look.", "", "I will not ask where thou liest low,", " Nor gaze upon the spot;", "There flowers or weeds at will may grow,", " So I behold them not:", "It is enough for me to prove", "That what I loved, and long must love,", " Like common earth can rot;", "To me there needs no stone to tell,", "'Tis Nothing that I loved so well", "", "Yet did I love thee to the last", " As fervently as thou,", "Who didst not change through all the past,", " And canst not alter now.", "The love where Death has set his seal,", "Nor age can chill, nor rival steal,", " Nor falsehood disavow:", "And, what were worse, thou canst not see", "Or wrong, or change, or fault in me.", "", "The better days of life were ours;", " The worst can be but mine:", "The sun that cheers, the storm that lowers,", " Shall never more be thine.", "The silence of that dreamless sleep", "I envy now too much to weep;", " Nor need I to repine,", "That all those charms have passed away", "I might have watched through long decay.", "", "The flower in ripened bloom unmatched", " Must fall the earliest prey;", "Though by no hand untimely snatched,", " The leaves must drop away:", "And yet it were a greater grief", "To watch it withering, leaf by leaf,", " Than see it plucked to-day;", "Since earthly eye but ill can bear", "To trace the change to foul from fair.", "", "I know not if I could have borne", " To see thy beauties fade;", "The night that followed such a morn", " Had worn a deeper shade:", "Thy day without a cloud hath passed,", "And thou wert lovely to the last;", " Extinguished, not decayed;", "As stars that shoot along the sky", "Shine brightest as they fall from high.", "", "As once I wept, if I could weep,", " My tears might well be shed,", "To think I was not near to keep", " One vigil o'er thy bed;", "To gaze, how fondly! on thy face,", "To fold thee in a faint embrace,", " Uphold thy drooping head;", "And show that love, however vain,", "Nor thou nor I can feel again.", "", "Yet how much less it were to gain,", " Though thou hast left me free,", "The loveliest things that still remain,", " Than thus remember thee!", "The all of thine that cannot die", "Through dark and dread Eternity", " Returns again to me,", "And more thy buried love endears", "Than aught, except its living years." ], "linecount": "72" }, { "title": "If Sometimes in the Haunts of Men", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "If sometimes in the haunts of men", " Thine image from my breast may fade,", "The lonely hour presents again", " The semblance of thy gentle shade:", "And now that sad and silent hour", " Thus much of thee can still restore,", "And sorrow unobserved may pour", " The plaint she dare not speak before.", "", "Oh, pardon that in crowds awhile", " I waste one thought I owe to thee,", "And self-condemned, appear to smile,", " Unfaithful to thy memory:", "Nor deem that memory less dear,", " That then I seem not to repine;", "I would not fools should overhear", " One sigh that should be wholly _thine_.", "", "If not the Goblet pass unquaffed,", " It is not drained to banish care;", "The cup must hold a deadlier draught", " That brings a Lethe for despair.", "And could Oblivion set my soul", " From all her troubled visions free,", "I'd dash to earth the sweetest bowl", " That drowned a single thought of thee.", "", "For wert thou vanished from my mind,", " Where could my vacant bosom turn?", "And who would then remain behind", " To honour thine abandoned Urn?", "No, no--it is my sorrow's pride", " That last dear duty to fulfil;", "Though all the world forget beside,", " 'Tis meet that I remember still.", "", "For well I know, that such had been", " Thy gentle care for him, who now", "Unmourned shall quit this mortal scene,", " Where none regarded him, but thou:", "And, oh! I feel in _that_ was given", " A blessing never meant for me;", "Thou wert too like a dream of Heaven,", " For earthly Love to merit thee." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "The Chain I Gave. From the Turkish", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The chain I gave was fair to view,", " The lute I added sweet in sound;", "The heart that offered both was true,", " And ill deserved the fate it found.", "", "These gifts were charmed by secret spell,", " Thy truth in absence to divine;", "And they have done their duty well,--", " Alas! they could not teach thee thine.", "", "That chain was firm in every link,", " But not to bear a stranger's touch;", "That lute was sweet--till thou couldst think", " In other hands its notes were such.", "", "Let him who from thy neck unbound", " The chain which shivered in his grasp,", "Who saw that lute refuse to sound,", " Restring the chords, renew the clasp.", "", "When thou wert changed, they altered too;", " The chain is broke, the music mute,", "'Tis past--to them and thee adieu--", " False heart, frail chain, and silent lute." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "Address, Spoken at the Opening of Drury-Lane Theatre, Saturday, October 10, 1812", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In one dread night our city saw, and sighed,", "Bowed to the dust, the Drama's tower of pride;", "In one short hour beheld the blazing fane,", "Apollo sink, and Shakespeare cease to reign.", "", " Ye who beheld, (oh! sight admired and mourned,", "Whose radiance mocked the ruin it adorned!)", "Through clouds of fire the massy fragments riven,", "Like Israel's pillar, chase the night from heaven;", "Saw the long column of revolving flames", "Shake its red shadow o'er the startled Thames,", "While thousands, thronged around the burning dome,", "Shrank back appalled, and trembled for their home,", "As glared the volumed blaze, and ghastly shone", "The skies, with lightnings awful as their own,", "Till blackening ashes and the lonely wall", "Usurped the Muse's realm, and marked her fall;", "Say--shall this new, nor less aspiring pile,", "Reared where once rose the mightiest in our isle,", "Know the same favour which the former knew,", "A shrine for Shakespeare--worthy him and _you_?", "", " Yes--it shall be--the magic of that name", "Defies the scythe of time, the torch of flame;", "On the same spot still consecrates the scene,", "And bids the Drama _be_ where she hath _been_:", "This fabric's birth attests the potent spell----", "Indulge our honest pride, and say, _How well_!", "", " As soars this fane to emulate the last,", "Oh! might we draw our omens from the past,", "Some hour propitious to our prayers may boast", "Names such as hallow still the dome we lost.", "On Drury first your Siddons' thrilling art", "O'erwhelmed the gentlest, stormed the sternest heart.", "On Drury, Garrick's latest laurels grew;", "Here your last tears retiring Roscius drew,", "Sighed his last thanks, and wept his last adieu:", "But still for living wit the wreaths may bloom,", "That only waste their odours o'er the tomb.", "Such Drury claimed and claims--nor you refuse", "One tribute to revive his slumbering muse;", "With garlands deck your own Menander's head,", "Nor hoard your honours idly for the dead!", "Dear are the days which made our annals bright,", "Ere Garrick fled, or Brinsley ceased to write", "Heirs to their labours, like all high-born heirs,", "Vain of _our_ ancestry as they of _theirs_;", "While thus Remembrance borrows Banquo's glass", "To claim the sceptred shadows as they pass,", "And we the mirror hold, where imaged shine", "Immortal names, emblazoned on our line,", "Pause--ere their feebler offspring you condemn,", "Reflect how hard the task to rival them!", "", " Friends of the stage! to whom both Players and Plays", "Must sue alike for pardon or for praise,", "Whose judging voice and eye alone direct", "The boundless power to cherish or reject;", "If e'er frivolity has led to fame,", "And made us blush that you forbore to blame--", "If e'er the sinking stage could condescend", "To soothe the sickly taste it dare not mend--", "All past reproach may present scenes refute,", "And censure, wisely loud, be justly mute!", "Oh! since your fiat stamps the Drama's laws,", "Forbear to mock us with misplaced applause;", "So Pride shall doubly nerve the actor's powers,", "And Reason's voice be echoed back by ours!", "", " This greeting o'er--the ancient rule obeyed,", "The Drama's homage by her herald paid--", "Receive _our welcome_ too--whose every tone", "Springs from our hearts, and fain would win your own.", "The curtain rises--may our stage unfold", "Scenes not unworthy Drury's days of old!", "Britons our judges, Nature for our guide,", "Still may _we_ please--long, long may _you_ preside." ], "linecount": "73" }, { "title": "Parenthetical Address. by Dr. Plagiary", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " _Half stolen_, with acknowledgments, to be spoken in an", " inarticulate voice by Master ---- at the opening of the next", " new theatre.", "", "\"When energising objects men pursue,\"", "Then Lord knows what is writ by Lord knows who.", "A modest Monologue you here survey,", "Hissed from the theatre the \"other day,\"", "As if Sir Fretful wrote \"the slumberous\" verse,", "And gave his son \"the rubbish\" to rehearse.", "\"Yet at the thing you'd never be amazed,\"", "Knew you the rumpus which the Author raised;", "\"Nor even here your smiles would be represt,\"", "Knew you these lines--the badness of the best,", "\"Flame! fire! and flame!\" (words borrowed from Lucretius.)", "\"Dread metaphors\" which open wounds like issues!", "\"And sleeping pangs awake--and----But away\"--", "(Confound me if I know what next to say).", "Lo \"Hope reviving re-expands her wings,\"", "And Master G---- recites what Dr. Busby sings!--", "\"If mighty things with small we may compare,\"", "(Translated from the Grammar for the fair!)", "Dramatic \"spirit drives a conquering car,\"", "And burn'd poor Moscow like a tub of \"tar.\"", "\"This spirit\" \"Wellington has shown in Spain,\"", "To furnish Melodrames for Drury Lane.", "\"Another Marlborough points to Blenheim's story,\"", "And George and I will dramatise it for ye.", "", " \"In Arts and Sciences our Isle hath shone\"", "(This deep discovery is mine alone).", "Oh \"British poesy, whose powers inspire\"", "My verse--or I'm a fool--and Fame's a liar,", "\"Thee we invoke, your Sister Arts implore\"", "With \"smiles,\" and \"lyres,\" and \"pencils,\" and much more.", "These, if we win the Graces, too, we gain", "_Disgraces_, too! \"inseparable train!\"", "\"Three who have stolen their witching airs from Cupid\"", "(You all know what I mean, unless you're stupid):", "\"Harmonious throng\" that I have kept _in petto_", "Now to produce in a \"divine _sestetto_\"!!", "\"While Poesy,\" with these delightful doxies,", "\"Sustains her part\" in all the \"upper\" boxes!", "\"Thus lifted gloriously, you'll sweep along,\"", "Borne in the vast balloon of Busby's song;", "\"Shine in your farce, masque, scenery, and play\"", "(For this last line George had a holiday).", "\"Old Drury never, never soar'd so high,\"", "So says the Manager, and so say I.", "\"But hold,\" you say, \"this self-complacent boast;\"", "Is this the Poem which the public lost?", "\"True--true--that lowers at once our mounting pride;\"", "But lo;--the Papers print what you deride.", "\"'Tis ours to look on _you_--_you_ hold the prize,\"", "'Tis _twenty guineas_, as they advertise!", "\"A _double_ blessing your rewards impart\"--", "I wish I had them, then, with all my heart.", "\"Our _twofold_ feeling _owns_ its twofold cause,\"", "Why son and I both beg for your applause.", "\"When in your fostering beams you bid us live,\"", "My next subscription list shall say how much you give!" ], "linecount": "59" }, { "title": "To Time", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Time! on whose arbitrary wing", " The varying hours must flag or fly,", "Whose tardy winter, fleeting spring,", " But drag or drive us on to die--", "Hail thou! who on my birth bestowed", " Those boons to all that know thee known;", "Yet better I sustain thy load,", " For now I bear the weight alone.", "I would not one fond heart should share", " The bitter moments thou hast given;", "And pardon thee--since thou couldst spare", " All that I loved, to peace or Heaven.", "To them be joy or rest--on me", " Thy future ills shall press in vain;", "I nothing owe but years to thee,", " A debt already paid in pain.", "Yet even that pain was some relief;", " It felt, but still forgot thy power:", "The active agony of grief", " Retards, but never counts the hour.", "In joy I've sighed to think thy flight", " Would soon subside from swift to slow;", "Thy cloud could overcast the light,", " But could not add a night to Woe;", "For then, however drear and dark,", " My soul was suited to thy sky;", "One star alone shot forth a spark", " To prove thee--not Eternity.", "That beam hath sunk--and now thou art", " A blank--a thing to count and curse", "Through each dull tedious trifling part,", " Which all regret, yet all rehearse.", "One scene even thou canst not deform--", " The limit of thy sloth or speed", "When future wanderers bear the storm", " Which we shall sleep too sound to heed.", "And I can smile to think how weak", " Thine efforts shortly shall be shown,", "When all the vengeance thou canst wreak", " Must fall upon--a nameless stone." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Translation of a Romaic Love Song", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Ah! Love was never yet without", "The pang, the agony, the doubt,", "Which rends my heart with ceaseless sigh,", "While day and night roll darkling by.", "", "Without one friend to hear my woe,", "I faint, I die beneath the blow.", "That Love had arrows, well I knew,", "Alas! I find them poisoned too.", "", "Birds, yet in freedom, shun the net", "Which Love around your haunts hath set;", "Or, circled by his fatal fire,", "Your hearts shall burn, your hopes expire.", "", "A bird of free and careless wing", "Was I, through many a smiling spring;", "But caught within the subtle snare,", "I burn, and feebly flutter there.", "", "Who ne'er have loved, and loved in vain,", "Can neither feel nor pity pain,", "The cold repulse, the look askance,", "The lightning of Love's angry glance.", "", "In flattering dreams I deemed thee mine;", "Now hope, and he who hoped, decline;", "Like melting wax, or withering flower,", "I feel my passion, and thy power.", "", "My light of Life! ah, tell me why", "That pouting lip, and altered eye?", "My bird of Love! my beauteous mate!", "And art thou changed, and canst thou hate?", "", "Mine eyes like wintry streams o'erflow:", "What wretch with me would barter woe?", "My bird! relent: one note could give", "A charm to bid thy lover live.", "", "My curdling blood, my madd'ning brain,", "In silent anguish I sustain;", "And still thy heart, without partaking", "One pang, exults--while mine is breaking.", "", "Pour me the poison; fear not thou!", "Thou canst not murder more than now:", "I've lived to curse my natal day,", "And Love, that thus can lingering slay.", "", "My wounded soul, my bleeding breast,", "Can patience preach thee into rest?", "Alas! too late, I dearly know", "That Joy is harbinger of Woe." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Thou Art Not False, but Thou Art Fickle", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Thou art not false, but thou art fickle,", " To those thyself so fondly sought;", "The tears that thou hast forced to trickle", " Are doubly bitter from that thought:", "'Tis this which breaks the heart thou grievest,", "_Too well_ thou lov'st--_too soon_ thou leavest.", "", "The wholly false the _heart_ despises,", " And spurns deceiver and deceit;", "But she who not a thought disguises,", " Whose love is as sincere as sweet,--", "When _she_ can change who loved so truly,", "It _feels_ what mine has _felt_ so newly.", "", "To dream of joy and wake to sorrow", " Is doomed to all who love or live;", "And if, when conscious on the morrow,", " We scarce our Fancy can forgive,", "That cheated us in slumber only,", "To leave the waking soul more lonely,", "", "What must they feel whom no false vision", " But truest, tenderest Passion warmed?", "Sincere, but swift in sad transition:", " As if a dream alone had charmed?", "Ah! sure such _grief_ is _Fancy's_ scheming,", "And all thy _Change_ can be but _dreaming!_" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "On the Quotation,", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"And my true faith can alter never,", "Though thou art gone perhaps for ever.\"", "", "And \"thy true faith can alter never?\"--", " Indeed it lasted for a--week!", "I know the length of Love's forever,", " And just expected such a freak.", "In peace we met, in peace we parted,", " In peace we vowed to meet again,", "And though I find thee fickle-hearted", " No pang of mine shall make thee vain.", "", "One gone--'twas time to seek a second;", " In sooth 'twere hard to blame thy haste.", "And whatsoe'er thy love be reckoned,", " At least thou hast improved in taste:", "Though one was young, the next was younger,", " His love was new, mine too well known--", "And what might make the charm still stronger,", " The youth was present, I was flown.", "", "Seven days and nights of single sorrow!", " Too much for human constancy!", "A fortnight past, why then to-morrow,", " His turn is come to follow me:", "And if each week you change a lover,", " And so have acted heretofore,", "Before a year or two is over", " We'll form a very pretty _corps_.", "", "Adieu, fair thing! without upbraiding", " I fain would take a decent leave;", "Thy beauty still survives unfading,", " And undeceived may long deceive.", "With him unto thy bosom dearer", " Enjoy the moments as they flee;", "I only wish his love sincerer", " Than thy young heart has been to me." ], "linecount": "34" }, { "title": "Remember Him, Whom Passion's Power", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Remember him, whom Passion's power", " Severely--deeply--vainly proved:", "Remember thou that dangerous hour,", " When neither fell, though both were loved.", "", "That yielding breast, that melting eye,", " Too much invited to be blessed:", "That gentle prayer, that pleading sigh,", " The wilder wish reproved, repressed.", "", "Oh! let me feel that all I lost", " But saved thee all that Conscience fears;", "And blush for every pang it cost", " To spare the vain remorse of years.", "", "Yet think of this when many a tongue,", " Whose busy accents whisper blame,", "Would do the heart that loved thee wrong,", " And brand a nearly blighted name.", "", "Think that, whate'er to others, thou", " Hast seen each selfish thought subdued:", "I bless thy purer soul even now,", " Even now, in midnight solitude.", "", "Oh, God! that we had met in time,", " Our hearts as fond, thy hand more free;", "When thou hadst loved without a crime,", " And I been less unworthy thee!", "", "Far may thy days, as heretofore,", " From this our gaudy world be past!", "And that too bitter moment o'er,", " Oh! may such trial be thy last.", "", "This heart, alas! perverted long,", " Itself destroyed might there destroy;", "To meet thee in the glittering throng,", " Would wake Presumption's hope of joy.", "", "Then to the things whose bliss or woe,", " Like mine, is wild and worthless all,", "That world resign--such scenes forego,", " Where those who feel must surely fall.", "", "Thy youth, thy charms, thy tenderness--", " Thy soul from long seclusion pure;", "From what even here hath passed, may guess", " What there thy bosom must endure.", "", "Oh! pardon that imploring tear,", " Since not by Virtue shed in vain,", "My frenzy drew from eyes so dear;", " For me they shall not weep again.", "", "Though long and mournful must it be,", " The thought that we no more may meet;", "Yet I deserve the stern decree,", " And almost deem the sentence sweet.", "", "Still--had I loved thee less--my heart", " Had then less sacrificed to thine;", "It felt not half so much to part", " As if its guilt had made thee mine." ], "linecount": "52" }, { "title": "From the Portuguese. \"Tu MI Chamas\". Another Version", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "You call me still your _Life_.--Oh! change the word--", " Life is as transient as the inconstant sigh:", "Say rather I'm your Soul; more just that name,", " For, like the soul, my Love can never die." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "The Bride of Abydos. a Turkish Tale", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"Had we never loved sae kindly,", " Had we never loved sae blindly,", " Never met--or never parted,", " We had ne'er been broken-hearted.\"--", "", " Burns .", "", "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle", " Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime?", "Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle,", " Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime?", "Know ye the land of the cedar and vine,", "Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;", "Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume,", "Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gúl in her bloom;", "Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,", "And the voice of the nightingale never is mute;", "Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky,", "In colour though varied, in beauty may vie,", "And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye;", "Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,", "And all, save the spirit of man, is divine--", "Tis the clime of the East--'tis the land of the Sun--", "Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done?", "Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewell", "Are the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell.", "", " Begirt with many a gallant slave,", " Apparelled as becomes the brave,", " Awaiting each his Lord's behest", " To guide his steps, or guard his rest,", " Old Giaffir sate in his Divan:", " Deep thought was in his agéd eye;", " And though the face of Mussulman", " Not oft betrays to standers by", " The mind within, well skilled to hide", " All but unconquerable pride,", " His pensive cheek and pondering brow", " Did more than he was wont avow.", "", "\"Let the chamber be cleared.\"--The train disappeared--", " \"Now call me the chief of the Haram guard\"--", "With Giaffir is none but his only son,", " And the Nubian awaiting the sire's award.", " \"Haroun--when all the crowd that wait", " Are passed beyond the outer gate,", " (Woe to the head whose eye beheld", " My child Zuleika's face unveiled!)", " Hence, lead my daughter from her tower--", " Her fate is fixed this very hour;", " Yet not to her repeat my thought--", " By me alone be duty taught!\"", "", " \"Pacha! to hear is to obey.\"--", " No more must slave to despot say--", " Then to the tower had ta'en his way:", " But here young Selim silence brake,", " First lowly rendering reverence meet;", " And downcast looked, and gently spake,", " Still standing at the Pacha's feet:", " For son of Moslem must expire,", " Ere dare to sit before his sire!", " \"Father! for fear that thou shouldst chide", " My sister, or her sable guide--", " Know--for the fault, if fault there be,", " Was mine--then fall thy frowns on me!", " So lovelily the morning shone,", " That--let the old and weary sleep--", " I could not; and to view alone", " The fairest scenes of land and deep,", " With none to listen and reply", " To thoughts with which my heart beat high", " Were irksome--for whate'er my mood,", " In sooth I love not solitude;", " I on Zuleika's slumber broke,", " And, as thou knowest that for me", " Soon turns the Haram's grating key,", " Before the guardian slaves awoke", " We to the cypress groves had flown,", " And made earth, main, and heaven our own!", " There lingered we, beguiled too long", " With Mejnoun's tale, or Sadi's song;", " Till I, who heard the deep tambour", " Beat thy Divan's approaching hour,", " To thee, and to my duty true,", " Warned by the sound, to greet thee flew:", " But there Zuleika wanders yet--", " Nay, Father, rage not--nor forget", " That none can pierce that secret bower", " But those who watch the women's tower.\"", "", "\"Son of a slave\"--the Pacha said--", "\"From unbelieving mother bred,", "Vain were a father's hope to see", "Aught that beseems a man in thee.", "Thou, when thine arm should bend the bow,", " And hurl the dart, and curb the steed,", " Thou, Greek in soul if not in creed,", "Must pore where babbling waters flow,", "And watch unfolding roses blow.", "Would that yon Orb, whose matin glow", "Thy listless eyes so much admire,", "Would lend thee something of his fire!", "Thou, who woulds't see this battlement", "By Christian cannon piecemeal rent;", "Nay, tamely view old Stambol's wall", "Before the dogs of Moscow fall,", "Nor strike one stroke for life and death", "Against the curs of Nazareth!", "Go--let thy less than woman's hand", "Assume the distaff--not the brand.", "But, Haroun!--to my daughter speed:", "And hark--of thine own head take heed--", "If thus Zuleika oft takes wing--", "Thou see'st yon bow--it hath a string!\"", "", "No sound from Selim's lip was heard,", " At least that met old Giaffir's ear,", "But every frown and every word", "Pierced keener than a Christian's sword.", " \"Son of a slave!--reproached with fear!", " Those gibes had cost another dear.", "Son of a slave!--and _who_ my Sire?\"", " Thus held his thoughts their dark career;", "And glances ev'n of more than ire", " Flash forth, then faintly disappear.", "Old Giaffir gazed upon his son", " And started; for within his eye", "He read how much his wrath had done;", "He saw rebellion there begun:", " \"Come hither, boy--what, no reply?", "I mark thee--and I know thee too;", "But there be deeds thou dar'st not do:", "But if thy beard had manlier length,", "And if thy hand had skill and strength,", "I'd joy to see thee break a lance,", "Albeit against my own perchance.\"", "As sneeringly these accents fell,", "On Selim's eye he fiercely gazed:", " That eye returned him glance for glance,", "And proudly to his Sire's was raised,", " Till Giaffir's quailed and shrunk askance--", "And why--he felt, but durst not tell.", "\"Much I misdoubt this wayward boy", "Will one day work me more annoy:", "I never loved him from his birth,", "And--but his arm is little worth,", "And scarcely in the chase could cope", "With timid fawn or antelope,", "Far less would venture into strife", "Where man contends for fame and life--", " I would not trust that look or tone:", "No--nor the blood so near my own.", "That blood--he hath not heard--no more--", "I'll watch him closer than before.", "He is an Arab to my sight,", "Or Christian crouching in the fight--", "But hark!--I hear Zuleika's voice;", " Like Houris' hymn it meets mine ear:", "She is the offspring of my choice;", " Oh! more than ev'n her mother dear,", "With all to hope, and nought to fear--", "My Peri! ever welcome here!", "Sweet, as the desert fountain's wave", "To lips just cooled in time to save--", " Such to my longing sight art thou;", "Nor can they waft to Mecca's shrine", "More thanks for life, than I for thine,", " Who blest thy birth and bless thee now.\"", "", "Fair, as the first that fell of womankind,", " When on that dread yet lovely serpent smiling,", "Whose Image then was stamped upon her mind--", " But once beguiled--and ever more beguiling;", "Dazzling, as that, oh! too transcendent vision", " To Sorrow's phantom-peopled slumber given,", "When heart meets heart again in dreams Elysian,", " And paints the lost on Earth revived in Heaven;", "Soft, as the memory of buried love;", "Pure, as the prayer which Childhood wafts above;", "Was she--the daughter of that rude old Chief,", "Who met the maid with tears--but not of grief.", "", "Who hath not proved how feebly words essay", "To fix one spark of Beauty's heavenly ray?", "Who doth not feel, until his failing sight", "Faints into dimness with its own delight,", "His changing cheek, his sinking heart confess", "The might--the majesty of Loveliness?", "Such was Zuleika--such around her shone", "The nameless charms unmarked by her alone--", "The light of Love, the purity of Grace,", "The mind, the Music breathing from her face,", "The heart whose softness harmonized the whole,", "And oh! that eye was in itself a Soul!", "", "Her graceful arms in meekness bending", " Across her gently-budding breast;", "At one kind word those arms extending", " To clasp the neck of him who blest", " His child caressing and carest,", " Zuleika came--and Giaffir felt", " His purpose half within him melt:", " Not that against her fancied weal", " His heart though stern could ever feel;", " Affection chained her to that heart;", " Ambition tore the links apart.", "", "\"Zuleika! child of Gentleness!", " How dear this very day must tell,", "When I forget my own distress,", " In losing what I love so well,", "To bid thee with another dwell:", "Another! and a braver man", "Was never seen in battle's van.", "We Moslem reck not much of blood:", " But yet the line of Carasman", "Unchanged, unchangeable hath stood", " First of the bold Timariot bands", "That won and well can keep their lands.", "Enough that he who comes to woo", "Is kinsman of the Bey Oglou:", "His years need scarce a thought employ;", "I would not have thee wed a boy.", "And thou shalt have a noble dower:", "And his and my united power", "Will laugh to scorn the death-firman,", "Which others tremble but to scan,", "And teach the messenger what fate", "The bearer of such boon may wait.", "And now thou know'st thy father's will;", " All that thy sex hath need to know:", "'Twas mine to teach obedience still--", " The way to love, thy Lord may show.\"", "", " In silence bowed the virgin's head;", " And if her eye was filled with tears", " That stifled feeling dare not shed,", " And changed her cheek from pale to red,", " And red to pale, as through her ears", " Those wingéd words like arrows sped,", " What could such be but maiden fears?", " So bright the tear in Beauty's eye,", " Love half regrets to kiss it dry;", " So sweet the blush of Bashfulness,", " Even Pity scarce can wish it less!", "", " Whate'er it was the sire forgot:", " Or if remembered, marked it not;", " Thrice clapped his hands, and called his steed,", " Resigned his gem-adorned chibouque,", " And mounting featly for the mead,", " With Maugrabeel and Mamaluke,", " His way amid his Delis took,", " To witness many an active deed", " With sabre keen, or blunt jerreed.", " The Kislar only and his Moors", " Watch well the Haram's massy doors.", "", "His head was leant upon his hand,", " His eye looked o'er the dark blue water", "That swiftly glides and gently swells", "Between the winding Dardanelles;", "But yet he saw nor sea nor strand,", "Nor even his Pacha's turbaned band", " Mix in the game of mimic slaughter,", "Careering cleave the folded felt", "With sabre stroke right sharply dealt;", "Nor marked the javelin-darting crowd,", "Nor heard their Ollahs wild and loud--", " He thought but of old Giaffir's daughter!", "", "No word from Selim's bosom broke;", "One sigh Zuleika's thought bespoke:", "Still gazed he through the lattice grate,", "Pale, mute, and mournfully sedate.", "To him Zuleika's eye was turned,", "But little from his aspect learned:", "Equal her grief, yet not the same;", "Her heart confessed a gentler flame:", "But yet that heart, alarmed or weak,", "She knew not why, forbade to speak.", "Yet speak she must--but when essay?", "\"How strange he thus should turn away!", "Not thus we e'er before have met;", "Not thus shall be our parting yet.\"", "Thrice paced she slowly through the room,", " And watched his eye--it still was fixed:", " She snatched the urn wherein was mixed", "The Persian Atar-gul's perfume,", "And sprinkled all its odours o'er", "The pictured roof and marble floor:", "The drops, that through his glittering vest", "The playful girl's appeal addressed,", "Unheeded o'er his bosom flew,", "As if that breast were marble too.", "\"What, sullen yet? it must not be--", "Oh! gentle Selim, this from thee!\"", "She saw in curious order set", " The fairest flowers of Eastern land--", "\"He loved them once; may touch them yet,", " If offered by Zuleika's hand.\"", "The childish thought was hardly breathed", "Before the rose was plucked and wreathed;", "The next fond moment saw her seat", "Her fairy form at Selim's feet:", "\"This rose to calm my brother's cares", "A message from the Bulbul bears;", "It says to-night he will prolong", "For Selim's ear his sweetest song;", "And though his note is somewhat sad,", "He'll try for once a strain more glad,", "With some faint hope his altered lay", "May sing these gloomy thoughts away.", "", " \"What! not receive my foolish flower?", " Nay then I am indeed unblest:", " On me can thus thy forehead lower?", " And know'st thou not who loves thee best?", " Oh, Selim dear! oh, more than dearest!", " Say, is it me thou hat'st or fearest?", " Come, lay thy head upon my breast,", " And I will kiss thee into rest,", " Since words of mine, and songs must fail,", " Ev'n from my fabled nightingale.", " I knew our sire at times was stern,", " But this from thee had yet to learn:", " Too well I know he loves thee not;", " But is Zuleika's love forgot?", " Ah! deem I right? the Pacha's plan--", " This kinsman Bey of Carasman", " Perhaps may prove some foe of thine.", " If so, I swear by Mecca's shrine,--", " If shrines that ne'er approach allow", " To woman's step admit her vow,--", " Without thy free consent--command--", " The Sultan should not have my hand!", " Think'st thou that I could bear to part", " With thee, and learn to halve my heart?", " Ah! were I severed from thy side,", " Where were thy friend--and who my guide?", " Years have not seen, Time shall not see,", " The hour that tears my soul from thee:", " Ev'n Azrael, from his deadly quiver", " When flies that shaft, and fly it must,", " That parts all else, shall doom for ever", " Our hearts to undivided dust!\"", "", "He lived--he breathed--he moved--he felt;", "He raised the maid from where she knelt;", "His trance was gone, his keen eye shone", "With thoughts that long in darkness dwelt;", "With thoughts that burn--in rays that melt.", "As the stream late concealed", " By the fringe of its willows,", "When it rushes reveal'd", " In the light of its billows;", "As the bolt bursts on high", " From the black cloud that bound it,", "Flashed the soul of that eye", " Through the long lashes round it.", "A war-horse at the trumpet's sound,", "A lion roused by heedless hound,", "A tyrant waked to sudden strife", "By graze of ill-directed knife,", "Starts not to more convulsive life", "Than he, who heard that vow, displayed,", "And all, before repressed, betrayed:", "\"Now thou art mine, for ever mine,", "With life to keep, and scarce with life resign;", "Now thou art mine, that sacred oath,", "Though sworn by one, hath bound us both.", "Yes, fondly, wisely hast thou done;", "That vow hath saved more heads than one:", "But blench not thou--thy simplest tress", "Claims more from me than tenderness;", "I would not wrong the slenderest hair", "That clusters round thy forehead fair,", "For all the treasures buried far", "Within the caves of Istakar.", "This morning clouds upon me lowered,", "Reproaches on my head were showered,", "And Giaffir almost called me coward!", "Now I have motive to be brave;", "The son of his neglected slave,", "Nay, start not,'twas the term he gave,", "May show, though little apt to vaunt,", "A heart his words nor deeds can daunt.", "_His_ son, indeed!--yet, thanks to thee,", "Perchance I am, at least shall be;", "But let our plighted secret vow", "Be only known to us as now.", "I know the wretch who dares demand", "From Giaffir thy reluctant hand;", "More ill-got wealth, a meaner soul", "Holds not a Musselim's control;", "Was he not bred in Egripo?", "A viler race let Israel show!", "But let that pass--to none be told", "Our oath; the rest shall time unfold.", "To me and mine leave Osman Bey!", "I've partisans for Peril's day:", "Think not I am what I appear;", "I've arms--and friends--and vengeance near.\"", "", "\"Think not thou art what thou appearest!", " My Selim, thou art sadly changed:", "This morn I saw thee gentlest--dearest--", " But now thou'rt from thyself estranged.", "My love thou surely knew'st before,", "It ne'er was less--nor can be more.", "To see thee--hear thee--near thee stay--", " And hate the night--I know not why,", "Save that we meet not but by day;", " With thee to live, with thee to die,", " I dare not to my hope deny:", "Thy cheek--thine eyes--thy lips to kiss--", "Like this--and this--no more than this;", "For, Allah! sure thy lips are flame:", " What fever in thy veins is flushing?", "My own have nearly caught the same,", " At least I feel my cheek, too, blushing.", "To soothe thy sickness, watch thy health,", "Partake, but never waste thy wealth,", "Or stand with smiles unmurmuring by,", "And lighten half thy poverty;", "Do all but close thy dying eye,", "For that I could not live to try;", "To these alone my thoughts aspire:", "More can I do? or thou require?", "But, Selim, thou must answer why", "We need so much of mystery?", "The cause I cannot dream nor tell,", "But be it, since thou say'st 'tis well;", "Yet what thou mean'st by 'arms' and 'friends,'", "Beyond my weaker sense extends.", "I meant that Giaffir should have heard", " The very vow I plighted thee;", "His wrath would not revoke my word:", " But surely he would leave me free.", " Can this fond wish seem strange in me,", "To be what I have ever been?", "What other hath Zuleika seen", "From simple childhood's earliest hour?", " What other can she seek to see", "Than thee, companion of her bower,", " The partner of her infancy?", "These cherished thoughts with life begun,", " Say, why must I no more avow?", "What change is wrought to make me shun", " The truth--my pride, and thine till now?", "To meet the gaze of stranger's eyes", "Our law--our creed--our God denies;", "Nor shall one wandering thought of mine", "At such, our Prophet's will, repine:", "No! happier made by that decree,", "He left me all in leaving thee.", "Deep were my anguish, thus compelled", "To wed with one I ne'er beheld:", "This wherefore should I not reveal?", "Why wilt thou urge me to conceal?", "I know the Pacha's haughty mood", "To thee hath never boded good;", "And he so often storms at nought,", "Allah! forbid that e'er he ought!", "And why I know not, but within", "My heart concealment weighs like sin.", "If then such secrecy be crime,", " And such it feels while lurking here;", "Oh, Selim! tell me yet in time,", " Nor leave me thus to thoughts of fear.", "Ah! yonder see the Tchocadar,", "My father leaves the mimic war;", "I tremble now to meet his eye--", "Say, Selim, canst thou tell me why?\"", "", "\"Zuleika--to thy tower's retreat", "Betake thee--Giaffir I can greet:", "And now with him I fain must prate", "Of firmans, imposts, levies, state.", "There's fearful news from Danube's banks,", "Our Vizier nobly thins his ranks", "For which the Giaour may give him thanks!", "Our Sultan hath a shorter way", "Such costly triumph to repay.", "But, mark me, when the twilight drum", " Hath warned the troops to food and sleep,", "Unto thy cell with Selim come;", " Then softly from the Haram creep", " Where we may wander by the deep:", " Our garden battlements are steep;", "Nor these will rash intruder climb", "To list our words, or stint our time;", "And if he doth, I want not steel", "Which some have felt, and more may feel.", "Then shalt thou learn of Selim more", "Than thou hast heard or thought before:", "Trust me, Zuleika--fear not me!", "Thou know'st I hold a Haram key.\"", "", "\"Fear thee, my Selim! ne'er till now", "Did words like this----\"", "", " \"Delay not thou;", "I keep the key--and Haroun's guard", "Have _some_, and hope of _more_ reward.", "To-night, Zuleika, thou shalt hear", "My tale, my purpose, and my fear:", "I am not, love! what I appear.\"", "", "CANTO THE SECOND.", "", "The winds are high on Helle's wave,", " As on that night of stormy water", "When Love, who sent, forgot to save", "The young--the beautiful--the brave--", " The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter.", "Oh! when alone along the sky", "Her turret-torch was blazing high,", "Though rising gale, and breaking foam,", "And shrieking sea-birds warned him home;", "And clouds aloft and tides below,", "With signs and sounds, forbade to go,", "He could not see, he would not hear,", "Or sound or sign foreboding fear;", "His eye but saw that light of Love,", "The only star it hailed above;", "His ear but rang with Hero's song,", "\"Ye waves, divide not lovers long!\"--", "That tale is old, but Love anew", "May nerve young hearts to prove as true.", "", "The winds are high and Helle's tide", " Rolls darkly heaving to the main;", "And Night's descending shadows hide", " That field with blood bedewed in vain,", "The desert of old Priam's pride;", " The tombs, sole relics of his reign,", "All--save immortal dreams that could beguile", "The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle!", "", "Oh! yet--for there my steps have been;", " These feet have pressed the sacred shore,", "These limbs that buoyant wave hath borne--", "Minstrel! with thee to muse, to mourn,", " To trace again those fields of yore,", "Believing every hillock green", " Contains no fabled hero's ashes,", "And that around the undoubted scene", " Thine own \"broad Hellespont\" still dashes,", "Be long my lot! and cold were he", "Who there could gaze denying thee!", "", "The Night hath closed on Helle's stream,", " Nor yet hath risen on Ida's hill", "That Moon, which shone on his high theme:", "No warrior chides her peaceful beam,", " But conscious shepherds bless it still.", "Their flocks are grazing on the Mound", " Of him who felt the Dardan's arrow:", "That mighty heap of gathered ground", "Which Ammon's son ran proudly round,", "By nations raised, by monarchs crowned,", " Is now a lone and nameless barrow!", "Within--thy dwelling-place how narrow!", "Without--can only strangers breathe", "The name of him that _was_ beneath:", "Dust long outlasts the storied stone;", "But Thou--thy very dust is gone!", "", "Late, late to-night will Dian cheer", "The swain, and chase the boatman's fear;", "Till then--no beacon on the cliff", "May shape the course of struggling skiff;", "The scattered lights that skirt the bay,", "All, one by one, have died away;", "The only lamp of this lone hour", "Is glimmering in Zuleika's tower.", "Yes! there is light in that lone chamber,", " And o'er her silken ottoman", "Are thrown the fragrant beads of amber,", " O'er which her fairy fingers ran;", "Near these, with emerald rays beset,", "(How could she thus that gem forget?)", "Her mother's sainted amulet,", "Whereon engraved the Koorsee text,", "Could smooth this life, and win the next;", "And by her Comboloio lies", "A Koran of illumined dyes;", "And many a bright emblazoned rhyme", "By Persian scribes redeemed from Time;", "And o'er those scrolls, not oft so mute,", "Reclines her now neglected lute;", "And round her lamp of fretted gold", "Bloom flowers in urns of China's mould;", "The richest work of Iran's loom,", "And Sheeraz tribute of perfume;", "", "All that can eye or sense delight", " Are gathered in that gorgeous room:", " But yet it hath an air of gloom.", "She, of this Peri cell the sprite,", "What doth she hence, and on so rude a night?", "", "Wrapt in the darkest sable vest,", " Which none save noblest Moslem wear,", "To guard from winds of Heaven the breast", " As Heaven itself to Selim dear,", "With cautious steps the thicket threading,", " And starting oft, as through the glade", " The gust its hollow moanings made,", "Till on the smoother pathway treading,", "More free her timid bosom beat,", " The maid pursued her silent guide;", "And though her terror urged retreat,", " How could she quit her Selim's side?", " How teach her tender lips to chide?", "", "They reached at length a grotto, hewn", " By nature, but enlarged by art,", "Where oft her lute she wont to tune,", " And oft her Koran conned apart;", "And oft in youthful reverie", "She dreamed what Paradise might be:", "Where Woman's parted soul shall go", "Her Prophet had disdained to show;", "But Selim's mansion was secure,", "Nor deemed she, could he long endure", "His bower in other worlds of bliss", "Without _her_, most beloved in this!", "Oh! who so dear with him could dwell?", "What Houri soothe him half so well?", "", "Since last she visited the spot", "Some change seemed wrought within the grot:", "It might be only that the night", "Disguised things seen by better light:", "That brazen lamp but dimly threw", "A ray of no celestial hue;", "But in a nook within the cell", "Her eye on stranger objects fell.", "There arms were piled, not such as wield", "The turbaned Delis in the field;", "But brands of foreign blade and hilt,", "And one was red--perchance with guilt!", "Ah! how without can blood be spilt?", "A cup too on the board was set", "That did not seem to hold sherbet.", "What may this mean? she turned to see", "Her Selim--\"Oh! can this be he?\"", "", "His robe of pride was thrown aside,", " His brow no high-crowned turban bore,", "But in its stead a shawl of red,", " Wreathed lightly round, his temples wore:", "That dagger, on whose hilt the gem", "Were worthy of a diadem,", "No longer glittered at his waist,", "Where pistols unadorned were braced;", "And from his belt a sabre swung,", "And from his shoulder loosely hung", "The cloak of white, the thin capote", "That decks the wandering Candiote;", "Beneath--his golden plated vest", "Clung like a cuirass to his breast;", "The greaves below his knee that wound", "With silvery scales were sheathed and bound.", "But were it not that high command", "Spake in his eye, and tone, and hand,", "All that a careless eye could see", "In him was some young Galiongée.", "", "\"I said I was not what I seemed;", " And now thou see'st my words were true:", "I have a tale thou hast not dreamed,", " If sooth--its truth must others rue.", "My story now 'twere vain to hide,", "I must not see thee Osman's bride:", "But had not thine own lips declared", "How much of that young heart I shared,", "I could not, must not, yet have shown", "The darker secret of my own.", "In this I speak not now of love;", "That--let Time--Truth--and Peril prove:", "But first--Oh! never wed another--", "Zuleika! I am not thy brother!\"", "", "\"Oh! not my brother!--yet unsay--", " God! am I left alone on earth", "To mourn--I dare not curse--the day", " That saw my solitary birth?", "Oh! thou wilt love me now no more!", " My sinking heart foreboded ill;", "But know _me_ all I was before,", " Thy sister--friend--Zuleika still.", "Thou led'st me here perchance to kill;", " If thou hast cause for vengeance, see!", "My breast is offered--take thy fill!", " Far better with the dead to be", " Than live thus nothing now to thee:", "Perhaps far worse, for now I know", "Why Giaffir always seemed thy foe;", "And I, alas! am Giaffir's child,", "For whom thou wert contemned, reviled.", "If not thy sister--would'st thou save", "My life--Oh! bid me be thy slave!\"", "", "\"My slave, Zuleika!--nay, I'm thine:", " But, gentle love, this transport calm,", "Thy lot shall yet be linked with mine;", "I swear it by our Prophet's shrine,", " And be that thought thy sorrow's balm.", "So may the Koran verse displayed", "Upon its steel direct my blade,", "In danger's hour to guard us both,", "As I preserve that awful oath!", "The name in which thy heart hath prided", " Must change; but, my Zuleika, know,", "That tie is widened, not divided,", " Although thy Sire's my deadliest foe.", "My father was to Giaffir all", " That Selim late was deemed to thee;", "That brother wrought a brother's fall,", " But spared, at least, my infancy!", "And lulled me with a vain deceit", "That yet a like return may meet.", "He reared me, not with tender help,", " But like the nephew of a Cain;", "He watched me like a lion's whelp,", " That gnaws and yet may break his chain.", " My father's blood in every vein", "Is boiling! but for thy dear sake", "No present vengeance will I take;", " Though here I must no more remain.", "But first, beloved Zuleika! hear", "How Giaffir wrought this deed of fear.", "", "\"How first their strife to rancour grew,", " If Love or Envy made them foes,", "It matters little if I knew;", "In fiery spirits, slights, though few", " And thoughtless, will disturb repose.", "In war Abdallah's arm was strong,", " Remembered yet in Bosniac song,", "And Paswan's rebel hordes attest", "How little love they bore such guest:", "His death is all I need relate,", "The stern effect of Giaffir's hate;", "And how my birth disclosed to me,", "Whate'er beside it makes, hath made me free.", "", "\"When Paswan, after years of strife,", "At last for power, but first for life,", "In Widdin's walls too proudly sate,", "Our Pachas rallied round the state;", "Not last nor least in high command,", "Each brother led a separate band;", "They gave their Horse-tails to the wind,", " And mustering in Sophia's plain", "Their tents were pitched, their post assigned;", " To one, alas! assigned in vain!", "What need of words? the deadly bowl,", " By Giaffir's order drugged and given,", "With venom subtle as his soul,", " Dismissed Abdallah's hence to heaven.", "Reclined and feverish in the bath,", "He, when the hunter's sport was up,", "But little deemed a brother's wrath", " To quench his thirst had such a cup:", "The bowl a bribed attendant bore;", "He drank one draught, nor needed more!", "If thou my tale, Zuleika, doubt,", "Call Haroun--he can tell it out.", "", "\"The deed once done, and Paswan's feud", "In part suppressed, though ne'er subdued,", " Abdallah's Pachalick was gained:--", "Thou know'st not what in our Divan", "Can wealth procure for worse than man--", " Abdallah's honours were obtained", "By him a brother's murder stained;", "'Tis true, the purchase nearly drained", "His ill-got treasure, soon replaced.", "Would'st question whence? Survey the waste,", "And ask the squalid peasant how", "His gains repay his broiling brow!--", "Why me the stern Usurper spared,", "Why thus with me his palace spared,", "I know not. Shame--regret--remorse--", "And little fear from infant's force--", "Besides, adoption as a son", "By him whom Heaven accorded none,", "Or some unknown cabal, caprice,", "Preserved me thus:--but not in peace:", "He cannot curb his haughty mood,", "Nor I forgive a father's blood.", "", "\"Within thy Father's house are foes;", " Not all who break his bread are true:", "To these should I my birth disclose,", " His days-his very hours were few:", "They only want a heart to lead,", "A hand to point them to the deed.", "But Haroun only knows, or knew", " This tale, whose close is almost nigh:", "He in Abdallah's palace grew,", " And held that post in his Serai", " Which holds he here--he saw him die;", "But what could single slavery do?", "Avenge his lord? alas! too late;", "Or save his son from such a fate?", "He chose the last, and when elate", " With foes subdued, or friends betrayed,", "Proud Giaffir in high triumph sate,", "He led me helpless to his gate,", " And not in vain it seems essayed", " To save the life for which he prayed.", "The knowledge of my birth secured", " From all and each, but most from me;", "Thus Giaffir's safety was ensured.", " Removed he too from Roumelie", "To this our Asiatic side,", "Far from our seats by Danube's tide,", " With none but Haroun, who retains", "Such knowledge--and that Nubian feels", " A Tyrant's secrets are but chains,", "From which the captive gladly steals,", "And this and more to me reveals:", "Such still to guilt just Allah sends--", "Slaves, tools, accomplices--no friends!", "", "\"All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds;", " But harsher still my tale must be:", "Howe'er my tongue thy softness wounds,", " Yet I must prove all truth to thee.\"", " I saw thee start this garb to see,", "Yet is it one I oft have worn,", " And long must wear: this Galiongée,", "To whom thy plighted vow is sworn,", " Is leader of those pirate hordes,", " Whose laws and lives are on their swords;", "To hear whose desolating tale", "Would make thy waning cheek more pale:", "Those arms thou see'st my band have brought,", "The hands that wield are not remote;", "This cup too for the rugged knaves", " Is filled--once quaffed, they ne'er repine:", "Our Prophet might forgive the slaves;", " They're only infidels in wine.", "", "\"What could I be? Proscribed at home,", "And taunted to a wish to roam;", "And listless left--for Giaffir's fear", "Denied the courser and the spear--", "Though oft--Oh, Mahomet! how oft!--", "In full Divan the despot scoffed,", "As if _my_ weak unwilling hand", "Refused the bridle or the brand:", "He ever went to war alone,", "And pent me here untried--unknown;", "To Haroun's care with women left,", "By hope unblest, of fame bereft,", "While thou--whose softness long endeared,", "Though it unmanned me, still had cheered--", "To Brusa's walls for safety sent,", "Awaited'st there the field's event.", "Haroun who saw my spirit pining", " Beneath inaction's sluggish yoke,", "His captive, though with dread resigning,", " My thraldom for a season broke,", "On promise to return before", "The day when Giaffir's charge was o'er.", "'Tis vain--my tongue can not impart", "My almost drunkenness of heart,", "When first this liberated eye", "Surveyed Earth--Ocean--Sun--and Sky--", "As if my Spirit pierced them through,", "And all their inmost wonders knew!", "One word alone can paint to thee", "That more than feeling--I was Free!", "E'en for thy presence ceased to pine;", "The World--nay, Heaven itself was mine!", "", "\"The shallop of a trusty Moor", "Conveyed me from this idle shore;", "I longed to see the isles that gem", "Old Ocean's purple diadem:", "I sought by turns, and saw them all;", " But when and where I joined the crew,", "With whom I'm pledged to rise or fall,", " When all that we design to do", "Is done,'twill then be time more meet", "To tell thee, when the tale's complete.", "", "\"'Tis true, they are a lawless brood,", "But rough in form, nor mild in mood;", "And every creed, and every race,", "With them hath found--may find a place:", "But open speech, and ready hand,", "Obedience to their Chief's command;", "A soul for every enterprise,", "That never sees with Terror's eyes;", "Friendship for each, and faith to all,", "And vengeance vowed for those who fall,", "Have made them fitting instruments", "For more than e'en my own intents.", "And some--and I have studied all", " Distinguished from the vulgar rank,", "But chiefly to my council call", " The wisdom of the cautious Frank:--", "And some to higher thoughts aspire.", " The last of Lambro's patriots there", " Anticipated freedom share;", "And oft around the cavern fire", "On visionary schemes debate,", "To snatch the Rayahs from their fate.", "So let them ease their hearts with prate", "Of equal rights, which man ne'er knew;", "I have a love for freedom too.", "Aye! let me like the ocean-Patriarch roam,", "Or only know on land the Tartar's home!", "My tent on shore, my galley on the sea,", "Are more than cities and Serais to me:", "Borne by my steed, or wafted by my sail,", "Across the desert, or before the gale,", "Bound where thou wilt, my barb! or glide, my prow!", "But be the Star that guides the wanderer, Thou!", "Thou, my Zuleika, share and bless my bark;", "The Dove of peace and promise to mine ark!", "Or, since that hope denied in worlds of strife,", "Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!", "The evening beam that smiles the clouds away,", "And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray!", "Blest--as the Muezzin's strain from Mecca's wall", "To pilgrims pure and prostrate at his call;", "Soft--as the melody of youthful days,", "That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise;", "Dear--as his native song to Exile's ears,", "Shall sound each tone thy long-loved voice endears.", "For thee in those bright isles is built a bower", "Blooming as Aden in its earliest hour.", "A thousand swords, with Selim's heart and hand,", "Wait--wave--defend--destroy--at thy command!", "Girt by my band, Zuleika at my side,", "The spoil of nations shall bedeck my bride.", "The Haram's languid years of listless ease", "Are well resigned for cares--for joys like these:", "Not blind to Fate, I see, where'er I rove,", "Unnumbered perils,--but one only love!", "Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay,", "Though Fortune frown, or falser friends betray.", "How dear the dream in darkest hours of ill,", "Should all be changed, to find thee faithful still!", "Be but thy soul, like Selim's firmly shown;", "To thee be Selim's tender as thine own;", "To soothe each sorrow, share in each delight,", "Blend every thought, do all--but disunite!", "Once free, 'tis mine our horde again to guide;", "Friends to each other, foes to aught beside:", "Yet there we follow but the bent assigned", "By fatal Nature to man's warring kind:", "Mark! where his carnage and his conquests cease!", "He makes a solitude, and calls it--peace!", "I like the rest must use my skill or strength,", "But ask no land beyond my sabre's length:", "Power sways but by division--her resource", "The blest alternative of fraud or force!", "Ours be the last; in time Deceit may come", "When cities cage us in a social home:", "There ev'n thy soul might err--how oft the heart", "Corruption shakes which Peril could not part!", "And Woman, more than Man, when Death or Woe,", "Or even Disgrace, would lay her lover low,", "Sunk in the lap of Luxury will shame--", "Away suspicion!--_not_ Zuleika's name!", "But life is hazard at the best; and here", "No more remains to win, and much to fear:", "Yes, fear!--the doubt, the dread of losing thee,", "By Osman's power, and Giaffir's stern decree.", "That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale,", "Which Love to-night hath promised to my sail:", "No danger daunts the pair his smile hath blest,", "Their steps still roving, but their hearts at rest.", "With thee all toils are sweet, each clime hath charms;", "Earth--sea alike--our world within our arms!", "Aye--let the loud winds whistle o'er the deck,", "So that those arms cling closer round my neck:", "The deepest murmur of this lip shall be,", "No sigh for safety, but a prayer for thee!", "The war of elements no fears impart", "To Love, whose deadliest bane is human Art:", "_There_ lie the only rocks our course can check;", "_Here_ moments menace--_there_ are years of wreck!", "But hence ye thoughts that rise in Horror's shape!", "This hour bestows, or ever bars escape.", "Few words remain of mine my tale to close;", "Of thine but _one_ to waft us from our foes;", "Yea--foes--to me will Giaffir's hate decline?", "And is not Osman, who would part us, thine?", "", "\"His head and faith from doubt and death", " Returned in time my guard to save;", " Few heard, none told, that o'er the wave", "From isle to isle I roved the while:", "And since, though parted from my band", "Too seldom now I leave the land,", "No deed they've done, nor deed shall do,", "Ere I have heard and doomed it too:", "I form the plan--decree the spoil--", "Tis fit I oftener share the toil.", "But now too long I've held thine ear;", "Time presses--floats my bark--and here", "We leave behind but hate and fear.", "To-morrow Osman with his train", "Arrives--to-night must break thy chain:", "And would'st thou save that haughty Bey,--", " Perchance _his_ life who gave thee thine,--", "With me this hour away--away!", " But yet, though thou art plighted mine,", "Would'st thou recall thy willing vow,", "Appalled by truths imparted now,", "Here rest I--not to see thee wed:", "But be that peril on _my_ head!\"", "", "Zuleika, mute and motionless,", "Stood like that Statue of Distress,", "When, her last hope for ever gone,", "The Mother hardened into stone;", "All in the maid that eye could see", "Was but a younger Niobé.", "But ere her lip, or even her eye,", "Essayed to speak, or look reply,", "Beneath the garden's wicket porch", "Far flashed on high a blazing torch!", "Another--and another--and another--", "\"Oh! fly--no more--yet now my more than brother!\"", "Far, wide, through every thicket spread", "The fearful lights are gleaming red;", "Nor these alone--for each right hand", "Is ready with a sheathless brand.", "They part--pursue--return, and wheel", "With searching flambeau, shining steel;", "And last of all, his sabre waving,", "Stern Giaffir in his fury raving:", "And now almost they touch the cave--", "Oh! must that grot be Selim's grave?", "", "Dauntless he stood--\"'Tis come--soon past--", "One kiss, Zuleika--'tis my last:", " But yet my band not far from shore", "May hear this signal, see the flash;", "Yet now too few--the attempt were rash:", " No matter--yet one effort more.\"", "Forth to the cavern mouth he stept;", " His pistol's echo rang on high,", "Zuleika started not, nor wept,", " Despair benumbed her breast and eye!--", "\"They hear me not, or if they ply", "Their oars,'tis but to see me die;", "That sound hath drawn my foes more nigh.", "Then forth my father's scimitar,", "Thou ne'er hast seen less equal war!", "Farewell, Zuleika!--Sweet! retire:", " Yet stay within--here linger safe,", " At thee his rage will only chafe.", "Stir not--lest even to thee perchance", "Some erring blade or ball should glance.", "Fear'st them for him?--may I expire", "If in this strife I seek thy sire!", "No--though by him that poison poured;", "No--though again he call me coward!", "But tamely shall I meet their steel?", "No--as each crest save _his_ may feel!\"", "", "One bound he made, and gained the sand:", " Already at his feet hath sunk", "The foremost of the prying band,", " A gasping head, a quivering trunk:", "Another falls--but round him close", "A swarming circle of his foes;", "From right to left his path he cleft,", " And almost met the meeting wave:", "His boat appears--not five oars' length--", "His comrades strain with desperate strength--", " Oh! are they yet in time to save?", " His feet the foremost breakers lave;", "His band are plunging in the bay,", "Their sabres glitter through the spray;", "Wet--wild--unwearied to the strand", "They struggle--now they touch the land!", "They come--'tis but to add to slaughter--", "His heart's best blood is on the water.", "", "Escaped from shot, unharmed by steel,", "Or scarcely grazed its force to feel,", "Had Selim won, betrayed, beset,", "To where the strand and billows met;", "There as his last step left the land,", "And the last death-blow dealt his hand--", "Ah! wherefore did he turn to look", " For her his eye but sought in vain?", "That pause, that fatal gaze he took,", " Hath doomed his death, or fixed his chain.", "Sad proof, in peril and in pain,", "How late will Lover's hope remain!", "His back was to the dashing spray;", "Behind, but close, his comrades lay,", "When, at the instant, hissed the ball--", "\"So may the foes of Giaffir fall!\"", "Whose voice is heard? whose carbine rang?", "Whose bullet through the night-air sang,", "Too nearly, deadly aimed to err?", "'Tis thine--Abdallah's Murderer!", "The father slowly rued thy hate,", "The son hath found a quicker fate:", "Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling,", "The whiteness of the sea-foam troubling--", "If aught his lips essayed to groan,", "The rushing billows choked the tone!", "", "Morn slowly rolls the clouds away;", " Few trophies of the fight are there:", "The shouts that shook the midnight-bay", "Are silent; but some signs of fray", " That strand of strife may bear,", "And fragments of each shivered brand;", "Steps stamped; and dashed into the sand", "The print of many a struggling hand", " May there be marked; nor far remote", " A broken torch, an oarless boat;", "And tangled on the weeds that heap", "The beach where shelving to the deep", " There lies a white capote!", "'Tis rent in twain--one dark-red stain", "The wave yet ripples o'er in vain:", " But where is he who wore?", "Ye! who would o'er his relics weep,", "Go, seek them where the surges sweep", "Their burthen round Sigæum's steep", " And cast on Lemnos' shore:", "The sea-birds shriek above the prey,", "O'er which their hungry beaks delay,", "As shaken on his restless pillow,", "His head heaves with the heaving billow;", "That hand, whose motion is not life,", "Yet feebly seems to menace strife,", "Flung by the tossing tide on high,", " Then levelled with the wave--", "What recks it, though that corse shall lie", " Within a living grave?", "The bird that tears that prostrate form", "Hath only robbed the meaner worm;", "The only heart, the only eye", "Had bled or wept to see him die,", "Had seen those scattered limbs composed,", " And mourned above his turban-stone,", "That heart hath burst--that eye was closed--", " Yea--closed before his own!", "", "By Helle's stream there is a voice of wail!", "And Woman's eye is wet--Man's cheek is pale:", "Zuleika! last of Giaffir's race,", " Thy destined lord is come too late:", "He sees not--ne'er shall see thy face!", " Can he not hear", "The loud Wul-wulleh warn his distant ear?", " Thy handmaids weeping at the gate,", " The Koran-chanters of the Hymn of Fate,", " The silent slaves with folded arms that wait,", "Sighs in the hall, and shrieks upon the gale,", " Tell him thy tale!", "Thou didst not view thy Selim fall!", " That fearful moment when he left the cave", " Thy heart grew chill:", " He was thy hope--thy joy--thy love--thine all,", " And that last thought on him thou could'st not save", " Sufficed to kill;", "Burst forth in one wild cry--and all was still.", " Peace to thy broken heart--and virgin grave!", "Ah! happy! but of life to lose the worst!", "That grief--though deep--though fatal--was thy first!", "Thrice happy! ne'er to feel nor fear the force", "Of absence--shame--pride--hate--revenge--remorse!", "And, oh! that pang where more than Madness lies", "The Worm that will not sleep--and never dies;", "Thought of the gloomy day and ghastly night,", "That dreads the darkness, and yet loathes the light,", "That winds around, and tears the quivering heart!", "Ah! wherefore not consume it--and depart!", "Woe to thee, rash and unrelenting Chief!", " Vainly thou heap'st the dust upon thy head,", " Vainly the sackcloth o'er thy limbs dost spread:", " By that same hand Abdallah--Selim bled.", "Now let it tear thy beard in idle grief:", "Thy pride of heart, thy bride for Osman's bed,", "She, whom thy Sultan had but seen to wed,", " Thy Daughter's dead!", " Hope of thine age, thy twilight's lonely beam,", " The Star hath set that shone on Helle's stream.", "What quenched its ray?--the blood that thou hast shed!", "Hark! to the hurried question of Despair:", "\"Where is my child?\"--an Echo answers--\"Where?\"", "", "Within the place of thousand tombs", " That shine beneath, while dark above", "The sad but living cypress glooms", " And withers not, though branch and leaf", "Are stamped with an eternal grief,", " Like early unrequited Love,", "One spot exists, which ever blooms,", " Ev'n in that deadly grove--", "A single rose is shedding there", " Its lonely lustre, meek and pale:", "It looks as planted by Despair--", " So white--so faint--the slightest gale", "Might whirl the leaves on high;", " And yet, though storms and blight assail,", "And hands more rude than wintry sky", " May wring it from the stem--in vain--", " To-morrow sees it bloom again!", "The stalk some Spirit gently rears,", "And waters with celestial tears;", " For well may maids of Helle deem", "That this can be no earthly flower,", "Which mocks the tempest's withering hour,", "And buds unsheltered by a bower;", "Nor droops, though Spring refuse her shower,", " Nor woos the Summer beam:", "To it the livelong night there sings", " A Bird unseen--but not remote:", "Invisible his airy wings,", "But soft as harp that Houri strings", " His long entrancing note!", "It were the Bulbul; but his throat,", " Though mournful, pours not such a strain:", "For they who listen cannot leave", "The spot, but linger there and grieve,", " As if they loved in vain!", "And yet so sweet the tears they shed,", "'Tis sorrow so unmixed with dread,", "They scarce can bear the morn to break", " That melancholy spell,", "And longer yet would weep and wake,", " He sings so wild and well!", "But when the day-blush bursts from high", " Expires that magic melody.", "And some have been who could believe,", "(So fondly youthful dreams deceive,", " Yet harsh be they that blame,)", "That note so piercing and profound", "Will shape and syllable its sound", " Into Zuleika's name.", "'Tis from her cypress summit heard,", "That melts in air the liquid word:", "'Tis from her lowly virgin earth", "That white rose takes its tender birth.", "There late was laid a marble stone;", "Eve saw it placed--the Morrow gone!", "It was no mortal arm that bore", "That deep fixed pillar to the shore;", "For there, as Helle's legends tell,", "Next morn 'twas found where Selim fell;", "Lashed by the tumbling tide, whose wave", "Denied his bones a holier grave:", "And there by night, reclined, 'tis said.", "Is seen a ghastly turbaned head:", " And hence extended by the billow,", " 'Tis named the \"Pirate-phantom's pillow!\"", " Where first it lay that mourning flower", " Hath flourished; flourisheth this hour,", "Alone and dewy--coldly pure and pale;", "As weeping Beauty's cheek at Sorrow's tale!" ], "linecount": "1222" }, { "title": "Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'Tis done--but yesterday a King!", " And armed with Kings to strive--", "And now thou art a nameless thing:", " So abject--yet alive!", "Is this the man of thousand thrones,", "Who strewed our earth with hostile bones,", " And can he thus survive?", "Since he, miscalled the Morning Star,", "Nor man nor fiend hath fallen so far.", "", "Ill-minded man! why scourge thy kind", " Who bowed so low the knee?", "By gazing on thyself grown blind,", " Thou taught'st the rest to see.", "With might unquestioned,--power to save,--", "Thine only gift hath been the grave", " To those that worshipped thee;", "Nor till thy fall could mortals guess", "Ambition's less than littleness!", "", "Thanks for that lesson--it will teach", " To after-warriors more", "Than high Philosophy can preach,", " And vainly preached before.", "That spell upon the minds of men", "Breaks never to unite again,", " That led them to adore", "Those Pagod things of sabre-sway,", "With fronts of brass, and feet of clay.", "", "The triumph, and the vanity,", " The rapture of the strife--", "The earthquake-voice of Victory,", " To thee the breath of life;", "The sword, the sceptre, and that sway", "Which man seemed made but to obey,", " Wherewith renown was rife--", "All quelled!--Dark Spirit! what must be", "The madness of thy memory!", "", "The Desolator desolate!", " The Victor overthrown!", "The Arbiter of others' fate", " A Suppliant for his own!", "Is it some yet imperial hope", "That with such change can calmly cope?", " Or dread of death alone?", "To die a Prince--or live a slave--", "Thy choice is most ignobly brave!", "", "He who of old would rend the oak,", " Dreamed not of the rebound;", "Chained by the trunk he vainly broke--", " Alone--how looked he round?", "Thou, in the sternness of thy strength,", "An equal deed hast done at length.", " And darker fate hast found:", "He fell, the forest prowlers' prey;", "But thou must eat thy heart away!", "", "The Roman, when his burning heart", " Was slaked with blood of Rome,", "Threw down the dagger--dared depart,", " In savage grandeur, home.--", "He dared depart in utter scorn", "Of men that such a yoke had borne,", " Yet left him such a doom!", "His only glory was that hour", "Of self-upheld abandoned power.", "", "The Spaniard, when the lust of sway", " Had lost its quickening spell,", "Cast crowns for rosaries away,", " An empire for a cell;", "A strict accountant of his beads,", "A subtle disputant on creeds,", " His dotage trifled well:", "Yet better had he neither known", "A bigot's shrine, nor despot's throne.", "", "But thou--from thy reluctant hand", " The thunderbolt is wrung--", "Too late thou leav'st the high command", " To which thy weakness clung;", "All Evil Spirit as thou art,", "It is enough to grieve the heart", " To see thine own unstrung;", "To think that God's fair world hath been", "The footstool of a thing so mean;", "", "And Earth hath spilt her blood for him,", " Who thus can hoard his own!", "And Monarchs bowed the trembling limb,", " And thanked him for a throne!", "Fair Freedom! we may hold thee dear,", "When thus thy mightiest foes their fear", " In humblest guise have shown.", "Oh! ne'er may tyrant leave behind", "A brighter name to lure mankind!", "", "Thine evil deeds are writ in gore,", " Nor written thus in vain--", "Thy triumphs tell of fame no more,", " Or deepen every stain:", "If thou hadst died as Honour dies,", "Some new Napoleon might arise,", " To shame the world again--", "But who would soar the solar height,", "To set in such a starless night?", "", "Weigh'd in the balance, hero dust", " Is vile as vulgar clay;", "Thy scales, Mortality! are just", " To all that pass away:", "But yet methought the living great", "Some higher sparks should animate,", " To dazzle and dismay:", "Nor deem'd Contempt could thus make mirth", "Of these, the Conquerors of the earth.", "", "And she, proud Austria's mournful flower,", " Thy still imperial bride;", "How bears her breast the torturing hour?", " Still clings she to thy side?", "Must she too bend, must she too share", "Thy late repentance, long despair,", " Thou throneless Homicide?", "If still she loves thee, hoard that gem,--", "'Tis worth thy vanished diadem!", "", "Then haste thee to thy sullen Isle,", " And gaze upon the sea;", "That element may meet thy smile--", " It ne'er was ruled by thee!", "Or trace with thine all idle hand", "In loitering mood upon the sand", " That Earth is now as free!", "That Corinth's pedagogue hath now", "Transferred his by-word to thy brow.", "", "Thou Timour! in his captive's cage", " What thoughts will there be thine,", "While brooding in thy prisoned rage?", " But one--\"The world _was_ mine!\"", "Unless, like he of Babylon,", "All sense is with thy sceptre gone,", " Life will not long confine", "That spirit poured so widely forth--", "So long obeyed--so little worth!", "", "Or, like the thief of fire from heaven,", " Wilt thou withstand the shock?", "And share with him, the unforgiven,", " His vulture and his rock!", "Foredoomed by God--by man accurst,", "And that last act, though not thy worst,", " The very Fiend's arch mock;", "He in his fall preserved his pride,", "And, if a mortal, had as proudly died!", "", "There was a day--there was an hour,", " While earth was Gaul's--Gaul thine--", "When that immeasurable power", " Unsated to resign", "Had been an act of purer fame", "Than gathers round Marengo's name", " And gilded thy decline,", "Through the long twilight of all time,", "Despite some passing clouds of crime.", "", "But thou forsooth must be a King", " And don the purple vest,", "As if that foolish robe could wring", " Remembrance from thy breast.", "Where is that faded garment? where", "The gewgaws thou wert fond to wear,", " The star, the string, the crest?", "Vain froward child of Empire! say,", "Are all thy playthings snatched away?", "", "Where may the wearied eye repose", " When gazing on the Great;", "Where neither guilty glory glows,", " Nor despicable state?", "Yes--One--the first--the last--the best--", "The Cincinnatus of the West,", " Whom Envy dared not hate,", "Bequeathed the name of Washington,", "To make man blush there was but one!" ], "linecount": "171" }, { "title": "The Harp the Monarch Minstrel Swept", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " The Harp the Monarch Minstrel swept,", " The King of men, the loved of Heaven!", " Which Music hallowed while she wept", " O'er tones her heart of hearts had given--", "Redoubled be her tears, its chords are riven!", " It softened men of iron mould,", " It gave them virtues not their own;", " No ear so dull, no soul so cold,", " That felt not--fired not to the tone,", "Till David's Lyre grew mightier than his Throne!", "", " It told the triumphs of our King,", " It wafted glory to our God;", " It made our gladdened valleys ring,", " The cedars bow, the mountains nod;", "Its sound aspired to Heaven and there abode!", " Since then, though heard on earth no more,", " Devotion and her daughter Love", " Still bid the bursting spirit soar", " To sounds that seem as from above,", "In dreams that day's broad light can not remove." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "The Wild Gazelle", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The wild gazelle on Judah's hills", " Exulting yet may bound,", "And drink from all the living rills", " That gush on holy ground;", "Its airy step and glorious eye", "May glance in tameless transport by:--", "", "A step as fleet, an eye more bright,", " Hath Judah witnessed there;", "And o'er her scenes of lost delight", " Inhabitants more fair.", "The cedars wave on Lebanon,", "But Judah's statelier maids are gone!", "", " Than Israel's scattered race;", "For, taking root, it there remains", " In solitary grace:", "It cannot quit its place of birth,", "It will not live in other earth.", "", "But we must wander witheringly,", " In other lands to die;", "And where our fathers' ashes be,", " Our own may never lie:", "Our temple hath not left a stone,", "And Mockery sits on Salem's throne." ], "linecount": "23" }, { "title": "Jephtha's Daughter", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Since our Country, our God--Oh, my Sire!", "Demand that thy Daughter expire;", "Since thy triumph was bought by thy vow--", "Strike the bosom that's bared for thee now!", "", "And the voice of my mourning is o'er,", "And the mountains behold me no more:", "If the hand that I love lay me low,", "There cannot be pain in the blow!", "", "And of this, oh, my Father! be sure--", "That the blood of thy child is as pure", "As the blessing I beg ere it flow,", "And the last thought that soothes me below.", "", "Though the virgins of Salem lament,", "Be the judge and the hero unbent!", "I have won the great battle for thee,", "And my Father and Country are free!", "", "When this blood of thy giving hath gushed,", "When the voice that thou lovest is hushed,", "Let my memory still be thy pride,", "And forget not I smiled as I died!" ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "Saul", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Thou whose spell can raise the dead,", " Bid the Prophet's form appear.", " \"Samuel, raise thy buried head!", " King, behold the phantom Seer!\"", "Earth yawned; he stood the centre of a cloud:", "Light changed its hue, retiring from his shroud.", "Death stood all glassy in his fixéd eye;", "His hand was withered, and his veins were dry;", "His foot, in bony whiteness, glittered there,", "Shrunken and sinewless, and ghastly bare;", "From lips that moved not and unbreathing frame,", "Like caverned winds, the hollow accents came.", "Saul saw, and fell to earth, as falls the oak,", "At once, and blasted by the thunder-stroke.", "", " \"Why is my sleep disquieted?", " Who is he that calls the dead?", " Is it thou, O King? Behold,", " Bloodless are these limbs, and cold:", " Such are mine; and such shall be", " Thine to-morrow, when with me:", " Ere the coming day is done,", " Such shalt thou be--such thy Son.", " Fare thee well, but for a day,", " Then we mix our mouldering clay.", " Thou--thy race, lie pale and low,", " Pierced by shafts of many a bow;", " And the falchion by thy side", " To thy heart thy hand shall guide:", " Crownless--breathless--headless fall,", " Son and Sire--the house of Saul!\"" ], "linecount": "30" }, { "title": "\"All Is Vanity, Saith the Preacher\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Fame, Wisdom, Love, and Power were mine,", " And Health and Youth possessed me;", " My goblets blushed from every vine,", " And lovely forms caressed me;", " I sunned my heart in Beauty's eyes,", " And felt my soul grow tender;", " All Earth can give, or mortal prize,", " Was mine of regal splendour.", "", " I strive to number o'er what days", " Remembrance can discover,", " Which all that Life or Earth displays", " Would lure me to live over.", " There rose no day, there rolled no hour", " Of pleasure unembittered;", " And not a trapping decked my Power", " That galled not while it glittered.", "", " The serpent of the field, by art", " And spells, is won from harming;", " But that which coils around the heart,", " Oh! who hath power of charming?", " It will not list to Wisdom's lore,", " Nor Music's voice can lure it;", " But there it stings for evermore", " The soul that must endure it." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "When Coldness Wraps This Suffering Clay", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When coldness wraps this suffering clay,", " Ah! whither strays the immortal mind?", "It cannot die, it cannot stay,", " But leaves its darkened dust behind.", "Then, unembodied, doth it trace", " By steps each planet's heavenly way?", "Or fill at once the realms of space,", " A thing of eyes, that all survey?", "", "Eternal--boundless,--undecayed,", " A thought unseen, but seeing all,", "All, all in earth, or skies displayed,", " Shall it survey, shall it recall:", "Each fainter trace that Memory holds", " So darkly of departed years,", "In one broad glance the Soul beholds,", " And all, that was, at once appears.", "", "Before Creation peopled earth,", " Its eye shall roll through chaos back;", "And where the farthest heaven had birth,", " The Spirit trace its rising track.", "And where the future mars or makes,", " Its glance dilate o'er all to be,", "While Sun is quenched--or System breaks,", " Fixed in its own Eternity.", "", "Above or Love--Hope--Hate--or Fear,", " It lives all passionless and pure:", "An age shall fleet like earthly year;", " Its years as moments shall endure.", "Away--away--without a wing,", " O'er all--through all--its thought shall fly,", "A nameless and eternal thing,", " Forgetting what it was to die." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Vision of Belshazzar", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The King was on his throne,", " The Satraps thronged the hall:", "A thousand bright lamps shone", " O'er that high festival.", "A thousand cups of gold,", " In Judah deemed divine--", "Jehovah's vessels hold", " The godless Heathen's wine!", "", "In that same hour and hall,", " The fingers of a hand", "Came forth against the wall,", " And wrote as if on sand:", "The fingers of a man;--", " A solitary hand", "Along the letters ran,", " And traced them like a wand.", "", "The monarch saw, and shook,", " And bade no more rejoice;", "All bloodless waxed his look,", " And tremulous his voice.", "\"Let the men of lore appear,", " The wisest of the earth,", "And expound the words of fear,", " Which mar our royal mirth.\"", "", "Chaldea's seers are good,", " But here they have no skill;", "And the unknown letters stood", " Untold and awful still.", "And Babel's men of age", " Are wise and deep in lore;", "But now they were not sage,", " They saw--but knew no more.", "", "A captive in the land,", " A stranger and a youth,", "He heard the King's command,", " He saw that writing's truth.", "The lamps around were bright,", " The prophecy in view;", "He read it on that night,--", " The morrow proved it true.", "", "\"Belshazzar's grave is made,", " His kingdom passed away.", "He, in the balance weighed,", " Is light and worthless clay;", "The shroud, his robe of state,", " His canopy the stone;", "The Mede is at his gate!", " The Persian on his throne!\"" ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "Herod's Lament for Mariamne", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh, Mariamne! now for thee", " The heart for which thou bled'st is bleeding;", "Revenge is lost in Agony", " And wild Remorse to rage succeeding.", "Oh, Mariamne! where art thou?", " Thou canst not hear my bitter pleading:", "Ah! could'st thou--thou would'st pardon now,", " Though Heaven were to my prayer unheeding.", "", "And is she dead?--and did they dare", " Obey my Frenzy's jealous raving?", "My Wrath but doomed my own despair:", " The sword that smote her 's o'er me waving.--", "But thou art cold, my murdered Love!", " And this dark heart is vainly craving", "For he who soars alone above,", " And leaves my soul unworthy saving.", "", "She's gone, who shared my diadem;", " She sunk, with her my joys entombing;", "I swept that flower from Judah's stem,", " Whose leaves for me alone were blooming;", "And mine's the guilt, and mine the hell,", " This bosom's desolation dooming;", "And I have earned those tortures well,", " Which unconsumed are still consuming!" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "On the Day of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "From the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome,", "I beheld thee, oh Sion! when rendered to Rome:", "'Twas thy last sun went down, and the flames of thy fall", "Flashed back on the last glance I gave to thy wall.", "", "I looked for thy temple--I looked for my home,", "And forgot for a moment my bondage to come;", "I beheld but the death-fire that fed on thy fane,", "And the fast-fettered hands that made vengeance in vain.", "", "On many an eve, the high spot whence I gazed", "Had reflected the last beam of day as it blazed;", "While I stood on the height, and beheld the decline", "Of the rays from the mountain that shone on thy shrine.", "", "And now on that mountain I stood on that day,", "But I marked not the twilight beam melting away;", "Oh! would that the lightning had glared in its stead,", "And the thunderbolt burst on the Conqueror's head!", "", "But the Gods of the Pagan shall never profane", "The shrine where Jehovah disdained not to reign;", "And scattered and scorned as thy people may be,", "Our worship, oh Father! is only for thee." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "By the Rivers of Babylon We Sat Down and Wept", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "We sate down and wept by the waters", " Of Babel, and thought of the day", "When our foe, in the hue of his slaughters,", " Made Salem's high places his prey;", "And Ye, oh her desolate daughters!", " Were scattered all weeping away.", "", "While sadly we gazed on the river", " Which rolled on in freedom below,", "They demanded the song; but, oh never", " That triumph the Stranger shall know!", "May this right hand be withered for ever,", " Ere it string our high harp for the foe!", "", "On the willow that harp is suspended,", " Oh Salem! its sound should be free;", "And the hour when thy glories were ended", " But left me that token of thee:", "And ne'er shall its soft tones be blended", " With the voice of the Spoiler by me!" ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "The Destruction of Sennacherib", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,", "And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;", "And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,", "When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.", "", "Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,", "That host with their banners at sunset were seen:", "Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,", "That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.", "", "For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,", "And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;", "And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,", "And their hearts but once heaved--and for ever grew still!", "", "And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,", "But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;", "And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,", "And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.", "", "And there lay the rider distorted and pale,", "With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:", "And the tents were all silent--the banners alone--", "The lances unlifted--the trumpet unblown.", "", "And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,", "And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;", "And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,", "Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "When We Two Parted", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When we two parted", " In silence and tears,", "Half broken-hearted", " To sever for years,", "Pale grew thy cheek and cold,", " Colder thy kiss;", "Truly that hour foretold", " Sorrow to this.", "", "The dew of the morning", " Sunk chill on my brow--", "It felt like the warning", " Of what I feel now.", "Thy vows are all broken,", " And light is thy fame:", "I hear thy name spoken,", " And share in its shame.", "", "They name thee before me,", " A knell to mine ear;", "A shudder comes o'er me--", " Why wert thou so dear?", "They know not I knew thee,", " Who knew thee too well:--", "Long, long shall I rue thee,", " Too deeply to tell.", "", "In secret we met--", " In silence I grieve.", "That thy heart could forget,", " Thy spirit deceive.", "If I should meet thee", " After long years,", "How should I greet thee?--", " With silence and tears.", "", "I cannot talk of Love to thee,", " Though thou art young and free and fair!", "There is a spell thou dost not see,", " That bids a genuine love despair.", "", "And yet that spell invites each youth,", " For thee to sigh, or seem to sigh;", "Makes falsehood wear the garb of truth,", " And Truth itself appear a lie.", "", "If ever Doubt a place possest", " In woman's heart, 'twere wise in thine:", "Admit not Love into thy breast,", " Doubt others' love, nor trust in mine.", "", "Perchance 'tis feigned, perchance sincere,", " But false or true thou canst not tell;", "So much hast thou from all to fear,", " In that unconquerable spell.", "", "Of all the herd that throng around,", " Thy simpering or thy sighing train,", "Come tell me who to thee is bound", " By Love's or Plutus' heavier chain.", "", "In some 'tis Nature, some 'tis Art", " That bids them worship at thy shrine;", "But thou deserv'st a better heart,", " Than they or I can give for thine.", "", "For thee, and such as thee, behold,", " Is Fortune painted truly--blind!", "Who doomed thee to be bought or sold,", " Has proved too bounteous to be kind.", "", "Each day some tempter's crafty suit", " Would woo thee to a loveless bed:", "I see thee to the altar's foot", " A decorated victim led.", "", "Adieu, dear maid! I must not speak", " Whate'er my secret thoughts may be;", "Though thou art all that man can reck", " I dare not talk of Love to _thee_." ], "linecount": "68" }, { "title": "Stanzas for Music", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I speak not, I trace not, I breathe not thy name,", "There is grief in the sound, there is guilt in the fame:", "But the tear which now burns on my cheek may impart", "The deep thoughts that dwell in that silence of heart.", "", "Too brief for our passion, too long for our peace,", "Were those hours--can their joy or their bitterness cease?", "We repent, we abjure, we will break from our chain,--", "We will part, we will fly to--unite it again!", "", "Oh! thine be the gladness, and mine be the guilt!", "Forgive me, adored one!--forsake, if thou wilt;--", "But the heart which is thine shall expire undebased", "And _man_ shall not break it--whatever _thou_ mayst.", "", "And stern to the haughty, but humble to thee,", "This soul, in its bitterest blackness, shall be:", "And our days seem as swift, and our moments more sweet,", "With thee by my side, than with worlds at our feet.", "", "One sigh of thy sorrow, one look of thy love,", "Shall turn me or fix, shall reward or reprove;", "And the heartless may wonder at all I resign--", "Thy lip shall reply, not to them, but to _mine_." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "Address Intended to Be Recited at the Caledonian Meeting", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Who hath not glowed above the page where Fame", "Hath fixed high Caledon's unconquered name;", "The mountain-land which spurned the Roman chain,", "And baffled back the fiery-crested Dane,", "Whose bright claymore and hardihood of hand", "No foe could tame--no tyrant could command?", "That race is gone--but still their children breathe,", "And Glory crowns them with redoubled wreath:", "O'er Gael and Saxon mingling banners shine,", "And, England! add their stubborn strength to thine.", "The blood which flowed with Wallace flows as free,", "But now 'tis only shed for Fame and thee!", "Oh! pass not by the northern veteran's claim,", "But give support--the world hath given him fame!", "", "The humbler ranks, the lowly brave, who bled", "While cheerly following where the Mighty led--", "Who sleep beneath the undistinguished sod", "Where happier comrades in their triumph trod,", "To us bequeath--'tis all their fate allows--", "The sireless offspring and the lonely spouse:", "She on high Albyn's dusky hills may raise", "The tearful eye in melancholy gaze,", "Or view, while shadowy auguries disclose", "The Highland Seer's anticipated woes,", "The bleeding phantom of each martial form", "Dim in the cloud, or darkling in the storm;", "While sad, she chaunts the solitary song,", "The soft lament for him who tarries long--", "For him, whose distant relics vainly crave", "The Coronach's wild requiem to the brave!", "", "'Tis Heaven--not man--must charm away the woe,", "Which bursts when Nature's feelings newly flow;", "Yet Tenderness and Time may rob the tear", "Of half its bitterness for one so dear;", "A Nation's gratitude perchance may spread", "A thornless pillow for the widowed head;", "May lighten well her heart's maternal care,", "And wean from Penury the soldier's heir;", "Or deem to living war-worn Valour just", "Each wounded remnant--Albion's cherished trust--", "Warm his decline with those endearing rays,", "Whose bounteous sunshine yet may gild his days--", "So shall that Country--while he sinks to rest--", "His hand hath fought for--by his heart be blest!" ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Elegiac Stanzas on the Death of Sir Peter Parker, Bart", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "There is a tear for all that die,", " A mourner o'er the humblest grave;", "But nations swell the funeral cry,", " And Triumph weeps above the brave.", "", "For them is Sorrow's purest sigh", " O'er Ocean's heaving bosom sent:", "In vain their bones unburied lie,", " All earth becomes their monument!", "", "A tomb is theirs on every page,", " An epitaph on every tongue:", "The present hours, the future age,", " For them bewail, to them belong.", "", "For them the voice of festal mirth", " Grows hushed, _their name_ the only sound;", "While deep Remembrance pours to Worth", " The goblet's tributary round.", "", "A theme to crowds that knew them not,", " Lamented by admiring foes,", "Who would not share their glorious lot?", " Who would not die the death they chose?", "", "And, gallant Parker! thus enshrined", " Thy life, thy fall, thy fame shall be;", "And early valour, glowing, find", " A model in thy memory.", "", "But there are breasts that bleed with thee", " In woe, that glory cannot quell;", "And shuddering hear of victory,", " Where one so dear, so dauntless, fell.", "", "Where shall they turn to mourn thee less?", " When cease to hear thy cherished name?", "Time cannot teach forgetfulness,", " While Grief's full heart is fed by Fame.", "", "Alas! for them, though not for thee,", " They cannot choose but weep the more;", "Deep for the dead the grief must be,", " Who ne'er gave cause to mourn before." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Julian ", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The Night came on the Waters--all was rest", "On Earth--but Rage on Ocean's troubled Heart.", "The Waves arose and rolled beneath the blast;", "The Sailors gazed upon their shivered Mast.", "In that dark Hour a long loud gathered cry", "From out the billows pierced the sable sky,", "And borne o'er breakers reached the craggy shore--", "The Sea roars on--that Cry is heard no more.", "", "There is no vestige, in the Dawning light,", "Of those that shrieked thro' shadows of the Night.", "The Bark--the Crew--the very Wreck is gone,", "Marred--mutilated--traceless--all save one.", "In him there still is Life, the Wave that dashed", "On shore the plank to which his form was lashed,", "Returned unheeding of its helpless Prey--", "The lone survivor of that Yesterday--", "The one of Many whom the withering Gale", "Hath left unpunished to record their Tale.", "But who shall hear it? on that barren Sand", "None comes to stretch the hospitable hand.", "That shore reveals no print of human foot,", "Nor e'en the pawing of the wilder Brute;", "And niggard vegetation will not smile,", "All sunless on that solitary Isle.", "", "The naked Stranger rose, and wrung his hair,", "And that first moment passed in silent prayer.", "Alas! the sound--he sunk into Despair--", "He was on Earth--but what was Earth to him,", "Houseless and homeless--bare both breast and limb?", "Cut off from all but Memory he curst", "His fate--his folly--but himself the worst.", "What was his hope? he looked upon the Wave--", "Despite--of all--it still may be his Grave!", "", "He rose and with a feeble effort shaped", "His course unto the billows--late escaped:", "But weakness conquered--swam his dizzy glance,", "And down to Earth he sunk in silent trance.", "How long his senses bore its chilling chain,", "He knew not--but, recalled to Life again,", "A stranger stood beside his shivering form--", "And what was he? had he too scaped the storm?", "", "He raised young Julian. \"Is thy Cup so full", "Of bitterness--thy Hope--thy heart so dull", "That thou shouldst from Thee dash the Draught of Life,", "So late escaped the elemental strife!", "Rise--tho' these shores few aids to Life supply,", "Look upon me, and know thou shalt not die.", "Thou gazest in mute wonder--more may be", "Thy marvel when thou knowest mine and me.", "But come--The bark that bears us hence shall find", "Her Haven, soon, despite the warning Wind.\"", "", "He raised young Julian from the sand, and such", "Strange power of healing dwelt within the touch,", "That his weak limbs grew light with freshened Power,", "As he had slept not fainted in that hour,", "And woke from Slumber--as the Birds awake,", "Recalled at morning from the branchéd brake,", "When the day's promise heralds early Spring,", "And Heaven unfolded woos their soaring wing:", "So Julian felt, and gazed upon his Guide,", "With honest Wonder what might next betide." ], "linecount": "61" }, { "title": "To Belshazzar", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Belshazzar! from the banquet turn,", " Nor in thy sensual fulness fall;", "Behold! while yet before thee burn", " The graven words, the glowing wall,", "Many a despot men miscall", " Crowned and anointed from on high;", "But thou, the weakest, worst of all--", " Is it not written, thou must die?", "", "Go! dash the roses from thy brow--", " Grey hairs but poorly wreathe with them;", "Youth's garlands misbecome thee now,", " More than thy very diadem,", "Where thou hast tarnished every gem:--", " Then throw the worthless bauble by,", "Which, worn by thee, ev'n slaves contemn;", " And learn like better men to die!", "", "Oh! early in the balance weighed,", " And ever light of word and worth,", "Whose soul expired ere youth decayed,", " And left thee but a mass of earth.", "To see thee moves the scorner's mirth:", " But tears in Hope's averted eye", "Lament that even thou hadst birth--", " Unfit to govern, live, or die." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Napoleon's Farewell", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Farewell to the Land, where the gloom of my Glory", "Arose and o'ershadowed the earth with her name--", "She abandons me now--but the page of her story,", "The brightest or blackest, is filled with my fame.", "I have warred with a World which vanquished me only", "When the meteor of conquest allured me too far;", "I have coped with the nations which dread me thus lonely,", "The last single Captive to millions in war.", "", "Farewell to thee, France! when thy diadem crowned me,", "I made thee the gem and the wonder of earth,--", "But thy weakness decrees I should leave as I found thee,", "Decayed in thy glory, and sunk in thy worth.", "Oh! for the veteran hearts that were wasted", "In strife with the storm, when their battles were won--", "Then the Eagle, whose gaze in that moment was blasted", "Had still soared with eyes fixed on Victory's sun!", "", "Farewell to thee, France!--but when Liberty rallies", "Once more in thy regions, remember me then,--", "The Violet still grows in the depth of thy valleys;", "Though withered, thy tear will unfold it again--", "Yet, yet, I may baffle the hosts that surround us,", "And yet may thy heart leap awake to my voice--", "There are links which must break in the chain that has bound us,", "_Then_ turn thee and call on the Chief of thy choice!" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Ode From the French", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "We do not curse thee, Waterloo!", "Though Freedom's blood thy plain bedew;", "There 'twas shed, but is not sunk--", "Rising from each gory trunk,", "Like the water-spout from ocean,", "With a strong and growing motion--", "It soars, and mingles in the air,", "With that of lost La Bédoyère--", "With that of him whose honoured grave", "Contains the \"bravest of the brave.\"", "A crimson cloud it spreads and glows,", "But shall return to whence it rose;", "When 'tis full 'twill burst asunder--", "Never yet was heard such thunder", "As then shall shake the world with wonder--", "Never yet was seen such lightning", "As o'er heaven shall then be bright'ning!", "Like the Wormwood Star foretold", " By the sainted Seer of old,", "Show'ring down a fiery flood,", "Turning rivers into blood.", "", "The Chief has fallen, but not by you,", "Vanquishers of Waterloo!", "When the soldier citizen", "Swayed not o'er his fellow-men--", "Save in deeds that led them on", "Where Glory smiled on Freedom's son--", "Who, of all the despots banded,", " With that youthful chief competed?", " Who could boast o'er France defeated,", "Till lone Tyranny commanded?", "Till, goaded by Ambition's sting,", "The Hero sunk into the King?", "Then he fell:--so perish all,", "Who would men by man enthral!", "", "And thou, too, of the snow-white plume!", "Whose realm refused thee ev'n a tomb;", "Better hadst thou still been leading", "France o'er hosts of hirelings bleeding,", "Than sold thyself to death and shame", "For a meanly royal name;", "Such as he of Naples wears,", "Who thy blood-bought title bears.", "Little didst thou deem, when dashing", " On thy war-horse through the ranks.", " Like a stream which burst its banks,", "While helmets cleft, and sabres clashing,", "Shone and shivered fast around thee--", "Of the fate at last which found thee:", "Was that haughty plume laid low", "By a slave's dishonest blow?", "Once--as the Moon sways o'er the tide,", "It rolled in air, the warrior's guide;", "Through the smoke-created night", "Of the black and sulphurous fight,", "The soldier raised his seeking eye", "To catch that crest's ascendancy,--", "And, as it onward rolling rose,", "So moved his heart upon our foes.", "There, where death's brief pang was quickest,", "And the battle's wreck lay thickest,", "Strewed beneath the advancing banner", " Of the eagle's burning crest--", "(There with thunder-clouds to fan her,", " _Who_ could then her wing arrest--", " Victory beaming from her breast?)", "While the broken line enlarging", " Fell, or fled along the plain;", "There be sure was Murat charging!", " There he ne'er shall charge again!", "", "O'er glories gone the invaders march,", "Weeps Triumph o'er each levelled arch--", "But let Freedom rejoice,", "With her heart in her voice;", "But, her hand on her sword,", "Doubly shall she be adored;", "France hath twice too well been taught", "The \"moral lesson\" dearly bought--", "Her safety sits not on a throne,", "With Capet or Napoleon!", "But in equal rights and laws,", "Hearts and hands in one great cause--", "Freedom, such as God hath given", "Unto all beneath his heaven,", "With their breath, and from their birth,", "Though guilt would sweep it from the earth;", "With a fierce and lavish hand", "Scattering nations' wealth like sand;", "Pouring nations' blood like water,", "In imperial seas of slaughter!", "", "But the heart and the mind,", "And the voice of mankind,", "Shall arise in communion--", "And who shall resist that proud union?", "The time is past when swords subdued--", "Man may die--the soul's renewed:", "Even in this low world of care", "Freedom ne'er shall want an heir;", "Millions breathe but to inherit", "Her for ever bounding spirit--", "When once more her hosts assemble,", "Tyrants shall believe and tremble--", "Smile they at this idle threat?", "Crimson tears will follow yet." ], "linecount": "104" }, { "title": "Fare Thee Well", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"Alas! they had been friends in youth;", " But whispering tongues can poison truth:", " And Constancy lives in realms above;", " And Life is thorny; and youth is vain:", " And to be wroth with one we love,", " Doth work like madness in the brain;", "", " But never either found another", " To free the hollow heart from paining--", " They stood aloof, the scars remaining,", " Like cliffs which had been rent asunder;", " A dreary sea now flows between,", " But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder,", " Shall wholly do away, I ween,", " The marks of that which once hath been.\"", " Coleridge's Christabel.", "", "Fare thee well! and if for ever,", " Still for ever, fare _thee well:_", "Even though unforgiving, never", " 'Gainst thee shall my heart rebel.", "Would that breast were bared before thee", " Where thy head so oft hath lain,", "While that placid sleep came o'er thee", " Which thou ne'er canst know again:", "Would that breast, by thee glanced over,", " Every inmost thought could show!", "Then thou would'st at last discover", " 'Twas not well to spurn it so.", "Though the world for this commend thee--", " Though it smile upon the blow,", "Even its praises must offend thee,", " Founded on another's woe:", "Though my many faults defaced me,", " Could no other arm be found,", "Than the one which once embraced me,", " To inflict a cureless wound?", "Yet, oh yet, thyself deceive not--", " Love may sink by slow decay,", "But by sudden wrench, believe not", " Hearts can thus be torn away:", "Still thine own its life retaineth--", " Still must mine, though bleeding, beat;", "And the undying thought which paineth", " Is--that we no more may meet.", "These are words of deeper sorrow", " Than the wail above the dead;", "Both shall live--but every morrow", " Wake us from a widowed bed.", "And when thou would'st solace gather--", " When our child's first accents flow--", "Wilt thou teach her to say \"Father!\"", " Though his care she must forego?", "When her little hands shall press thee--", " When her lip to thine is pressed--", "Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee--", " Think of him thy love _had_ blessed!", "Should her lineaments resemble", " Those thou never more may'st see,", "Then thy heart will softly tremble", " With a pulse yet true to me.", "All my faults perchance thou knowest--", " All my madness--none can know;", "All my hopes--where'er thou goest--", " Wither--yet with _thee_ they go.", "Every feeling hath been shaken;", " Pride--which not a world could bow--", "Bows to thee--by thee forsaken,", " Even my soul forsakes me now.", "But 'tis done--all words are idle--", " Words from me are vainer still;", "But the thoughts we cannot bridle", " Force their way without the will.", "Fare thee well! thus disunited--", " Torn from every nearer tie--", "Seared in heart--and lone--and blighted--", " More than this I scarce can die." ], "linecount": "75" }, { "title": "A Sketch", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"Honest--honest Iago!", " If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee.\"", " Shakespeare.", "", "Born in the garret, in the kitchen bred,", "Promoted thence to deck her mistress' head;", "Next--for some gracious service unexpressed,", "And from its wages only to be guessed--", "Raised from the toilet to the table,--where", "Her wondering betters wait behind her chair.", "With eye unmoved, and forehead unabashed,", "She dines from off the plate she lately washed.", "Quick with the tale, and ready with the lie,", "The genial confidante, and general spy--", "Who could, ye gods! her next employment guess--", "An only infant's earliest governess!", "She taught the child to read, and taught so well,", "That she herself, by teaching, learned to spell.", "An adept next in penmanship she grows,", "As many a nameless slander deftly shows:", "What she had made the pupil of her art,", "None know--but that high Soul secured the heart,", "And panted for the truth it could not hear,", "With longing breast and undeluded ear.", "Foiled was perversion by that youthful mind,", "Which Flattery fooled not, Baseness could not blind,", "Deceit infect not, near Contagion soil,", "Indulgence weaken, nor Example spoil,", "Nor mastered Science tempt her to look down", "On humbler talents with a pitying frown,", "Nor Genius swell, nor Beauty render vain,", "Nor Envy ruffle to retaliate pain,", "Nor Fortune change, Pride raise, nor Passion bow,", "Nor Virtue teach austerity--till now.", "Serenely purest of her sex that live,", "But wanting one sweet weakness--to forgive;", "Too shocked at faults her soul can never know,", "She deems that all could be like her below:", "Foe to all vice, yet hardly Virtue's friend,", "For Virtue pardons those she would amend.", "", "But to the theme, now laid aside too long,", "The baleful burthen of this honest song,", "Though all her former functions are no more,", "She rules the circle which she served before.", "If mothers--none know why--before her quake;", "If daughters dread her for the mothers' sake;", "If early habits--those false links, which bind", "At times the loftiest to the meanest mind--", "Have given her power too deeply to instil", "The angry essence of her deadly will;", "If like a snake she steal within your walls,", "Till the black slime betray her as she crawls;", "If like a viper to the heart she wind,", "And leave the venom there she did not find;", "What marvel that this hag of hatred works", "Eternal evil latent as she lurks,", "To make a Pandemonium where she dwells,", "And reign the Hecate of domestic hells?", "Skilled by a touch to deepen Scandal's tints", "With all the kind mendacity of hints,", "While mingling truth with falsehood--sneers with smiles--", "A thread of candour with a web of wiles;", "A plain blunt show of briefly-spoken seeming,", "To hide her bloodless heart's soul-hardened scheming;", "A lip of lies; a face formed to conceal,", "And, without feeling, mock at all who feel:", "With a vile mask the Gorgon would disown,--", "A cheek of parchment, and an eye of stone.", "Mark, how the channels of her yellow blood", "Ooze to her skin, and stagnate there to mud,", "Cased like the centipede in saffron mail,", "Or darker greenness of the scorpion's scale--", "(For drawn from reptiles only may we trace", "Congenial colours in that soul or face)--", "Look on her features! and behold her mind", "As in a mirror of itself defined:", "Look on the picture! deem it not o'ercharged--", "There is no trait which might not be enlarged:", "Yet true to \"Nature's journeymen,\" who made", "This monster when their mistress left off trade--", "This female dog-star of her little sky,", "Where all beneath her influence droop or die.", "", "Oh! wretch without a tear--without a thought,", "Save joy above the ruin thou hast wrought--", "The time shall come, nor long remote, when thou", "Shalt feel far more than thou inflictest now;", "Feel for thy vile self-loving self in vain,", "And turn thee howling in unpitied pain.", "May the strong curse of crushed affections light", "Back on thy bosom with reflected blight!", "And make thee in thy leprosy of mind", "As loathsome to thyself as to mankind!", "Till all thy self-thoughts curdle into hate,", "Black--as thy will or others would create:", "Till thy hard heart be calcined into dust,", "And thy soul welter in its hideous crust.", "Oh, may thy grave be sleepless as the bed,", "The widowed couch of fire, that thou hast spread!", "Then, when thou fain wouldst weary Heaven with prayer,", "Look on thine earthly victims--and despair!", "Down to the dust!--and, as thou rott'st away,", "Even worms shall perish on thy poisonous clay.", "But for the love I bore, and still must bear,", "To her thy malice from all ties would tear--", "Thy name--thy human name--to every eye", "The climax of all scorn should hang on high,", "Exalted o'er thy less abhorred compeers--", "And festering in the infamy of years." ], "linecount": "107" }, { "title": "Stanzas to Augusta", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When all around grew drear and dark,", " And reason half withheld her ray--", "And Hope but shed a dying spark", " Which more misled my lonely way;", "In that deep midnight of the mind,", " And that internal strife of heart,", "When dreading to be deemed too kind,", " The weak despair--the cold depart;", "When Fortune changed--and Love fled far,", " And Hatred's shafts flew thick and fast,", "Thou wert the solitary star", " Which rose and set not to the last.", "Oh! blest be thine unbroken light!", " That watched me as a Seraph's eye,", "And stood between me and the night,", " For ever shining sweetly nigh.", "And when the cloud upon us came,", " Which strove to blacken o'er thy ray--", "Then purer spread its gentle flame,", " And dashed the darkness all away.", "Still may thy Spirit dwell on mine,", " And teach it what to brave or brook--", "There's more in one soft word of thine", " Than in the world's defied rebuke.", "Thou stood'st, as stands a lovely tree,", " That still unbroke, though gently bent,", "Still waves with fond fidelity", " Its boughs above a monument.", "The winds might rend--the skies might pour,", " But there thou wert--and still wouldst be", "Devoted in the stormiest hour", " To shed thy weeping leaves o'er me.", "But thou and thine shall know no blight,", " Whatever fate on me may fall;", "For Heaven in sunshine will requite", " The kind--and thee the most of all.", "Then let the ties of baffled love", " Be broken--thine will never break;", "Thy heart can feel--but will not move;", " Thy soul, though soft, will never shake.", "And these, when all was lost beside,", " Were found and still are fixed in thee:--", "And bearing still a breast so tried,", " Earth is no desert--ev'n to me." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "The Prisoner of Chillon", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "My hair is grey, but not with years,", "Nor grew it white", " In a single night,", "As men's have grown from sudden fears:", "My limbs are bowed, though not with toil,", " But rusted with a vile repose,", "For they have been a dungeon's spoil,", " And mine has been the fate of those", "To whom the goodly earth and air", "Are banned, and barred--forbidden fare;", "But this was for my father's faith", "I suffered chains and courted death;", "That father perished at the stake", "For tenets he would not forsake;", "And for the same his lineal race", "In darkness found a dwelling place;", "We were seven--who now are one,", " Six in youth, and one in age,", "Finished as they had begun,", " Proud of Persecution's rage;", "One in fire, and two in field,", "Their belief with blood have sealed,", "Dying as their father died,", "For the God their foes denied;--", "Three were in a dungeon cast,", "Of whom this wreck is left the last.", "", "There are seven pillars of Gothic mould,", "In Chillon's dungeons deep and old,", "There are seven columns, massy and grey,", "Dim with a dull imprisoned ray,", "A sunbeam which hath lost its way,", "And through the crevice and the cleft", "Of the thick wall is fallen and left;", "Creeping o'er the floor so damp,", "Like a marsh's meteor lamp:", "And in each pillar there is a ring,", " And in each ring there is a chain;", "That iron is a cankering thing,", " For in these limbs its teeth remain,", "With marks that will not wear away,", "Till I have done with this new day,", "Which now is painful to these eyes,", "Which have not seen the sun so rise", "For years--I cannot count them o'er,", "I lost their long and heavy score", "When my last brother drooped and died,", "And I lay living by his side.", "", "They chained us each to a column stone,", "And we were three--yet, each alone;", "We could not move a single pace,", "We could not see each other's face,", "But with that pale and livid light", "That made us strangers in our sight:", "And thus together--yet apart,", "Fettered in hand, but joined in heart,", "'Twas still some solace in the dearth", "Of the pure elements of earth,", "To hearken to each other's speech,", "And each turn comforter to each", "With some new hope, or legend old,", "Or song heroically bold;", "But even these at length grew cold.", "Our voices took a dreary tone,", "An echo of the dungeon stone,", " A grating sound, not full and free,", " As they of yore were wont to be:", " It might be fancy--but to me", "They never sounded like our own.", "", "I was the eldest of the three,", " And to uphold and cheer the rest", " I ought to do--and did my best--", "And each did well in his degree.", " The youngest, whom my father loved,", "Because our mother's brow was given", "To him, with eyes as blue as heaven--", " For him my soul was sorely moved:", "And truly might it be distressed", "To see such bird in such a nest;", "For he was beautiful as day--", " (When day was beautiful to me", " As to young eagles, being free)--", " A polar day, which will not see", "A sunset till its summer's gone,", " Its sleepless summer of long light,", "The snow-clad offspring of the sun:", " And thus he was as pure and bright,", "And in his natural spirit gay,", "With tears for nought but others' ills,", "And then they flowed like mountain rills,", "Unless he could assuage the woe", "Which he abhorred to view below.", "", "The other was as pure of mind,", "But formed to combat with his kind;", "Strong in his frame, and of a mood", "Which 'gainst the world in war had stood,", "And perished in the foremost rank", " With joy:--but not in chains to pine:", "His spirit withered with their clank,", " I saw it silently decline--", " And so perchance in sooth did mine:", "But yet I forced it on to cheer", "Those relics of a home so dear.", "He was a hunter of the hills,", " Had followed there the deer and wolf;", " To him this dungeon was a gulf,", "And fettered feet the worst of ills.", "", " Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls:", "A thousand feet in depth below", "Its massy waters meet and flow;", "Thus much the fathom-line was sent", "From Chillon's snow-white battlement,", " Which round about the wave inthralls:", "A double dungeon wall and wave", "Have made--and like a living grave.", "Below the surface of the lake", "The dark vault lies wherein we lay:", "We heard it ripple night and day;", " Sounding o'er our heads it knocked;", "And I have felt the winter's spray", "Wash through the bars when winds were high", "And wanton in the happy sky;", " And then the very rock hath rocked,", " And I have felt it shake, unshocked,", "Because I could have smiled to see", "The death that would have set me free.", "", "I said my nearer brother pined,", "I said his mighty heart declined,", "He loathed and put away his food;", "It was not that 'twas coarse and rude,", "For we were used to hunter's fare,", "And for the like had little care:", "The milk drawn from the mountain goat", "Was changed for water from the moat,", "Our bread was such as captives' tears", "Have moistened many a thousand years,", "Since man first pent his fellow men", "Like brutes within an iron den;", "But what were these to us or him?", "These wasted not his heart or limb;", "My brother's soul was of that mould", "Which in a palace had grown cold,", "Had his free breathing been denied", "The range of the steep mountain's side;", "But why delay the truth?--he died.", "I saw, and could not hold his head,", "Nor reach his dying hand--nor dead,--", "Though hard I strove, but strove in vain,", "To rend and gnash my bonds in twain.", "He died--and they unlocked his chain,", "And scooped for him a shallow grave", "Even from the cold earth of our cave.", "I begged them, as a boon, to lay", "His corse in dust whereon the day", "Might shine--it was a foolish thought,", "But then within my brain it wrought,", "That even in death his freeborn breast", "In such a dungeon could not rest.", "I might have spared my idle prayer--", "They coldly laughed--and laid him there:", "The flat and turfless earth above", "The being we so much did love;", "His empty chain above it leant,", "Such Murder's fitting monument!", "", "But he, the favourite and the flower,", "Most cherished since his natal hour,", "His mother's image in fair face,", "The infant love of all his race,", "His martyred father's dearest thought,", "My latest care, for whom I sought", "To hoard my life, that his might be", "Less wretched now, and one day free;", "He, too, who yet had held untired", "A spirit natural or inspired--", "He, too, was struck, and day by day", "Was withered on the stalk away.", "Oh, God! it is a fearful thing", "To see the human soul take wing", "In any shape, in any mood:", "I've seen it rushing forth in blood,", "I've seen it on the breaking ocean", "Strive with a swoln convulsive motion,", "I've seen the sick and ghastly bed", "Of Sin delirious with its dread:", "But these were horrors--this was woe", "Unmixed with such--but sure and slow:", "He faded, and so calm and meek,", "So softly worn, so sweetly weak,", "So tearless, yet so tender--kind,", "And grieved for those he left behind;", "With all the while a cheek whose bloom", "Was as a mockery of the tomb,", "Whose tints as gently sunk away", "As a departing rainbow's ray;", "An eye of most transparent light,", "That almost made the dungeon bright;", "And not a word of murmur--not", "A groan o'er his untimely lot,--", "A little talk of better days,", "A little hope my own to raise,", "For I was sunk in silence--lost", "In this last loss, of all the most;", "And then the sighs he would suppress", "Of fainting Nature's feebleness,", "More slowly drawn, grew less and less:", "I listened, but I could not hear;", "I called, for I was wild with fear;", "I knew 'twas hopeless, but my dread", "Would not be thus admonished;", "I called, and thought I heard a sound--", "I burst my chain with one strong bound,", "And rushed to him:--I found him not,", "_I_ only stirred in this black spot,", "_I_ only lived, _I_ only drew", "The accursed breath of dungeon-dew;", "The last, the sole, the dearest link", "Between me and the eternal brink,", "Which bound me to my failing race,", "Was broken in this fatal place.", "One on the earth, and one beneath--", "My brothers--both had ceased to breathe:", "I took that hand which lay so still,", "Alas! my own was full as chill;", "I had not strength to stir, or strive,", "But felt that I was still alive--", "A frantic feeling, when we know", "That what we love shall ne'er be so.", " I know not why", " I could not die,", "I had no earthly hope--but faith,", "And that forbade a selfish death.", "", "What next befell me then and there", " I know not well--I never knew--", "First came the loss of light, and air,", " And then of darkness too:", "I had no thought, no feeling--none--", "Among the stones I stood a stone,", "And was, scarce conscious what I wist,", "As shrubless crags within the mist;", "For all was blank, and bleak, and grey;", "It was not night--it was not day;", "It was not even the dungeon-light,", "So hateful to my heavy sight,", "But vacancy absorbing space,", "And fixedness--without a place;", "There were no stars--no earth--no time--", "No check--no change--no good--no crime--", "But silence, and a stirless breath", "Which neither was of life nor death;", "A sea of stagnant idleness,", "Blind, boundless, mute, and motionless!", "", "A light broke in upon my brain,--", " It was the carol of a bird;", "It ceased, and then it came again,", " The sweetest song ear ever heard,", "And mine was thankful till my eyes", "Ran over with the glad surprise,", "And they that moment could not see", "I was the mate of misery;", "But then by dull degrees came back", "My senses to their wonted track;", "I saw the dungeon walls and floor", "Close slowly round me as before,", "I saw the glimmer of the sun", "Creeping as it before had done,", "But through the crevice where it came", "That bird was perched, as fond and tame,", " And tamer than upon the tree;", "A lovely bird, with azure wings,", "And song that said a thousand things,", " And seemed to say them all for me!", "I never saw its like before,", "I ne'er shall see its likeness more:", "It seemed like me to want a mate,", "But was not half so desolate,", "And it was come to love me when", "None lived to love me so again,", "And cheering from my dungeon's brink,", "Had brought me back to feel and think.", "I know not if it late were free,", " Or broke its cage to perch on mine,", "But knowing well captivity,", " Sweet bird! I could not wish for thine!", "Or if it were, in wingéd guise,", "A visitant from Paradise;", "For--Heaven forgive that thought! the while", "Which made me both to weep and smile--", "I sometimes deemed that it might be", "My brother's soul come down to me;", "But then at last away it flew,", "And then 'twas mortal well I knew,", "For he would never thus have flown--", "And left me twice so doubly lone,--", "Lone--as the corse within its shroud,", "Lone--as a solitary cloud,", " A single cloud on a sunny day,", "While all the rest of heaven is clear,", "A frown upon the atmosphere,", "That hath no business to appear", " When skies are blue, and earth is gay.", "", "A kind of change came in my fate,", "My keepers grew compassionate;", "I know not what had made them so,", "They were inured to sights of woe,", "But so it was:--my broken chain", "With links unfastened did remain,", "And it was liberty to stride", "Along my cell from side to side,", "And up and down, and then athwart,", "And tread it over every part;", "And round the pillars one by one,", "Returning where my walk begun,", "Avoiding only, as I trod,", "My brothers' graves without a sod;", "For if I thought with heedless tread", "My step profaned their lowly bed,", "My breath came gaspingly and thick,", "And my crushed heart felt blind and sick.", "", "I made a footing in the wall,", " It was not therefrom to escape,", "For I had buried one and all,", " Who loved me in a human shape;", "And the whole earth would henceforth be", "A wider prison unto me:", "No child--no sire--no kin had I,", "No partner in my misery;", "I thought of this, and I was glad,", "For thought of them had made me mad;", "But I was curious to ascend", "To my barred windows, and to bend", "Once more, upon the mountains high,", "The quiet of a loving eye.", "", "I saw them--and they were the same,", "They were not changed like me in frame;", "I saw their thousand years of snow", "On high--their wide long lake below,", "And the blue Rhone in fullest flow;", "I heard the torrents leap and gush", "O'er channelled rock and broken bush;", "I saw the white-walled distant town,", "And whiter sails go skimming down;", "And then there was a little isle,", "Which in my very face did smile,", " The only one in view;", "A small green isle, it seemed no more,", "Scarce broader than my dungeon floor,", "But in it there were three tall trees,", "And o'er it blew the mountain breeze,", "And by it there were waters flowing,", "And on it there were young flowers growing,", " Of gentle breath and hue.", "The fish swam by the castle wall,", "And they seemed joyous each and all;", "The eagle rode the rising blast,", "Methought he never flew so fast", "As then to me he seemed to fly;", "And then new tears came in my eye,", "And I felt troubled--and would fain", "I had not left my recent chain;", "And when I did descend again,", "The darkness of my dim abode", "Fell on me as a heavy load;", "It was as is a new-dug grave,", "Closing o'er one we sought to save,--", "And yet my glance, too much opprest,", "Had almost need of such a rest.", "", "It might be months, or years, or days--", " I kept no count, I took no note--", "I had no hope my eyes to raise,", " And clear them of their dreary mote;", "At last men came to set me free;", " I asked not why, and recked not where;", "It was at length the same to me,", "Fettered or fetterless to be,", " I learned to love despair.", "And thus when they appeared at last,", "And all my bonds aside were cast,", "These heavy walls to me had grown", "A hermitage--and all my own!", "And half I felt as they were come", "To tear me from a second home:", "With spiders I had friendship made,", "And watched them in their sullen trade,", "Had seen the mice by moonlight play,", "And why should I feel less than they?", "We were all inmates of one place,", "And I, the monarch of each race,", "Had power to kill--yet, strange to tell!", "In quiet we had learned to dwell;", "My very chains and I grew friends,", "So much a long communion tends", "To make us what we are:--even I", "Regained my freedom with a sigh." ], "linecount": "392" }, { "title": "Darkness", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I had a dream, which was not all a dream.", "The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars", "Did wander darkling in the eternal space,", "Rayless, and pathless, and the icy Earth", "Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;", "Morn came and went--and came, and brought no day,", "And men forgot their passions in the dread", "Of this their desolation; and all hearts", "Were chilled into a selfish prayer for light:", "And they did live by watchfires--and the thrones,", "The palaces of crownéd kings--the huts,", "The habitations of all things which dwell,", "Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,", "And men were gathered round their blazing homes", "To look once more into each other's face;", "Happy were those who dwelt within the eye", "Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:", "A fearful hope was all the World contained;", "Forests were set on fire--but hour by hour", "They fell and faded--and the crackling trunks", "Extinguished with a crash--and all was black.", "The brows of men by the despairing light", "Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits", "The flashes fell upon them; some lay down", "And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest", "Their chins upon their clenchéd hands, and smiled;", "And others hurried to and fro, and fed", "Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up", "With mad disquietude on the dull sky,", "The pall of a past World; and then again", "With curses cast them down upon the dust,", "And gnashed their teeth and howled: the wild birds shrieked,", "And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,", "And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes", "Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawled", "And twined themselves among the multitude,", "Hissing, but stingless--they were slain for food:", "And War, which for a moment was no more,", "Did glut himself again:--a meal was bought", "With blood, and each sate sullenly apart", "Gorging himself in gloom: no Love was left;", "All earth was but one thought--and that was Death,", "Immediate and inglorious; and the pang", "Of famine fed upon all entrails--men", "Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;", "The meagre by the meagre were devoured,", "Even dogs assailed their masters, all save one,", "And he was faithful to a corse, and kept", "The birds and beasts and famished men at bay,", "Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead", "Lured their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,", "But with a piteous and perpetual moan,", "And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand", "Which answered not with a caress--he died.", "The crowd was famished by degrees; but two", "Of an enormous city did survive,", "And they were enemies: they met beside", "The dying embers of an altar-place", "Where had been heaped a mass of holy things", "For an unholy usage; they raked up,", "And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton hands", "The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath", "Blew for a little life, and made a flame", "Which was a mockery; then they lifted up", "Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld", "Each other's aspects--saw, and shrieked, and died--", "Even of their mutual hideousness they died,", "Unknowing who he was upon whose brow", "Famine had written Fiend. The World was void,", "The populous and the powerful was a lump,", "Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless--", "A lump of death--a chaos of hard clay.", "The rivers, lakes, and ocean all stood still,", "And nothing stirred within their silent depths;", "Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,", "And their masts fell down piecemeal: as they dropped", "They slept on the abyss without a surge--", "The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,", "The Moon, their mistress, had expired before;", "The winds were withered in the stagnant air,", "And the clouds perished; Darkness had no need", "Of aid from them--She was the Universe." ], "linecount": "82" }, { "title": "Churchill's Grave, a Fact Literally Rendered", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I stood beside the grave of him who blazed", "The Comet of a season, and I saw", "The humblest of all sepulchres, and gazed", " With not the less of sorrow and of awe", "On that neglected turf and quiet stone,", "With name no clearer than the names unknown,", "Which lay unread around it; and I asked", " The Gardener of that ground, why it might be", "That for this plant strangers his memory tasked,", " Through the thick deaths of half a century;", "And thus he answered--\"Well, I do not know", "Why frequent travellers turn to pilgrims so;", "He died before my day of Sextonship,", " And I had not the digging of this grave.\"", "And is this all? I thought,--and do we rip", " The veil of Immortality, and crave", "I know not what of honour and of light", "Through unborn ages, to endure this blight?", "So soon, and so successless? As I said,", "The Architect of all on which we tread,", "For Earth is but a tombstone, did essay", "To extricate remembrance from the clay,", "Whose minglings might confuse a Newton's thought,", " Were it not that all life must end in one,", "Of which we are but dreamers;--as he caught", " As 'twere the twilight of a former Sun,", "Thus spoke he,--\"I believe the man of whom", "You wot, who lies in this selected tomb,", "Was a most famous writer in his day,", "And therefore travellers step from out their way", "To pay him honour,--and myself whate'er", " Your honour pleases:\"--then most pleased I shook", " From out my pocket's avaricious nook", "Some certain coins of silver, which as 'twere", "Perforce I gave this man, though I could spare", "So much but inconveniently:--Ye smile,", "I see ye, ye profane ones! all the while,", "Because my homely phrase the truth would tell.", "You are the fools, not I--for I did dwell", "With a deep thought, and with a softened eye,", "On that old Sexton's natural homily,", "In which there was Obscurity and Fame,--", "The Glory and the Nothing of a Name." ], "linecount": "43" }, { "title": "Prometheus", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Titan! to whose immortal eyes", " The sufferings of mortality,", " Seen in their sad reality,", "Were not as things that gods despise;", "What was thy pity's recompense?", "A silent suffering, and intense;", "The rock, the vulture, and the chain,", "All that the proud can feel of pain,", "The agony they do not show,", "The suffocating sense of woe,", " Which speaks but in its loneliness,", "And then is jealous lest the sky", "Should have a listener, nor will sigh", " Until its voice is echoless.", "", "Titan! to thee the strife was given", " Between the suffering and the will,", " Which torture where they cannot kill;", "And the inexorable Heaven,", "And the deaf tyranny of Fate,", "The ruling principle of Hate,", "Which for its pleasure doth create", "The things it may annihilate,", "Refused thee even the boon to die:", "The wretched gift Eternity", "Was thine--and thou hast borne it well.", "All that the Thunderer wrung from thee", "Was but the menace which flung back", "On him the torments of thy rack;", "The fate thou didst so well foresee,", "But would not to appease him tell;", "And in thy Silence was his Sentence,", "And in his Soul a vain repentance,", "And evil dread so ill dissembled,", "That in his hand the lightnings trembled.", "", "Thy Godlike crime was to be kind,", " To render with thy precepts less", " The sum of human wretchedness,", "And strengthen Man with his own mind;", "But baffled as thou wert from high,", "Still in thy patient energy,", "In the endurance, and repulse", " Of thine impenetrable Spirit,", "Which Earth and Heaven could not convulse,", " A mighty lesson we inherit:", "Thou art a symbol and a sign", " To Mortals of their fate and force;", "Like thee, Man is in part divine,", "A troubled stream from a pure source;", "And Man in portions can foresee", "His own funereal destiny;", "His wretchedness, and his resistance,", "And his sad unallied existence:", "To which his Spirit may oppose", "Itself--an equal to all woes--", "And a firm will, and a deep sense,", "Which even in torture can descry", " Its own concentered recompense,", "Triumphant where it dares defy,", "And making Death a Victory." ], "linecount": "59" }, { "title": "A Fragment", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Could I remount the river of my years", "To the first fountain of our smiles and tears,", "I would not trace again the stream of hours", "Between their outworn banks of withered flowers,", "But bid it flow as now--until it glides", "Into the number of the nameless tides.", "", "What is this Death?--a quiet of the heart?", "The whole of that of which we are a part?", "For Life is but a vision--what I see", "Of all which lives alone is Life to me,", "And being so--the absent are the dead,", "Who haunt us from tranquillity, and spread", "A dreary shroud around us, and invest", "With sad remembrancers our hours of rest.", " The absent are the dead--for they are cold,", "And ne'er can be what once we did behold;", "And they are changed, and cheerless,--or if yet", "The unforgotten do not all forget,", "Since thus divided--equal must it be", "If the deep barrier be of earth, or sea;", "It may be both--but one day end it must", "In the dark union of insensate dust.", " The under-earth inhabitants--are they", "But mingled millions decomposed to clay?", "The ashes of a thousand ages spread", "Wherever Man has trodden or shall tread?", "Or do they in their silent cities dwell", "Each in his incommunicative cell?", "Or have they their own language? and a sense", "Of breathless being?--darkened and intense", "As Midnight in her solitude?--Oh Earth!", "Where are the past?--and wherefore had they birth?", "The dead are thy inheritors--and we", "But bubbles on thy surface; and the key", "Of thy profundity is in the Grave,", "The ebon portal of thy peopled cave,", "Where I would walk in spirit, and behold", "Our elements resolved to things untold,", "And fathom hidden wonders, and explore", "The essence of great bosoms now no more." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Stanzas to Augusta", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Though the day of my Destiny's over,", " And the star of my Fate hath declined,", "Thy soft heart refused to discover", " The faults which so many could find;", "Though thy Soul with my grief was acquainted,", " It shrunk not to share it with me,", "And the Love which my Spirit hath painted", " It never hath found but in _Thee_.", "", "Then when Nature around me is smiling,", " The last smile which answers to mine,", "I do not believe it beguiling,", " Because it reminds me of thine;", "And when winds are at war with the ocean,", " As the breasts I believed in with me,", "If their billows excite an emotion,", " It is that they bear me from _Thee._", "", "Though the rock of my last Hope is shivered,", " And its fragments are sunk in the wave,", "Though I feel that my soul is delivered", " To Pain--it shall not be its slave.", "There is many a pang to pursue me:", " They may crush, but they shall not contemn;", "They may torture, but shall not subdue me;", " 'Tis of _Thee_ that I think--not of them.", "", "Though human, thou didst not deceive me,", " Though woman, thou didst not forsake,", "Though loved, thou forborest to grieve me,", " Though slandered, thou never couldst shake;", "Though trusted, thou didst not disclaim me,", " Though parted, it was not to fly,", "Though watchful, 'twas not to defame me,", " Nor, mute, that the world might belie.", "", "Yet I blame not the World, nor despise it,", " Nor the war of the many with one;", "If my Soul was not fitted to prize it,", " 'Twas folly not sooner to shun:", "And if dearly that error hath cost me,", " And more than I once could foresee,", "I have found that, whatever it lost me,", " It could not deprive me of _Thee_.", "", "From the wreck of the past, which hath perished,", " Thus much I at least may recall,", "It hath taught me that what I most cherished", " Deserved to be dearest of all:", "In the Desert a fountain is springing,", " In the wide waste there still is a tree,", "And a bird in the solitude singing,", " Which speaks to my spirit of _Thee_." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "Lines on Hearing That Lady Byron Was Ill", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "And thou wert sad--yet I was not with thee;", " And thou wert sick, and yet I was not near;", "Methought that Joy and Health alone could be", " Where I was _not_--and pain and sorrow here!", "And is it thus?--it is as I foretold,", " And shall be more so; for the mind recoils", "Upon itself, and the wrecked heart lies cold,", " While Heaviness collects the shattered spoils.", "It is not in the storm nor in the strife", " We feel benumbed, and wish to be no more,", " But in the after-silence on the shore,", "When all is lost, except a little life.", "", "I am too well avenged!--but 'twas my right;", " Whate'er my sins might be, _thou_ wert not sent", "To be the Nemesis who should requite--", " Nor did Heaven choose so near an instrument.", "Mercy is for the merciful!--if thou", "Hast been of such, 'twill be accorded now.", "Thy nights are banished from the realms of sleep:--", " Yes! they may flatter thee, but thou shall feel", " A hollow agony which will not heal,", "For thou art pillowed on a curse too deep;", "Thou hast sown in my sorrow, and must reap", " The bitter harvest in a woe as real!", "I have had many foes, but none like thee;", " For 'gainst the rest myself I could defend,", " And be avenged, or turn them into friend;", "But thou in safe implacability", "Hadst nought to dread--in thy own weakness shielded,", "And in my love, which hath but too much yielded,", " And spared, for thy sake, some I should not spare;", "And thus upon the world--trust in thy truth,", "And the wild fame of my ungoverned youth--", " On things that were not, and on things that are--", "Even upon such a basis hast thou built", "A monument, whose cement hath been guilt!", " The moral Clytemnestra of thy lord,", " And hewed down, with an unsuspected sword,", "Fame, peace, and hope--and all the better life", " Which, but for this cold treason of thy heart,", "Might still have risen from out the grave of strife,", " And found a nobler duty than to part.", "But of thy virtues didst thou make a vice,", " Trafficking with them in a purpose cold,", " For present anger, and for future gold--", "And buying others' grief at any price.", "And thus once entered into crooked ways,", "The early truth, which was thy proper praise,", "Did not still walk beside thee--but at times,", "And with a breast unknowing its own crimes,", "Deceit, averments incompatible,", "Equivocations, and the thoughts which dwell", " In Janus-spirits--the significant eye", "Which learns to lie with silence--the pretext", "Of prudence, with advantages annexed--", "The acquiescence in all things which tend,", "No matter how, to the desired end--", " All found a place in thy philosophy.", "The means were worthy, and the end is won--", "I would not do by thee as thou hast done!" ], "linecount": "60" }, { "title": "The Lament of Tasso", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Long years!--It tries the thrilling frame to bear", "And eagle-spirit of a Child of Song--", "Long years of outrage--calumny--and wrong;", "Imputed madness, prisoned solitude,", "And the Mind's canker in its savage mood,", "When the impatient thirst of light and air", "Parches the heart; and the abhorred grate,", "Marring the sunbeams with its hideous shade,", "Works through the throbbing eyeball to the brain,", "With a hot sense of heaviness and pain;", "And bare, at once, Captivity displayed", "Stands scoffing through the never-opened gate,", "Which nothing through its bars admits, save day,", "And tasteless food, which I have eat alone", "Till its unsocial bitterness is gone;", "And I can banquet like a beast of prey,", "Sullen and lonely, couching in the cave", "Which is my lair, and--it may be--my grave.", "All this hath somewhat worn me, and may wear,", "But must be borne. I stoop not to despair;", "For I have battled with mine agony,", "And made me wings wherewith to overfly", "The narrow circus of my dungeon wall,", "And freed the Holy Sepulchre from thrall;", "And revelled among men and things divine,", "And poured my spirit over Palestine,", "In honour of the sacred war for Him,", "The God who was on earth and is in Heaven,", "For He has strengthened me in heart and limb.", "That through this sufferance I might be forgiven,", "I have employed my penance to record", "How Salem's shrine was won, and how adored.", "", "But this is o'er--my pleasant task is done:--", "My long-sustaining Friend of many years!", "If I do blot thy final page with tears,", "Know, that my sorrows have wrung from me none.", "But Thou, my young creation! my Soul's child!", "Which ever playing round me came and smiled,", "And wooed me from myself with thy sweet sight,", "Thou too art gone--and so is my delight:", "And therefore do I weep and inly bleed", "With this last bruise upon a broken reed.", "Thou too art ended--what is left me now?", "For I have anguish yet to bear--and how?", "I know not that--but in the innate force", "Of my own spirit shall be found resource.", "I have not sunk, for I had no remorse,", "Nor cause for such: they called me mad--and why?", "Oh Leonora! wilt not thou reply?", "I was indeed delirious in my heart", "To lift my love so lofty as thou art;", "But still my frenzy was not of the mind:", "I knew my fault, and feel my punishment", "Not less because I suffer it unbent.", "That thou wert beautiful, and I not blind,", "Hath been the sin which shuts me from mankind;", "But let them go, or torture as they will,", "My heart can multiply thine image still;", "Successful Love may sate itself away;", "The wretched are the faithful; 't is their fate", "To have all feeling, save the one, decay,", "And every passion into one dilate,", "As rapid rivers into Ocean pour;", "But ours is fathomless, and hath no shore.", "", "Above me, hark! the long and maniac cry", "Of minds and bodies in captivity.", "And hark! the lash and the increasing howl,", "And the half-inarticulate blasphemy!", "There be some here with worse than frenzy foul,", "Some who do still goad on the o'er-laboured mind,", "And dim the little light that's left behind", "With needless torture, as their tyrant Will", "Is wound up to the lust of doing ill:", "With these and with their victims am I classed,", "'Mid sounds and sights like these long years have passed;", "'Mid sights and sounds like these my life may close:", "So let it be--for then I shall repose.", "", "I have been patient, let me be so yet;", "I had forgotten half I would forget,", "But it revives--Oh! would it were my lot", "To be forgetful as I am forgot!--", "Feel I not wroth with those who bade me dwell", "In this vast Lazar-house of many woes?", "Where laughter is not mirth, nor thought the mind,", "Nor words a language, nor ev'n men mankind;", "Where cries reply to curses, shrieks to blows,", "And each is tortured in his separate hell--", "For we are crowded in our solitudes--", "Many, but each divided by the wall,", "Which echoes Madness in her babbling moods;", "While all can hear, none heed his neighbour's call--", "None! save that One, the veriest wretch of all,", "Who was not made to be the mate of these,", "Nor bound between Distraction and Disease.", "Feel I not wroth with those who placed me here?", "Who have debased me in the minds of men,", "Debarring me the usage of my own,", "Blighting my life in best of its career,", "Branding my thoughts as things to shun and fear?", "Would I not pay them back these pangs again,", "And teach them inward Sorrow's stifled groan?", "The struggle to be calm, and cold distress,", "Which undermines our Stoical success?", "No!--still too proud to be vindictive--I", "Have pardoned Princes' insults, and would die.", "Yes, Sister of my Sovereign! for thy sake", "I weed all bitterness from out my breast,", "It hath no business where _thou_ art a guest:", "Thy brother hates--but I can not detest;", "Thou pitiest not--but I can not forsake.", "", "Look on a love which knows not to despair,", "But all unquenched is still my better part,", "Dwelling deep in my shut and silent heart,", "As dwells the gathered lightning in its cloud,", "Encompassed with its dark and rolling shroud,", "Till struck,--forth flies the all-ethereal dart!", "And thus at the collision of thy name", "The vivid thought still flashes through my frame,", "And for a moment all things as they were", "Flit by me;--they are gone--I am the same.", "And yet my love without ambition grew;", "I knew thy state--my station--and I knew", "A Princess was no love-mate for a bard;", "I told it not--I breathed it not--it was", "Sufficient to itself, its own reward;", "And if my eyes revealed it, they, alas!", "Were punished by the silentness of thine,", "And yet I did not venture to repine.", "Thou wert to me a crystal-girded shrine,", "Worshipped at holy distance, and around", "Hallowed and meekly kissed the saintly ground;", "Not for thou wert a Princess, but that Love", "Had robed thee with a glory, and arrayed", "Thy lineaments in beauty that dismayed--", "Oh! not dismayed--but awed, like One above!", "And in that sweet severity there was", "A something which all softness did surpass--", "I know not how--thy Genius mastered mine--", "My Star stood still before thee:--if it were", "Presumptuous thus to love without design,", "That sad fatality hath cost me dear;", "But thou art dearest still, and I should be", "Fit for this cell, which wrongs me--but for _thee_.", "The very love which locked me to my chain", "Hath lightened half its weight; and for the rest,", "Though heavy, lent me vigour to sustain,", "And look to thee with undivided breast,", "And foil the ingenuity of Pain.", "", "It is no marvel--from my very birth", "My soul was drunk with Love,--which did pervade", "And mingle with whate'er I saw on earth:", "Of objects all inanimate I made", "Idols, and out of wild and lonely flowers,", "And rocks, whereby they grew, a Paradise,", "Where I did lay me down within the shade", "Of waving trees, and dreamed uncounted hours,", "Though I was chid for wandering; and the Wise", "Shook their white agéd heads o'er me, and said", "Of such materials wretched men were made,", "And such a truant boy would end in woe,", "And that the only lesson was a blow;--", "And then they smote me, and I did not weep,", "But cursed them in my heart, and to my haunt", "Returned and wept alone, and dreamed again", "The visions which arise without a sleep.", "And with my years my soul began to pant", "With feelings of strange tumult and soft pain;", "And the whole heart exhaled into One Want,", "But undefined and wandering, till the day", "I found the thing I sought--and that was thee;", "And then I lost my being, all to be", "Absorbed in thine;--the world was past away;--", "_Thou_ didst annihilate the earth to me!", "", "I loved all Solitude--but little thought", "To spend I know not what of life, remote", "From all communion with existence, save", "The maniac and his tyrant;--had I been", "Their fellow, many years ere this had seen", "My mind like theirs corrupted to its grave.", "But who hath seen me writhe, or heard me rave?", "Perchance in such a cell we suffer more", "Than the wrecked sailor on his desert shore;", "The world is all before him--_mine_ is _here_,", "Scarce twice the space they must accord my bier.", "What though _he_ perish, he may lift his eye,", "And with a dying glance upbraid the sky;", "I will not raise my own in such reproof,", "Although 'tis clouded by my dungeon roof.", "", "Yet do I feel at times my mind decline,", "But with a sense of its decay: I see", "Unwonted lights along my prison shine,", "And a strange Demon, who is vexing me", "With pilfering pranks and petty pains, below", "The feeling of the healthful and the free;", "But much to One, who long hath suffered so,", "Sickness of heart, and narrowness of place,", "And all that may be borne, or can debase.", "I thought mine enemies had been but Man,", "But Spirits may be leagued with them--all Earth", "Abandons--Heaven forgets me;--in the dearth", "Of such defence the Powers of Evil can--", "It may be--tempt me further,--and prevail", "Against the outworn creature they assail.", "Why in this furnace is my spirit proved,", "Like steel in tempering fire? because I loved?", "Because I loved what not to love, and see,", "Was more or less than mortal, and than me.", "", "I once was quick in feeling--that is o'er;--", "My scars are callous, or I should have dashed", "My brain against these bars, as the sun flashed", "In mockery through them;--- If I bear and bore", "The much I have recounted, and the more", "Which hath no words,--'t is that I would not die", "And sanction with self-slaughter the dull lie", "Which snared me here, and with the brand of shame", "Stamp Madness deep into my memory,", "And woo Compassion to a blighted name,", "Sealing the sentence which my foes proclaim.", "No--it shall be immortal!--and I make", "A future temple of my present cell,", "Which nations yet shall visit for my sake.", "While thou, Ferrara! when no longer dwell", "The ducal chiefs within thee, shall fall down,", "And crumbling piecemeal view thy hearthless halls,", "A Poet's wreath shall be thine only crown,--", "A Poet's dungeon thy most far renown,", "While strangers wonder o'er thy unpeopled walls!", "And thou, Leonora!--thou--who wert ashamed", "That such as I could love--who blushed to hear", "To less than monarchs that thou couldst be dear,", "Go! tell thy brother, that my heart, untamed", "By grief--years--weariness--and it may be", "A taint of that he would impute to me--", "From long infection of a den like this,", "Where the mind rots congenial with the abyss,--", "Adores thee still;--and add--that when the towers", "And battlements which guard his joyous hours", "Of banquet, dance, and revel, are forgot,", "Or left untended in a dull repose,", "This--this--shall be a consecrated spot!", "But _Thou_--when all that Birth and Beauty throws", "Of magic round thee is extinct--shalt have", "One half the laurel which o'ershades my grave.", "No power in death can tear our names apart,", "As none in life could rend thee from my heart.", "Yes, Leonora! it shall be our fate", "To be entwined for ever--but too late!" ], "linecount": "247" }, { "title": "Francesca of Rimini", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "FROM THE INFERNO OF DANTE.", "", "CANTO THE FIFTH.", "", "\"The Land where I was born sits by the Seas", " Upon that shore to which the Po descends,", " With all his followers, in search of peace.", "Love, which the gentle heart soon apprehends,", " Seized him for the fair person which was ta'en", " From me, and me even yet the mode offends.", "Love, who to none beloved to love again", " Remits, seized me with wish to please, so strong,", " That, as thou see'st, yet, yet it doth remain.", "Love to one death conducted us along,", " But Caina waits for him our life who ended:\"", " These were the accents uttered by her tongue.--", "Since I first listened to these Souls offended,", " I bowed my visage, and so kept it till--", " 'What think'st thou?' said the bard; when I unbended,", "And recommenced: 'Alas! unto such ill", " How many sweet thoughts, what strong ecstacies,", " Led these their evil fortune to fulfill!'", "And then I turned unto their side my eyes,", " And said, 'Francesca, thy sad destinies", " Have made me sorrow till the tears arise.", "But tell me, in the Season of sweet sighs,", " By what and how thy Love to Passion rose,", " So as his dim desires to recognize?'", "Then she to me: 'The greatest of all woes", " Is to remind us of our happy days", " In misery, and that thy teacher knows.", "But if to learn our Passion's first root preys", " Upon thy spirit with such Sympathy,", " I will do even as he who weeps and says.", "We read one day for pastime, seated nigh,", " Of Lancilot, how Love enchained him too.", " We were alone, quite unsuspiciously.", "But oft our eyes met, and our Cheeks in hue", " All o'er discoloured by that reading were;", " But one point only wholly us o'erthrew;", "When we read the long-sighed-for smile of her,", " To be thus kissed by such devoted lover,", " He, who from me can be divided ne'er,", "Kissed my mouth, trembling in the act all over:", " Accurséd was the book and he who wrote!", " That day no further leaf we did uncover.'", "While thus one Spirit told us of their lot,", " The other wept, so that with Pity's thralls", " I swooned, as if by Death I had been smote,", "And fell down even as a dead body falls.\"" ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "Translation From Vittorelli. on a Nun", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Sonnet composed in the name of a father, whose daughter had", " recently died shortly after her marriage; and addressed to the", " father of her who had lately taken the veil.", "", "Of two fair virgins, modest, though admired,", " Heaven made us happy; and now, wretched sires,", " Heaven for a nobler doom their worth desires,", " And gazing upon _either, both_ required.", "", "Mine, while the torch of Hymen newly fired", " Becomes extinguished,--soon--too soon expires;", " But thine, within the closing grate retired,", " Eternal captive, to her God aspires.", "", "But _thou_ at least from out the jealous door,", " Which shuts between your never-meeting eyes,", " May'st hear her sweet and pious voice once more:", "", "I to the marble, where _my_ daughter lies,", " Rush,--the swoln flood of bitterness I pour,", " And knock, and knock, and knock--but none replies." ], "linecount": "17" }, { "title": "Venice. a Fragment", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'Tis midnight--but it is not dark", "Within thy spacious place, St. Mark!", "The Lights within, the Lamps without,", "Shine above the revel rout.", "The brazen Steeds are glittering o'er", "The holy building's massy door,", "Glittering with their collars of gold,", "The goodly work of the days of old--", "And the wingéd Lion stern and solemn", "Frowns from the height of his hoary column,", "Facing the palace in which doth lodge", "The ocean-city's dreaded Doge.", "The palace is proud--but near it lies,", "Divided by the \"Bridge of Sighs,\"", "The dreary dwelling where the State", "Enchains the captives of their hate:", "These--they perish or they pine;", "But which their doom may none divine:", "Many have passed that Arch of pain,", "But none retraced their steps again.", "", "It is a princely colonnade!", "And wrought around a princely place,", "When that vast edifice displayed", "Looks with its venerable face", "Over the far and subject sea,", "Which makes the fearless isles so free!", "And 'tis a strange and noble pile,", "Pillared into many an aisle:", "Every pillar fair to see,", "Marble--jasper--and porphyry--", "The Church of St. Mark--which stands hard by", "With fretted pinnacles on high,", "And Cupola and minaret;", "More like the mosque of orient lands,", "Than the fanes wherein we pray,", "And Mary's blesséd likeness stands.--" ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "So We'll Go No More a-Roving", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "So we'll go no more a-roving", " So late into the night,", "Though the heart be still as loving,", " And the moon be still as bright.", "", "For the sword outwears its sheath,", " And the soul wears out the breast,", "And the heart must pause to breathe,", " And Love itself have rest.", "", "Though the night was made for loving,", " And the day returns too soon,", "Yet we'll go no more a-roving", " By the light of the moon." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Lord Byron's Verses on Sam Rogers", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "QUESTION.", "", "Nose and Chin that make a knocker,", "Wrinkles that would puzzle Cocker;", "Mouth that marks the envious Scorner,", "With a Scorpion in each corner", "Curling up his tail to sting you,", "In the place that most may wring you;", "Eyes of lead-like hue and gummy,", "Carcase stolen from some mummy,", "Bowels--(but they were forgotten,", "Save the Liver, and that's rotten),", "Skin all sallow, flesh all sodden,", "Form the Devil would frighten G--d in.", "Is't a Corpse stuck up for show,", "Galvanized at times to go?", "With the Scripture has't connection,", "New proof of the Resurrection?", "Vampire, Ghost, or Goul (_sic_), what is it?", "I would walk ten miles to miss it.", "", "ANSWER.", "", "Many passengers arrest one,", "To demand the same free question.", "Shorter's my reply and franker,--", "That's the Bard, and Beau, and Banker:", "Yet, if you could bring about", "Just to turn him inside out,", "Satan's self would seem less sooty,", "And his present aspect--Beauty.", "Mark that (as he masks the bilious)", "Air so softly supercilious,", "Chastened bow, and mock humility,", "Almost sickened to Servility:", "Hear his tone (which is to talking", "That which creeping is to walking--", "Now on all fours, now on tiptoe):", "Hear the tales he lends his lip to--", "Little hints of heavy scandals--", "Every friend by turns he handles:", "All that women or that men do", "Glides forth in an inuendo (_sic_)--", "Clothed in odds and ends of humour,", "Herald of each paltry rumour--", "From divorces down to dresses,", "Woman's frailties, Man's excesses:", "All that life presents of evil", "Make for him a constant revel.", "You're his foe--for that he fears you,", "And in absence blasts and sears you:", "You're his friend--for that he hates you,", "First obliges, and then baits you,", "Darting on the opportunity", "When to do it with impunity:", "You are neither--then he'll flatter,", "Till he finds some trait for satire;", "Hunts your weak point out, then shows it,", "Where it injures, to expose it", "In the mode that's most insidious,", "Adding every trait that's hideous--", "From the bile, whose blackening river", "Rushes through his Stygian liver.", "", "Then he thinks himself a lover--", "Why? I really can't discover,", "In his mind, age, face, or figure;", "Viper broth might give him vigour:", "Let him keep the cauldron steady,", "He the venom has already.", "", "For his faults--he has but _one_;", "'Tis but Envy, when all's done:", "He but pays the pain he suffers,", "Clipping, like a pair of Snuffers,", "Light that ought to burn the brighter", "For this temporary blighter.", "He's the Cancer of his Species,", "And will eat himself to pieces,--", "Plague personified and Famine,--", "Devil, whose delight is damning.", "For his merits--don't you know 'em?", "Once he wrote a pretty Poem." ], "linecount": "78" }, { "title": "The Duel", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'Tis fifty years, and yet their fray", "To us might seem but yesterday.", "Tis fifty years, and three to boot,", "Since, hand to hand, and foot to foot,", "And heart to heart, and sword to sword,", "One of our Ancestors was gored.", "I've seen the sword that slew him; he,", "The slain, stood in a like degree", "To thee, as he, the Slayer, stood", "(Oh had it been but other blood!)", "In kin and Chieftainship to me.", "Thus came the Heritage to thee.", "", "To me the Lands of him who slew", " Came through a line of yore renowned;", "For I can boast a race as true", " To Monarchs crowned, and some discrowned,", "As ever Britain's Annals knew:", "For the first Conqueror gave us Ground,", " And the last Conquered owned the line", " Which was my mother's, and is mine.", "", "I loved thee--I will not say _how_,", "Since things like these are best forgot:", "Perhaps thou may'st imagine now", " Who loved thee, and who loved thee not.", "And thou wert wedded to another,", " And I at last another wedded:", "I am a father, thou a mother,", " To Strangers vowed, with strangers bedded.", "For land to land, even blood to blood--", " Since leagued of yore our fathers were--", "Our manors and our birthright stood;", "And not unequal had I wooed,", " If to have wooed thee I could dare.", "But this I never dared--even yet", "When naught is left but to forget.", " I feel that I could only love:", "To sue was never meant for me,", "And least of all to sue to thee;", "For many a bar, and many a feud,", "Though never told, well understood", " Rolled like a river wide between--", "And then there was the Curse of blood,", " Which even my Heart's can not remove.", " Alas! how many things have been!", "Since we were friends; for I alone", "Feel more for thee than can be shown.", "", "How many things! I loved thee--thou", " Loved'st me not: another was", "The Idol of thy virgin vow,", " And I was, what I am, Alas!", "And what he is, and what thou art,", " And what we were, is like the rest:", " We must endure it as a test,", "And old Ordeal of the Heart." ], "linecount": "54" }, { "title": "Stanzas to the Po", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "River, that rollest by the ancient walls,", " Where dwells the Lady of my love, when she", "Walks by thy brink, and there perchance recalls", " A faint and fleeting memory of me:", "", "What if thy deep and ample stream should be", " A mirror of my heart, where she may read", "The thousand thoughts I now betray to thee,", " Wild as thy wave, and headlong as thy speed!", "", "What do I say--a mirror of my heart?", " Are not thy waters sweeping, dark, and strong?", "Such as my feelings were and are, thou art;", " And such as thou art were my passions long.", "", "Time may have somewhat tamed them,--not for ever;", " Thou overflow'st thy banks, and not for aye", "Thy bosom overboils, congenial river!", " Thy floods subside, and mine have sunk away:", "", "But left long wrecks behind, and now again,", " Borne in our old unchanged career, we move:", "Thou tendest wildly onwards to the main,", " And I--to loving _one_ I should not love.", "", "The current I behold will sweep beneath", " Her native walls, and murmur at her feet;", "Her eyes will look on thee, when she shall breathe", " The twilight air, unharmed by summer's heat.", "", "She will look on thee,--I have looked on thee,", " Full of that thought: and, from that moment, ne'er", "Thy waters could I dream of, name, or see,", " Without the inseparable sigh for her!", "", "Her bright eyes will be imaged in thy stream,--", " Yes! they will meet the wave I gaze on now:", "Mine cannot witness, even in a dream,", " That happy wave repass me in its flow!", "", "The wave that bears my tears returns no more:", " Will she return by whom that wave shall sweep?--", "Both tread thy banks, both wander on thy shore,", " I by thy source, she by the dark-blue deep.", "", "But that which keepeth us apart is not", " Distance, nor depth of wave, nor space of earth,", "But the distraction of a various lot,", " As various as the climates of our birth.", "", "A stranger loves the Lady of the land,", " Born far beyond the mountains, but his blood", "Is all meridian, as if never fanned", " By the black wind that chills the polar flood.", "", "My blood is all meridian; were it not,", " I had not left my clime, nor should I be,", "In spite of tortures, ne'er to be forgot,", " A slave again of love,--at least of thee.", "", "'Tis vain to struggle--let me perish young--", " Live as I lived, and love as I have loved;", "To dust if I return, from dust I sprung,", " And then, at least, my heart can ne'er be moved." ], "linecount": "52" }, { "title": "Sonnet on the Nuptials of the Marquis Antonio Cavalli With the Countess Clelia Rasponi of Ravenna", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "A noble Lady of the Italian shore", " Lovely and young, herself a happy bride,", " Commands a verse, and will not be denied,", "From me a wandering Englishman; I tore", "One sonnet, but invoke the muse once more", " To hail these gentle hearts which Love has tied,", " In Youth, Birth, Beauty, genially allied", "And blest with Virtue's soul, and Fortune's store.", "A sweeter language, and a luckier bard", " Were worthier of your hopes, Auspicious Pair!", "And of the sanctity of Hymen's shrine,", " But,--since I cannot but obey the Fair,", "To render your new state your true reward,", " May your Fate be like _Hers_, and unlike _mine._" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet to the Prince Regent. on the Repeal of Lord Edward Fitzgerald's Forfeiture", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "To be the father of the fatherless,", " To stretch the hand from the throne's height, and raise", " _His_ offspring, who expired in other days", "To make thy Sire's sway by a kingdom less,--", "_This_ is to be a monarch, and repress", " Envy into unutterable praise.", " Dismiss thy guard, and trust thee to such traits,", "For who would lift a hand, except to bless?", " Were it not easy, Sir, and is't not sweet", " To make thyself belovéd? and to be", "Omnipotent by Mercy's means? for thus", " Thy Sovereignty would grow but more complete,", "A despot thou, and yet thy people free,", " And by the heart--not hand--enslaving us." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Stanzas Written on the Road between Florence and Pisa", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh, talk not to me of a name great in story--", "The days of our Youth are the days of our glory;", "And the myrtle and ivy of sweet two-and-twenty", "Are worth all your laurels, though ever so plenty.", "", "What are garlands and crowns to the brow that is wrinkled?", "Tis but as a dead flower with May-dew besprinkled:", "Then away with all such from the head that is hoary,", "What care I for the wreaths that can _only_ give glory?", "", "Oh Fame!--if I e'er took delight in thy praises,", "'Twas less for the sake of thy high-sounding phrases,", "Than to see the bright eyes of the dear One discover,", "She thought that I was not unworthy to love her.", "", "_There_ chiefly I sought thee, _there_ only I found thee;", "Her Glance was the best of the rays that surround thee,", "When it sparkled o'er aught that was bright in my story,", "I knew it was Love, and I felt it was Glory." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Stanzas to a Hindoo Air", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Oh! my lonely--lonely--lonely--Pillow!", "Where is my lover? where is my lover?", "Is it his bark which my dreary dreams discover?", " Far--far away! and alone along the billow?", "", " Oh! my lonely--lonely--lonely--Pillow!", "Why must my head ache where his gentle brow lay?", "How the long night flags lovelessly and slowly,", " And my head droops over thee like the willow!", "", " Oh! thou, my sad and solitary Pillow!", "Send me kind dreams to keep my heart from breaking,", "In return for the tears I shed upon thee waking;", " Let me not die till he comes back o'er the billow.", "", " Then if thou wilt--no more my _lonely_ Pillow,", "In one embrace let these arms again enfold him,", "And then expire of the joy--but to behold him!", " Oh! my lone bosom!--oh! my lonely Pillow!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "To the Countess of Blessington", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "You have asked for a verse:--the request", " In a rhymer 'twere strange to deny;", "But my Hippocrene was but my breast,", " And my feelings (its fountain) are dry.", "", "Were I now as I was, I had sung", " What Lawrence has painted so well;", "But the strain would expire on my tongue,", " And the theme is too soft for my shell.", "", "I am ashes where once I was fire,", " And the bard in my bosom is dead;", "What I loved I now merely admire,", " And my heart is as grey as my head.", "", "My Life is not dated by years--", " There are _moments_ which act as a plough,", "And there is not a furrow appears", " But is deep in my soul as my brow.", "", "Let the young and the brilliant aspire", " To sing what I gaze on in vain;", "For Sorrow has torn from my lyre", " The string which was worthy the strain.", "", " B." ], "linecount": "21" }, { "title": "Epitaph for Joseph Blacket, Late Poet and Shoemaker", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "STRANGER! behold, interred together,", "The _souls_ of learning and of leather.", "Poor Joe is gone, but left his _all_:", "You'll find his relics in a _stall_.", "His works were neat, and often found", "Well stitched, and with _morocco_ bound.", "Tread lightly--where the bard is laid--", "He cannot mend the shoe he made;", "Yet is he happy in his hole,", "With verse immortal as his _sole_.", "But still to business he held fast,", "And stuck to Phoebus to the _last_.", "Then who shall say so good a fellow", "Was only \"leather and prunella?\"", "For character--he did not lack it;", "And if he did, 'twere shame to \"Black-it.\"" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "An Ode to the Framers of the Frame Bill", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "OH well done Lord E---- n! and better done R----r!", " Britannia must prosper with councils like yours;", "Hawkesbury, Harrowby, help you to guide her,", " Whose remedy only must _kill_ ere it cures:", "Those villains; the Weavers, are all grown refractory,", " Asking some succour for Charity's sake--", "So hang them in clusters round each Manufactory,", " That will at once put an end to _mistake_.", "", "The rascals, perhaps, may betake them to robbing,", " The dogs to be sure have got nothing to eat--", "So if we can hang them for breaking a bobbin,", " 'T will save all the Government's money and meat:", "Men are more easily made than machinery--", " Stockings fetch better prices than lives--", "Gibbets on Sherwood will heighten the scenery,", " Shewing how Commerce, how Liberty thrives!", "", "Justice is now in pursuit of the wretches,", " Grenadiers, Volunteers, Bow-street Police,", "Twenty-two Regiments, a score of Jack Ketches,", " Three of the Quorum and two of the Peace;", "Some Lords, to be sure, would have summoned the Judges,", " To take their opinion, but that they ne'er shall,", "For LIVERPOOL such a concession begrudges,", " So now they're condemned by _no Judges_ at all.", "", "Some folks for certain have thought it was shocking,", " When Famine appeals and when Poverty groans,", "That Life should be valued at less than a stocking,", " And breaking of frames lead to breaking of bones.", "If it should prove so, I trust, by this token,", " (And who will refuse to partake in the hope?)", "That the frames of the fools may be first to be _broken_,", " Who, when asked for a _remedy_, sent down a _rope_." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "To Thomas Moore", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "OH you, who in all names can tickle the town,", "Anacreon, Tom Little, Tom Moore, or Tom Brown,--", "For hang me if I know of which you may most brag,", "Your Quarto two-pounds, or your Two-penny Post Bag;", "", "But now to my letter--to _yours_ 'tis an answer--", "To-morrow be with me, as soon as you can, sir,", "All ready and dressed for proceeding to spunge on", "(According to compact) the wit in the dungeon--", "Pray Phoebus at length our political malice", "May not get us lodgings within the same palace!", "I suppose that to-night you're engaged with some codgers,", "And for Sotheby's Blues have deserted Sam Rogers;", "And I, though with cold I have nearly my death got,", "Must put on my breeches, and wait on the Heathcote;", "But to-morrow, at four, we will both play the _Scurra_,", "And you'll be Catullus, the Regent Mamurra." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "On Lord Thurlow's Poems", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WHEN Thurlow this damned nonsense sent,", "(I hope I am not violent)", "Nor men nor gods knew what he meant.", "", "And since not even our Rogers' praise", "To common sense his thoughts could raise--", "Why _would_ they let him print his lays?", "", "To me, divine Apollo, grant--O!", "Hermilda's first and second canto,", "I'm fitting up a new portmanteau;", "", "And thus to furnish decent lining,", "My own and others' bays I'm twining,--", "So, gentle Thurlow, throw me thine in.", "", "\"When Rogers o'er this labour bent,", "Their purest fire the Muses lent,", "T' illustrate this sweet argument.\"", "", "\"O melancholy bird, a winter's day", " Thou standest by the margin of the pool;", " And, taught by God, dost thy whole being school", "To Patience, which all evil can allay:", "God has appointed thee the fish thy prey;", " And giv'n thyself a lesson to the fool", " Unthrifty, to submit to moral rule,", "And his unthinking course by thee to weigh.", " There need not schools nor the professor's chair,", "Though these be good, true wisdom to impart;", " He, who has not enough for these to spare", "Of time, or gold, may yet amend his heart,", " And teach his soul by brooks and rivers fair,", "Nature is always wise in every part.\"" ], "linecount": "29" }, { "title": "To Lord Thurlow", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"_I lay my branch of laurel down_.\"", "", "\"_THOU_ lay thy branch of _laurel_ down!\"", " Why, what thou'st stole is not enow;", "And, were it lawfully thine own,", " Does Rogers want it most, or thou?", "Keep to thyself thy withered bough,", " Or send it back to Doctor Donne:", "Were justice done to both, I trow,", " He'd have but little, and thou--none.", "", " \"_Then, thus, to form Apollo's crown_.\"", "", "A crown! why, twist it how you will,", "Thy chaplet must be foolscap still.", "When next you visit Delphi's town,", " Enquire amongst your fellow-lodgers,", "They'll tell you Phoebus gave his crown,", " Some years before your birth, to Rogers.", "", " \"_Let every other bring his own_.\"", "", "When coals to Newcastle are carried,", " And owls sent to Athens, as wonders,", "From his spouse when the Regent's unmarried,", " Or Liverpool weeps o'er his blunders;", "When Tories and Whigs cease to quarrel,", " When Castlereagh's wife has an heir,", "Then Rogers shall ask us for laurel,", " And thou shalt have plenty to spare.", "", "\"Then, thus, to form Apollo's crown,", "(Let ev'ry other bring his own,)", "I lay my branch of laurel down.\"]" ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "Windsor Poetics. Lines Composed on the Occasion of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent Being Seen Standing between the Coffins of Henry VIII. and Charles I., in the Royal Vault at Windsor", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "FAMED for contemptuous breach of sacred ties,", "By headless Charles see heartless Henry lies;", "Between them stands another sceptred thing--", "It moves, it reigns--in all but name, a king:", "", " Charles to his people, Henry to his wife,", "--In him the double tyrant starts to life:", "Justice and Death have mixed their dust in vain,", "Each royal Vampire wakes to life again.", "Ah, what can tombs avail!--since these disgorge", "The blood and dust of both--to mould a George." ], "linecount": "10" }, { "title": "Fragment of an Epistle to Thomas Moore", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"WHAT say _I_?\"--not a syllable further in prose;", "I'm your man \"of all measures,\" dear Tom,--so here goes!", "Here goes, for a swim on the stream of old Time,", "On those buoyant supporters, the bladders of rhyme.", "If our weight breaks them down, and we sink in the flood,", "We are smothered, at least, in respectable mud,", "Where the divers of Bathos lie drowned in a heap,", "And Southey's last Pæan has pillowed his sleep;", "That _Felo de se_ who, half drunk with his Malmsey,", "Walked out of his depth and was lost in a calm sea,", "Singing \"Glory to God\" in a spick and span stanza,", "The like (since Tom Sternhold was choked) never man saw.", "", "The papers have told you, no doubt, of the fusses,", "The fêtes, and the gapings to get at these Russes,--", "Of his Majesty's suite, up from coachman to Hetman,--", "And what dignity decks the flat face of the great man.", "I saw him, last week, at two balls and a party,--", "For a Prince, his demeanour was rather too hearty.", "You know, _we_ are used to quite different graces,", "", "The Czar's look, I own, was much brighter and brisker,", "But then he is sadly deficient in whisker;", "And wore but a starless blue coat, and in kersey-", "mere breeches whisked round, in a waltz with the Jersey,", "Who, lovely as ever, seemed just as delighted", "With Majesty's presence as those she invited." ], "linecount": "25" }, { "title": "To George Anson Byron(?)", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "AND, dost thou ask the reason of my sadness?", " Well, I will tell it thee, unfeeling boy!", "'Twas ill report that urged my brain to madness,", " 'Twas thy tongue's venom poisoned all my joy.", "", "The sadness which thou seest is not sorrow;", " My wounds are far too deep for simple grief;", "The heart thus withered, seeks in vain to borrow", " From calm reflection, comfort or relief.", "", "The arrow's flown, and dearly shalt thou rue it;", " No mortal hand can rid me of my pain:", "My heart is pierced, but thou canst not subdue it--", " Revenge is left, and is not left in vain." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Song for the Luddites", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "AS the Liberty lads o'er the sea", "Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood,", " So we, boys, we", " Will _die_ fighting, or _live_ free,", "And down with all kings but King Ludd!", "", "When the web that we weave is complete,", "And the shuttle exchanged for the sword,", " We will fling the winding sheet", " O'er the despot at our feet,", "And dye it deep in the gore he has poured.", "", "Though black as his heart its hue,", "Since his veins are corrupted to mud,", " Yet this is the dew", " Which the tree shall renew", "Of Liberty, planted by Ludd!" ], "linecount": "15" }, { "title": "To Mr. Murray", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "TO hook the Reader, you, John Murray,", " Have published \"Anjou's Margaret,\"", "Which won't be sold off in a hurry", " (At least, it has not been as yet);", "And then, still further to bewilder him,", " Without remorse, you set up \"Ilderim;\"", " So mind you don't get into debt,--", "Because--as how--if you should fail,", "These books would be but baddish bail.", "And mind you do _not_ let escape", " These rhymes to _Morning Post_ or Perry,", "Which would be _very_ treacherous--_very_,", "And get me into such a scrape!", " For, firstly, I should have to sally,", " All in my little boat, against a _Galley_;", "And, should I chance to slay the Assyrian wight,", "Have next to combat with the female Knight:", "And pricked to death expire upon her needle,", "A sort of end which I should take indeed ill!" ], "linecount": "19" }, { "title": "To Thomas Moore", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "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!", "", "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.", "", "Though the Ocean roar around me,", " Yet it still shall bear me on;", "Though a desert shall surround me,", " It hath springs that may be won.", "", "Were't the last drop in the well,", " As I gasped upon the brink,", "Ere my fainting spirit fell,", " 'T is to thee that I would drink.", "", "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." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "Epistle to Mr. Murray", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "MY dear Mr. Murray,", "You're in a damned hurry", " To set up this ultimate Canto;", "But (if they don't rob us)", "You'll see Mr. Hobhouse", " Will bring it safe in his portmanteau.", "", "For the Journal you hint of,", "As ready to print off,", " No doubt you do right to commend it;", "But as yet I have writ off", "The devil a bit of", " Our \"Beppo:\"--when copied, I'll send it.", "", "In the mean time you've \"Galley\"", "Whose verses all tally,", " Perhaps you may say he's a Ninny,", "But if you abashed are", "Because of _Alashtar_,", " He'll piddle another _Phrosine_.", "", "Then you've Sotheby's Tour,--", "No great things, to be sure,--", " You could hardly begin with a less work;", "For the pompous rascallion,", "Who don't speak Italian", " Nor French, must have scribbled by guess-work.", "", "No doubt he's a rare man", "Without knowing German", " Translating his way up Parnassus,", "And now still absurder", "He meditates Murder", " As you'll see in the trash he calls _Tasso's_.", "", "But you've others his betters", "The real men of letters", " Your Orators--Critics--and Wits--", "And I'll bet that your Journal", "(Pray is it diurnal?)", " Will pay with your luckiest hits.", "", "You can make any loss up", "With \"Spence\" and his gossip,", " A work which must surely succeed;", "Then Queen Mary's Epistle-craft,", "With the new \"Fytte\" of \"Whistlecraft,\"", " Must make people purchase and read.", "", "Then you've General Gordon,", "Who girded his sword on,", " To serve with a Muscovite Master,", "And help him to polish", "A nation so owlish,", " They thought shaving their beards a disaster.", "", "For the man, \"_poor and shrewd_,\"", "With whom you'd conclude", " A compact without more delay,", "Perhaps some such pen is", "Still extant in Venice;", " But please, Sir, to mention _your pay_.", "", "Now tell me some news", "Of your friends and the Muse,", " Of the Bar, or the Gown, or the House,", "From Canning, the tall wit,", "To Wilmot, the small wit,", " Ward's creeping Companion and _Louse_,", "", "Who's so damnably bit", "With fashion and Wit,", " That he crawls on the surface like Vermin,", "But an Insect in both,--", "By his Intellect's growth,", " Of what size you may quickly determine." ], "linecount": "66" }, { "title": "On the Birth of John William Rizzo Hoppner", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "HIS father's sense, his mother's grace,", " In him, I hope, will always fit so;", "With--still to keep him in good case--", " The health and appetite of Rizzo." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "E Nihilo Nihil; or an Epigram Bewitched", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "OF rhymes I printed seven volumes--", "The list concludes John Murray's columns:", "Of these there have been few translations", "For Gallic or Italian nations;", "And one or two perhaps in German--", "But in this last I can't determine.", "But then I only sung of passions", "That do not suit with modern fashions;", "Of Incest and such like diversions", "Permitted only to the Persians,", "Or Greeks to bring upon their stages--", "But that was in the earlier ages", "Besides my style is the romantic,", "Which some call fine, and some call frantic;", "While others are or would seem _as_ sick", "Of repetitions nicknamed Classic.", "For my part all men must allow", "Whatever I was, I'm classic now.", "I saw and left my fault in time,", "And chose a topic all sublime--", "Wondrous as antient war or hero--", "Then played and sung away like Nero,", "Who sang of Rome, and I of Rizzo:", "The subject has improved my wit so,", "The first four lines the poet sees", "Start forth in fourteen languages!", "Though of seven volumes none before", "Could ever reach the fame of four,", "Henceforth I sacrifice all Glory", "To the Rinaldo of my Story:", "I've sung his health and appetite", "(The last word's not translated right--", "He's turned it, God knows how, to vigour)", "I'll sing them in a book that's bigger.", "Oh! Muse prepare for thy Ascension!", "And generous Rizzo! thou my pension." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "To Mr. Murray", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Strahan, Tonson, Lintot of the times,", "Patron and publisher of rhymes,", "For thee the bard up Pindus climbs,", " My Murray.", "", "To thee, with hope and terror dumb,", "The unfledged MS. authors come;", "Thou printest all--and sellest some--", " My Murray.", "", "Upon thy table's baize so green", "The last new Quarterly is seen,--", "But where is thy new Magazine,", " My Murray?", "", "Along thy sprucest bookshelves shine", "The works thou deemest most divine--", "The Art of Cookery, and mine,", " My Murray.", "", "Tours, Travels, Essays, too, I wist,", "And Sermons, to thy mill bring grist;", "And then thou hast the _Navy List_,", " My Murray.", "", "And Heaven forbid I should conclude,", "Without \"the Board of Longitude,\"", "Although this narrow paper would,", " My Murray." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Ballad. to the Tune of \"Salley in Our Alley.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "OF all the twice ten thousand bards", " That ever penned a canto,", "Whom Pudding or whom Praise rewards", " For lining a portmanteau;", "Of all the poets ever known,", " From Grub-street to Fop's Alley,", "The Muse may boast--the World must own", " There's none like pretty Gally!", "", "He writes as well as any Miss,", " Has published many a poem;", "The shame is yours, the gain is his,", " In case you should not know 'em:", "He has ten thousand pounds a year--", " I do not mean to vally--", "His songs at sixpence would be dear,", " So give them gratis, Gaily!", "", "And if this statement should seem queer,", " Or set down in a hurry,", "Go, ask (if he will be sincere)", " His bookseller--John Murray.", "Come, say, how many have been sold,", " And don't stand shilly-shally,", "Of bound and lettered, red and gold,", " Well printed works of Gally.", "", "For Astley's circus Upton writes,", " And also for the Surry; (_sic_)", "Fitzgerald weekly still recites,", " Though grinning Critics worry:", "Miss Holford's Peg, and Sotheby's Saul,", " In fame exactly tally;", "From Stationer's Hall to Grocer's Stall", " They go--and so does Gally.", "", "He rode upon a Camel's hump", " Through Araby the sandy,", "Which surely must have hurt the rump", " Of this poetic dandy.", "His rhymes are of the costive kind,", " And barren as each valley", "In deserts which he left behind", " Has been the Muse of Gally.", "", "He has a Seat in Parliament,", " Is fat and passing wealthy;", "And surely he should be content", " With these and being healthy:", "But Great Ambition will misrule", " Men at all risks to sally,--", "Now makes a poet--now a fool,", " And _we_ know _which_--of Gally.", "", "Some in the playhouse like to row,", " Some with the Watch to battle,", "Exchanging many a midnight blow", " To Music of the Rattle.", "Some folks like rowing on the Thames,", " Some rowing in an Alley,", "But all the Row my fancy claims", " Is _rowing_--of my _Gally_.", "", " \"Th' unloaded camel, pacing slow.", "Crops the rough herbage or the tamarisk spray.\"" ], "linecount": "58" }, { "title": "Another Simple Ballat", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "MRS. WILMOT sate scribbling a play,", " Mr. Sotheby sate sweating behind her;", "But what are all these to the Lay", " Of Gally i.o. the Grinder?", " Gally i.o. i.o., etc.", "", "I bought me some books tother day,", " And sent them down stairs to the binder;", "But the Pastry Cook carried away", " My Gally i.o. the Grinder.", " Gally i.o. i.o., etc.", "", "I wanted to kindle my taper,", " And called to the Maid to remind her;", "And what should she bring me for paper", " But Gally i.o. the Grinder.", " Gally i.o. i.o., etc.", "", "Among my researches for EASE", " I went where one's certain to find her:", "The first thing by her throne that one sees", " Is Gally i.o. the Grinder.", " Gally i.o. i.o., etc.", "", "Away with old Homer the blind--", " I'll show you a poet that's blinder:", "You may see him whene'er you've a mind", " In Gally i.o. the Grinder.", " Gally i.o. i.o., etc.", "", "Blindfold he runs groping for fame,", " And hardly knows where he will find her:", "She don't seem to take to the name", " Of Gally i.o. the Grinder.", " Gally i.o. i.o., etc.", "", "Yet the Critics have been very kind,", " And Mamma and his friends have been kinder;", "But the greatest of Glory's behind", " For Gally i.o. the Grinder.", " Gally i.o. i.o., etc." ], "linecount": "35" }, { "title": "Epigram. From the French of RulhièRes", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "IF for silver, or for gold,", " You could melt ten thousand pimples", " Into half a dozen dimples,", "Then your face we might behold,", " Looking, doubtless, much more snugly,", " Yet even _then_ 'twould be damned ugly." ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "Epilogue", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "THERE'S something in a stupid ass,", " And something in a heavy dunce;", "But never since I went to school", " I heard or saw so damned a fool", "As William Wordsworth is for once.", "", "And now I've seen so great a fool", " As William Wordsworth is for once;", "I really wish that Peter Bell", " And he who wrote it were in hell,", "For writing nonsense for the nonce.", "", "It saw the \"light in ninety-eight,\"", " Sweet babe of one and twenty years!", "And then he gives it to the nation", " And deems himself of Shakespeare's peers!", "", "He gives the perfect work to light!", " Will Wordsworth, if I might advise,", "Content you with the praise you get", " From Sir George Beaumont, Baronet,", "And with your place in the Excise!" ], "linecount": "19" }, { "title": "On My Wedding-Day", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "HERE'S a happy New Year! but with reason", " I beg you'll permit me to say--", "Wish me _many_ returns of the _Season_,", " But as _few_ as you please of the _Day_." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "My Boy Hobbie O", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " New Song to the tune of", "", "\"_Whare hae ye been a' day,", " My boy Tammy O.!", "Courting o' a young thing", " Just come frae her Mammie O._\"", "", "HOW came you in Hob's pound to cool,", " My boy Hobbie O?", "Because I bade the people pull", " The House into the Lobby O.", "", "What did the House upon this call,", " My boy Hobbie O?", "They voted me to Newgate all,", " Which is an awkward Jobby O.", "", "Who are now the people's men,", " My boy Hobbie O?", "There's I and Burdett--Gentlemen", " And blackguard Hunt and Cobby O.", "", "You hate the house--_why_ canvass, then?", " My boy Hobbie O?", "Because I would reform the den", " As member for the Mobby O.", "", "Wherefore do you hate the Whigs,", " My boy Hobbie O?", "Because they want to run their rigs,", " As under Walpole Bobby O.", "", "But when we at Cambridge were", " My boy Hobbie O,", "If my memory don't err", " You founded a Whig Clubbie O.", "", "When to the mob you make a speech,", " My boy Hobbie O,", "How do you keep without their reach", " The watch within your fobby O?", "", "But never mind such petty things,", " My boy Hobbie O;", "God save the people--damn all Kings,", " So let us Crown the Mobby O!", "", " Yours truly,", "", " (Signed) _INFIDUS SCURRA_." ], "linecount": "39" }, { "title": "My Boy Hobby O", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Why were you put in Lob's pond,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "For telling folks to pull the House", " By the ears into the Lobby O!", "", "Who are your grand Reformers now,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "There's me and BURDETT,--gentlemen,", " And Blackguards HUNT and COBBY O!", "", "Have you no other friends but these,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "Yes, Southwark's Knight, the County BYNG,", " And in the City, BOBBY O!", "", "How do you recreate yourselves,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "We spout with tavern Radicals,", " And drink with them hob-nobby O!", "", "What purpose can such folly work,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "It gives our partisans a chance", " Watches to twitch from fob-by O!", "", "Have they no higher game in view,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "Oh yes; to stir the people up,", " And then to head the mob-by O.", "", "But sure they'll at their ruin pause,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "No! they'd see King and Parliament", " Both d--d without a sob-by O!", "", "But, if they fail, they'll be hanged up,", " My boy, HOBBY O? (_bis_)", "Why, then, they'll swing, like better men,", " And that will end the job-by O!" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Lines Addressed by Lord Byron to Mr. Hobhouse on His Election for Westminster", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WOULD you go to the house by the true gate,", " Much faster than ever Whig Charley went;", "Let Parliament send you to Newgate,", " And Newgate will send you to Parliament." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "A Volume of Nonsense", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " DEAR MURRAY,--", " You ask for a \"_Volume of Nonsense_,\"", " Have all of your authors exhausted their store?", "I thought you had published a good deal not long since.", " And doubtless the Squadron are ready with more.", "But on looking again, I perceive that the Species", "Of \"Nonsense\" you want must be purely \"_facetious_;\"", "And, as that is the case, you had best put to press", " Mr. Sotheby's tragedies now in M.S.,", " Some Syrian Sally", " From common-place Gally,", "Or, if you prefer the bookmaking of women,", "Take a spick and span \"Sketch\" of your feminine _He-Man_." ], "linecount": "13" }, { "title": "Stanzas", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WHEN a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,", " Let him combat for that of his neighbours;", "Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,", " And get knocked on the head for his labours.", "", "To do good to Mankind is the chivalrous plan,", " And is always as nobly requited;", "Then battle for Freedom wherever you can,", " And, if not shot or hanged, you'll get knighted." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "To Penelope", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "THIS day, of all our days, has done", " The worst for me and you:--", "'T is just _six_ years since we were _one_,", " And _five_ since we were _two_." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "The Charity Ball", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WHAT matter the pangs of a husband and father,", " If his sorrows in exile be great or be small,", "So the Pharisee's glories around her she gather,", " And the saint patronises her \"Charity Ball!\"", "", "What matters--a heart which, though faulty, was feeling,", " Be driven to excesses which once could appal--", "That the Sinner should suffer is only fair dealing,", " As the Saint keeps her charity back for \"the Ball!\"" ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Epigram on the Braziers' Address to Be Presented in _Armour_ by the Company to Queen Caroline", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "IT seems that the Braziers propose soon to pass", "An Address and to bear it themselves all in brass;", "A superfluous pageant, for by the Lord Harry!", "They'll _find_, where they're going, much more than they carry.", "", "THE Braziers, it seems, are determined to pass", "An Address, and present it themselves all in brass:--", "A superfluous {pageant/trouble} for, by the Lord Harry!", "They'll find, where they're going, much more than they carry." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Bowles and Campbell", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " To the air of \"How now, Madam Flirt,\" in the _Beggar's Opera_.", "", " BOWLES.", "", "\"WHY, how now, saucy Tom?", " If you thus must ramble,", "I will publish some", " Remarks on Mister Campbell.", " Saucy Tom!\"", "", " CAMPBELL.", "", "\"WHY, how now, Billy Bowles?", " Sure the priest is maudlin!", "(_To the public_) How can you, d--n your souls!", " Listen to his twaddling?", " _Billy Bowles_!\"" ], "linecount": "13" }, { "title": "Elegy", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "BEHOLD the blessings of a lucky lot!", "My play is _damned_, and Lady Noel _not_." ], "linecount": "2" }, { "title": "John Keats", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WHO killed John Keats?", " \"I,\" says the Quarterly,", "So savage and Tartarly;", " \"'T was one of my feats.\"", "", "Who shot the arrow?", " \"The poet-priest Milman", "(So ready to kill man)", " \"Or Southey, or Barrow.\"" ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "From the French", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "ÆGLE, beauty and poet, has two little crimes;", "She makes her own face, and does not make her rhymes." ], "linecount": "2" }, { "title": "To Mr. Murray", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "FOR Orford and for Waldegrave", "You give much more than me you _gave_;", "Which is not fairly to behave,", " My Murray!", "", "Because if a live dog, 't is said,", "Be worth a lion fairly sped,", "A live lord must be worth _two_ dead,", " My Murray!", "", "And if, as the opinion goes,", "Verse hath a better sale than prose,--", "Certes, I should have more than those,", " My Murray!", "", "But now this sheet is nearly crammed,", "So, if _you will_, _I_ shan't be shammed,", "And if you _won't_,--_you_ may be damned,", " My Murray!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Napoleon's Snuff-Box", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "LADY, accept the box a hero wore,", " In spite of all this elegiac stuff:", "Let not seven stanzas written by a bore,", " Prevent your Ladyship from taking snuff!" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "The New Vicar of Bray", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " DO you know Doctor Nott?", " With \"a crook in his lot,\"", "Who seven years since tried to dish up", " A neat Codi_cil_", " To the Princess's Will,", "Which made Dr. Nott _not_ a bishop.", "", " So the Doctor being found", " A little unsound", "In his doctrine, at least as a teacher,", " And kicked from one stool", " As a knave or a fool,", "He mounted another as preacher.", "", " In that Gown (like the Skin", " With no Lion within)", "He still for the Bench would be driving;", " And roareth away,", " A new Vicar of _Bray_,", "Except that _his bray_ lost his living.", "", " \"Gainst Freethinkers,\" he roars,", " \"You should all block your doors", "Or be named in the Devil's indentures:\"", " And here I agree,", " For who e'er would be", "A Guest where old Simony enters?", "", " Let the Priest, who beguiled", " His own Sovereign's child", "To his own dirty views of promotion,", " Wear his Sheep's cloathing still", " Among flocks to his will,", "And dishonour the Cause of devotion.", "", " The Altar and Throne", " Are in danger alone", "From such as himself, who would render", " The Altar itself", " But a step up to Pelf,", "And pray God to pay his defender.", "", " But, Doctor, one word", " Which perhaps you have heard", "\"He should never throw stones who has windows", " Of Glass to be broken,", " And by this same token", "As a sinner, you can't care what Sin does.", "", " But perhaps you do well:", " Your own windows, they tell,", "Have long ago sufferéd censure;", " Not a fragment remains", " Of your character's panes,", "Since the Regent refused you a glazier.", "", " Though your visions of lawn", " Have all been withdrawn,", "And you missed your bold stroke for a mitre;", " In a very snug way", " You may still preach and pray,", "And from bishop sink into backbiter!\"" ], "linecount": "54" }, { "title": "The Conquest", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "THE Son of Love and Lord of War I sing;", " Him who bade England bow to Normandy,", "And left the name of Conqueror more than King", " To his unconquerable dynasty.", "Not fanned alone by Victory's fleeting wing,", " He reared his bold and brilliant throne on high;", "The Bastard kept, like lions, his prey fast,", "And Britain's bravest Victor was the last." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Impromptu", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " BENEATH Blessington's eyes", " The reclaimed Paradise", "Should be free as the former from evil;", " But if the new Eve", " For an Apple should grieve,", "What mortal would not play the Devil?" ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "Journal in Cephalonia", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "THE dead have been awakened--shall I sleep?", " The World's at war with tyrants--shall I crouch?", "The harvest's ripe--and shall I pause to reap?", " I slumber not; the thorn is in my Couch;", "Each day a trumpet soundeth in mine ear,", " Its echo in my heart----" ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "Song to the Suliotes", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "UP to battle! Sons of Suli", "Up, and do your duty duly!", "There the wall--and there the Moat is:", "Bouwah! Bouwah! Suliotes!", "There is booty--there is Beauty,", "Up my boys and do your duty.", "", "By the sally and the rally", "Which defied the arms of Ali;", "By your own dear native Highlands,", "By your children in the islands,", "Up and charge, my Stratiotes,", "Bouwah!--Bouwah!--Suliotes!", "", "As our ploughshare is the Sabre:", "Here's the harvest of our labour;", "For behind those battered breaches", "Are our foes with all their riches:", "There is Glory--there is plunder--", "Then away despite of thunder!" ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "Love and Death", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I WATCHED thee when the foe was at our side,", " Ready to strike at him--or thee and me.", "Were safety hopeless--rather than divide", " Aught with one loved save love and liberty.", "", "I watched thee on the breakers, when the rock", " Received our prow and all was storm and fear,", "And bade thee cling to me through every shock;", " This arm would be thy bark, or breast thy bier.", "", "I watched thee when the fever glazed thine eyes,", " Yielding my couch and stretched me on the ground,", "When overworn with watching, ne'er to rise", " From thence if thou an early grave hadst found.", "", "The earthquake came, and rocked the quivering wall,", " And men and nature reeled as if with wine.", "Whom did I seek around the tottering hall?", " For thee. Whose safety first provide for? Thine.", "", "And when convulsive throes denied my breath", " The faintest utterance to my fading thought,", "To thee--to thee--e'en in the gasp of death", " My spirit turned, oh! oftener than it ought.", "", "Thus much and more; and yet thou lov'st me not,", " And never wilt! Love dwells not in our will.", "Nor can I blame thee, though it be my lot", " To strongly, wrongly, vainly love thee still." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Last Words on Greece", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WHAT are to me those honours or renown", " Past or to come, a new-born people's cry?", "Albeit for such I could despise a crown", " Of aught save laurel, or for such could die.", "I am a fool of passion, and a frown", " Of thine to me is as an adder's eye.", "To the poor bird whose pinion fluttering down", " Wafts unto death the breast it bore so high;", "Such is this maddening fascination grown,", " So strong thy magic or so weak am I." ], "linecount": "10" }, { "title": "On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'T IS time this heart should be unmoved,", " Since others it hath ceased to move:", "Yet, though I cannot be beloved,", " Still let me love!", "", "My days are in the yellow leaf;", " The flowers and fruits of Love are gone;", "The worm, the canker, and the grief", " Are mine alone!", "", "The fire that on my bosom preys", " Is lone as some Volcanic isle;", "No torch is kindled at its blaze--", " A funeral pile.", "", "The hope, the fear, the jealous care,", " The exalted portion of the pain", "And power of love, I cannot share,", " But wear the chain.", "", "But 't is not _thus_--and 't is not _here_--", " Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now", "Where Glory decks the hero's bier,", " Or binds his brow.", "", "The Sword, the Banner, and the Field,", " Glory and Greece, around me see!", "The Spartan, borne upon his shield,", " Was not more free.", "", "Awake! (not Greece--she _is_ awake!)", " Awake, my spirit! Think through _whom_", "Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,", " And then strike home!", "", "Tread those reviving passions down,", " Unworthy manhood!--unto thee", "Indifferent should the smile or frown", " Of Beauty be.", "", "If thou regret'st thy youth, _why live_?", " The land of honourable death", "Is here:--up to the Field, and give", " Away thy breath!", "", "Seek out--less often sought than found--", " A soldier's grave, for thee the best;", "Then look around, and choose thy ground,", " And take thy Rest." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "On Leaving Newstead Abbey", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Why dost thou build the hall, Son of the winged days? Thou lookest", " from thy tower to-day: yet a few years, and the blast of the desart", " comes: it howls in thy empty court.-OSSIAN.", "", "Through thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle:", " Thou, the hall of my Fathers, art gone to decay;", "In thy once smiling garden, the hemlock and thistle", " Have choak'd up the rose, which late bloom'd in the way.", "", "Of the mail-cover'd Barons, who, proudly, to battle,", " Led their vassals from Europe to Palestine's plain,", "The escutcheon and shield, which with ev'ry blast rattle,", " Are the only sad vestiges now that remain.", "", "No more doth old Robert, with harp-stringing numbers,", " Raise a flame, in the breast, for the war-laurell'd wreath;", "Near Askalon's towers, John of Horistan slumbers,", " Unnerv'd is the hand of his minstrel, by death.", "", "Paul and Hubert too sleep in the valley of Cressy;", " For the safety of Edward and England they fell:", "My Fathers! the tears of your country redress ye:", " How you fought! how you died! still her annals can tell.", "", "On Marston, with Rupert, 'gainst traitors contending,", " Four brothers enrich'd, with their blood, the bleak field;", "For the rights of a monarch their country defending,", " Till death their attachment to royalty seal'd.", "", "Shades of heroes, farewell! your descendant departing", " From the seat of his ancestors, bids you adieu!", "Abroad, or at home, your remembrance imparting", " New courage, he'll think upon glory and you.", "", "Though a tear dim his eye at this sad separation,", " 'Tis nature, not fear, that excites his regret;", "Far distant he goes, with the same emulation,", " The fame of his Fathers he ne'er can forget.", "", "That fame, and that memory, still will he cherish;", " He vows that he ne'er will disgrace your renown:", "Like you will he live, or like you will he perish;", " When decay'd, may he mingle his dust with your own!" ], "linecount": "35" }, { "title": "To E--", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Let Folly smile, to view the names", " Of thee and me, in Friendship twin'd;", "Yet Virtue will have greater claims", " To love, than rank with vice combin'd.", "", "And though unequal is _thy_ fate,", " Since title deck'd my higher birth;", "Yet envy not this gaudy state,", " _Thine_ is the pride of modest worth.", "", "Our _souls_ at least congenial meet,", " Nor can _thy_ lot _my_ rank disgrace;", "Our intercourse is not less sweet,", " Since worth of rank supplies the place." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "On the Death of a Young Lady, Cousin to the Author, and Very Dear to Him", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Hush'd are the winds, and still the evening gloom,", " Not e'en a zephyr wanders through the grove,", "Whilst I return to view my Margaret's tomb,", " And scatter flowers on the dust I love.", "", "Within this narrow cell reclines her clay,", " That clay, where once such animation beam'd;", "The King of Terrors seiz'd her as his prey;", " Not worth, nor beauty, have her life redeem'd.", "", "Oh! could that King of Terrors pity feel,", " Or Heaven reverse the dread decree of fate,", "Not here the mourner would his grief reveal,", " Not here the Muse her virtues would relate.", "", "But wherefore weep? Her matchless spirit soars", " Beyond where splendid shines the orb of day;", "And weeping angels lead her to those bowers,", " Where endless pleasures virtuous deeds repay.", "", "And shall presumptuous mortals Heaven arraign!", " And, madly, Godlike Providence accuse!", "Ah! no, far fly from me attempts so vain;--", " I'll ne'er submission to my God refuse.", "", "Yet is remembrance of those virtues dear,", " Yet fresh the memory of that beauteous face;", "Still they call forth my warm affection's tear,", " Still in my heart retain their wonted place." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "To D--", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In thee, I fondly hop'd to clasp", " A friend, whom death alone could sever;", "Till envy, with malignant grasp,", " Detach'd thee from my breast for ever.", "", "True, she has forc'd thee from my _breast_,", " Yet, in my _heart_, thou keep'st thy seat;", "There, there, thine image still must rest,", " Until that heart shall cease to beat.", "", "And, when the grave restores her dead,", " When life again to dust is given,", "On _thy dear_ breast I'll lay my head--", " Without _thee! where_ would be _my Heaven?_" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "To Caroline", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Think'st thou I saw thy beauteous eyes,", " Suffus'd in tears, implore to stay;", "And heard _unmov'd_ thy plenteous sighs,", " Which said far more than words can say?", "", "Though keen the grief _thy_ tears exprest,", " When love and hope lay _both_ o'erthrown;", "Yet still, my girl, _this_ bleeding breast", " Throbb'd, with deep sorrow, as _thine own_.", "", "But, when our cheeks with anguish glow'd,", " When _thy_ sweet lips were join'd to mine;", "The tears that from _my_ eyelids flow'd", " Were lost in those which fell from _thine_.", "", "Thou could'st not feel my burning cheek,", " _Thy_ gushing tears had quench'd its flame,", "And, as thy tongue essay'd to speak,", " In _sighs alone_ it breath'd my name.", "", "And yet, my girl, we weep in vain,", " In vain our fate in sighs deplore;", "Remembrance only can remain,", " But _that_, will make us weep the more.", "", "Again, thou best belov'd, adieu!", " Ah! if thou canst, o'ercome regret,", "Nor let thy mind past joys review,", " Our only _hope_ is, to _forget_!" ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "To Caroline", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "You say you love, and yet your eye", " No symptom of that love conveys,", "You say you love, yet know not why,", " Your cheek no sign of love betrays.", "", "Ah! did that breast with ardour glow,", "With me alone it joy could know,", "Or feel with me the listless woe,", " Which racks my heart when far from thee.", "", "Whene'er we meet my blushes rise,", " And mantle through my purpled cheek,", "But yet no blush to mine replies,", " Nor e'en your eyes your love bespeak.", "", "Your voice alone declares your flame,", "And though so sweet it breathes my name,", "Our passions still are not the same;", " Alas! you cannot love like me.", "", "For e'en your lip seems steep'd in snow,", " And though so oft it meets my kiss,", "It burns with no responsive glow,", " Nor melts like mine in dewy bliss.", "", "Ah! what are words to love like _mine_,", "Though uttered by a voice like thine,", "I still in murmurs must repine,", " And think that love can ne'er be _true_,", "", "Which meets me with no joyous sign,", " Without a sigh which bids adieu;", "How different is my love from thine,", " How keen my grief when leaving you.", "", "Your image fills my anxious breast,", "Till day declines adown the West,", "And when at night, I sink to rest,", " In dreams your fancied form I view.", "", "'Tis then your breast, no longer cold,", " With equal ardour seems to burn,", "While close your arms around me fold,", " Your lips my kiss with warmth return.", "", "Ah! would these joyous moments last;", "Vain HOPE! the gay delusion's past,", "That voice!--ah! no, 'tis but the blast,", " Which echoes through the neighbouring grove.", "", "But when _awake_, your lips I seek,", " And clasp enraptur'd all your charms,", "So chill's the pressure of your cheek,", " I fold a statue in my arms.", "", "If thus, when to my heart embrac'd,", "No pleasure in your eyes is trac'd,", "You may be prudent, fair, and _chaste_,", " But ah! my girl, you _do not love_." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "To Emma", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Since now the hour is come at last,", " When you must quit your anxious lover;", "Since now, our dream of bliss is past,", " One pang, my girl, and all is over.", "", "Alas! that pang will be severe,", " Which bids us part to meet no more;", "Which tears me far from _one_ so dear,", " _Departing_ for a distant shore.", "", "Well! we have pass'd some happy hours,", " And joy will mingle with our tears;", "When thinking on these ancient towers,", " The shelter of our infant years;", "", "Where from this Gothic casement's height,", " We view'd the lake, the park, the dell,", "And still, though tears obstruct our sight,", " We lingering look a last farewell,", "", "O'er fields through which we us'd to run,", " And spend the hours in childish play;", "O'er shades where, when our race was done,", " Reposing on my breast you lay;", "", "Whilst I, admiring, too remiss,", " Forgot to scare the hovering flies,", "Yet envied every fly the kiss,", " It dar'd to give your slumbering eyes:", "", "See still the little painted _bark_,", " In which I row'd you o'er the lake;", "See there, high waving o'er the park,", " The _elm_ I clamber'd for your sake.", "", "These times are past, our joys are gone,", " You leave me, leave this happy vale;", "These scenes, I must retrace alone;", " Without thee, what will they avail?", "", "Who can conceive, who has not prov'd,", " The anguish of a last embrace?", "When, torn from all you fondly lov'd,", " You bid a long adieu to peace.", "", "_This_ is the deepest of our woes,", " For _this_ these tears our cheeks bedew;", "This is of love the final close,", " Oh, God! the fondest, _last_ adieu!" ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Fragments of School Exercises: From the \"Prometheus Vinctus\" of Aeschylus,", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Great Jove! to whose Almighty Throne", " Both Gods and mortals homage pay,", " Ne'er may my soul thy power disown,", " Thy dread behests ne'er disobey.", " Oft shall the sacred victim fall,", " In sea-girt Ocean's mossy hall;", " My voice shall raise no impious strain,", "'Gainst him who rules the sky and azure main.", "", " How different now thy joyless fate,", " Since first Hesione thy bride,", " When plac'd aloft in godlike state,", " The blushing beauty by thy side,", " Thou sat'st, while reverend Ocean smil'd,", " And mirthful strains the hours beguil'd;", " The Nymphs and Tritons danc'd around,", "Nor yet thy doom was fix'd, nor Jove relentless frown'd," ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Lines Written in \"Letters of an Italian Nun and an English Gentleman, by J. J. Rousseau; Founded on Facts.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"Away, away,--your flattering arts", "May now betray some simpler hearts;", "And _you_ will _smile_ at their believing,", "And _they_ shall _weep_ at your deceiving.\"" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Answer to the Foregoing, Addressed to Miss----", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Dear simple girl, those flattering arts,", "(From which thou'dst guard frail female hearts,", "Exist but in imagination,", "Mere phantoms of thine own creation;", "For he who views that witching grace,", "That perfect form, that lovely face,", "With eyes admiring, oh! believe me,", "He never wishes to deceive thee:", "Once in thy polish'd mirror glance", "Thou'lt there descry that elegance", "Which from our sex demands such praises,", "But envy in the other raises.--", "Then he who tells thee of thy beauty,", "Believe me, only does his duty:", "Ah! fly not from the candid youth;", "It is not flattery,--'tis truth." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "On a Change of Masters at a Great Public School", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Where are those honours, IDA! once your own,", "When Probus fill'd your magisterial throne?", "As ancient Rome, fast falling to disgrace,", "Hail'd a Barbarian in her Cæsar's place,", "So you, degenerate, share as hard a fate,", "And seat _Pomposus_ where your _Probus_ sate.", "Of narrow brain, yet of a narrower soul,", "Pomposus holds you in his harsh controul;", "Pomposus, by no social virtue sway'd,", "With florid jargon, and with vain parade;", "With noisy nonsense, and new-fangled rules,", "(Such as were ne'er before enforc'd in schools.)", "Mistaking _pedantry_ for _learning's_ laws,", "He governs, sanction'd but by self-applause;", "With him the same dire fate, attending Rome,", "Ill-fated Ida! soon must stamp your doom:", "Like her o'erthrown, for ever lost to fame,", "No trace of science left you, but the name," ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "Epitaph on a Beloved Friend", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh, Friend! for ever lov'd, for ever dear!", "What fruitless tears have bathed thy honour'd bier!", "What sighs re-echo'd to thy parting breath,", "Whilst thou wast struggling in the pangs of death!", "Could tears retard the tyrant in his course;", "Could sighs avert his dart's relentless force;", "Could youth and virtue claim a short delay,", "Or beauty charm the spectre from his prey;", "Thou still hadst liv'd to bless my aching sight,", "Thy comrade's honour and thy friend's delight.", "If yet thy gentle spirit hover nigh", "The spot where now thy mouldering ashes lie,", "Here wilt thou read, recorded on my heart,", "A grief too deep to trust the sculptor's art.", "No marble marks thy couch of lowly sleep,", "But living statues there are seen to weep;", "Affliction's semblance bends not o'er thy tomb,", "Affliction's self deplores thy youthful doom.", "What though thy sire lament his failing line,", "A father's sorrows cannot equal mine!", "Though none, like thee, his dying hour will cheer,", "Yet other offspring soothe his anguish here:", "But, who with me shall hold thy former place?", "Thine image, what new friendship can efface?", "Ah, none!--a father's tears will cease to flow,", "Time will assuage an infant brother's woe;", "To all, save one, is consolation known,", "While solitary Friendship sighs alone.", "", "Could youth and virtue claim a short delay,", "Or beauty charm the spectre from his prey,", "Thou still had'st liv'd to bless my aching sight,", "Thy comrade's honour, and thy friend's delight:", "Though low thy lot since in a cottage born,", "No titles did thy humble name adorn,", "To me, far dearer, was thy artless love,", "Than all the joys, wealth, fame, and friends could prove.", "For thee alone I liv'd, or wish'd to live,", "(Oh God! if impious, this rash word forgive,)", "Heart-broken now, I wait an equal doom,", "Content to join thee in thy turf-clad tomb;", "Where this frail form compos'd in endless rest,", "I'll make my last, cold, pillow on thy breast;", "That breast where oft in life, I've laid my head,", "Will yet receive me mouldering with the dead;", "This life resign'd, without one parting sigh,", "Together in one bed of earth we'll lie!", "Together share the fate to mortals given,", "Together mix our dust, and hope for Heaven._" ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "Adrian's Address to His Soul When Dying", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Animula! vagula, Blandula,", "Hospes, comesque corporis,", "Quæ nunc abibis in Loca--", "Pallidula, rigida, nudula,", "Nec, ut soles, dabis Jocos?" ], "linecount": "5" }, { "title": "Translation", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Ah! gentle, fleeting, wav'ring Sprite,", "Friend and associate of this clay!", " To what unknown region borne,", "Wilt thou, now, wing thy distant flight?", "No more with wonted humour gay,", " But pallid, cheerless, and forlorn." ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "A Fragment", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When, to their airy hall, my Fathers' voice", "Shall call my spirit, joyful in their choice;", "When, pois'd upon the gale, my form shall ride,", "Or, dark in mist, descend the mountain's side;", "Oh! may my shade behold no sculptur'd urns,", "To mark the spot where earth to earth returns!", "No lengthen'd scroll, no praise-encumber'd stone;", "My _epitaph_ shall be my name alone:", "If _that_ with honour fail to crown my clay,", "Oh! may no other fame my deeds repay!", "_That_, only _that_, shall single out the spot;", "By that remember'd, or with that forgot." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "To Caroline", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! when shall the grave hide for ever my sorrow?", "Oh! when shall my soul wing her flight from this clay?", "The present is hell! and the coming to-morrow", " But brings, with new torture, the curse of to-day.", "", "From my eye flows no tear, from my lips flow no curses,", " I blast not the fiends who have hurl'd me from bliss;", "For poor is the soul which, bewailing, rehearses", " Its querulous grief, when in anguish like this--", "", "Was my eye, 'stead of tears, with red fury flakes bright'ning,", " Would my lips breathe a flame which no stream could assuage,", "On our foes should my glance launch in vengeance its lightning,", " With transport my tongue give a loose to its rage.", "", "But now tears and curses, alike unavailing,", " Would add to the souls of our tyrants delight;", "Could they view us our sad separation bewailing,", " Their merciless hearts would rejoice at the sight.", "", "Yet, still, though we bend with a feign'd resignation,", " Life beams not for us with one ray that can cheer;", "Love and Hope upon earth bring no more consolation,", " In the grave is our hope, for in life is our fear.", "", "Oh! when, my ador'd, in the tomb will they place me,", " Since, in life, love and friendship for ever are fled?", "If again in the mansion of death I embrace thee,", " Perhaps they will leave unmolested--the dead." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "To Caroline", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When I hear you express an affection so warm,", " Ne'er think, my belov'd, that I do not believe;", "For your lip would the soul of suspicion disarm,", " And your eye beams a ray which can never deceive.", "", "Yet still, this fond bosom regrets, while adoring,", " That love, like the leaf, must fall into the sear,", "That Age will come on, when Remembrance, deploring,", "Contemplates the scenes of her youth, with a tear;", "", "That the time must arrive, when, no longer retaining", " Their auburn, those locks must wave thin to the breeze,", "When a few silver hairs of those tresses remaining,", " Prove nature a prey to decay and disease.", "", "Tis this, my belov'd, which spreads gloom o'er my features,", " Though I ne'er shall presume to arraign the decree", "Which God has proclaim'd as the fate of his creatures,", " In the death which one day will deprive you of me.", "", "Mistake not, sweet sceptic, the cause of emotion,", " No doubt can the mind of your lover invade;", "He worships each look with such faithful devotion,", " A smile can enchant, or a tear can dissuade.", "", "But as death, my belov'd, soon or late shall o'ertake us,", " And our breasts, which alive with such sympathy glow,", "Will sleep in the grave, till the blast shall awake us,", " When calling the dead, in Earth's bosom laid low.", "", "Oh! then let us drain, while we may, draughts of pleasure,", " Which from passion, like ours, must unceasingly flow;", "Let us pass round the cup of Love's bliss in full measure,", " And quaff the contents as our nectar below." ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "On a Distant View of the Village and School of Harrow on the Hill, 1806", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Ye scenes of my childhood, whose lov'd recollection", " Embitters the present, compar'd with the past;", "Where science first dawn'd on the powers of reflection,", " And friendships were form'd, too romantic to last;", "", "Where fancy, yet, joys to retrace the resemblance", " Of comrades, in friendship and mischief allied;", "How welcome to me your ne'er fading remembrance,", " Which rests in the bosom, though hope is deny'd!", "", "Again I revisit the hills where we sported,", " The streams where we swam, and the fields where we fought;", "The school where, loud warn'd by the bell, we resorted,", " To pore o'er the precepts by Pedagogues taught.", "", "Again I behold where for hours I have ponder'd,", " As reclining, at eve, on yon tombstone I lay;", "Or round the steep brow of the churchyard I wander'd,", " To catch the last gleam of the sun's setting ray.", "", "I once more view the room, with spectators surrounded,", " Where, as Zanga, I trod on Alonzo o'erthrown;", "While, to swell my young pride, such applauses resounded,", " I fancied that Mossop himself was outshone.", "", "Or, as Lear, I pour'd forth the deep imprecation,", " By my daughters, of kingdom and reason depriv'd;", "Till, fir'd by loud plaudits and self-adulation,", " I regarded myself as a _Garrick_ reviv'd.", "", "Ye dreams of my boyhood, how much I regret you!", " Unfaded your memory dwells in my breast;", "Though sad and deserted, I ne'er can forget you:", " Your pleasures may still be in fancy possest.", "", "To Ida full oft may remembrance restore me,", " While Fate shall the shades of the future unroll!", "Since Darkness o'ershadows the prospect before me,", " More dear is the beam of the past to my soul!", "", "But if, through the course of the years which await me,", " Some new scene of pleasure should open to view,", "I will say, while with rapture the thought shall elate me,", " \"Oh! such were the days which my infancy knew.\"" ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Thoughts Suggested by a College Examination", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "High in the midst, surrounded by his peers,", "Magnus his ample front sublime uprears:", "Plac'd on his chair of state, he seems a God,", "While Sophs and Freshmen tremble at his nod;", "As all around sit wrapt in speechless gloom,", "_His_ voice, in thunder, shakes the sounding dome;", "Denouncing dire reproach to luckless fools,", "Unskill'd to plod in mathematic rules.", "", " Happy the youth! in Euclid's axioms tried,", "Though little vers'd in any art beside;", "Who, scarcely skill'd an English line to pen,", "Scans Attic metres with a critic's ken.", "", "What! though he knows not how his fathers bled,", "When civil discord pil'd the fields with dead,", "When Edward bade his conquering bands advance,", "Or Henry trampled on the crest of France:", "Though marvelling at the name of _Magna Charta_,", "Yet well he recollects the _laws_ of _Sparta_;", "Can tell, what edicts sage _Lycurgus_ made,", "While _Blackstone's_ on the _shelf_, _neglected_ laid;", "Of _Grecian dramas_ vaunts the deathless fame,", "Of _Avon's bard_, rememb'ring scarce the name.", "", "Such is the youth whose scientific pate", "Class-honours, medals, fellowships, await;", "Or even, perhaps, the _declamation_ prize,", "If to such glorious height, he lifts his eyes.", "But lo! no _common_ orator can hope", "The envied silver cup within his scope:", "Not that our _heads_ much eloquence require,", "Th' ATHENIAN'S glowing style, or TULLY'S fire.", "A _manner_ clear or warm is useless, since", "We do not try by _speaking_ to _convince_;", "Be other _orators_ of pleasing _proud_,--", "We speak to _please_ ourselves, not _move_ the crowd:", "Our gravity prefers the _muttering_ tone,", "A proper mixture of the _squeak_ and _groan_:", "No borrow'd _grace_ of _action_ must be seen,", "The slightest motion would displease the _Dean_;", "Whilst every staring Graduate would prate,", "Against what--_he_ could never imitate.", "", "The man, who hopes t' obtain the promis'd cup,", "Must in one _posture_ stand, and _ne'er look up_;", "Nor _stop_, but rattle over _every_ word--", "No matter _what_, so it can _not_ be heard:", "Thus let him hurry on, nor think to rest:", "Who speaks the _fastest's_ sure to speak the _best_;", "Who utters most within the shortest space,", "May, safely, hope to win the _wordy race_.", "", "The Sons of _Science_ these, who, thus repaid,", "Linger in ease in Granta's sluggish shade;", "Where on Cam's sedgy banks, supine, they lie,", "Unknown, unhonour'd live--unwept for die:", "Dull as the pictures, which adorn their halls,", "They think all learning fix'd within their walls:", "In manners rude, in foolish forms precise,", "All modern arts affecting to despise;", "Yet prizing _Bentley's, Brunck's_, or _Porson's_ note,", "More than the _verse on which the critic wrote_:", "Vain as their honours, heavy as their Ale,", "Sad as their wit, and tedious as their tale;", "To friendship dead, though not untaught to feel,", "When Self and Church demand a Bigot zeal.", "With eager haste they court the lord of power,", "(Whether 'tis PITT or PETTY rules the hour;)", "To _him_, with suppliant smiles, they bend the head,", "While distant mitres to their eyes are spread;", "But should a storm o'erwhelm him with disgrace,", "They'd fly to seek the next, who fill'd his place.", "_Such_ are the men who learning's treasures guard!", "_Such_ is their _practice_, such is their _reward_!", "This _much_, at least, we may presume to say--", "The premium can't exceed the _price_ they _pay_." ], "linecount": "72" }, { "title": "To Mary, on Receiving Her Picture", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "This faint resemblance of thy charms,", " (Though strong as mortal art could give,)", "My constant heart of fear disarms,", " Revives my hopes, and bids me live.", "", "Here, I can trace the locks of gold", " Which round thy snowy forehead wave;", "The cheeks which sprung from Beauty's mould,", " The lips, which made me 'Beauty's' slave.", "", "Here I can trace--ah, no! that eye,", " Whose azure floats in liquid fire,", "Must all the painter's art defy,", " And bid him from the task retire.", "", "Here, I behold its beauteous hue;", "But where's the beam so sweetly straying,", "Which gave a lustre to its blue,", " Like Luna o'er the ocean playing?", "", "Sweet copy! far more dear to me,", " Lifeless, unfeeling as thou art,", "Than all the living forms could be,", " Save her who plac'd thee next my heart.", "", "She plac'd it, sad, with needless fear,", " Lest time might shake my wavering soul,", "Unconscious that her image there", " Held every sense in fast controul.", "", "Thro' hours, thro' years, thro' time,'twill cheer--", " My hope, in gloomy moments, raise;", "In life's last conflict 'twill appear,", " And meet my fond, expiring gaze." ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "On the Death of Mr. Fox", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"Our Nation's foes lament on _Fox's_ death,", "But bless the hour, when PITT resign'd his breath:", "These feelings wide, let Sense and Truth unclue,", "We give the palm, where Justice points its due.\"", "", "Oh, factious viper! whose envenom'd tooth", "Would mangle, still, the dead, perverting truth;", "What, though our \"nation's foes\" lament the fate,", "With generous feeling, of the good and great;", "Shall dastard tongues essay to blast the name", "Of him, whose meed exists in endless fame?", "When PITT expir'd in plenitude of power,", "Though ill success obscur'd his dying hour,", "Pity her dewy wings before him spread,", "For noble spirits \"war not with the dead:\"", "His friends in tears, a last sad requiem gave,", "As all his errors slumber'd in the grave;", "He sunk, an Atlas bending \"'neath the weight\"", "Of cares o'erwhelming our conflicting state.", "When, lo! a Hercules, in Fox, appear'd,", "Who for a time the ruin'd fabric rear'd:", "He, too, is fall'n, who Britain's loss supplied,", "With him, our fast reviving hopes have died;", "Not one great people, only, raise his urn,", "All Europe's far-extended regions mourn.", "\"These feelings wide, let Sense and Truth undue,", "To give the palm where Justice points its due;\"", "Yet, let not canker'd Calumny assail,", "Or round her statesman wind her gloomy veil.", "FOX! o'er whose corse a mourning world must weep,", "Whose dear remains in honour'd marble sleep;", "For whom, at last, e'en hostile nations groan,", "While friends and foes, alike, his talents own.-", "Fox! shall, in Britain's future annals, shine,", "Nor e'en to PITT, the patriot's 'palm' resign;", "Which Envy, wearing Candour's sacred mask,", "For PITT, and PITT alone, has dar'd to ask." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "To a Lady Who Presented to the Author a Lock of Hair Braided With His Own, and Appointed a Night in December to Meet Him in the Garden", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "These locks, which fondly thus entwine,", "In firmer chains our hearts confine,", "Than all th' unmeaning protestations", "Which swell with nonsense, love orations.", "Our love is fix'd, I think we've prov'd it;", "Nor time, nor place, nor art have mov'd it;", "Then wherefore should we sigh and whine,", "With groundless jealousy repine;", "With silly whims, and fancies frantic,", "Merely to make our love romantic?", "Why should you weep, like _Lydia Languish_,", "And fret with self-created anguish?", "Or doom the lover you have chosen,", "On winter nights to sigh half frozen;", "In leafless shades, to sue for pardon,", "Only because the scene's a garden?", "For gardens seem, by one consent,", "(Since Shakespeare set the precedent;", "Since Juliet first declar'd her passion)", "To form the place of assignation.", "Oh! would some modern muse inspire,", "And seat her by a _sea-coal_ fire;", "Or had the bard at Christmas written,", "And laid the scene of love in Britain;", "He surely, in commiseration,", "Had chang'd the place of declaration.", "In Italy, I've no objection,", "Warm nights are proper for reflection;", "But here our climate is so rigid,", "That love itself, is rather frigid:", "Think on our chilly situation,", "And curb this rage for imitation.", "Then let us meet, as oft we've done,", "Beneath the influence of the sun;", "Or, if at midnight I must meet you,", "Within your mansion let me greet you:", "'There', we can love for hours together,", "Much better, in such snowy weather,", "Than plac'd in all th' Arcadian groves,", "That ever witness'd rural loves;", "'Then', if my passion fail to please,", "Next night I'll be content to freeze;", "No more I'll give a loose to laughter,", "But curse my fate, for ever after." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "To a Beautiful Quaker", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Sweet girl! though only once we met,", "That meeting I shall ne'er forget;", "And though we ne'er may meet again,", "Remembrance will thy form retain;", "I would not say, \"I love,\" but still,", "My senses struggle with my will:", "In vain to drive thee from my breast,", "My thoughts are more and more represt;", "In vain I check the rising sighs,", "Another to the last replies:", "Perhaps, this is not love, but yet,", "Our meeting I can ne'er forget.", "", "What, though we never silence broke,", "Our eyes a sweeter language spoke;", "The tongue in flattering falsehood deals,", "And tells a tale it never feels:", "Deceit, the guilty lips impart,", "And hush the mandates of the heart;", "But soul's interpreters, the eyes,", "Spurn such restraint, and scorn disguise.", "As thus our glances oft convers'd,", "And all our bosoms felt rehears'd,", "No _spirit_, from within, reprov'd us,", "Say rather, \"'twas the _spirit mov'd_ us.\"", "Though, what they utter'd, I repress,", "Yet I conceive thou'lt partly guess;", "For as on thee, my memory ponders,", "Perchance to me, thine also wanders.", "This, for myself, at least, I'll say,", "Thy form appears through night, through day;", "Awake, with it my fancy teems,", "In sleep, it smiles in fleeting dreams;", "The vision charms the hours away,", "And bids me curse Aurora's ray", "For breaking slumbers of delight,", "Which make me wish for endless night.", "Since, oh! whate'er my future fate,", "Shall joy or woe my steps await;", "Tempted by love, by storms beset,", "Thine image, I can ne'er forget.", "", "Alas! again no more we meet,", "No more our former looks repeat;", "Then, let me breathe this parting prayer,", "The dictate of my bosom's care:", "\"May Heaven so guard my lovely quaker,", "That anguish never can o'ertake her;", "That peace and virtue ne'er forsake her,", "But bliss be aye her heart's partaker!", "Oh! may the happy mortal, fated", "To be, by dearest ties, related,", "For _her_, each hour, _new joys_ discover,", "And lose the husband in the lover!", "May that fair bosom never know", "What 'tis to feel the restless woe,", "Which stings the soul, with vain regret,", "Of him, who never can forget!\"" ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "To Lesbia!", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "LESBIA! since far from you I've rang'd,", " Our souls with fond affection glow not;", "You say, 'tis I, not you, have chang'd,", " I'd tell you why,--but yet I know not.", "", "Your polish'd brow no cares have crost;", " And Lesbia! we are not much older,", "Since, trembling, first my heart I lost,", " Or told my love, with hope grown bolder.", "", "Sixteen was then our utmost age,", " Two years have lingering pass'd away, love!", "And now new thoughts our minds engage,", " At least, I feel disposed to stray, love!", "", "\"Tis _I_ that am alone to blame,", " _I_, that am guilty of love's treason;", "Since your sweet breast is still the same,", " Caprice must be my only reason.", "", "I do not, love! suspect your truth,", " With jealous doubt my bosom heaves not;", "Warm was the passion of my youth,", " One trace of dark deceit it leaves not.", "", "No, no, my flame was not pretended;", " For, oh! I lov'd you most sincerely;", "And though our dream at last is ended", " My bosom still esteems you dearly.", "", "No more we meet in yonder bowers;", " Absence has made me prone to roving;", "But older, firmer _hearts_ than ours", " Have found monotony in loving.", "", "Your cheek's soft bloom is unimpair'd,", " New beauties, still, are daily bright'ning,", "Your eye, for conquest beams prepar'd,", " The forge of love's resistless lightning.", "", "Arm'd thus, to make their bosoms bleed,", " Many will throng, to sigh like me, love!", "More constant they may prove, indeed;", " Fonder, alas! they ne'er can be, love!" ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "To Woman", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Woman! experience might have told me", "That all must love thee, who behold thee:", "Surely experience might have taught", "Thy firmest promises are nought;", "But, plac'd in all thy charms before me,", "All I forget, but to _adore_ thee.", "Oh memory! thou choicest blessing,", "When join'd with hope, when still possessing;", "But how much curst by every lover", "When hope is fled, and passion's over.", "Woman, that fair and fond deceiver,", "How prompt are striplings to believe her!", "How throbs the pulse, when first we view", "The eye that rolls in glossy blue,", "Or sparkles black, or mildly throws", "A beam from under hazel brows!", "How quick we credit every oath,", "And hear her plight the willing troth!", "Fondly we hope 'twill last for ay,", "When, lo! she changes in a day.", "This record will for ever stand,'", "\"Woman, thy vows are trac'd in sand.\"" ], "linecount": "22" }, { "title": "An Occasional Prologue,", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Since the refinement of this polish'd age", "Has swept immoral raillery from the stage;", "Since taste has now expung'd licentious wit,", "Which stamp'd disgrace on all an author writ;", "Since, now, to please with purer scenes we seek,", "Nor dare to call the blush from Beauty's cheek;", "Oh! let the modest Muse some pity claim,", "And meet indulgence--though she find not fame.", "Still, not for _her_ alone, we wish respect,", "_Others_ appear more conscious of defect:", "To-night no _vet'ran Roscii_ you behold,", "In all the arts of scenic action old;", "No COOKE, no KEMBLE, can salute you here,", "No SIDDONS draw the sympathetic tear;", "To-night you throng to witness the _début_", "Of embryo Actors, to the Drama new:", "Here, then, our almost unfledg'd wings we try;", "Clip not our _pinions_, ere the _birds can fly_:", "Failing in this our first attempt to soar,", "Drooping, alas! we fall to rise no more.", "Not one poor trembler, only, fear betrays,", "Who hopes, yet almost dreads to meet your praise;", "But all our Dramatis Personæ wait,", "In fond suspense this crisis of their fate.", "No venal views our progress can retard,", "Your generous plaudits are our sole reward;", "For these, each _Hero_ all his power displays,", "Each timid _Heroine_ shrinks before your gaze:", "Surely the last will some protection find?", "None, to the softer sex, can prove unkind:", "While Youth and Beauty form the female shield,", "The sternest Censor to the fair must yield.", "Yet, should our feeble efforts nought avail,", "Should, _after all_, our best endeavours fail;", "Still, let some mercy in your bosoms live,", "And, if you can't applaud, at least _forgive_." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "To Eliza", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Eliza! what fools are the Mussulman sect,", " Who, to woman, deny the soul's future existence;", "Could they see thee, Eliza! they'd own their defect,", " And this doctrine would meet with a general resistance.", "", "Had their Prophet possess'd half an atom of sense,", " He ne'er would have _woman_ from Paradise driven;", "Instead of his _Houris_, a flimsy pretence,", " With _woman alone_ he had peopled his Heaven.", "", "Yet, still, to increase your calamities more,", " Not content with depriving your bodies of spirit,", "He allots one poor husband to share amongst four! -", " With _souls_ you'd dispense; but, this last, who could bear it?", "", "His religion to please neither party is made;", " On _husbands_ 'tis _hard_, to the wives most uncivil;", "Still I can't contradict, what so oft has been said,", " \"Though women are angels, yet wedlock's the devil.\"", "", "This terrible truth, even Scripture has told,", " Ye Benedicks! hear me, and listen with rapture;", "If a glimpse of redemption you wish to behold,", " Of ST. MATT.--read the second and twentieth chapter.", "", "'Tis surely enough upon earth to be vex'd,", " With wives who eternal confusion are spreading;", "\"But in Heaven\" (so runs the Evangelists' Text)", " \"We neither have giving in marriage, or wedding.\"", "", "From this we suppose, (as indeed well we may,)", " That should Saints after death, with their spouses put up more,", "And wives, as in life, aim at absolute sway,", " All Heaven would ring with the conjugal uproar.", "", "Distraction and Discord would follow in course,", " Nor MATTHEW, nor MARK, nor ST. PAUL, can deny it,", "The only expedient is general divorce,", " To prevent universal disturbance and riot.", "", "But though husband and wife, shall at length be disjoin'd,", " Yet woman and man ne'er were meant to dissever,", "Our chains once dissolv'd, and our hearts unconfin'd,", " We'll love without bonds, but we'll love you for ever.", "", "Though souls are denied you by fools and by rakes,", " Should you own it yourselves, I would even then doubt you,", "Your nature so much of _celestial_ partakes,", " The Garden of Eden would wither without you." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "The Tear", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " O lachrymarum fons, tenero sacros", " Ducentium ortus ex animo; quater", " Felix! in imo qui scatentem", " Pectore te, pia Nympha, sensit.", "", " GRAY, 'Alcaic Fragment'.", "", " When Friendship or Love", " Our sympathies move;", "When Truth, in a glance, should appear,", " The lips may beguile,", " With a dimple or smile,", "But the test of affection's a _Tear_.", "", " Too oft is a smile", " But the hypocrite's wile,", "To mask detestation, or fear;", " Give me the soft sigh,", " Whilst the soul-telling eye", "Is dimm'd, for a time, with a _Tear_.", "", " Mild Charity's glow,", " To us mortals below,", "Shows the soul from barbarity clear;", " Compassion will melt,", " Where this virtue is felt,", "And its dew is diffused in a _Tear_.", "", " The man, doom'd to sail", " With the blast of the gale,", "Through billows Atlantic to steer,", " As he bends o'er the wave", " Which may soon be his grave,", "The green sparkles bright with a _Tear_.", "", " The Soldier braves death", " For a fanciful wreath", "In Glory's romantic career;", " But he raises the foe", " When in battle laid low,", "And bathes every wound with a _Tear_.", "", " If, with high-bounding pride", " He return to his bride!", "Renouncing the gore-crimson'd spear;", " All his toils are repaid", " When, embracing the maid,", "From her eyelid he kisses the _Tear_.", "", " Sweet scene of my youth!", " Seat of Friendship and Truth,", "Where Love chas'd each fast-fleeting year;", " Loth to leave thee, I mourn'd,", " For a last look I turn'd,", "But thy spire was scarce seen through a _Tear_.", "", " Though my vows I can pour,", " To my Mary no more,", "My Mary, to Love once so dear,", " In the shade of her bow'r,", " I remember the hour,", "She rewarded those vows with a _Tear_.", "", " By another possest,", " May she live ever blest!", "Her name still my heart must revere:", " With a sigh I resign,", " What I once thought was mine,", "And forgive her deceit with a _Tear_.", "", " Ye friends of my heart,", " Ere from you I depart,", "This hope to my breast is most near:", " If again we shall meet,", " In this rural retreat,", "May we _meet_, as we _part_, with a _Tear_.", "", " When my soul wings her flight", " To the regions of night,", "And my corse shall recline on its bier;", " As ye pass by the tomb,", " Where my ashes consume,", "Oh! moisten their dust with a _Tear_.", "", " May no marble bestow", " The splendour of woe,", "Which the children of Vanity rear;", " No fiction of fame", " Shall blazon my name,", "All I ask, all I wish, is a _Tear_." ], "linecount": "77" }, { "title": "Reply to Some Verses of J. M. B. Pigot, Esq., on the Cruelty of His Mistress", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Why, Pigot, complain", " Of this damsel's disdain,", "Why thus in despair do you fret?", " For months you may try,", " Yet, believe me, a _sigh_", "Will never obtain a _coquette_.", "", " Would you teach her to love?", " For a time seem to rove;", "At first she may _frown_ in a _pet;_", " But leave her awhile,", " She shortly will smile,", "And then you may _kiss_ your _coquette_.", "", " For such are the airs", " Of these fanciful fairs,", "They think all our _homage_ a _debt_:", " Yet a partial neglect", " Soon takes an effect,", "And humbles the proudest _coquette_.", "", " Dissemble your pain,", " And lengthen your chain,", "And seem her _hauteur_ to _regret;_", " If again you shall sigh,", " She no more will deny,", "That _yours_ is the rosy _coquette_.", "", " If still, from false pride,", " Your pangs she deride,", "This whimsical virgin forget;", " Some _other_ admire,", " Who will _melt_ with your _fire_,", "And laugh at the _little coquette_.", "", " For _me_, I adore", " Some _twenty_ or more,", "And love them most dearly; but yet,", " Though my heart they enthral,", " I'd abandon them all,", "Did they act like your blooming _coquette_.", "", " No longer repine,", " Adopt this design,", "And break through her slight-woven net!", " Away with despair,", " No longer forbear", "To fly from the captious _coquette_.", "", " Then quit her, my friend!", " Your bosom defend,", "Ere quite with her snares you're beset:", " Lest your deep-wounded heart,", " When incens'd by the smart,", "Should lead you to _curse_ the _coquette_." ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "Granta. a Medley", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "(Reply of the Pythian Oracle to Philip of Macedon.)", "", "Oh! could LE SAGE'S demon's gift", " Be realis'd at my desire,", "This night my trembling form he'd lift", " To place it on St. Mary's spire.", "", "Then would, unroof'd, old Granta's halls,", " Pedantic inmates full display;", "_Fellows_ who dream on _lawn_ or _stalls_,", " The price of venal votes to pay.", "", "Then would I view each rival wight,", " PETTY and PALMERSTON survey;", "Who canvass there, with all their might,", " Against the next elective day.", "", "Lo! candidates and voters lie", " All lull'd in sleep, a goodly number!", "A race renown'd for piety,", " Whose conscience won't disturb their slumber.", "", "Lord H---indeed, may not demur;", " Fellows are sage, reflecting men:", "They know preferment can occur,", " But very seldom,--_now_ and _then_.", "", "They know the Chancellor has got", " Some pretty livings in disposal:", "Each hopes that _one_ may be his _lot_,", " And, therefore, smiles on his proposal.", "", "Now from the soporific scene", " I'll turn mine eye, as night grows later,", "To view, unheeded and unseen,", " The studious sons of Alma Mater.", "", "There, in apartments small and damp,", " The candidate for college prizes,", "Sits poring by the midnight lamp;", " Goes late to bed, yet early rises.", "", "He surely well deserves to gain them,", " With all the honours of his college,", "Who, striving hardly to obtain them,", " Thus seeks unprofitable knowledge:", "", "Who sacrifices hours of rest,", " To scan precisely metres Attic;", "Or agitates his anxious breast,", " In solving problems mathematic:", "", "Who reads false quantities in Seale,", " Or puzzles o'er the deep triangle;", "Depriv'd of many a wholesome meal;", " In _barbarous Latin_ doom'd to wrangle:", "", "Renouncing every pleasing page,", " From authors of historic use;", "Preferring to the letter'd sage,", " The square of the hypothenuse.", "", "Still, harmless are these occupations,", "That hurt none but the hapless student,", "Compar'd with other recreations,", "Which bring together the imprudent;", "", "Whose daring revels shock the sight,", "When vice and infamy combine,", "When Drunkenness and dice invite,", "As every sense is steep'd in wine.", "", "Not so the methodistic crew,", "Who plans of reformation lay:", "In humble attitude they sue,", "And for the sins of others pray:", "", "Forgetting that their pride of spirit,", "Their exultation in their trial,", "Detracts most largely from the merit", "Of all their boasted self-denial.", "", "'Tis morn:--from these I turn my sight:", "What scene is this which meets the eye?", "A numerous crowd array'd in white,", "Across the green in numbers fly.", "", "Loud rings in air the chapel bell;", "'Tis hush'd:--what sounds are these I hear?", "The organ's soft celestial swell", "Rolls deeply on the listening ear.", "", "To this is join'd the sacred song,", "The royal minstrel's hallow'd strain;", "Though _he_ who hears the _music_ long,", "Will _never_ wish to _hear again_.", "", "Our choir would scarcely be excus'd,", "E'en as a band of raw beginners;", "All mercy, now, must be refus'd", "To such a set of croaking sinners.", "", "If David, when his toils were ended,", "Had heard these blockheads sing before him,", "To us his psalms had ne'er descended,--", "In furious mood he would have tore 'em.", "", "The luckless Israelites, when taken", "By some inhuman tyrant's order,", "Were ask'd to sing, by joy forsaken,", "On Babylonian river's border.", "", "Oh! had they sung in notes like these", "Inspir'd by stratagem or fear,", "They might have set their hearts at ease,", "The devil a soul had stay'd to hear.", "", "But if I scribble longer now,", "The deuce a soul will _stay to read_;", "My pen is blunt, my ink is low;", "'Tis almost time to _stop_, _indeed_.", "", "Therefore, farewell, old _Granta's_ spires!", "No more, like _Cleofas_, I fly;", "No more thy theme my Muse inspires:", "The reader's tir'd, and so am I." ], "linecount": "101" }, { "title": "To the Sighing Strephon", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Your pardon, my friend,", "If my rhymes did offend,", "Your pardon, a thousand times o'er;", "From friendship I strove,", "Your pangs to remove,", "But, I swear, I will do so no more.", "", "Since your _beautiful_ maid,", "Your flame has repaid,", "No more I your folly regret;", "She's now most divine,", "And I bow at the shrine,", "Of this quickly reformèd coquette.", "", "Yet still, I must own,", "I should never have known,", "From _your verses_, what else she deserv'd;", "Your pain seem'd so great,", "I pitied your fate,", "As your fair was so dev'lish reserv'd.", "", "Since the balm-breathing kiss", "Of this magical Miss,", "Can such wonderful transports produce;", "Since the _\"world you forget,", "When your lips once have met,\"_", "My counsel will get but abuse.", "", "You say, \"When I rove,\"", "\"I know nothing of love;\"", "Tis true, I am given to range;", "If I rightly remember,", "_I've lov'd_ a good number;", "Yet there's pleasure, at least, in a change.", "", "I will not advance,", "By the rules of romance,", "To humour a whimsical fair;", "Though a smile may delight,", "Yet a _frown_ will _affright,_", "Or drive me to dreadful despair.", "", "While my blood is thus warm,", "I ne'er shall reform,", "To mix in the Platonists' school;", "Of this I am sure,", "Was my Passion so pure,", "Thy _Mistress_ would think me a fool.", "", "And if I should shun,", "Every _woman_ for _one,_", "Whose _image_ must fill my whole breast;", "Whom I must _prefer,_", "And _sigh_ but for _her,_", "What an _insult_ 'twould be to the _rest!_", "", "Now Strephon, good-bye;", "I cannot deny,", "Your _passion_ appears most _absurd;_", "Such _love_ as you plead,", "Is _pure_ love, indeed,", "For it _only_ consists in the _word_." ], "linecount": "54" }, { "title": "The Cornelian", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "No specious splendour of this stone", "Endears it to my memory ever;", "With lustre _only once_ it shone,", "And blushes modest as the giver.", "", "Some, who can sneer at friendship's ties,", "Have, for my weakness, oft reprov'd me;", "Yet still the simple gift I prize,", "For I am sure, the giver lov'd me.", "", "He offer'd it with downcast look,", "As _fearful_ that I might refuse it;", "I told him, when the gift I took,", "My _only fear_ should be, to lose it.", "", "This pledge attentively I view'd,", "And _sparkling_ as I held it near,", "Methought one drop the stone bedew'd,", "And, ever since, _I've lov'd a tear._", "", "Still, to adorn his humble youth,", "Nor wealth nor birth their treasures yield;", "But he, who seeks the flowers of truth,", "Must quit the garden, for the field.", "", "'Tis not the plant uprear'd in sloth,", "Which beauty shews, and sheds perfume;", "The flowers, which yield the most of both,", "In Nature's wild luxuriance bloom.", "", "Had Fortune aided Nature's care,", "For once forgetting to be blind,", "_His_ would have been an ample share,", "If well proportioned to his mind.", "", "But had the Goddess clearly seen,", "His form had fix'd her fickle breast;", "_Her_ countless hoards would _his_ have been,", "And none remain'd to give the rest." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "To M---", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! did those eyes, instead of fire,", " With bright, but mild affection shine:", "Though they might kindle less desire,", " Love, more than mortal, would be thine.", "", "For thou art form'd so heavenly fair,", " _Howe'er_ those orbs _may_ wildly beam,", "We must _admire,_ but still despair;", " That fatal glance forbids esteem.", "", "When Nature stamp'd thy beauteous birth,", " So much perfection in thee shone,", "She fear'd that, too divine for earth,", " The skies might claim thee for their own.", "", "Therefore, to guard her dearest work,", " Lest angels might dispute the prize,", "She bade a secret lightning lurk,", " Within those once celestial eyes.", "", "These might the boldest Sylph appall,", " When gleaming with meridian blaze;", "Thy beauty must enrapture all;", " But who can dare thine ardent gaze?", "", "'Tis said that Berenice's hair,", " In stars adorns the vault of heaven;", "But they would ne'er permit _thee_ there,", " _Thou_ wouldst so far outshine the seven.", "", "For did those eyes as planets roll,", " Thy sister-lights would scarce appear:", "E'en suns, which systems now controul,", " Would twinkle dimly through their sphere." ], "linecount": "28" }, { "title": "Lines Addressed to a Young Lady", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Doubtless, sweet girl! the hissing lead,", " Wafting destruction o'er thy charms", "And hurtling o'er thy lovely head,", " Has fill'd that breast with fond alarms.", "", "Surely some envious Demon's force,", " Vex'd to behold such beauty here,", "Impell'd the bullet's viewless course,", " Diverted from its first career.", "", "Yes! in that nearly fatal hour,", " The ball obey'd some hell-born guide;", "But Heaven, with interposing power,", " In pity turn'd the death aside.", "", "Yet, as perchance one trembling tear", " Upon that thrilling bosom fell;", "Which _I_, th' unconscious cause of fear,", " Extracted from its glistening cell;--", "", "Say, what dire penance can atone", " For such an outrage, done to thee?", "Arraign'd before thy beauty's throne,", " What punishment wilt thou decree?", "", "Might I perform the Judge's part,", " The sentence I should scarce deplore;", "It only would restore a heart,", " Which but belong'd to _thee_ before.", "", "The least atonement I can make", " Is to become no longer free;", "Henceforth, I breathe but for thy sake,", " Thou shalt be _all in all_ to me.", "", "But thou, perhaps, may'st now reject", " Such expiation of my guilt;", "Come then--some other mode elect?", " Let it be death--or what thou wilt.", "", "Choose, then, relentless! and I swear", " Nought shall thy dread decree prevent;", "Yet hold--one little word forbear!", " Let it be aught but banishment." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Translation From Catullus. AD Lesbiam", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Equal to Jove that youth must be--", "_Greater_ than Jove he seems to me--", "Who, free from Jealousy's alarms,", "Securely views thy matchless charms;", "That cheek, which ever dimpling glows,", "That mouth, from whence such music flows,", "To him, alike, are always known,", "Reserv'd for him, and him alone.", "Ah! Lesbia! though 'tis death to me,", "I cannot choose but look on thee;", "But, at the sight, my senses fly,", "I needs must gaze, but, gazing, die;", "Whilst trembling with a thousand fears,", "Parch'd to the throat my tongue adheres,", "My pulse beats quick, my breath heaves short,", "My limbs deny their slight support;", "Cold dews my pallid face o'erspread,", "With deadly languor droops my head,", "My ears with tingling echoes ring,", "And Life itself is on the wing;", "My eyes refuse the cheering light,", "Their orbs are veil'd in starless night:", "Such pangs my nature sinks beneath,", "And feels a temporary death." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Translation of the Epitaph on Virgil and Tibullus, by Domitius Marsus", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "He who, sublime, in epic numbers roll'd,", "And he who struck the softer lyre of Love,", "By Death's _unequal_hand alike controul'd,", "Fit comrades in Elysian regions move!" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Imitation of Tibullus. Sulpicia AD Cerinthum (Lib. Quart.)", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Cruel Cerinthus! does the fell disease", "Which racks my breast your fickle bosom please?", "Alas! I wish'd but to o'ercome the pain,", "That I might live for Love and you again;", "But, now, I scarcely shall bewail my fate:", "By Death alone I can avoid your hate." ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "Translation From Catullus. Lugete Veneres Cupidinesque (Carm. III.)", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Ye Cupids, droop each little head,", "Nor let your wings with joy be spread,", "My Lesbia's favourite bird is dead,", " Whom dearer than her eyes she lov'd:", "For he was gentle, and so true,", "Obedient to her call he flew,", "No fear, no wild alarm he knew,", " But lightly o'er her bosom mov'd:", "", "And softly fluttering here and there,", "He never sought to cleave the air,", "He chirrup'd oft, and, free from care,", " Tun'd to her ear his grateful strain.", "Now having pass'd the gloomy bourn,", "From whence he never can return,", "His death, and Lesbia's grief I mourn,", " Who sighs, alas! but sighs in vain.", "", "Oh! curst be thou, devouring grave!", "Whose jaws eternal victims crave,", "From whom no earthly power can save,", " For thou hast ta'en the bird away:", "From thee my Lesbia's eyes o'erflow,", "Her swollen cheeks with weeping glow;", "Thou art the cause of all her woe,", " Receptacle of life's decay." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Imitated From Catullus. to Ellen", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! might I kiss those eyes of fire,", "A million scarce would quench desire;", "Still would I steep my lips in bliss,", "And dwell an age on every kiss;", "Nor then my soul should sated be,", "Still would I kiss and cling to thee:", "Nought should my kiss from thine dissever,", "Still would we kiss and kiss for ever;", "E'en though the numbers did exceed", "The yellow harvest's countless seed;", "To part would be a vain endeavour:", "Could I desist?--ah! never--never." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "To M. S. G", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Whene'er I view those lips of thine,", " Their hue invites my fervent kiss;", "Yet, I forego that bliss divine,", " Alas! it were--unhallow'd bliss.", "", "Whene'er I dream of that pure breast,", " How could I dwell upon its snows!", "Yet, is the daring wish represt,", " For that,--would banish its repose.", "", "A glance from thy soul-searching eye", " Can raise with hope, depress with fear;", "Yet, I conceal my love,--and why?", " I would not force a painful tear.", "", "I ne'er have told my love, yet thou", " Hast seen my ardent flame too well;", "And shall I plead my passion now,", " To make thy bosom's heaven a hell?", "", "No! for thou never canst be mine,", " United by the priest's decree:", "By any ties but those divine,", " Mine, my belov'd, thou ne'er shalt be.", "", "Then let the secret fire consume,", " Let it consume, thou shalt not know:", "With joy I court a certain doom,", " Rather than spread its guilty glow.", "", "I will not ease my tortur'd heart,", " By driving dove-ey'd peace from thine;", "Rather than such a sting impart,", " Each thought presumptuous I resign.", "", "Yes! yield those lips, for which I'd brave", " More than I here shall dare to tell;", "Thy innocence and mine to save,--", " I bid thee now a last farewell.", "", "Yes! yield that breast, to seek despair", " And hope no more thy soft embrace;", "Which to obtain, my soul would dare,", " All, all reproach, but thy disgrace.", "", "At least from guilt shall thou be free,", " No matron shall thy shame reprove;", "Though cureless pangs may prey on me,", " No martyr shall thou be to love." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Stanzas to a Lady, With the Poems of CamoëNs", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "This votive pledge of fond esteem,", " Perhaps, dear girl! for me thou'lt prize;", "It sings of Love's enchanting dream,", " A theme we never can despise.", "", "Who blames it but the envious fool,", " The old and disappointed maid?", "Or pupil of the prudish school,", " In single sorrow doom'd to fade?", "", "Then read, dear Girl! with feeling read,", " For thou wilt ne'er be one of those;", "To thee, in vain, I shall not plead", " In pity for the Poet's woes.", "", "He was, in sooth, a genuine Bard;", " His was no faint, fictitious flame:", "Like his, may Love be thy reward,", " But not thy hapless fate the same." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "To M. S. G", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When I dream that you love me, you'll surely forgive;", " Extend not your anger to sleep;", "For in visions alone your affection can live,--", " I rise, and it leaves me to weep.", "", "Then, Morpheus! envelop my faculties fast,", " Shed o'er me your languor benign;", "Should the dream of to-night but resemble the last,", " What rapture celestial is mine!", "", "They tell us that slumber, the sister of death,", " Mortality's emblem is given;", "To fate how I long to resign my frail breath,", " If this be a foretaste of Heaven!", "", "Ah! frown not, sweet Lady, unbend your soft brow,", " Nor deem me too happy in this;", "If I sin in my dream, I atone for it now,", " Thus doom'd, but to gaze upon bliss.", "", "Though in visions, sweet Lady, perhaps you may smile,", " Oh! think not my penance deficient!", "When dreams of your presence my slumbers beguile,", " To awake, will be torture sufficient." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "Translation From Horace", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Justum et tenacem propositi virum.", "", " HOR. 'Odes', iii. 3. I.", "", " The man of firm and noble soul", " No factious clamours can controul;", " No threat'ning tyrant's darkling brow", " Can swerve him from his just intent:", " Gales the warring waves which plough,", " By Auster on the billows spent,", " To curb the Adriatic main,", " Would awe his fix'd determined mind in vain.", "", " Aye, and the red right arm of Jove,", " Hurtling his lightnings from above,", " With all his terrors there unfurl'd,", " He would, unmov'd, unaw'd, behold;", " The flames of an expiring world,", " Again in crashing chaos roll'd,", " In vast promiscuous ruin hurl'd,", " Might light his glorious funeral pile:", " Still dauntless 'midst the wreck of earth he'd smile." ], "linecount": "19" }, { "title": "The First Kiss of Love", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Ha barbitos de chordais", " Er_ota mounon aechei. - Anacreon", "", "Away with your fictions of flimsy romance,", " Those tissues of falsehood which Folly has wove;", "Give me the mild beam of the soul-breathing glance,", " Or the rapture which dwells on the first kiss of love.", "", "Ye rhymers, whose bosoms with fantasy glow, ", " Whose pastoral passions are made for the grove;", "From what blest inspiration your sonnets would flow, ", " Could you ever have tasted the first kiss of love.", "", "If Apollo should e'er his assistance refuse,", " Or the Nine be dispos'd from your service to rove,", "Invoke them no more, bid adieu to the Muse,", " And try the effect, of the first kiss of love.", "", "I hate you, ye cold compositions of art,", " Though prudes may condemn me, and bigots reprove;", "I court the effusions that spring from the heart,", " Which throbs, with delight, to the first kiss of love. ", "", "Your shepherds, your flocks, those fantastical themes, ", " Perhaps may amuse, yet they never can move:", "Arcadia displays but a region of dreams; ", " What are visions like these, to the first kiss of love?", "", "Oh! cease to affirm that man, since his birth, ", " From Adam, till now, has with wretchedness strove;", "Some portion of Paradise still is on earth,", " And Eden revives, in the first kiss of love.", "", "When age chills the blood, when our pleasures are past--", "For years fleet away with the wings of the dove--", "The dearest remembrance will still be the last,", "Our sweetest memorial, the first kiss of love." ], "linecount": "30" }, { "title": "Childish Recollections", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"I cannot but remember such things were,", " And were most dear to me.\"", "", " 'Macbeth'", "", "When slow Disease, with all her host of Pains,", "Chills the warm tide, which flows along the veins;", "When Health, affrighted, spreads her rosy wing,", "And flies with every changing gale of spring;", "Not to the aching frame alone confin'd,", "Unyielding pangs assail the drooping mind:", "What grisly forms, the spectre-train of woe,", "Bid shuddering Nature shrink beneath the blow,", "With Resignation wage relentless strife,", "While Hope retires appall'd, and clings to life.", "Yet less the pang when, through the tedious hour,", "Remembrance sheds around her genial power,", "Calls back the vanish'd days to rapture given,", "When Love was bliss, and Beauty form'd our heaven;", "Or, dear to youth, pourtrays each childish scene,", "Those fairy bowers, where all in turn have been.", "As when, through clouds that pour the summer storm,", "The orb of day unveils his distant form,", "Gilds with faint beams the crystal dews of rain", "And dimly twinkles o'er the watery plain;", "Thus, while the future dark and cheerless gleams,", "The Sun of Memory, glowing through my dreams,", "Though sunk the radiance of his former blaze,", "To scenes far distant points his paler rays,", "Still rules my senses with unbounded sway,", "The past confounding with the present day.", "", "Oft does my heart indulge the rising thought,", "Which still recurs, unlook'd for and unsought;", "My soul to Fancy's fond suggestion yields,", "And roams romantic o'er her airy fields.", "Scenes of my youth, develop'd, crowd to view,", "To which I long have bade a last adieu!", "Seats of delight, inspiring youthful themes;", "Friends lost to me, for aye, except in dreams;", "Some, who in marble prematurely sleep,", "Whose forms I now remember, but to weep;", "Some, who yet urge the same scholastic course", "Of early science, future fame the source;", "Who, still contending in the studious race,", "In quick rotation, fill the senior place!", "These, with a thousand visions, now unite,", "To dazzle, though they please, my aching sight.", "", "IDA! blest spot, where Science holds her reign,", "How joyous, once, I join'd thy youthful train!", "Bright, in idea, gleams thy lofty spire,", "Again, I mingle with thy playful quire;", "Our tricks of mischief, every childish game,", "Unchang'd by time or distance, seem the same;", "Through winding paths, along the glade I trace", "The social smile of every welcome face;", "My wonted haunts, my scenes of joy or woe,", "Each early boyish friend, or youthful foe,", "Our feuds dissolv'd, but not my friendship past,--", "I bless the former, and forgive the last.", "Hours of my youth! when, nurtur'd in my breast,", "To Love a stranger, Friendship made me blest,--", "Friendship, the dear peculiar bond of youth,", "When every artless bosom throbs with truth;", "Untaught by worldly wisdom how to feign,", "And check each impulse with prudential rein;", "When, all we feel, our honest souls disclose,", "In love to friends, in open hate to foes;", "No varnish'd tales the lips of youth repeat,", "No dear-bought knowledge purchased by deceit;", "Hypocrisy, the gift of lengthen'd years,", "Matured by age, the garb of Prudence wears:", "When, now, the Boy is ripen'd into Man,", "His careful Sire chalks forth some wary plan;", "Instructs his Son from Candour's path to shrink,", "Smoothly to speak, and cautiously to think;", "Still to assent, and never to deny--", "A patron's praise can well reward the lie:", "And who, when Fortune's warning voice is heard,", "Would lose his opening prospects for a word?", "Although, against that word, his heart rebel,", "And Truth, indignant, all his bosom swell.", "", " Away with themes like this! not mine the task,", "From flattering friends to tear the hateful mask;", "Let keener bards delight in Satire's sting,", "My Fancy soars not on Detraction's wing:", "Once, and but once, she aim'd a deadly blow,", "To hurl Defiance on a secret Foe;", "But when that foe, from feeling or from shame,", "The cause unknown, yet still to me the same,", "Warn'd by some friendly hint, perchance, retir'd,", "With this submission all her rage expired.", "From dreaded pangs that feeble Foe to save,", "She hush'd her young resentment, and forgave.", "Or, if my Muse a Pedant's portrait drew,", "POMPOSUS' virtues are but known to few:", "I never fear'd the young usurper's nod,", "And he who wields must, sometimes, feel the rod.", "If since on Granta's failings, known to all", "Who share the converse of a college hall,", "She sometimes trifled in a lighter strain,", "'Tis past, and thus she will not sin again:", "Soon must her early song for ever cease,", "And, all may rail, when I shall rest in peace.", "", " Here, first remember'd be the joyous band,", "Who hail'd me chief, obedient to command;", "Who join'd with me, in every boyish sport,", "Their first adviser, and their last resort;", "Nor shrunk beneath the upstart pedant's frown,", "Or all the sable glories of his gown;", "Who, thus, transplanted from his father's school,", "Unfit to govern, ignorant of rule--", "Succeeded him, whom all unite to praise,", "The dear preceptor of my early days,", "PROBUS, the pride of science, and the boast--", "To IDA now, alas! for ever lost!", "With him, for years, we search'd the classic page,", "And fear'd the Master, though we lov'd the Sage:", "Retir'd at last, his small yet peaceful seat", "From learning's labour is the blest retreat.", "POMPOSUS fills his magisterial chair;", "POMPOSUS governs,--but, my Muse, forbear:", "Contempt, in silence, be the pedant's lot,", "His name and precepts be alike forgot;", "No more his mention shall my verse degrade,--", "To him my tribute is already paid.", "", " High, through those elms with hoary branches crown'd", "Fair IDA'S bower adorns the landscape round;", "There Science, from her favour'd seat, surveys", "The vale where rural Nature claims her praise;", "To her awhile resigns her youthful train,", "Who move in joy, and dance along the plain;", "In scatter'd groups, each favour'd haunt pursue,", "Repeat old pastimes, and discover new;", "Flush'd with his rays, beneath the noontide Sun,", "In rival bands, between the wickets run,", "Drive o'er the sward the ball with active force,", "Or chase with nimble feet its rapid course.", "But these with slower steps direct their way,", "Where Brent's cool waves in limpid currents stray,", "While yonder few search out some green retreat,", "And arbours shade them from the summer heat:", "Others, again, a pert and lively crew,", "Some rough and thoughtless stranger plac'd in view,", "With frolic quaint their antic jests expose,", "And tease the grumbling rustic as he goes;", "Nor rest with this, but many a passing fray", "Tradition treasures for a future day:", "\"'Twas here the gather'd swains for vengeance fought,", "And here we earn'd the conquest dearly bought:", "Here have we fled before superior might,", "And here renew'd the wild tumultuous fight.\"", "While thus our souls with early passions swell,", "In lingering tones resounds the distant bell;", "Th' allotted hour of daily sport is o'er,", "And Learning beckons from her temple's door.", "No splendid tablets grace her simple hall,", "But ruder records fill the dusky wall:", "There, deeply carv'd, behold! each Tyro's name", "Secures its owner's academic fame;", "Here mingling view the names of Sire and Son,", "The one long grav'd, the other just begun:", "These shall survive alike when Son and Sire,", "Beneath one common stroke of fate expire;", "Perhaps, their last memorial these alone,", "Denied, in death, a monumental stone,", "Whilst to the gale in mournful cadence wave", "The sighing weeds, that hide their nameless grave.", "And, here, my name, and many an early friend's,", "Along the wall in lengthen'd line extends.", "Though, still, our deeds amuse the youthful race,", "Who tread our steps, and fill our former place,", "Who young obeyed their lords in silent awe,", "Whose nod commanded, and whose voice was law;", "And now, in turn, possess the reins of power,", "To rule, the little Tyrants of an hour;", "Though sometimes, with the Tales of ancient day,", "They pass the dreary Winter's eve away;", "\"And, thus, our former rulers stemm'd the tide,", "And, thus, they dealt the combat, side by side;", "Just in this place, the mouldering walls they scaled,", "Nor bolts, nor bars, against their strength avail'd;", "Here PROBUS came, the rising fray to quell,", "And, here, he falter'd forth his last farewell;", "And, here, one night abroad they dared to roam,", "While bold POMPOSUS bravely staid at home;\"", "While thus they speak, the hour must soon arrive,", "When names of these, like ours, alone survive:", "Yet a few years, one general wreck will whelm", "The faint remembrance of our fairy realm.", "", " Dear honest race! though now we meet no more,", "One last long look on what we were before--", "Our first kind greetings, and our last adieu--", "Drew tears from eyes unus'd to weep with you.", "Through splendid circles, Fashion's gaudy world,", "Where Folly's glaring standard waves unfurl'd,", "I plung'd to drown in noise my fond regret,", "And all I sought or hop'd was to forget:", "Vain wish! if, chance, some well-remember'd face,", "Some old companion of my early race,", "Advanc'd to claim his friend with honest joy,", "My eyes, my heart, proclaim'd me still a boy;", "The glittering scene, the fluttering groups around,", "Were quite forgotten when my friend was found;", "The smiles of Beauty, (for, alas! I've known", "What 'tis to bend before Love's mighty throne;)", "The smiles of Beauty, though those smiles were dear,", "Could hardly charm me, when that friend was near:", "My thoughts bewilder'd in the fond surprise,", "The woods of IDA danc'd before my eyes;", "I saw the sprightly wand'rers pour along,", "I saw, and join'd again the joyous throng;", "Panting, again I trac'd her lofty grove,", "And Friendship's feelings triumph'd over Love.", "", " Yet, why should I alone with such delight", "Retrace the circuit of my former flight?", "Is there no cause beyond the common claim,", "Endear'd to all in childhood's very name?", "Ah! sure some stronger impulse vibrates here,", "Which whispers friendship will be doubly dear", "To one, who thus for kindred hearts must roam,", "And seek abroad, the love denied at home.", "Those hearts, dear IDA, have I found in thee,", "A home, a world, a paradise to me.", "Stern Death forbade my orphan youth to share", "The tender guidance of a Father's care;", "Can Rank, or e'en a Guardian's name supply", "The love, which glistens in a Father's eye?", "For this, can Wealth, or Title's sound atone,", "Made, by a Parent's early loss, my own?", "What Brother springs a Brother's love to seek?", "What Sister's gentle kiss has prest my cheek?", "For me, how dull the vacant moments rise,", "To no fond bosom link'd by kindred ties!", "Oft, in the progress of some fleeting dream,", "Fraternal smiles, collected round me seem;", "While still the visions to my heart are prest,", "The voice of Love will murmur in my rest:", "I hear--I wake--and in the sound rejoice!", "I hear again,--but, ah! no Brother's voice.", "A Hermit, 'midst of crowds, I fain must stray", "Alone, though thousand pilgrims fill the way;", "While these a thousand kindred wreaths entwine,", "I cannot call one single blossom mine:", "What then remains? in solitude to groan,", "To mix in friendship, or to sigh alone?", "Thus, must I cling to some endearing hand,", "And none more dear, than IDA'S social band.", "", " Alonzo! best and dearest of my friends,", "Thy name ennobles him, who thus commends:", "From this fond tribute thou canst gain no praise;", "The praise is his, who now that tribute pays.", "Oh! in the promise of thy early youth,", "If Hope anticipate the words of Truth!", "Some loftier bard shall sing thy glorious name,", "To build his own, upon thy deathless fame:", "Friend of my heart, and foremost of the list", "Of those with whom I lived supremely blest;", "Oft have we drain'd the font of ancient lore,", "Though drinking deeply, thirsting still the more;", "Yet, when Confinement's lingering hour was done,", "Our sports, our studies, and our souls were one:", "Together we impell'd the flying ball,", "Together waited in our tutor's hall;", "Together join'd in cricket's manly toil,", "Or shar'd the produce of the river's spoil;", "Or plunging from the green declining shore,", "Our pliant limbs the buoyant billows bore:", "In every element, unchang'd, the same,", "All, all that brothers should be, but the name.", "", " Nor, yet, are you forgot, my jocund Boy!", "DAVUS, the harbinger of childish joy;", "For ever foremost in the ranks of fun,", "The laughing herald of the harmless pun;", "Yet, with a breast of such materials made,", "Anxious to please, of pleasing half afraid;", "Candid and liberal, with a heart of steel", "In Danger's path, though not untaught to feel.", "Still, I remember, in the factious strife,", "The rustic's musket aim'd against my life:", "High pois'd in air the massy weapon hung,", "A cry of horror burst from every tongue:", "Whilst I, in combat with another foe,", "Fought on, unconscious of th' impending blow;", "Your arm, brave Boy, arrested his career--", "Forward you sprung, insensible to fear;", "Disarm'd, and baffled by your conquering hand,", "The grovelling Savage roll'd upon the sand:", "An act like this, can simple thanks repay?", "Or all the labours of a grateful lay?", "Oh no! whene'er my breast forgets the deed,", "That instant, DAVUS, it deserves to bleed.", "", " LYCUS! on me thy claims are justly great:", "Thy milder virtues could my Muse relate,", "To thee, alone, unrivall'd, would belong", "The feeble efforts of my lengthen'd song.", "Well canst thou boast, to lead in senates fit,", "A Spartan firmness, with Athenian wit:", "Though yet, in embryo, these perfections shine,", "LYCUS! thy father's fame will soon be thine.", "Where Learning nurtures the superior mind,", "What may we hope, from genius thus refin'd;", "When Time, at length, matures thy growing years,", "How wilt thou tower, above thy fellow peers!", "Prudence and sense, a spirit bold and free,", "With Honour's soul, united beam in thee.", "", "Shall fair EURYALUS,pass by unsung?", "From ancient lineage, not unworthy, sprung:", "What, though one sad dissension bade us part,", "That name is yet embalm'd within my heart,", "Yet, at the mention, does that heart rebound,", "And palpitate, responsive to the sound;", "Envy dissolved our ties, and not our will:", "We once were friends,--I'll think, we are so still.", "A form unmatch'd in Nature's partial mould,", "A heart untainted, we, in thee, behold:", "Yet, not the Senate's thunder thou shall wield,", "Nor seek for glory, in the tented field:", "To minds of ruder texture, these be given--", "Thy soul shall nearer soar its native heaven.", "Haply, in polish'd courts might be thy seat,", "But, that thy tongue could never forge deceit:", "The courtier's supple bow, and sneering smile,", "The flow of compliment, the slippery wile,", "Would make that breast, with indignation, burn,", "And, all the glittering snares, to tempt thee, spurn.", "Domestic happiness will stamp thy fate;", "Sacred to love, unclouded e'er by hate;", "The world admire thee, and thy friends adore;--", "Ambition's slave, alone, would toil for more.", "", " Now last, but nearest, of the social band,", "See honest, open, generous CLEON stand;", "With scarce one speck, to cloud the pleasing scene,", "No vice degrades that purest soul serene.", "On the same day, our studious race begun,", "On the same day, our studious race was run;", "Thus, side by side, we pass'd our first career,", "Thus, side by side, we strove for many a year:", "At last, concluded our scholastic life,", "We neither conquer'd in the classic strife:", "As Speakers, each supports an equal name,", "And crowds allow to both a partial fame:", "To soothe a youthful Rival's early pride,", "Though Cleon's candour would the palm divide,", "Yet Candour's self compels me now to own,", "Justice awards it to my Friend alone.", "", " Oh! Friends regretted, Scenes for ever dear,", "Remembrance hails you with her warmest tear!", "Drooping, she bends o'er pensive Fancy's urn,", "To trace the hours, which never can return;", "Yet, with the retrospection loves to dwell,", "And soothe the sorrows of her last farewell!", "Yet greets the triumph of my boyish mind,", "As infant laurels round my head were twin'd;", "When PROBUS' praise repaid my lyric song,", "Or plac'd me higher in the studious throng;", "Or when my first harangue receiv'd applause,", "His sage instruction the primeval cause,", "What gratitude, to him, my soul possest,", "While hope of dawning honours fill'd my breast!", "For all my humble fame, to him alone,", "The praise is due, who made that fame my own.", "Oh! could I soar above these feeble lays,", "These young effusions of my early days,", "To him my Muse her noblest strain would give,", "The song might perish, but the theme might live.", "Yet, why for him the needless verse essay?", "His honour'd name requires no vain display:", "By every son of grateful IDA blest,", "It finds an echo in each youthful breast;", "A fame beyond the glories of the proud,", "Or all the plaudits of the venal crowd.", "", "IDA! not yet exhausted is the theme,", "Nor clos'd the progress of my youthful dream.", "How many a friend deserves the grateful strain!", "What scenes of childhood still unsung remain!", "Yet let me hush this echo of the past,", "This parting song, the dearest and the last;", "And brood in secret o'er those hours of joy,", "To me a silent and a sweet employ,", "While, future hope and fear alike unknown,", "I think with pleasure on the past alone;", "Yes, to the past alone, my heart confine,", "And chase the phantom of what once was mine.", "", "IDA! still o'er thy hills in joy preside,", "And proudly steer through Time's eventful tide:", "Still may thy blooming Sons thy name revere,", "Smile in thy bower, but quit thee with a tear;--", "That tear, perhaps, the fondest which will flow,", "O'er their last scene of happiness below:", "Tell me, ye hoary few, who glide along,", "The feeble Veterans of some former throng,", "Whose friends, like Autumn leaves by tempests whirl'd,", "Are swept for ever from this busy world;", "Revolve the fleeting moments of your youth,", "While Care has yet withheld her venom'd tooth;", "Say, if Remembrance days like these endears,", "Beyond the rapture of succeeding years?", "Say, can Ambition's fever'd dream bestow", "So sweet a balm to soothe your hours of woe?", "Can Treasures hoarded for some thankless Son,", "Can Royal Smiles, or Wreaths by slaughter won,", "Can Stars or Ermine, Man's maturer Toys,", "(For glittering baubles are not left to Boys,)", "Recall one scene so much belov'd to view,", "As those where Youth her garland twin'd for you?", "Ah, no! amid the gloomy calm of age", "You turn with faltering hand life's varied page,", "Peruse the record of your days on earth,", "Unsullied only where it marks your birth;", "Still, lingering, pause above each chequer'd leaf,", "And blot with Tears the sable lines of Grief;", "Where Passion o'er the theme her mantle threw,", "Or weeping Virtue sigh'd a faint adieu;", "But bless the scroll which fairer words adorn,", "Trac'd by the rosy finger of the Morn;", "When Friendship bow'd before the shrine of truth,", "And Love, without his pinion, smil'd on Youth." ], "linecount": "415" }, { "title": "Answer to a Beautiful Poem, Written by Montgomery, Author of \"the Wanderer of Switzerland,\" Etc., Entitled \"the Common Lot.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Montgomery! true, the common lot", " Of mortals lies in Lethe's wave;", "Yet some shall never be forgot,", " Some shall exist beyond the grave.", "", "\"Unknown the region of his birth,\"", " The hero rolls the tide of war;", "Yet not unknown his martial worth,", " Which glares a meteor from afar.", "", "His joy or grief, his weal or woe,", " Perchance may 'scape the page of fame;", "Yet nations, now unborn, will know", " The record of his deathless name.", "", "The Patriot's and the Poet's frame", " Must share the common tomb of all:", "Their glory will not sleep the same;", " 'That' will arise, though Empires fall.", "", "The lustre of a Beauty's eye", " Assumes the ghastly stare of death;", "The fair, the brave, the good must die,", " And sink the yawning grave beneath.", "", "Once more, the speaking eye revives,", " Still beaming through the lover's strain;", "For Petrarch's Laura still survives:", " She died, but ne'er will die again.", "", "The rolling seasons pass away,", " And Time, untiring, waves his wing;", "Whilst honour's laurels ne'er decay,", " But bloom in fresh, unfading spring.", "", "All, all must sleep in grim repose,", " Collected in the silent tomb;", "The old, the young, with friends and foes,", " Fest'ring alike in shrouds, consume.", "", "The mouldering marble lasts its day,", " Yet falls at length an useless fane;", "To Ruin's ruthless fangs a prey,", " The wrecks of pillar'd Pride remain.", "", "What, though the sculpture be destroy'd,", " From dark Oblivion meant to guard;", "A bright renown shall be enjoy'd,", " By those, whose virtues claim reward.", "", "Then do not say the common lot", " Of all lies deep in Lethe's wave;", "Some few who ne'er will be forgot", " Shall burst the bondage of the grave." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Love's Last Adieu", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The roses of Love glad the garden of life,", " Though nurtur'd 'mid weeds dropping pestilent dew,", "Till Time crops the leaves with unmerciful knife,", " Or prunes them for ever, in Love's last adieu!", "", "In vain, with endearments, we soothe the sad heart,", " In vain do we vow for an age to be true;", "The chance of an hour may command us to part,", " Or Death disunite us, in Love's last adieu!", "", "Still Hope, breathing peace, through the grief-swollen breast,", " Will whisper, \"Our meeting we yet may renew:\"", "With this dream of deceit, half our sorrow's represt,", " Nor taste we the poison, of Love's last adieu!", "", "Oh! mark you yon pair, in the sunshine of youth,", " Love twin'd round their childhood his flow'rs as they grew;", "They flourish awhile, in the season of truth,", " Till chill'd by the winter of Love's last adieu!", "", "Sweet lady! why thus doth a tear steal its way,", " Down a cheek which outrivals thy bosom in hue?", "Yet why do I ask?--to distraction a prey,", " Thy reason has perish'd, with Love's last adieu!", "", "Oh! who is yon Misanthrope, shunning mankind?", " From cities to caves of the forest he flew:", "There, raving, he howls his complaint to the wind;", " The mountains reverberate Love's last adieu!", "", "Now Hate rules a heart which in Love's easy chains,", " Once Passion's tumultuous blandishments knew;", "Despair now inflames the dark tide of his veins,", " He ponders, in frenzy, on Love's last adieu!", "", "How he envies the wretch, with a soul wrapt in steel!", " His pleasures are scarce, yet his troubles are few,", "Who laughs at the pang that he never can feel,", " And dreads not the anguish of Love's last adieu!", "", "Youth flies, life decays, even hope is o'ercast;", " No more, with Love's former devotion, we sue:", "He spreads his young wing, he retires with the blast;", " The shroud of affection is Love's last adieu!", "", "In this life of probation, for rapture divine,", " Astreadeclares that some penance is due;", "From him, who has worshipp'd at Love's gentle shrine,", " The atonement is ample, in Love's last adieu!", "", "Who kneels to the God, on his altar of light", " Must myrtle and cypress alternately strew:", "His myrtle, an emblem of purest delight,", " His cypress, the garland of Love's last adieu!" ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "Lines. Addressed to the Rev. J. T. Becher, on His Advising the Author to Mix More With Society", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Dear BECHER, you tell me to mix with mankind;", " I cannot deny such a precept is wise;", "But retirement accords with the tone of my mind:", " I will not descend to a world I despise.", "", "Did the Senate or Camp my exertions require,", " Ambition might prompt me, at once, to go forth;", "When Infancy's years of probation expire,", " Perchance, I may strive to distinguish my birth.", "", "The fire, in the cavern of Etna, conceal'd,", " Still mantles unseen in its secret recess;", "At length, in a volume terrific, reveal'd,", " No torrent can quench it, no bounds can repress.", "", "Oh! thus, the desire, in my bosom, for fame", " Bids me live, but to hope for Posterity's praise.", "Could I soar with the Phoenix on pinions of flame,", " With him I would wish to expire in the blaze.", "", "For the life of a Fox, of a Chatham the death,", " What censure, what danger, what woe would I brave!", "Their lives did not end, when they yielded their breath,", " Their glory illumines the gloom of their grave", "", "Yet why should I mingle in Fashion's full herd?", " Why crouch to her leaders, or cringe to her rules?", "Why bend to the proud, or applaud the absurd?", " Why search for delight, in the friendship of fools?", "", "I have tasted the sweets, and the bitters, of love,", " In friendship I early was taught to believe;", "My passion the matrons of prudence reprove,", " I have found that a friend may profess, yet deceive.", "", "To me what is wealth?--it may pass in an hour,", " If Tyrants prevail, or if Fortune should frown:", "To me what is title?--the phantom of power;", " To me what is fashion?--I seek but renown.", "", "Deceit is a stranger, as yet, to my soul;", " I, still, am unpractised to varnish the truth:", "Then, why should I live in a hateful controul?", " Why waste, upon folly, the days of my youth?" ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Answer to Some Elegant Verses Sent by a Friend to the Author, Complaining That One of His Descriptions Was Rather Too Warmly Drawn", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"But if any old Lady, Knight, Priest, or Physician,", " Should condemn me for printing a second edition;", " If good Madam Squintum my work should abuse,", " May I venture to give her a smack of my muse?\"", "", " Anstey's 'New Bath Guide', p. 169.", "", "Candour compels me, BECHER! to commend", "The verse, which blends the censor with the friend;", "Your strong yet just reproof extorts applause", "From me, the heedless and imprudent cause;", "For this wild error, which pervades my strain,", "I sue for pardon,--must I sue in vain?", "The wise sometimes from Wisdom's ways depart;", "Can youth then hush the dictates of the heart?", "Precepts of prudence curb, but can't controul,", "The fierce emotions of the flowing soul.", "When Love's delirium haunts the glowing mind,", "Limping Decorum lingers far behind;", "Vainly the dotard mends her prudish pace,", "Outstript and vanquish'd in the mental chase.", "The young, the old, have worn the chains of love;", "Let those, they ne'er confined, my lay reprove;", "Let those, whose souls contemn the pleasing power,", "Their censures on the hapless victim shower.", "Oh! how I hate the nerveless, frigid song,", "The ceaseless echo of the rhyming throng,", "Whose labour'd lines, in chilling numbers flow,", "To paint a pang the author ne'er can know!", "The artless Helicon, I boast, is youth;--", "My Lyre, the Heart--my Muse, the simple Truth.", "Far be't from me the \"virgin's mind\" to \"taint:\"", "Seduction's dread is here no slight restraint:", "The maid whose virgin breast is void of guile,", "Whose wishes dimple in a modest smile,", "Whose downcast eye disdains the wanton leer,", "Firm in her virtue's strength, yet not severe;", "She, whom a conscious grace shall thus refine,", "Will ne'er be \"tainted\" by a strain of mine.", "But, for the nymph whose premature desires", "Torment her bosom with unholy fires,", "No net to snare her willing heart is spread;", "She would have fallen, though she ne'er had read.", "For me, I fain would please the chosen few,", "Whose souls, to feeling and to nature true,", "Will spare the childish verse, and not destroy", "The light effusions of a heedless boy.", "I seek not glory from the senseless crowd;", "Of fancied laurels, I shall ne'er be proud;", "Their warmest plaudits I would scarcely prize,", "Their sneers or censures, I alike despise." ], "linecount": "49" }, { "title": "Elegy on Newstead Abbey", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"It is the voice of years, that are gone! they roll before me, with", " all their deeds.\"", "", " Ossian.", "", "NEWSTEAD! fast-falling, once-resplendent dome!", "Religion's shrine! repentant HENRY'S pride!", "Of Warriors, Monks, and Dames the cloister'd tomb,", " Whose pensive shades around thy ruins glide,", "", "Hail to thy pile! more honour'd in thy fall,", " Than modern mansions, in their pillar'd state;", "Proudly majestic frowns thy vaulted hall,", " Scowling defiance on the blasts of fate.", "", "No mail-clad Serfs, obedient to their Lord,", " In grim array, the crimson cross demand;", "Or gay assemble round the festive board,", " Their chief's retainers, an immortal band.", "", "Else might inspiring Fancy's magic eye", " Retrace their progress, through the lapse of time;", "Marking each ardent youth, ordain'd to die,", " A votive pilgrim, in Judea's clime.", "", "But not from thee, dark pile! departs the Chief;", " His feudal realm in other regions lay:", "In thee the wounded conscience courts relief,", " Retiring from the garish blaze of day.", "", "Yes! in thy gloomy cells and shades profound,", " The monk abjur'd a world, he ne'er could view;", "Or blood-stain'd Guilt repenting, solace found,", " Or Innocence, from stern Oppression, flew.", "", "A Monarch bade thee from that wild arise,", " Where Sherwood's outlaws, once, were wont to prowl;", "And Superstition's crimes, of various dyes,", " Sought shelter in the Priest's protecting cowl.", "", "Where, now, the grass exhales a murky dew,", " The humid pall of life-extinguish'd clay,", "In sainted fame, the sacred Fathers grew,", " Nor raised their pious voices, but to pray.", "", "Where, now, the bats their wavering wings extend,", " Soon as the gloaming spreads her waning shade", "The choir did, oft, their mingling vespers blend,", " Or matin orisons to Mary paid.", "", "Years roll on years; to ages, ages yield;", " Abbots to Abbots, in a line, succeed:", "Religion's charter, their protecting shield,", " Till royal sacrilege their doom decreed.", "", "One holy HENRY rear'd the Gothic walls,", " And bade the pious inmates rest in peace;", "Another HENRY the kind gift recalls,", " And bids devotion's hallow'd echoes cease.", "", "Vain is each threat, or supplicating prayer;", " He drives them exiles from their blest abode,", "To roam a dreary world, in deep despair--", " No friend, no home, no refuge, but their God.", "", "Hark! how the hall, resounding to the strain,", " Shakes with the martial music's novel din!", "The heralds of a warrior's haughty reign,", " High crested banners wave thy walls within.", "", "Of changing sentinels the distant hum,", " The mirth of feasts, the clang of burnish'd arms,", "The braying trumpet, and the hoarser drum,", " Unite in concert with increas'd alarms.", "", "An abbey once, a regal fortress now,", " Encircled by insulting rebel powers;", "War's dread machines o'erhang thy threat'ning brow,", " And dart destruction, in sulphureous showers.", "", "Ah! vain defence! the hostile traitor's siege,", " Though oft repuls'd, by guile o'ercomes the brave;", "His thronging foes oppress the faithful Liege,", " Rebellion's reeking standards o'er him wave.", "", "Not unaveng'd the raging Baron yields;", " The blood of traitors smears the purple plain;", "Unconquer'd still, his falchion there he wields,", " And days of glory, yet, for him remain.", "", "Still, in that hour, the warrior wish'd to strew", " Self-gather'd laurels on a self-sought grave;", "But Charles' protecting genius hither flew,", " The monarch's friend, the monarch's hope, to save.", "", "Trembling, she snatch'd him from th' unequal strife,", " In other fields the torrent to repel;", "For nobler combats, here, reserv'd his life,", " To lead the band, where godlike FALKLAND fell.", "", "From thee, poor pile! to lawless plunder given,", " While dying groans their painful requiem sound,", "Far different incense, now, ascends to Heaven,", " Such victims wallow on the gory ground.", "", "There many a pale and ruthless Robber's corse,", " Noisome and ghast, defiles thy sacred sod;", "O'er mingling man, and horse commix'd with horse,", " Corruption's heap, the savage spoilers trod.", "", "Graves, long with rank and sighing weeds o'erspread,", " Ransack'd resign, perforce, their mortal mould:", "From ruffian fangs, escape not e'en the dead,", " Racked from repose, in search for buried gold.", "", "Hush'd is the harp, unstrung the warlike lyre,", " The minstrel's palsied hand reclines in death;", "No more he strikes the quivering chords with fire,", " Or sings the glories of the martial wreath.", "", "At length the sated murderers, gorged with prey,", " Retire: the clamour of the fight is o'er;", "Silence again resumes her awful sway,", " And sable Horror guards the massy door.", "", "Here, Desolation holds her dreary court:", " What satellites declare her dismal reign!", "Shrieking their dirge, ill-omen'd birds resort,", " To flit their vigils, in the hoary fane.", "", "Soon a new Morn's restoring beams dispel", " The clouds of Anarchy from Britain's skies;", "The fierce Usurper seeks his native hell,", " And Nature triumphs, as the Tyrant dies.", "", "With storms she welcomes his expiring groans;", " Whirlwinds, responsive, greet his labouring breath;", "Earth shudders, as her caves receive his bones,", " Loathing the offering of so dark a death.", "", "The legal Ruler now resumes the helm,", " He guides through gentle seas, the prow of state;", "Hope cheers, with wonted smiles, the peaceful realm,", " And heals the bleeding wounds of wearied Hate.", "", "The gloomy tenants, Newstead! of thy cells,", " Howling, resign their violated nest;", "Again, the Master on his tenure dwells,", " Enjoy'd, from absence, with enraptured zest.", "", "Vassals, within thy hospitable pale,", " Loudly carousing, bless their Lord's return;", "Culture, again, adorns the gladdening vale,", " And matrons, once lamenting, cease to mourn.", "", "A thousand songs, on tuneful echo, float,", " Unwonted foliage mantles o'er the trees;", "And, hark! the horns proclaim a mellow note,", " The hunters' cry hangs lengthening on the breeze.", "", "Beneath their coursers' hoofs the valleys shake;", " What fears! what anxious hopes! attend the chase!", "The dying stag seeks refuge in the lake;", " Exulting shouts announce the finish'd race.", "", "Ah happy days! too happy to endure!", " Such simple sports our plain forefathers knew:", "No splendid vices glitter'd to allure;", " Their joys were many, as their cares were few.", "", "From these descending, Sons to Sires succeed;", " Time steals along, and Death uprears his dart;", "Another Chief impels the foaming steed,", " Another Crowd pursue the panting hart.", "", "Newstead! what saddening change of scene is thine!", " Thy yawning arch betokens slow decay;", "The last and youngest of a noble line,", " Now holds thy mouldering turrets in his sway.", "", "Deserted now, he scans thy gray worn towers;", " Thy vaults, where dead of feudal ages sleep;", "Thy cloisters, pervious to the wintry showers;", " These, these he views, and views them but to weep.", "", "Yet are his tears no emblem of regret:", " Cherish'd Affection only bids them flow;", "Pride, Hope, and Love, forbid him to forget,", " But warm his bosom, with impassion'd glow.", "", "Yet he prefers thee, to the gilded domes,", " Or gewgaw grottos, of the vainly great;", "Yet lingers 'mid thy damp and mossy tombs,", " Nor breathes a murmur 'gainst the will of Fate.", "", "Haply thy sun, emerging, yet, may shine,", " Thee to irradiate with meridian ray;", "Hours, splendid as the past, may still be thine,", " And bless thy future, as thy former day." ], "linecount": "159" }, { "title": "To George, Earl Delawarr", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! yes, I will own we were dear to each other;", " The friendships of childhood, though fleeting, are true;", "The love which you felt was the love of a brother,", " Nor less the affection I cherish'd for you.", "", "But Friendship can vary her gentle dominion;", " The attachment of years, in a moment expires:", "Like Love, too, she moves on a swift-waving pinion,", " But glows not, like Love, with unquenchable fires.", "", "Full oft have we wander'd through Ida together,", " And blest were the scenes of our youth, I allow:", "In the spring of our life, how serene is the weather!", " But Winter's rude tempests are gathering now.", "", "No more with Affection shall Memory blending,", " The wonted delights of our childhood retrace:", "When Pride steels the bosom, the heart is unbending,", " And what would be Justice appears a disgrace.", "", "However, dear George, for I still must esteem you-", " The few, whom I love, I can never upbraid;", "The chance, which has lost, may in future redeem you,", " Repentance will cancel the vow you have made.", "", "I will not complain, and though chill'd is affection,", " With me no corroding resentment shall live:", "My bosom is calm'd by the simple reflection,", " That both may be wrong, and that both should forgive.", "", "You knew, that my soul, that my heart, my existence,", " If danger demanded, were wholly your own;", "You knew me unalter'd, by years or by distance,", " Devoted to love and to friendship alone.", "", "You knew,--but away with the vain retrospection!", " The bond of affection no longer endures;", "Too late you may droop o'er the fond recollection,", " And sigh for the friend, who was formerly yours.", "", "For the present, we part,--I will hope not for ever;", " For time and regret will restore you at last:", "To forget our dissension we both should endeavour,", " I ask no atonement, but days like the past." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "DamæTas", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In law an infant, and in years a boy,", "In mind a slave to every vicious joy;", "From every sense of shame and virtue wean'd,", "In lies an adept, in deceit a fiend;", "Vers'd in hypocrisy, while yet a child;", "Fickle as wind, of inclinations wild;", "Woman his dupe, his heedless friend a tool;", "Old in the world, though scarcely broke from school;", "Damætas ran through all the maze of sin,", "And found the goal, when others just begin:", "Ev'n still conflicting passions shake his soul,", "And bid him drain the dregs of Pleasure's bowl;", "But, pall'd with vice, he breaks his former chain,", "And what was once his bliss appears his bane." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "To Marion", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "MARION! why that pensive brow?", "What disgust to life hast thou?", "Change that discontented air;", "Frowns become not one so fair.", "'Tis not Love disturbs thy rest,", "Love's a stranger to thy breast:", "_He_, in dimpling smiles, appears,", "Or mourns in sweetly timid tears;", "Or bends the languid eyelid down,", "But _shuns_ the cold forbidding 'frown'.", "Then resume thy former fire,", "Some will _love_, and all admire!", "While that icy aspect chills us,", "Nought but cool Indiff'rence thrills us.", "Would'st thou wand'ring hearts beguile,", "Smile, at least, or _seem_ to _smile_;", "Eyes like _thine_ were never meant", "To hide their orbs in dark restraint;", "Spite of all thou fain wouldst say,", "Still in _truant_ beams they play.", "Thy lips--but here my _modest_ Muse", "Her impulse _chaste_ must needs refuse:", "She _blushes, curtsies, frowns,_--in short She", "Dreads lest the _Subject_ should transport me;", "And flying off, in search of _Reason_,", "Brings Prudence back in proper season.", "_All_ I shall, therefore, say (whate'er", "I think, is neither here nor there,)", "Is, that such _lips_, of looks endearing,", "Were form'd for _better things_ than _sneering_.", "Of soothing compliments divested,", "Advice at least's disinterested;", "Such is my artless song to thee,", "From all the flow of Flatt'ry free;", "Counsel like _mine_ is as a brother's,", "_My_ heart is given to some others;", "That is to say, unskill'd to cozen,", "It shares itself among a dozen.", "", " Marion, adieu! oh, pr'ythee slight not", "This warning, though it may delight not;", "And, lest my precepts be displeasing,", "To those who think remonstrance teazing,", "At once I'll tell thee our opinion,", "Concerning Woman's soft Dominion:", "Howe'er we gaze, with admiration,", "On eyes of blue or lips carnation;", "Howe'er the flowing locks attract us,", "Howe'er those beauties may distract us;", "Still fickle, we are prone to rove,", "_These_ cannot fix our souls to love;", "It is not too _severe_ a stricture,", "To say they form a _pretty picture_;", "But would'st thou see the secret chain,", "Which binds us in your humble train,", "To hail you Queens of all Creation,", "Know, in a _word, 'tis Animation_." ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "Oscar of Alva", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "How sweetly shines, through azure skies,", " The lamp of Heaven on Lora's shore;", "Where Alva's hoary turrets rise,", " And hear the din of arms no more!", "", "But often has yon rolling moon,", " On Alva's casques of silver play'd;", "And view'd, at midnight's silent noon,", " Her chiefs in gleaming mail array'd:", "", "And, on the crimson'd rocks beneath,", " Which scowl o'er ocean's sullen flow,", "Pale in the scatter'd ranks of death,", " She saw the gasping warrior low;", "", "While many an eye, which ne'er again", " Could mark the rising orb of day,", "Turn'd feebly from the gory plain,", " Beheld in death her fading ray.", "", "Once, to those eyes the lamp of Love,", " They blest her dear propitious light;", "But, now, she glimmer'd from above,", " A sad, funereal torch of night.", "", "Faded is Alva's noble race,", " And grey her towers are seen afar;", "No more her heroes urge the chase,", " Or roll the crimson tide of war.", "", "But, who was last of Alva's clan?", " Why grows the moss on Alva's stone?", "Her towers resound no steps of man,", " They echo to the gale alone.", "", "And, when that gale is fierce and high,", " A sound is heard in yonder hall;", "It rises hoarsely through the sky,", " And vibrates o'er the mould'ring wall.", "", "Yes, when the eddying tempest sighs,", " It shakes the shield of Oscar brave;", "But, there, no more his banners rise,", " No more his plumes of sable wave.", "", "Fair shone the sun on Oscar's birth,", " When Angus hail'd his eldest born;", "The vassals round their chieftain's hearth", " Crowd to applaud the happy morn.", "", "They feast upon the mountain deer,", " The Pibroch rais'd its piercing note,", "To gladden more their Highland cheer,", " The strains in martial numbers float.", "", "And they who heard the war-notes wild,", " Hop'd that, one day, the Pibroch's strain", "Should play before the Hero's child,", " While he should lead the Tartan train.", "", "Another year is quickly past,", " And Angus hails another son;", "His natal day is like the last,", " Nor soon the jocund feast was done.", "", "Taught by their sire to bend the bow,", " On Alva's dusky hills of wind,", "The boys in childhood chas'd the roe,", " And left their hounds in speed behind.", "", "But ere their years of youth are o'er,", " They mingle in the ranks of war;", "They lightly wheel the bright claymore,", " And send the whistling arrow far.", "", "Dark was the flow of Oscar's hair,", " Wildly it stream'd along the gale;", "But Allan's locks were bright and fair,", " And pensive seem'd his cheek, and pale.", "", "But Oscar own'd a hero's soul,", " His dark eye shone through beams of truth;", "Allan had early learn'd controul,", " And smooth his words had been from youth.", "", "Both, both were brave; the Saxon spear", " Was shiver'd oft beneath their steel;", "And Oscar's bosom scorn'd to fear,", " But Oscar's bosom knew to feel;", "", "While Allan's soul belied his form,", " Unworthy with such charms to dwell:", "Keen as the lightning of the storm,", " On foes his deadly vengeance fell.", "", "From high Southannon's distant tower", " Arrived a young and noble dame;", "With Kenneth's lands to form her dower,", " Glenalvon's blue-eyed daughter came;", "", "And Oscar claim'd the beauteous bride,", " And Angus on his Oscar smil'd:", "It soothed the father's feudal pride", " Thus to obtain Glenalvon's child.", "", "Hark! to the Pibroch's pleasing note,", " Hark! to the swelling nuptial song,", "In joyous strains the voices float,", " And, still, the choral peal prolong.", "", "See how the Heroes' blood-red plumes", " Assembled wave in Alva's hall;", "Each youth his varied plaid assumes,", " Attending on their chieftain's call.", "", "It is not war their aid demands,", " The Pibroch plays the song of peace;", "To Oscar's nuptials throng the bands", " Nor yet the sounds of pleasure cease.", "", "But where is Oscar? sure 'tis late:", " Is this a bridegroom's ardent flame?", "While thronging guests and ladies wait,", " Nor Oscar nor his brother came.", "", "At length young Allan join'd the bride;", " \"Why comes not Oscar?\" Angus said:", "\"Is he not here?\" the Youth replied;", " \"With me he rov'd not o'er the glade:", "", "\"Perchance, forgetful of the day,", " 'Tis his to chase the bounding roe;", "Or Ocean's waves prolong his stay:", " Yet, Oscar's bark is seldom slow.\"", "", "\"Oh, no!\" the anguish'd Sire rejoin'd,", " \"Nor chase, nor wave, my Boy delay;", "Would he to Mora seem unkind?", " Would aught to her impede his way?", "", "\"Oh, search, ye Chiefs! oh, search around!", " Allan, with these, through Alva fly;", "Till Oscar, till my son is found,", " Haste, haste, nor dare attempt reply.\"", "", "All is confusion--through the vale,", " The name of Oscar hoarsely rings,", "It rises on the murm'ring gale,", " Till night expands her dusky wings.", "", "It breaks the stillness of the night,", " But echoes through her shades in vain;", "It sounds through morning's misty light,", " But Oscar comes not o'er the plain.", "", "Three days, three sleepless nights, the Chief", " For Oscar search'd each mountain cave;", "Then hope is lost; in boundless grief,", " His locks in grey-torn ringlets wave.", "", "\"Oscar! my son!--thou God of Heav'n,", " Restore the prop of sinking age!", "Or, if that hope no more is given,", " Yield his assassin to my rage.", "", "\"Yes, on some desert rocky shore", " My Oscar's whiten'd bones must lie;", "Then grant, thou God! I ask no more,", " With him his frantic Sire may die!", "", "\"Yet, he may live,--away, despair!", " Be calm, my soul! he yet may live;", "T' arraign my fate, my voice forbear!", " O God! my impious prayer forgive.", "", "\"What, if he live for me no more,", " I sink forgotten in the dust,", "The hope of Alva's age is o'er:", " Alas! can pangs like these be just?\"", "", "Thus did the hapless Parent mourn,", " Till Time, who soothes severest woe,", "Had bade serenity return,", " And made the tear-drop cease to flow.", "", "For, still, some latent hope surviv'd", " That Oscar might once more appear;", "His hope now droop'd and now revived,", " Till Time had told a tedious year.", "", "Days roll'd along, the orb of light", " Again had run his destined race;", "No Oscar bless'd his father's sight,", " And sorrow left a fainter trace.", "", "For youthful Allan still remain'd,", " And, now, his father's only joy:", "And Mora's heart was quickly gain'd,", " For beauty crown'd the fair-hair'd boy.", "", "She thought that Oscar low was laid,", " And Allan's face was wondrous fair;", "If Oscar liv'd, some other maid", " Had claim'd his faithless bosom's care.", "", "And Angus said, if one year more", " In fruitless hope was pass'd away,", "His fondest scruples should be o'er,", " And he would name their nuptial day.", "", "Slow roll'd the moons, but blest at last", " Arriv'd the dearly destin'd morn:", "The year of anxious trembling past,", " What smiles the lovers' cheeks adorn!", "", "Hark to the Pibroch's pleasing note!", " Hark to the swelling nuptial song!", "In joyous strains the voices float,", " And, still, the choral peal prolong.", "", "Again the clan, in festive crowd,", " Throng through the gate of Alva's hall;", "The sounds of mirth re-echo loud,", " And all their former joy recall.", "", "But who is he, whose darken'd brow", " Glooms in the midst of general mirth?", "Before his eyes' far fiercer glow", " The blue flames curdle o'er the hearth.", "", "Dark is the robe which wraps his form,", " And tall his plume of gory red;", "His voice is like the rising storm,", " But light and trackless is his tread.", "", "'Tis noon of night, the pledge goes round,", " The bridegroom's health is deeply quaff'd;", "With shouts the vaulted roofs resound,", " And all combine to hail the draught.", "", "Sudden the stranger-chief arose,", " And all the clamorous crowd are hush'd;", "And Angus' cheek with wonder glows,", " And Mora's tender bosom blush'd.", "", "\"Old man!\" he cried, \"this pledge is done,", " Thou saw'st 'twas truly drunk by me;", "It hail'd the nuptials of thy son:", " Now will I claim a pledge from thee.", "", "\"While all around is mirth and joy,", " To bless thy Allan's happy lot,", "Say, hadst thou ne'er another boy?", " Say, why should Oscar be forgot?\"", "", "\"Alas!\" the hapless Sire replied,", " The big tear starting as he spoke,", "\"When Oscar left my hall, or died,", " This aged heart was almost broke.", "", "\"Thrice has the earth revolv'd her course", " Since Oscar's form has bless'd my sight;", "And Allan is my last resource,", " Since martial Oscar's death, or flight.\"", "", "\"'Tis well,\" replied the stranger stern,", " And fiercely flash'd his rolling eye;", "\"Thy Oscar's fate, I fain would learn;", " Perhaps the Hero did not die.", "", "\"Perchance, if those, whom most he lov'd,", " Would call, thy Oscar might return;", "Perchance, the chief has only rov'd;", " For him thy Beltane, yet, may burn.", "", "\"Fill high the bowl the table round,", " We will not claim the pledge by stealth;", "With wine let every cup be crown'd;", " Pledge me departed Oscar's health.\"", "", "\"With all my soul,\" old Angus said,", " And fill'd his goblet to the brim:", "\"Here's to my boy! alive or dead,", " I ne'er shall find a son like him.\"", "", "\"Bravely, old man, this health has sped;", " But why does Allan trembling stand?", "Come, drink remembrance of the dead,", " And raise thy cup with firmer hand.\"", "", "The crimson glow of Allan's face", " Was turn'd at once to ghastly hue;", "The drops of death each other chace,", " Adown in agonizing dew.", "", "Thrice did he raise the goblet high,", " And thrice his lips refused to taste;", "For thrice he caught the stranger's eye", " On his with deadly fury plac'd.", "", "\"And is it thus a brother hails", " A brother's fond remembrance here?", "If thus affection's strength prevails,", " What might we not expect from fear?\"", "", "Roused by the sneer, he rais'd the bowl,", " \"Would Oscar now could share our mirth!\"", "Internal fear appall'd his soul;", " He said, and dash'd the cup to earth.", "", "\"'Tis he! I hear my murderer's voice!\"", " Loud shrieks a darkly gleaming Form.", "\"A murderer's voice!\" the roof replies,", " And deeply swells the bursting storm.", "", "The tapers wink, the chieftains shrink,", " The stranger's gone,--amidst the crew,", "A Form was seen, in tartan green,", " And tall the shade terrific grew.", "", "His waist was bound with a broad belt round,", " His plume of sable stream'd on high;", "But his breast was bare, with the red wounds there,", " And fix'd was the glare of his glassy eye.", "", "And thrice he smil'd, with his eye so wild", " On Angus bending low the knee;", "And thrice he frown'd, on a Chief on the ground,", " Whom shivering crowds with horror see.", "", "The bolts loud roll from pole to pole,", " And thunders through the welkin ring,", "And the gleaming form, through the mist of the storm,", " Was borne on high by the whirlwind's wing.", "", "Cold was the feast, the revel ceas'd.", " Who lies upon the stony floor?", "Oblivion press'd old Angus' breast,", " At length his life-pulse throbs once more.", "", "\"Away, away! let the leech essay", " To pour the light on Allan's eyes:\"", "His sand is done,--his race is run;", " Oh! never more shall Allan rise!", "", "But Oscar's breast is cold as clay,", " His locks are lifted by the gale;", "And Allan's barbèd arrow lay", " With him in dark Glentanar's vale.", "", "And whence the dreadful stranger came,", " Or who, no mortal wight can tell;", "But no one doubts the form of flame,", " For Alva's sons knew Oscar well.", "", "Ambition nerv'd young Allan's hand,", " Exulting demons wing'd his dart;", "While Envy wav'd her burning brand,", " And pour'd her venom round his heart.", "", "Swift is the shaft from Allan's bow;", " Whose streaming life-blood stains his side?", "Dark Oscar's sable crest is low,", " The dart has drunk his vital tide.", "", "And Mora's eye could Allan move,", " She bade his wounded pride rebel:", "Alas! that eyes, which beam'd with love,", " Should urge the soul to deeds of Hell.", "", "Lo! see'st thou not a lonely tomb,", " Which rises o'er a warrior dead?", "It glimmers through the twilight gloom;", " Oh! that is Allan's nuptial bed.", "", "Far, distant far, the noble grave", " Which held his clan's great ashes stood;", "And o'er his corse no banners wave,", " For they were stain'd with kindred blood.", "", "What minstrel grey, what hoary bard,", " Shall Allan's deeds on harp-strings raise?", "The song is glory's chief reward,", " But who can strike a murd'rer's praise?", "", "Unstrung, untouch'd, the harp must stand,", " No minstrel dare the theme awake;", "Guilt would benumb his palsied hand,", " His harp in shuddering chords would break.", "", "No lyre of fame, no hallow'd verse,", " Shall sound his glories high in air:", "A dying father's bitter curse,", " A brother's death-groan echoes there." ], "linecount": "316" }, { "title": "Translation From Anacreon. Ode 1. to His Lyre", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I wish to tune my quivering lyre,", "To deeds of fame, and notes of fire;", "To echo, from its rising swell,", "How heroes fought and nations fell,", "When Atreus' sons advanc'd to war,", "Or Tyrian Cadmus rov'd afar;", "But still, to martial strains unknown,", "My lyre recurs to Love alone.", "Fir'd with the hope of future fame,", "I seek some nobler Hero's name;", "The dying chords are strung anew,", "To war, to war, my harp is due:", "With glowing strings, the Epic strain", "To Jove's great son I raise again;", "Alcides and his glorious deeds,", "Beneath whose arm the Hydra bleeds;", "All, all in vain; my wayward lyre", "Wakes silver notes of soft Desire.", "Adieu, ye Chiefs renown'd in arms!", "Adieu the clang of War's alarms!", "To other deeds my soul is strung,", "And sweeter notes shall now be sung;", "My harp shall all its powers reveal,", "To tell the tale my heart must feel;", "Love, Love alone, my lyre shall claim,", "In songs of bliss and sighs of flame." ], "linecount": "26" }, { "title": "Translation From Anacreon. Ode 3", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'Twas now the hour when Night had driven", "Her car half round yon sable heaven;", "Boötes, only, seem'd to roll", "His Arctic charge around the Pole;", "While mortals, lost in gentle sleep,", "Forgot to smile, or ceas'd to weep:", "At this lone hour the Paphian boy,", "Descending from the realms of joy,", "Quick to my gate directs his course,", "And knocks with all his little force;", "My visions fled, alarm'd I rose,--", "\"What stranger breaks my blest repose?\"", "\"Alas!\" replies the wily child", "In faltering accents sweetly mild;", "\"A hapless Infant here I roam,", "Far from my dear maternal home.", "Oh! shield me from the wintry blast!", "The nightly storm is pouring fast.", "No prowling robber lingers here;", "A wandering baby who can fear?\"", "I heard his seeming artless tale,", "I heard his sighs upon the gale:", "My breast was never pity's foe,", "But felt for all the baby's woe.", "I drew the bar, and by the light", "Young Love, the infant, met my sight;", "His bow across his shoulders flung,", "And thence his fatal quiver hung", "(Ah! little did I think the dart", "Would rankle soon within my heart).", "With care I tend my weary guest,", "His little fingers chill my breast;", "His glossy curls, his azure wing,", "Which droop with nightly showers, I wring;", "His shivering limbs the embers warm;", "And now reviving from the storm,", "Scarce had he felt his wonted glow,", "Than swift he seized his slender bow:--", "\"I fain would know, my gentle host,\"", "He cried, \"if this its strength has lost;", "I fear, relax'd with midnight dews,", "The strings their former aid refuse.\"", "With poison tipt, his arrow flies,", "Deep in my tortur'd heart it lies:", "Then loud the joyous Urchin laugh'd:--", "\"My bow can still impel the shaft:", "'Tis firmly fix'd, thy sighs reveal it;", "Say, courteous host, canst thou not feel it?\"" ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "Translation From the \"Medea\" of Euripides ", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When fierce conflicting passions urge", "The breast, where love is wont to glow,", "What mind can stem the stormy surge", "Which rolls the tide of human woe?", "The hope of praise, the dread of shame,", "Can rouse the tortur'd breast no more;", "The wild desire, the guilty flame,", "Absorbs each wish it felt before.", "", "But if affection gently thrills", "The soul, by purer dreams possest,", "The pleasing balm of mortal ills", "In love can soothe the aching breast:", "If thus thou comest in disguise,", "Fair Venus! from thy native heaven,", "What heart, unfeeling, would despise", "The sweetest boon the Gods have given?", "", "But, never from thy golden bow,", "May I beneath the shaft expire!", "Whose creeping venom, sure and slow,", "Awakes an all-consuming fire:", "Ye racking doubts! ye jealous fears!", "With others wage internal war;", "Repentance! source of future tears,", "From me be ever distant far!", "", "May no distracting thoughts destroy", "The holy calm of sacred love!", "May all the hours be winged with joy,", "Which hover faithful hearts above!", "Fair Venus! on thy myrtle shrine", "May I with some fond lover sigh!", "Whose heart may mingle pure with mine,", "With me to live, with me to die!", "", "My native soil! belov'd before,", "Now dearer, as my peaceful home,", "Ne'er may I quit thy rocky shore,", "A hapless banish'd wretch to roam!", "This very day, this very hour,", "May I resign this fleeting breath!", "Nor quit my silent humble bower;", "A doom, to me, far worse than death.", "", "Have I not heard the exile's sigh,", "And seen the exile's silent tear,", "Through distant climes condemn'd to fly,", "A pensive, weary wanderer here?", "Ah! hapless dame! no sire bewails,", "No friend thy wretched fate deplores,", "No kindred voice with rapture hails", "Thy steps within a stranger's doors.", "", "Perish the fiend! whose iron heart", "To fair affection's truth unknown,", "Bids her he fondly lov'd depart,", "Unpitied, helpless, and alone;", "Who ne'er unlocks with silver key,", "The milder treasures of his soul;", "May such a friend be far from me,", "And Ocean's storms between us roll!" ], "linecount": "56" }, { "title": "Lachin Y Gair", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Away, ye gay landscapes, ye gardens of roses!", "In you let the minions of luxury rove:", "Restore me the rocks, where the snow-flake reposes,", "Though still they are sacred to freedom and love:", "Yet, Caledonia, belov'd are thy mountains,", "Round their white summits though elements war:", "Though cataracts foam 'stead of smooth-flowing fountains,", " I sigh for the valley of dark Loch na Garr.", "", "Ah! there my young footsteps in infancy, wander'd:", " My cap was the bonnet, my cloak was the plaid;", "On chieftains, long perish'd, my memory ponder'd,", " As daily I strode through the pine-cover'd glade;", "I sought not my home, till the day's dying glory", " Gave place to the rays of the bright polar star;", "For fancy was cheer'd, by traditional story,", " Disclos'd by the natives of dark Loch na Garr.", "", "\"Shades of the dead! have I not heard your voices", " Rise on the night-rolling breath of the gale?\"", "Surely, the soul of the hero rejoices,", " And rides on the wind, o'er his own Highland vale!", "Round Loch na Garr, while the stormy mist gathers,", " Winter presides in his cold icy car:", "Clouds, there, encircle the forms of my Fathers;", " They dwell in the tempests of dark Loch na Garr.", "", "\"Ill starr'd, though brave, did no visions foreboding", " Tell you that fate had forsaken your cause?\"", "Ah! were you destined to die at Culloden,", " Victory crown'd not your fall with applause:", "Still were you happy, in death's earthy slumber,", " You rest with your clan, in the caves of Braemar;", "The Pibroch resounds, to the piper's loud number,", " Your deeds, on the echoes of dark Loch na Garr.", "", "Years have roll'd on, Loch na Garr, since I left you,", " Years must elapse, ere I tread you again:", "Nature of verdure and flowers has bereft you,", " Yet still are you dearer than Albion's plain:", "England! thy beauties are tame and domestic,", " To one who has rov'd on the mountains afar:", "Oh! for the crags that are wild and majestic,", " The steep, frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "To Romance", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Parent of golden dreams, Romance!", " Auspicious Queen of childish joys,", "Who lead'st along, in airy dance,", " Thy votive train of girls and boys;", "At length, in spells no longer bound,", " I break the fetters of my youth;", "No more I tread thy mystic round,", " But leave thy realms for those of Truth.", "", "And yet 'tis hard to quit the dreams", " Which haunt the unsuspicious soul,", "Where every nymph a goddess seems,", " Whose eyes through rays immortal roll;", "While Fancy holds her boundless reign,", " And all assume a varied hue;", "When Virgins seem no longer vain,", " And even Woman's smiles are true.", "", "And must we own thee, but a name,", " And from thy hall of clouds descend?", "Nor find a Sylph in every dame,", " A Pylades in every friend?", "But leave, at once, thy realms of air", " To mingling bands of fairy elves;", "Confess that woman's false as fair,", " And friends have feeling for--themselves?", "", "With shame, I own, I've felt thy sway;", " Repentant, now thy reign is o'er;", "No more thy precepts I obey,", " No more on fancied pinions soar;", "Fond fool! to love a sparkling eye,", " And think that eye to truth was dear;", "To trust a passing wanton's sigh,", "And melt beneath a wanton's tear!", "", "Romance! disgusted with deceit,", " Far from thy motley court I fly,", "Where Affectation holds her seat,", " And sickly Sensibility;", "Whose silly tears can never flow", " For any pangs excepting thine;", "Who turns aside from real woe,", " To steep in dew thy gaudy shrine.", "", "Now join with sable Sympathy,", " With cypress crown'd, array'd in weeds,", "Who heaves with thee her simple sigh,", " Whose breast for every bosom bleeds;", "And call thy sylvan female choir,", " To mourn a Swain for ever gone,", "Who once could glow with equal fire,", " But bends not now before thy throne.", "", "Ye genial Nymphs, whose ready tears", " On all occasions swiftly flow;", "Whose bosoms heave with fancied fears,", " With fancied flames and phrenzy glow", "Say, will you mourn my absent name,", " Apostate from your gentle train?", "An infant Bard, at least, may claim", " From you a sympathetic strain.", "", "Adieu, fond race! a long adieu!", " The hour of fate is hovering nigh;", "E'en now the gulf appears in view,", " Where unlamented you must lie:", "Oblivion's blackening lake is seen,", " Convuls'd by gales you cannot weather,", "Where you, and eke your gentle queen,", " Alas! must perish altogether." ], "linecount": "64" }, { "title": "To Edward Noel Long, Esq", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"Nil ego contulerim jucundo sanus amico.\"--HORACE.", "", "Dear LONG, in this sequester'd scene,", " While all around in slumber lie,", "The joyous days, which ours have been", " Come rolling fresh on Fancy's eye;", "Thus, if, amidst the gathering storm,", "While clouds the darken'd noon deform,", "Yon heaven assumes a varied glow,", "I hail the sky's celestial bow,", "Which spreads the sign of future peace,", "And bids the war of tempests cease.", "Ah! though the present brings but pain,", "I think those days may come again;", "Or if, in melancholy mood,", "Some lurking envious fear intrude,", "To check my bosom's fondest thought,", " And interrupt the golden dream,", "I crush the fiend with malice fraught,", " And, still, indulge my wonted theme.", "Although we ne'er again can trace,", " In Granta's vale, the pedant's lore,", "Nor through the groves of Ida chase", " Our raptured visions, as before;", "Though Youth has flown on rosy pinion,", "And Manhood claims his stern dominion,", "Age will not every hope destroy,", "But yield some hours of sober joy.", "", " Yes, I will hope that Time's broad wing", "Will shed around some dews of spring:", "But, if his scythe must sweep the flowers", "Which bloom among the fairy bowers,", "Where smiling Youth delights to dwell,", "And hearts with early rapture swell;", "If frowning Age, with cold controul,", "Confines the current of the soul,", "Congeals the tear of Pity's eye,", "Or checks the sympathetic sigh,", "Or hears, unmov'd, Misfortune's groan", "And bids me feel for self alone;", "Oh! may my bosom never learn", " To soothe its wonted heedless flow;", "Still, still, despise the censor stern,", " But ne'er forget another's woe.", "Yes, as you knew me in the days,", " O'er which Remembrance yet delays,", "Still may I rove untutor'd, wild,", " And even in age, at heart a child.", "", "Though, now, on airy visions borne,", " To you my soul is still the same.", "Oft has it been my fate to mourn,", " And all my former joys are tame:", "But, hence! ye hours of sable hue!", " Your frowns are gone, my sorrows o'er:", "By every bliss my childhood knew,", " I'll think upon your shade no more.", "Thus, when the whirlwind's rage is past,", " And caves their sullen roar enclose", "We heed no more the wintry blast,", " When lull'd by zephyr to repose.", "Full often has my infant Muse,", " Attun'd to love her languid lyre;", "But, now, without a theme to choose,", " The strains in stolen sighs expire.", "My youthful nymphs, alas! are flown;", " E----is a wife, and C----a mother,", "And Carolina sighs alone,", " And Mary's given to another;", "And Cora's eye, which roll'd on me,", " Can now no more my love recall--", "In truth, dear LONG, 'twas time to flee-", " For Cora's eye will shine on all.", "And though the Sun, with genial rays,", "His beams alike to all displays,", "And every lady's eye's a _sun_,", "These last should be confin'd to one.", "The soul's meridian don't become her,", "Whose Sun displays a general _summer_!", "Thus faint is every former flame,", "And Passion's self is now a name;", "As, when the ebbing flames are low,", " The aid which once improv'd their light,", "And bade them burn with fiercer glow,", " Now quenches all their sparks in night;", "Thus has it been with Passion's fires,", " As many a boy and girl remembers,", "While all the force of love expires,", " Extinguish'd with the dying embers.", "", " But now, dear LONG, 'tis midnight's noon,", "And clouds obscure the watery moon,", "Whose beauties I shall not rehearse,", "Describ'd in every stripling's verse;", "For why should I the path go o'er", "Which every bard has trod before?", "Yet ere yon silver lamp of night", " Has thrice perform'd her stated round,", "Has thrice retrac'd her path of light,", " And chas'd away the gloom profound,", "I trust, that we, my gentle Friend,", "Shall see her rolling orbit wend,", "Above the dear-lov'd peaceful seat,", "Which once contain'd our youth's retreat;", "And, then, with those our childhood knew,", "We'll mingle in the festive crew;", "While many a tale of former day", "Shall wing the laughing hours away;", "And all the flow of souls shall pour", "The sacred intellectual shower,", "Nor cease, till Luna's waning horn,", "Scarce glimmers through the mist of Morn." ], "linecount": "109" }, { "title": "To a Lady", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! had my Fate been join'd with thine,", " As once this pledge appear'd a token,", "These follies had not, then, been mine,", " For, then, my peace had not been broken.", "", "To thee, these early faults I owe,", " To thee, the wise and old reproving:", "They know my sins, but do not know", " 'Twas thine to break the bonds of loving.", "", "For once my soul, like thine, was pure,", " And all its rising fires could smother;", "But, now, thy vows no more endure,", " Bestow'd by thee upon another.", "", "Perhaps, his peace I could destroy,", " And spoil the blisses that await him;", "Yet let my Rival smile in joy,", " For thy dear sake, I cannot hate him.", "", "Ah! since thy angel form is gone,", " My heart no more can rest with any;", "But what it sought in thee alone,", " Attempts, alas! to find in many.", "", "Then, fare thee well, deceitful Maid!", " 'Twere vain and fruitless to regret thee;", "Nor Hope, nor Memory yield their aid,", " But Pride may teach me to forget thee.", "", "Yet all this giddy waste of years,", " This tiresome round of palling pleasures;", "These varied loves, these matrons' fears,", " These thoughtless strains to Passion's measures--", "", "If thou wert mine, had all been hush'd:--", " This cheek, now pale from early riot,", "With Passion's hectic ne'er had flush'd,", " But bloom'd in calm domestic quiet.", "", "Yes, once the rural Scene was sweet,", " For Nature seem'd to smile before thee;", "And once my Breast abhorr'd deceit,--", " For then it beat but to adore thee.", "", "But, now, I seek for other joys--", " To think, would drive my soul to madness;", "In thoughtless throngs, and empty noise,", " I conquer half my Bosom's sadness.", "", "Yet, even in these, a thought will steal,", " In spite of every vain endeavour;", "And fiends might pity what I feel--", " To know that thou art lost for ever." ], "linecount": "44" }, { "title": "When I Roved a Young Highlander", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When I rov'd a young Highlander o'er the dark heath,", " And climb'd thy steep summit, oh Morven of snow!", "To gaze on the torrent that thunder'd beneath,", " Or the mist of the tempest that gather'd below;", "Untutor'd by science, a stranger to fear,", " And rude as the rocks, where my infancy grew,", "No feeling, save one, to my bosom was dear;", " Need I say, my sweet Mary, 'twas centred in you?", "", "Yet it could not be Love, for I knew not the name,--", " What passion can dwell in the heart of a child?", "But, still, I perceive an emotion the same", " As I felt, when a boy, on the crag-cover'd wild:", "One image, alone, on my bosom impress'd,", " I lov'd my bleak regions, nor panted for new;", "And few were my wants, for my wishes were bless'd,", " And pure were my thoughts, for my soul was with you.", "", "I arose with the dawn, with my dog as my guide,", " From mountain to mountain I bounded along;", "I breasted the billows of Dee's rushing tide,", " And heard at a distance the Highlander's song:", "At eve, on my heath-cover'd couch of repose.", " No dreams, save of Mary, were spread to my view;", "And warm to the skies my devotions arose,", " For the first of my prayers was a blessing on you.", "", "I left my bleak home, and my visions are gone;", " The mountains are vanish'd, my youth is no more;", "As the last of my race, I must wither alone,", " And delight but in days, I have witness'd before:", "Ah! splendour has rais'd, but embitter'd my lot;", " More dear were the scenes which my infancy knew:", "Though my hopes may have fail'd, yet they are not", " forgot,", "Though cold is my heart, still it lingers with you.", "", "When I see some dark hill point its crest to the sky,", " I think of the rocks that o'ershadow Colbleen;", "When I see the soft blue of a love-speaking eye,", " I think of those eyes that endear'd the rude scene;", "When, haply, some light-waving locks I behold,", " That faintly resemble my Mary's in hue,", "I think on the long flowing ringlets of gold,", " The locks that were sacred to beauty, and you.", "", "Yet the day may arrive, when the mountains once more", " Shall rise to my sight, in their mantles of snow;", "But while these soar above me, unchang'd as before,", " Will Mary be there to receive me?--ah, no!", "Adieu, then, ye hills, where my childhood was bred!", " Thou sweet flowing Dee, to thy waters adieu!", "No home in the forest shall shelter my head,--", " Ah! Mary, what home could be mine, but with you?" ], "linecount": "49" }, { "title": "To the Duke of Dorset", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Dorset! whose early steps with mine have stray'd,", "Exploring every path of Ida's glade;", "Whom, still, affection taught me to defend,", "And made me less a tyrant than a friend,", "Though the harsh custom of our youthful band", "Bade _thee_ obey, and gave _me_ to command;", "Thee, on whose head a few short years will shower", "The gift of riches, and the pride of power;", "E'en now a name illustrious is thine own,", "Renown'd in rank, not far beneath the throne.", "Yet, Dorset, let not this seduce thy soul", "To shun fair science, or evade controul;", "Though passive tutors, fearful to dispraise", "The titled child, whose future breath may raise,", "View ducal errors with indulgent eyes,", "And wink at faults they tremble to chastise.", "When youthful parasites, who bend the knee", "To wealth, their golden idol, not to thee,--", "And even in simple boyhood's opening dawn", "Some slaves are found to flatter and to fawn,--", "When these declare, \"that pomp alone should wait", "On one by birth predestin'd to be great;", "That books were only meant for drudging fools,", "That gallant spirits scorn the common rules;\"", "Believe them not,--they point the path to shame,", "And seek to blast the honours of thy name:", "Turn to the few in Ida's early throng,", "Whose souls disdain not to condemn the wrong;", "Or if, amidst the comrades of thy youth,", "None dare to raise the sterner voice of truth,", "Ask thine own heart--'twill bid thee, boy, forbear!", "For _well_ I know that virtue lingers there.", "", "Yes! I have mark'd thee many a passing day,", "But now new scenes invite me far away;", "Yes! I have mark'd within that generous mind", "A soul, if well matur'd, to bless mankind;", "Ah! though myself, by nature haughty, wild,", "Whom Indiscretion hail'd her favourite child;", "Though every error stamps me for her own,", "And dooms my fall, I fain would fall alone;", "Though my proud heart no precept, now, can tame,", "I love the virtues which I cannot claim.", "", "'Tis not enough, with other sons of power,", "To gleam the lambent meteor of an hour;", "To swell some peerage page in feeble pride,", "With long-drawn names that grace no page beside;", "Then share with titled crowds the common lot--", "In life just gaz'd at, in the grave forgot;", "While nought divides thee from the vulgar dead,", "Except the dull cold stone that hides thy head,", "The mouldering 'scutcheon, or the Herald's roll,", "That well-emblazon'd but neglected scroll,", "Where Lords, unhonour'd, in the tomb may find", "One spot, to leave a worthless name behind.", "There sleep, unnotic'd as the gloomy vaults", "That veil their dust, their follies, and their faults,", "A race, with old armorial lists o'erspread,", "In records destin'd never to be read.", "Fain would I view thee, with prophetic eyes,", "Exalted more among the good and wise;", "A glorious and a long career pursue,", "As first in Rank, the first in Talent too:", "Spurn every vice, each little meanness shun;", "Not Fortune's minion, but her noblest son.", " Turn to the annals of a former day;", "Bright are the deeds thine earlier Sires display;", "One, though a courtier, lived a man of worth,", "And call'd, proud boast! the British drama forth.", "Another view! not less renown'd for Wit;", "Alike for courts, and camps, or senates fit;", "Bold in the field, and favour'd by the Nine;", "In every splendid part ordain'd to shine;", "Far, far distinguished from the glittering throng,", "The pride of Princes, and the boast of Song.", "Such were thy Fathers; thus preserve their name,", "Not heir to titles only, but to Fame.", "The hour draws nigh, a few brief days will close,", "To me, this little scene of joys and woes;", "Each knell of Time now warns me to resign", "Shades where Hope, Peace, and Friendship all were mine:", "Hope, that could vary like the rainbow's hue,", "And gild their pinions, as the moments flew;", "Peace, that reflection never frown'd away,", "By dreams of ill to cloud some future day;", "Friendship, whose truth let Childhood only tell;", "Alas! they love not long, who love so well.", "", "To these adieu! nor let me linger o'er", "Scenes hail'd, as exiles hail their native shore,", "Receding slowly, through the dark-blue deep,", "Beheld by eyes that mourn, yet cannot weep.", "", " Dorset, farewell! I will not ask one part", "Of sad remembrance in so young a heart;", "The coming morrow from thy youthful mind", "Will sweep my name, nor leave a trace behind.", "And, yet, perhaps, in some maturer year,", "Since chance has thrown us in the self-same sphere,", "Since the same senate, nay, the same debate,", "May one day claim our suffrage for the state,", "We hence may meet, and pass each other by", "With faint regard, or cold and distant eye.", "For me, in future, neither friend nor foe,", "A stranger to thyself, thy weal or woe--", "With thee no more again I hope to trace", "The recollection of our early race;", "No more, as once, in social hours rejoice,", "Or hear, unless in crowds, thy well-known voice;", "Still, if the wishes of a heart untaught", "To veil those feelings, which, perchance, it ought,", "If these,--but let me cease the lengthen'd strain,--", "Oh! if these wishes are not breath'd in vain,", "The Guardian Seraph who directs thy fate", "Will leave thee glorious, as he found thee great." ], "linecount": "112" }, { "title": "Lines Written Beneath an Elm in the Churchyard of Harrow", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Spot of my youth! whose hoary branches sigh,", "Swept by the breeze that fans thy cloudless sky;", "Where now alone I muse, who oft have trod,", "With those I loved, thy soft and verdant sod;", "With those who, scatter'd far, perchance deplore,", "Like me, the happy scenes they knew before:", "Oh! as I trace again thy winding hill,", "Mine eyes admire, my heart adores thee still,", "Thou drooping Elm! beneath whose boughs I lay,", "And frequent mus'd the twilight hours away;", "Where, as they once were wont, my limbs recline,", "But, ah! without the thoughts which then were mine:", "How do thy branches, moaning to the blast,", "Invite the bosom to recall the past,", "And seem to whisper, as they gently swell,", "\"Take, while thou canst, a lingering, last farewell!\"", "", " When Fate shall chill, at length, this fever'd breast,", "And calm its cares and passions into rest,", "Oft have I thought, 'twould soothe my dying hour,--", "If aught may soothe, when Life resigns her power,--", "To know some humbler grave, some narrow cell,", "Would hide my bosom where it lov'd to dwell;", "With this fond dream, methinks 'twere sweet to die--", "And here it linger'd, here my heart might lie;", "Here might I sleep where all my hopes arose,", "Scene of my youth, and couch of my repose;", "For ever stretch'd beneath this mantling shade,", "Press'd by the turf where once my childhood play'd;", "Wrapt by the soil that veils the spot I lov'd,", "Mix'd with the earth o'er which my footsteps mov'd;", "Blest by the tongues that charm'd my youthful ear,", "Mourn'd by the few my soul acknowledged here;", "Deplor'd by those in early days allied,", "And unremember'd by the world beside." ], "linecount": "34" }, { "title": "Fragment. Written Shortly After the Marriage of Miss Chaworth", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Hills of Annesley, Bleak and Barren,", " Where my thoughtless Childhood stray'd,", "How the northern Tempests, warring,", " Howl above thy tufted Shade!", "", "Now no more, the Hours beguiling,", " Former favourite Haunts I see;", "Now no more my Mary smiling,", " Makes ye seem a Heaven to Me." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Remembrance", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'Tis done!--I saw it in my dreams:", "No more with Hope the future beams;", " My days of happiness are few:", "Chill'd by Misfortune's wintry blast,", "My dawn of Life is overcast;", " Love, Hope, and Joy, alike adieu!", " Would I could add Remembrance too!" ], "linecount": "7" }, { "title": "To a Lady Who Presented the Author With the Velvet Band Which Bound Her Tresses", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "This Band, which bound thy yellow hair", " Is mine, sweet girl! thy pledge of love;", "It claims my warmest, dearest care,", " Like relics left of saints above.", "", "Oh! I will wear it next my heart;", " 'Twill bind my soul in bonds to thee:", "From me again 'twill ne'er depart,", " But mingle in the grave with me.", "", "The dew I gather from thy lip", " Is not so dear to me as this;", "_That_ I but for a moment sip,", " And banquet on a transient bliss:", "", "_This_ will recall each youthful scene,", " E'en when our lives are on the wane;", "The leaves of Love will still be green", " When Memory bids them bud again." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "To a Knot of Ungenerous Critics", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Rail on, Rail on, ye heartless crew!", "My strains were never meant for you;", "Remorseless Rancour still reveal,", "And damn the verse you cannot feel.", "Invoke those kindred passions' aid,", "Whose baleful stings your breasts pervade;", "Crush, if you can, the hopes of youth,", "Trampling regardless on the Truth:", "Truth's Records you consult in vain,", "She will not blast her native strain;", "She will assist her votary's cause,", "His will at least be her applause,", "Your prayer the gentle Power will spurn;", "To Fiction's motley altar turn,", "Who joyful in the fond address", "Her favoured worshippers will bless:", "And lo! she holds a magic glass,", "Where Images reflected pass,", "Bent on your knees the Boon receive--", "This will assist you to deceive--", "The glittering gift was made for you,", "Now hold it up to public view;", "Lest evil unforeseen betide,", "A Mask each canker'd brow shall hide,", "(Whilst Truth my sole desire is nigh,", "Prepared the danger to defy,)", "\"There is the Maid's perverted name,", "And there the Poet's guilty Flame,", "Gloaming a deep phosphoric fire,", "Threatening--but ere it spreads, retire.", "Says Truth Up Virgins, do not fear!", "The Comet rolls its Influence here;", "'Tis Scandal's Mirror you perceive,", "These dazzling Meteors but deceive--", "Approach and touch--Nay do not turn", "It blazes there, but will not burn.\"--", "At once the shivering Mirror flies,", "Teeming no more with varnished Lies;", "The baffled friends of Fiction start,", "Too late desiring to depart--", "Truth poising high Ithuriel's spear", "Bids every Fiend unmask'd appear,", "The vizard tears from every face,", "And dooms them to a dire disgrace.", "For e'er they compass their escape,", "Each takes perforce a native shape--", "The Leader of the wrathful Band,", "Behold a portly Female stand!", "She raves, impelled by private pique,", "This mean unjust revenge to seek;", "From vice to save this virtuous Age,", "Thus does she vent indecent rage!", "What child has she of promise fair,", "Who claims a fostering Mother's care?", "Whose Innocence requires defence,", "Or forms at least a smooth pretence,", "Thus to disturb a harmless Boy,", "His humble hope, and peace annoy?", "She need not fear the amorous rhyme,", "Love will not tempt her future time,", "For her his wings have ceased to spread,", "No more he flutters round her head;", "Her day's Meridian now is past,", "The clouds of Age her Sun o'ercast;", "To her the strain was never sent,", "For feeling Souls alone 'twas meant--", "The verse she seized, unask'd, unbade,", "And damn'd, ere yet the whole was read!", "Yes! for one single erring verse,", "Pronounced an unrelenting Curse;", "Yes! at a first and transient view,", "Condemned a heart she never knew.--", "Can such a verdict then decide,", "Which springs from disappointed pride?", "Without a wondrous share of Wit,", "To judge is such a Matron fit?", "The rest of the censorious throng", "Who to this zealous Band belong,", "To her a general homage pay,", "And right or wrong her wish obey:", "Why should I point my pen of steel", "To break \"such flies upon the wheel?\"", "With minds to Truth and Sense unknown,", "Who dare not call their words their own.", "Rail on, Rail on, ye heartless Crew!", "Your Leader's grand design pursue:", "Secure behind her ample shield,", "Yours is the harvest of the field.--", "My path with thorns you cannot strew,", "Nay more, my warmest thanks are due;", "When such as you revile my Name,", "Bright beams the rising Sun of Fame,", "Chasing the shades of envious night,", "Outshining every critic Light.--", "Such, such as you will serve to show", "Each radiant tint with higher glow.", "Vain is the feeble cheerless toil,", "Your efforts on yourselves recoil;", "Then Glory still for me you raise,", "Yours is the Censure, mine the Praise." ], "linecount": "100" }, { "title": "Soliloquy of a Bard in the Country", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'Twas now the noon of night, and all was still,", "Except a hapless Rhymer and his quill.", "In vain he calls each Muse in order down,", "Like other females, these will sometimes frown;", "He frets, be fumes, and ceasing to invoke", "The Nine, in anguish'd accents thus he spoke:", "Ah what avails it thus to waste my time,", "To roll in Epic, or to rave in Rhyme?", "What worth is some few partial readers' praise.", "If ancient Virgins croaking 'censures' raise?", "Where few attend, 'tis useless to indite;", "Where few can read, 'tis folly sure to write;", "Where none but girls and striplings dare admire,", "And Critics rise in every country Squire--", "But yet this last my candid Muse admits,", "When Peers are Poets, Squires may well be Wits;", "When schoolboys vent their amorous flames in verse,", "Matrons may sure their characters asperse;", "And if a little parson joins the train,", "And echos back his Patron's voice again--", "Though not delighted, yet I must forgive,", "Parsons as well as other folks must live:--", "From rage he rails not, rather say from dread,", "He does not speak for Virtue, but for bread;", "And this we know is in his Patron's giving,", "For Parsons cannot eat without a 'Living'.", "The Matron knows I love the Sex too well,", "Even unprovoked aggression to repel.", "What though from private pique her anger grew,", "And bade her blast a heart she never knew?", "What though, she said, for one light heedless line,", "That Wilmot's verse was far more pure than mine!", "In wars like these, I neither fight nor fly,", "When 'dames' accuse 'tis bootless to deny;", "Her's be the harvest of the martial field,", "I can't attack, where Beauty forms the shield.", "But when a pert Physician loudly cries,", "Who hunts for scandal, and who lives by lies,", "A walking register of daily news,", "Train'd to invent, and skilful to abuse--", "For arts like these at bounteous tables fed,", "When S----condemns a book he never read.", "Declaring with a coxcomb's native air,", "The 'moral's' shocking, though the 'rhymes' are fair.", "Ah! must he rise unpunish'd from the feast,", "Nor lash'd by vengeance into truth at least?", "Such lenity were more than Man's indeed!", "Those who condemn, should surely deign to read.", "Yet must I spare--nor thus my pen degrade,", "I quite forgot that scandal was his trade.", "For food and raiment thus the coxcomb rails,", "For those who fear his physic, like his _tales_.", "Why should his harmless censure seem offence?", "Still let him eat, although at my expense,", "And join the herd to Sense and Truth unknown,", "Who dare not call their very thoughts their own,", "And share with these applause, a godlike bribe,", "In short, do anything, except _prescribe_:--", "For though in garb of Galen he appears,", "His practice is not equal to his years.", "Without improvement since he first began,", "A young Physician, though an ancient Man--", "Now let me cease--Physician, Parson, Dame,", "Still urge your task, and if you can, defame.", "The humble offerings of my Muse destroy,", "And crush, oh! noble conquest! crush a Boy.", "What though some silly girls have lov'd the strain,", "And kindly bade me tune my Lyre again;", "What though some feeling, or some partial few,", "Nay, Men of Taste and Reputation too,", "Have deign'd to praise the firstlings of my Muse--", "If _you_ your sanction to the theme refuse,", "If _you_ your great protection still withdraw,", "Whose Praise is Glory, and whose Voice is law!", "Soon must I fall an unresisting foe,", "A hapless victim yielding to the blow.--", "Thus Pope by Curl and Dennis was destroyed,", "Thus Gray and Mason yield to furious Lloyd;", "From Dryden, Milbourne tears the palm away,", "And thus I fall, though meaner far than they.", "As in the field of combat, side by side,", "A Fabius and some noble Roman died." ], "linecount": "82" }, { "title": "L'AMITIÉ, Est L'AMOUR Sans Ailes", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Why should my anxious breast repine,", " Because my youth is fled?", "Days of delight may still be mine;", " Affection is not dead.", "In tracing back the years of youth,", "One firm record, one lasting truth", " Celestial consolation brings;", "Bear it, ye breezes, to the seat,", "Where first my heart responsive beat,--", " \"Friendship is Love without his wings!\"", "", "Through few, but deeply chequer'd years,", " What moments have been mine!", "Now half obscured by clouds of tears,", " Now bright in rays divine;", "Howe'er my future doom be cast,", "My soul, enraptured with the past,", " To one idea fondly clings;", "Friendship! that thought is all thine own,", "Worth worlds of bliss, that thought alone--", " \"Friendship is Love without his wings!\"", "", "Where yonder yew-trees lightly wave", " Their branches on the gale,", "Unheeded heaves a simple grave,", " Which tells the common tale;", "Round this unconscious schoolboys stray,", "Till the dull knell of childish play", " From yonder studious mansion rings;", "But here, whene'er my footsteps move,", "My silent tears too plainly prove,", " \"Friendship is Love without his wings!\"", "", "Oh, Love! before thy glowing shrine,", " My early vows were paid;", "My hopes, my dreams, my heart was thine,", " But these are now decay'd;", "For thine are pinions like the wind,", "No trace of thee remains behind,", " Except, alas! thy jealous stings.", "Away, away! delusive power,", "Thou shall not haunt my coming hour;", " Unless, indeed, without thy wings.", "", "Seat of my youth! thy distant spire", " Recalls each scene of joy;", "My bosom glows with former fire,--", " In mind again a boy.", "Thy grove of elms, thy verdant hill,", "Thy every path delights me still,", " Each flower a double fragrance flings;", "Again, as once, in converse gay,", "Each dear associate seems to say,", " \"Friendship is Love without his wings!'", "", "My Lycus! wherefore dost thou weep?", " Thy falling tears restrain;", "Affection for a time may sleep,", " But, oh, 'twill wake again.", "Think, think, my friend, when next we meet,", "Our long-wished interview, how sweet!", " From this my hope of rapture springs;", "While youthful hearts thus fondly swell,", "Absence my friend, can only tell,", " \"Friendship is Love without his wings!\"", "", "In one, and one alone deceiv'd,", " Did I my error mourn?", "No--from oppressive bonds reliev'd,", " I left the wretch to scorn.", "I turn'd to those my childhood knew,", "With feelings warm, with bosoms true,", " Twin'd with my heart's according strings;", "And till those vital chords shall break,", "For none but these my breast shall wake", " Friendship, the power deprived of wings!", "", "Ye few! my soul, my life is yours,", " My memory and my hope;", "Your worth a lasting love insures,", " Unfetter'd in its scope;", "From smooth deceit and terror sprung,", "With aspect fair and honey'd tongue,", " Let Adulation wait on kings;", "With joy elate, by snares beset,", "We, we, my friends, can ne'er forget,", " \"Friendship is Love without his wings!\"", "", "Fictions and dreams inspire the bard,", " Who rolls the epic song;", "Friendship and truth be my reward--", " To me no bays belong;", "If laurell'd Fame but dwells with lies,", "Me the enchantress ever flies,", " Whose heart and not whose fancy sings;", "Simple and young, I dare not feign;", "Mine be the rude yet heartfelt strain,", " \"Friendship is Love without his wings!\"" ], "linecount": "90" }, { "title": "Translation From Anacreon. Ode", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Mingle with the genial bowl", "The Rose, the 'flow'ret' of the Soul,", "The Rose and Grape together quaff'd,", "How doubly sweet will be the draught!", "With Roses crown our jovial brows,", "While every cheek with Laughter glows;", "While Smiles and Songs, with Wine incite,", "To wing our moments with Delight.", "Rose by far the fairest birth,", "Which Spring and Nature cull from Earth--", "Rose whose sweetest perfume given,", "Breathes our thoughts from Earth to Heaven.", "Rose whom the Deities above,", "From Jove to Hebe, dearly love,", "When Cytherea's blooming Boy,", "Flies lightly through the dance of Joy,", "With him the Graces then combine,", "And rosy wreaths their locks entwine.", "Then will I sing divinely crown'd,", "With dusky leaves my temples bound--", "Lyæus! in thy bowers of pleasure,", "I'll wake a wildly thrilling measure.", "There will my gentle Girl and I,", "Along the mazes sportive fly,", "Will bend before thy potent throne--", "Rose, Wine, and Beauty, all my own." ], "linecount": "26" }, { "title": "Ossian's Address to the Sun in \"Carthon.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! thou that roll'st above thy glorious Fire,", "Round as the shield which grac'd my godlike Sire,", "Whence are the beams, O Sun! thy endless blaze,", "Which far eclipse each minor Glory's rays?", "Forth in thy Beauty here thou deign'st to shine!", "Night quits her car, the twinkling stars decline;", "Pallid and cold the Moon descends to cave", "Her sinking beams beneath the Western wave;", "But thou still mov'st alone, of light the Source--", "Who can o'ertake thee in thy fiery course?", "Oaks of the mountains fall, the rocks decay,", "Weighed down with years the hills dissolve away.", "A certain space to yonder Moon is given,", "She rises, smiles, and then is lost in Heaven.", "Ocean in sullen murmurs ebbs and flows,", "But thy bright beam unchanged for ever glows!", "When Earth is darkened with tempestuous skies,", "When Thunder shakes the sphere and Lightning flies,", "Thy face, O Sun, no rolling blasts deform,", "Thou look'st from clouds and laughest at the Storm.", "To Ossian, Orb of Light! thou look'st in vain,", "Nor cans't thou glad his agèd eyes again,", "Whether thy locks in Orient Beauty stream,", "Or glimmer through the West with fainter gleam--", "But thou, perhaps, like me with age must bend;", "Thy season o'er, thy days will find their end,", "No more yon azure vault with rays adorn,", "Lull'd in the clouds, nor hear the voice of Morn.", "Exult, O Sun, in all thy youthful strength!", "Age, dark unlovely Age, appears at length,", "As gleams the moonbeam through the broken cloud", "While mountain vapours spread their misty shroud--", "The Northern tempest howls along at last,", "And wayworn strangers shrink amid the blast.", "Thou rolling Sun who gild'st those rising towers,", "Fair didst thou shine upon my earlier hours!", "I hail'd with smiles the cheering rays of Morn,", "My breast by no tumultuous Passion torn--", "Now hateful are thy beams which wake no more", "The sense of joy which thrill'd my breast before;", "Welcome thou cloudy veil of nightly skies,", "To thy bright canopy the mourner flies:", "Once bright, thy Silence lull'd my frame to rest,", "And Sleep my soul with gentle visions blest;", "Now wakeful Grief disdains her mild controul,", "Dark is the night, but darker is my Soul.", "Ye warring Winds of Heav'n your fury urge,", "To me congenial sounds your wintry Dirge:", "Swift as your wings my happier days have past,", "Keen as your storms is Sorrow's chilling blast;", "To Tempests thus expos'd my Fate has been,", "Piercing like yours, like yours, alas! unseen." ], "linecount": "52" }, { "title": "Pignus Amoris", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "As by the fix'd decrees of Heaven,", "'Tis vain to hope that Joy can last;", "The dearest boon that Life has given,", "To me is--visions of the past.", "", "For these this toy of blushing hue", " I prize with zeal before unknown,", "It tells me of a Friend I knew,", " Who loved me for myself alone.", "", "It tells me what how few can say", " Though all the social tie commend;", "Recorded in my heart 'twill lay,", " It tells me mine was once a Friend.", "", "Through many a weary day gone by,", " With time the gift is dearer grown;", "And still I view in Memory's eye", " That teardrop sparkle through my own.", "", "And heartless Age perhaps will smile,", " Or wonder whence those feelings sprung;", "Yet let not sterner souls revile,", " For Both were open, Both were young.", "", "And Youth is sure the only time,", " When Pleasure blends no base alloy;", "When Life is blest without a crime,", " And Innocence resides with Joy.", "", "Let those reprove my feeble Soul,", " Who laugh to scorn Affection's name;", "While these impose a harsh controul,", " All will forgive who feel the same.", "", "Then still I wear my simple toy,", " With pious care from wreck I'll save it;", "And this will form a dear employ", " For dear I was to him who gave it." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "A Woman's Hair", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! little lock of golden hue", " In gently waving ringlet curl'd,", "By the dear head on which you grew,", " I would not lose you for _a world_.", "", "Not though a thousand more adorn", " The polished brow where once you shone,", "Like rays which guild a cloudless sky", " Beneath Columbia's fervid zone." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Stanzas to Jessy", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "There is a mystic thread of life", " So dearly wreath'd with mine alone,", "That Destiny's relentless knife", " At once must sever both, or none.", "", "There is a Form on which these eyes", " Have fondly gazed with such delight--", "By day, that Form their joy supplies,", " And Dreams restore it, through the night.", "", "There is a Voice whose tones inspire", " Such softened feelings in my breast, -", "I would not hear a Seraph Choir,", " Unless that voice could join the rest.", "", "There is a Face whose Blushes tell", " Affection's tale upon the cheek,", "But pallid at our fond farewell,", " Proclaims more love than words can speak.", "", "There is a Lip, which mine has prest,", " But none had ever prest before;", "It vowed to make me sweetly blest,", " That mine alone should press it more.", "", "There is a Bosom all my own,", " Has pillow'd oft this aching head,", "A Mouth which smiles on me alone,", " An Eye, whose tears with mine are shed.", "", "There are two Hearts whose movements thrill,", " In unison so closely sweet,", "That Pulse to Pulse responsive still", " They Both must heave, or cease to beat.", "", "There are two Souls, whose equal flow", " In gentle stream so calmly run,", "That when they part--they part?--ah no!", " They cannot part--those Souls are One." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "The Adieu. Written Under the Impression That the Author Would Soon Die", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Adieu, thou Hill! where early joy", " Spread roses o'er my brow;", "Where Science seeks each loitering boy", " With knowledge to endow.", "Adieu, my youthful friends or foes,", "Partners of former bliss or woes;", " No more through Ida's paths we stray;", "Soon must I share the gloomy cell,", "Whose ever-slumbering inmates dwell", " Unconscious of the day.", "", "Adieu, ye hoary Regal Fanes,", " Ye spires of Granta's vale,", "Where Learning robed in sable reigns.", " And Melancholy pale.", "Ye comrades of the jovial hour,", "Ye tenants of the classic bower,", "On Cama's verdant margin plac'd,", "Adieu! while memory still is mine,", "For offerings on Oblivion's shrine,", "These scenes must be effac'd.", "", "Adieu, ye mountains of the clime", "Where grew my youthful years;", "Where Loch na Garr in snows sublime", "His giant summit rears.", "Why did my childhood wander forth", "From you, ye regions of the North,", "With sons of Pride to roam?", "Why did I quit my Highland cave,", "Marr's dusky heath, and Dee's clear wave,", "To seek a Sotheron home?", "", "Hall of my Sires! a long farewell--", "Yet why to thee adieu?", "Thy vaults will echo back my knell,", "Thy towers my tomb will view:", "The faltering tongue which sung thy fall,", "And former glories of thy Hall,", "Forgets its wonted simple note--", "But yet the Lyre retains the strings,", "And sometimes, on Æolian wings,", "In dying strains may float.", "", "Fields, which surround yon rustic cot,", " While yet I linger here,", "Adieu! you are not now forgot,", " To retrospection dear.", "Streamlet! along whose rippling surge", "My youthful limbs were wont to urge,", " At noontide heat, their pliant course;", "Plunging with ardour from the shore,", "Thy springs will lave these limbs no more,", " Deprived of active force.", "", "And shall I here forget the scene,", " Still nearest to my breast?", "Rocks rise and rivers roll between", " The spot which passion blest;", "Yet Mary, all thy beauties seem", "Fresh as in Love's bewitching dream,", " To me in smiles display'd;", "Till slow disease resigns his prey", "To Death, the parent of decay,", " Thine image cannot fade.", "", "And thou, my Friend! whose gentle love", " Yet thrills my bosom's chords,", "How much thy friendship was above", " Description's power of words!", "Still near my breast thy gift I wear", "Which sparkled once with Feeling's tear,", " Of Love the pure, the sacred gem:", "Our souls were equal, and our lot", "In that dear moment quite forgot;", " Let Pride alone condemn!", "", "All, all is dark and cheerless now!", " No smile of Love's deceit", "Can warm my veins with wonted glow,", " Can bid Life's pulses beat:", "Not e'en the hope of future fame", "Can wake my faint, exhausted frame,", " Or crown with fancied wreaths my head.", "Mine is a short inglorious race,--", "To humble in the dust my face,", " And mingle with the dead.", "", "Oh Fame! thou goddess of my heart;", " On him who gains thy praise,", "Pointless must fall the Spectre's dart,", " Consumed in Glory's blaze;", "But me she beckons from the earth,", "My name obscure, unmark'd my birth,", " My life a short and vulgar dream:", "Lost in the dull, ignoble crowd,", "My hopes recline within a shroud,", " My fate is Lethe's stream.", "", "When I repose beneath the sod,", " Unheeded in the clay,", "Where once my playful footsteps trod,", " Where now my head must lay,", "The meed of Pity will be shed", "In dew-drops o'er my narrow bed,", " By nightly skies, and storms alone;", "No mortal eye will deign to steep", "With tears the dark sepulchral deep", " Which hides a name unknown.", "", "Forget this world, my restless sprite,", " Turn, turn thy thoughts to Heaven:", "There must thou soon direct thy flight,", " If errors are forgiven.", "To bigots and to sects unknown,", "Bow down beneath the Almighty's Throne;", " To Him address thy trembling prayer:", "He, who is merciful and just,", "Will not reject a child of dust,", " Although His meanest care.", "", "Father of Light! to Thee I call;", " My soul is dark within:", "Thou who canst mark the sparrow's fall,", " Avert the death of sin.", "Thou, who canst guide the wandering star", "Who calm'st the elemental war,", " Whose mantle is yon boundless sky,", "My thoughts, my words, my crimes forgive;", "And, since I soon must cease to live,", " Instruct me how to die." ], "linecount": "120" }, { "title": "To---", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! well I know your subtle Sex,", " Frail daughters of the wanton Eve,--", "While jealous pangs our Souls perplex,", "No passion prompts you to relieve.", "", "From Love, or Pity ne'er you fall,", "By _you_, no mutual Flame is felt,", "\"Tis Vanity, which rules you all,", "Desire alone which makes you melt.", "", "I will not say no _souls_ are yours,", "Aye, ye have Souls, and dark ones too,", "Souls to contrive those smiling lures,", "To snare our simple hearts for you.", "", "Yet shall you never bind me fast,", "Long to adore such brittle toys,", "I'll rove along, from first to last,", "And change whene'er my fancy cloys.", "", "Oh! I should be a _baby_ fool,", "To sigh the dupe of female art--", "Woman! perhaps thou hast a _Soul_,", "But where have _Demons_ hid thy _Heart_?" ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "To a Vain Lady", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Ah, heedless girl! why thus disclose", " What ne'er was meant for other ears;", "Why thus destroy thine own repose,", " And dig the source of future tears?", "", "Oh, thou wilt weep, imprudent maid,", "While lurking envious foes will smile,", "For all the follies thou hast said", "Of those who spoke but to beguile.", "", "Vain girl! thy lingering woes are nigh,", "If thou believ'st what striplings say:", "Oh, from the deep temptation fly,", "Nor fall the specious spoiler's prey.", "", "Dost thou repeat, in childish boast,", "The words man utters to deceive?", "Thy peace, thy hope, thy all is lost,", "If thou canst venture to believe.", "", "While now amongst thy female peers", "Thou tell'st again the soothing tale,", "Canst thou not mark the rising sneers", "Duplicity in vain would veil?", "", "These tales in secret silence hush,", "Nor make thyself the public gaze:", "What modest maid without a blush", "Recounts a flattering coxcomb's praise?", "", "Will not the laughing boy despise", "Her who relates each fond conceit--", "Who, thinking Heaven is in her eyes,", "Yet cannot see the slight deceit?", "", "For she who takes a soft delight", "These amorous nothings in revealing,", "Must credit all we say or write,", "While vanity prevents concealing.", "", "Cease, if you prize your Beauty's reign!", "No jealousy bids me reprove:", "One, who is thus from nature vain,", "I pity, but I cannot love." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "To Anne", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh, Anne, your offences to me have been grievous:", "I thought from my wrath no atonement could save you;", "But Woman is made to command and deceive us--", "I look'd in your face, and I almost forgave you.", "", "I vow'd I could ne'er for a moment respect you,", " Yet thought that a day's separation was long;", "When we met, I determined again to suspect you--", " Your smile soon convinced me _suspicion_ was wrong.", "", "I swore, in a transport of young indignation,", " With fervent contempt evermore to disdain you:", "I saw you--my _anger_ became _admiration_;", " And now, all my wish, all my hope's to regain you.", "", "With beauty like yours, oh, how vain the contention!", " Thus lowly I sue for forgiveness before you;--", "At once to conclude such a fruitless dissension,", " Be false, my sweet Anne, when I cease to adore you!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Egotism. a Letter to J. T. Becher", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "If Fate should seal my Death to-morrow,", " (Though much _I_ hope she will _postpone_ it,)", "I've held a share _Joy_ and _Sorrow_,", " Enough for _Ten_; and _here_ I _own_ it.", "", "I've lived, as many others live,", "And yet, I think, with more enjoyment;", "For could I through my days again live,", "I'd pass them in the 'same' employment.", "", "That 'is' to say, with 'some exception',", "For though I will not make confession,", "I've seen too much of man's deception", "Ever again to trust profession.", "", "Some sage 'Mammas' with gesture haughty,", "Pronounce me quite a youthful Sinner--", "But 'Daughters' say, \"although he's naughty,", "You must not check a 'Young Beginner'!\"", "", "I've loved, and many damsels know it--", "But whom I don't intend to mention,", "As 'certain stanzas' also show it,", "'Some' say 'deserving Reprehension'.", "", "Some ancient Dames, of virtue fiery,", "(Unless Report does much belie them,)", "Have lately made a sharp Enquiry,", "And much it 'grieves' me to 'deny' them.", "", "Two whom I lov'd had 'eyes' of 'Blue',", "To which I hope you've no objection;", "The 'Rest' had eyes of 'darker Hue'--", "Each Nymph, of course, was 'all perfection'.", "", "But here I'll close my 'chaste' Description,", "Nor say the deeds of animosity;", "For 'silence' is the best prescription,", "To 'physic' idle curiosity.", "", "Of 'Friends' I've known a 'goodly Hundred'--", "For finding 'one' in each acquaintance,", "By 'some deceived', by others plunder'd,", "'Friendship', to me, was not 'Repentance'.", "", "At 'School' I thought like other 'Children';", "Instead of 'Brains', a fine Ingredient,", "'Romance', my 'youthful Head bewildering',", "To 'Sense' had made me disobedient.", "", "A victim, 'nearly' from affection,", "To certain 'very precious scheming',", "The still remaining recollection", "Has 'cured' my 'boyish soul' of 'Dreaming'.", "", "By Heaven! I rather would forswear", "The Earth, and all the joys reserved me,", "Than dare again the 'specious Snare',", "From which 'my Fate' and 'Heaven preserved' me.", "", "Still I possess some Friends who love me--", "In each a much esteemed and true one;", "The Wealth of Worlds shall never move me", "To quit their Friendship, for a new one.", "", "But Becher! you're a 'reverend pastor',", "Now take it in consideration,", "Whether for penance I should fast, or", "Pray for my 'sins' in expiation.", "", "I own myself the child of 'Folly',", "But not so wicked as they make me--", "I soon must die of melancholy,", "If 'Female' smiles should e'er forsake me.", "", "'Philosophers' have 'never doubted',", "That 'Ladies' Lips' were made for 'kisses!'", "For 'Love!' I could not live without it,", "For such a 'cursed' place as 'This is'.", "", "Say, Becher, I shall be forgiven!", "If you don't warrant my salvation,", "I must resign all 'Hopes' of 'Heaven'!", "For, 'Faith', I can't withstand Temptation." ], "linecount": "68" }, { "title": "To Anne", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh say not, sweet Anne, that the Fates have decreed", "The heart which adores you should wish to dissever;", "Such Fates were to me most unkind ones indeed,--", "To bear me from Love and from Beauty for ever.", "", "Your frowns, lovely girl, are the Fates which alone", "Could bid me from fond admiration refrain;", "By these, every hope, every wish were o'erthrown,", "Till smiles should restore me to rapture again.", "", "As the ivy and oak, in the forest entwin'd,", "The rage of the tempest united must weather;", "My love and my life were by nature design'd", "To flourish alike, or to perish together.", "", "Then say not, sweet Anne, that the Fates have decreed", " Your lover should bid you a lasting adieu:", "Till Fate can ordain that his bosom shall bleed,", " His Soul, his Existence, are centred in you." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "To the Author of a Sonnet", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Thy verse is \"sad\" enough, no doubt:", " A devilish deal more sad than witty!", "Why we should weep I can't find out,", " Unless for _thee_ we weep in pity.", "", "Yet there is one I pity more;", " And much, alas! I think he needs it:", "For he, I'm sure, will suffer sore,", " Who, to his own misfortune, reads it.", "", "Thy rhymes, without the aid of magic,", " May _once_ be read--but never after:", "Yet their effect's by no means tragic,", " Although by far too dull for laughter.", "", "But would you make our bosoms bleed,", "And of no common pang complain--", "If you would make us weep indeed,", "Tell us, you'll read them o'er again." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "On Finding a Fan", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In one who felt as once he felt,", "This might, perhaps, have fann'd the flame;", "But now his heart no more will melt,", "Because that heart is not the same.", "", "As when the ebbing flames are low,", "The aid which once improved their light,", "And bade them burn with fiercer glow,", "Now quenches all their blaze in night.", "", "Thus has it been with Passion's fires--", "As many a boy and girl remembers--", "While every hope of love expires,", "Extinguish'd with the dying embers.", "", "The _first_, though not a spark survive,", " Some careful hand may teach to burn;", "The _last_, alas! can ne'er survive;", " No touch can bid its warmth return.", "", "Or, if it chance to wake again,", " Not always doom'd its heat to smother,", "It sheds (so wayward fates ordain)", " Its former warmth around another." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "On Revisiting Harrow", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Here once engaged the stranger's view", " Young Friendship's record simply trac'd;", "Few were her words,--but yet, though few,", " Resentment's hand the line defac'd.", "", "Deeply she cut--but not eras'd--", " The characters were still so plain,", "That Friendship once return'd, and gaz'd,--", " Till Memory hail'd the words again.", "", "Repentance plac'd them as before;", " Forgiveness join'd her gentle name;", "So fair the inscription seem'd once more,", " That Friendship thought it still the same.", "", "Thus might the Record now have been;", " But, ah, in spite of Hope's endeavour,", "Or Friendship's tears, Pride rush'd between,", " And blotted out the line for ever." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "To My Son", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Those flaxen locks, those eyes of blue", "Bright as thy mother's in their hue;", "Those rosy lips, whose dimples play", "And smile to steal the heart away,", "Recall a scene of former joy,", "And touch thy father's heart, my Boy!", "", "And thou canst lisp a father's name--", "Ah, William, were thine own the same,--", "No self-reproach--but, let me cease--", "My care for thee shall purchase peace;", "Thy mother's shade shall smile in joy,", "And pardon all the past, my Boy!", "", "Her lowly grave the turf has prest,", "And thou hast known a stranger's breast;", "Derision sneers upon thy birth,", "And yields thee scarce a name on earth;", "Yet shall not these one hope destroy,--", "A Father's heart is thine, my Boy!", "", "Why, let the world unfeeling frown,", "Must I fond Nature's claims disown?", "Ah, no--though moralists reprove,", "I hail thee, dearest child of Love,", "Fair cherub, pledge of youth and joy--", "A Father guards thy birth, my Boy!", "", "Oh,'twill be sweet in thee to trace,", "Ere Age has wrinkled o'er my face,", "Ere half my glass of life is run,", "At once a brother and a son;", "And all my wane of years employ", "In justice done to thee, my Boy!", "", "Although so young thy heedless sire,", "Youth will not damp parental fire;", "And, wert thou still less dear to me,", "While Helen's form revives in thee,", "The breast, which beat to former joy,", "Will ne'er desert its pledge, my Boy!" ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Queries to Casuists", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The Moralists tell us that Loving is Sinning,", " And always are prating about and about it,", "But as Love of Existence itself's the beginning,", " Say, what would Existence itself be without it?", "", "They argue the point with much furious Invective,", " Though perhaps 'twere no difficult task to confute it;", "But if Venus and Hymen should once prove defective,", " Pray who would there be to defend or dispute it?" ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Song", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Breeze of the night in gentler sighs", " More softly murmur o'er the pillow;", "For Slumber seals my Fanny's eyes,", " And Peace must never shun her pillow.", "", "Or breathe those sweet Æolian strains", " Stolen from celestial spheres above,", "To charm her ear while some remains,", " And soothe her soul to dreams of love.", "", "But Breeze of night again forbear,", " In softest murmurs only sigh:", "Let not a Zephyr's pinion dare", " To lift those auburn locks on high.", "", "Chill is thy Breath, thou breeze of night!", " Oh! ruffle not those lids of Snow;", "For only Morning's cheering light", " May wake the beam that lurks below.", "", "Blest be that lip and azure eye!", " Sweet Fanny, hallowed be thy Sleep!", "Those lips shall never vent a sigh,", " Those eyes may never wake to weep." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "To Harriet", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Harriet! to see such Circumspection,", "In Ladies I have no objection", " Concerning what they read;", "An ancient Maid's a sage adviser,", "Like _her_, you will be much the wiser,", " In word, as well as Deed.", "", "But Harriet, I don't wish to flatter,", "And really think 't would make the matter", " More perfect if not quite,", "If other Ladies when they preach,", "Would certain Damsels also teach", " More cautiously to write." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "There Was a Time, I Need Not Name", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "There was a time, I need not name,", " Since it will ne'er forgotten be,", "When all our feelings were the same", " As still my soul hath been to thee.", "", "And from that hour when first thy tongue", " Confess'd a love which equall'd mine,", "Though many a grief my heart hath wrung,", " Unknown, and thus unfelt, by thine,", "", "None, none hath sunk so deep as this--", " To think how all that love hath flown;", "Transient as every faithless kiss,", " But transient in thy breast alone.", "", "And yet my heart some solace knew,", " When late I heard thy lips declare,", "In accents once imagined true,", " Remembrance of the days that were.", "", "Yes! my adored, yet most unkind!", " Though thou wilt never love again,", "To me 'tis doubly sweet to find", " Remembrance of that love remain.", "", "Yes! 'tis a glorious thought to me,", " Nor longer shall my soul repine,", "Whate'er thou art or e'er shall be,", " Thou hast been dearly, solely mine." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "And Wilt Thou Weep When I Am Low?", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "And wilt thou weep when I am low?", " Sweet lady! speak those words again:", "Yet if they grieve thee, say not so--", " I would not give that bosom pain.", "", "My heart is sad, my hopes are gone,", " My blood runs coldly through my breast;", "And when I perish, thou alone", " Wilt sigh above my place of rest.", "", "And yet, methinks, a gleam of peace", " Doth through my cloud of anguish shine:", "And for a while my sorrows cease,", " To know thy heart hath felt for mine.", "", "Oh lady! blessèd be that tear--", " It falls for one who cannot weep;", "Such precious drops are doubly dear", " To those whose eyes no tear may steep.", "", "Sweet lady! once my heart was warm", " With every feeling soft as thine;", "But Beauty's self hath ceased to charm", " A wretch created to repine.", "", "Yet wilt thou weep when I am low?", "Sweet lady! speak those words again:", "Yet if they grieve thee, say not so--", "I would not give that bosom pain." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Remind Me Not, Remind Me Not", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Remind me not, remind me not,", " Of those beloved, those vanish'd hours,", " When all my soul was given to thee;", "Hours that may never be forgot,", " Till Time unnerves our vital powers,", " And thou and I shall cease to be.", "", "Can I forget--canst thou forget,", " When playing with thy golden hair,", " How quick thy fluttering heart did move?", "Oh! by my soul, I see thee yet,", " With eyes so languid, breast so fair,", " And lips, though silent, breathing love.", "", "When thus reclining on my breast,", " Those eyes threw back a glance so sweet,", " As half reproach'd yet rais'd desire,", "And still we near and nearer prest,", " And still our glowing lips would meet,", " As if in kisses to expire.", "", "And then those pensive eyes would close,", " And bid their lids each other seek,", " Veiling the azure orbs below;", "While their long lashes' darken'd gloss", " Seem'd stealing o'er thy brilliant cheek,", " Like raven's plumage smooth'd on snow.", "", "I dreamt last night our love return'd,", " And, sooth to say, that very dream", " Was sweeter in its phantasy,", "Than if for other hearts I burn'd,", " For eyes that ne'er like thine could beam", " In Rapture's wild reality.", "", "Then tell me not, remind me not,", " Of hours which, though for ever gone,", " Can still a pleasing dream restore,", "Till thou and I shall be forgot,", " And senseless, as the mouldering stone", " Which tells that we shall be no more." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Lines Inscribed upon a Cup Formed From a Skull", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Start not--nor deem my spirit fled:", " In me behold the only skull,", "From which, unlike a living head,", " Whatever flows is never dull.", "", "I lived, I loved, I quaff'd, like thee:", " I died: let earth my bones resign;", "Fill up--thou canst not injure me;", " The worm hath fouler lips than thine.", "", "Better to hold the sparkling grape,", " Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood;", "And circle in the goblet's shape", " The drink of Gods, than reptile's food.", "", "Where once my wit, perchance, hath shone,", " In aid of others' let me shine;", "And when, alas! our brains are gone,", " What nobler substitute than wine?", "", "Quaff while thou canst: another race,", " When thou and thine, like me, are sped,", "May rescue thee from earth's embrace,", " And rhyme and revel with the dead.", "", "Why not? since through life's little day", " Our heads such sad effects produce;", "Redeem'd from worms and wasting clay,", " This chance is theirs, to be of use." ], "linecount": "24" }, { "title": "Well! Thou Art Happy", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Well! thou art happy, and I feel", " That I should thus be happy too;", "For still my heart regards thy weal", " Warmly, as it was wont to do.", "", "Thy husband's blest--and 'twill impart", " Some pangs to view his happier lot:", "But let them pass--Oh! how my heart", " Would hate him if he loved thee not!", "", "When late I saw thy favourite child,", " I thought my jealous heart would break;", "But when the unconscious infant smil'd,", " I kiss'd it for its mother's sake.", "", "I kiss'd it,--and repress'd my sighs", " Its father in its face to see;", "But then it had its mother's eyes,", " And they were all to love and me.", "", "Mary, adieu! I must away:", " While thou art blest I'll not repine;", "But near thee I can never stay;", " My heart would soon again be thine.", "", "I deem'd that Time, I deem'd that Pride,", " Had quench'd at length my boyish flame;", "Nor knew, till seated by thy side,", " My heart in all,--save hope,--the same.", "", "Yet was I calm: I knew the time", " My breast would thrill before thy look;", "But now to tremble were a crime--", " We met,--and not a nerve was shook.", "", "I saw thee gaze upon my face,", " Yet meet with no confusion there:", "One only feeling couldst thou trace;", " The sullen calmness of despair.", "", "Away! away! my early dream", " Remembrance never must awake:", "Oh! where is Lethe's fabled stream?", " My foolish heart be still, or break." ], "linecount": "36" }, { "title": "Inscription on the Monument of a Newfoundland Dog", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When some proud son of man returns to earth,", "Unknown to glory, but upheld by birth,", "The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of woe", "And storied urns record who rest below:", "When all is done, upon the tomb is seen,", "Not what he was, but what he should have been:", "But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend,", "The first to welcome, foremost to defend,", "Whose honest heart is still his master's own,", "Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,", "Unhonour'd falls, unnoticed all his worth--", "Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth:", "While Man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,", "And claims himself a sole exclusive Heaven.", "Oh Man! thou feeble tenant of an hour,", "Debased by slavery, or corrupt by power,", "Who knows thee well must quit thee with disgust,", "Degraded mass of animated dust!", "Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat,", "Thy smiles hypocrisy, thy words deceit!", "By nature vile, ennobled but by name,", "Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.", "Ye! who perchance behold this simple urn,", "Pass on--it honours none you wish to mourn:", "To mark a Friend's remains these stones arise;", "I never knew but one,--and here he lies." ], "linecount": "26" }, { "title": "To a Lady, on Being Asked My Reason for Quitting England in the Spring", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When Man, expell'd from Eden's bowers,", " A moment linger'd near the gate,", "Each scene recall'd the vanish'd hours,", " And bade him curse his future fate.", "", "But, wandering on through distant climes,", " He learnt to bear his load of grief;", "Just gave a sigh to other times,", " And found in busier scenes relief.", "", "Thus, Lady! will it be with me,", " And I must view thy charms no more;", "For, while I linger near to thee,", " I sigh for all I knew before.", "", "In flight I shall be surely wise,", " Escaping from temptation's snare:", "I cannot view my Paradise", " Without the wish of dwelling there." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers; a Satire", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Still must I hear?--shall hoarse FITZGERALD bawl", "His creaking couplets in a tavern hall,", "And I not sing, lest, haply, Scotch Reviews", "Should dub me scribbler, and denounce my _Muse?_", "Prepare for rhyme--I'll publish, right or wrong:", "Fools are my theme, let Satire be my song.", "", " Oh! Nature's noblest gift--my grey goose-quill!", "Slave of my thoughts, obedient to my will,", "Torn from thy parent bird to form a pen,", "That mighty instrument of little men!", "The pen! foredoomed to aid the mental throes", "Of brains that labour, big with Verse or Prose;", "Though Nymphs forsake, and Critics may deride,", "The Lover's solace, and the Author's pride.", "What Wits! what Poets dost thou daily raise!", "How frequent is thy use, how small thy praise!", "Condemned at length to be forgotten quite,", "With all the pages which 'twas thine to write.", "But thou, at least, mine own especial pen!", "Once laid aside, but now assumed again,", "Our task complete, like Hamet's shall be free;", "Though spurned by others, yet beloved by me:", "Then let us soar to-day; no common theme,", "No Eastern vision, no distempered dream", "Inspires--our path, though full of thorns, is plain;", "Smooth be the verse, and easy be the strain.", "", " When Vice triumphant holds her sov'reign sway,", "Obey'd by all who nought beside obey;", "When Folly, frequent harbinger of crime,", "Bedecks her cap with bells of every Clime;", "When knaves and fools combined o'er all prevail,", "And weigh their Justice in a Golden Scale;", "E'en then the boldest start from public sneers,", "Afraid of Shame, unknown to other fears,", "More darkly sin, by Satire kept in awe,", "And shrink from Ridicule, though not from Law.", "", " Such is the force of Wit! I but not belong", "To me the arrows of satiric song;", "The royal vices of our age demand", "A keener weapon, and a mightier hand.", "Still there are follies, e'en for me to chase,", "And yield at least amusement in the race:", "Laugh when I laugh, I seek no other fame,", "The cry is up, and scribblers are my game:", "Speed, Pegasus!--ye strains of great and small,", "Ode! Epic! Elegy!--have at you all!", "I, too, can scrawl, and once upon a time", "I poured along the town a flood of rhyme,", "A schoolboy freak, unworthy praise or blame;", "I printed--older children do the same.", "'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print;", "A Book's a Book, altho' there's nothing in't.", "Not that a Title's sounding charm can save", "Or scrawl or scribbler from an equal grave:", "This LAMB must own, since his patrician name", "Failed to preserve the spurious Farce from shame.", "No matter, GEORGE continues still to write,", "Tho' now the name is veiled from public sight.", "Moved by the great example, I pursue", "The self-same road, but make my own review:", "Not seek great JEFFREY'S, yet like him will be", "Self-constituted Judge of Poesy.", "", " A man must serve his time to every trade", "Save Censure--Critics all are ready made.", "Take hackneyed jokes from MILLER, got by rote,", "With just enough of learning to misquote;", "A man well skilled to find, or forge a fault;", "A turn for punning--call it Attic salt;", "To JEFFREY go, be silent and discreet,", "His pay is just ten sterling pounds per sheet:", "Fear not to lie,'twill seem a _sharper_ hit;", "Shrink not from blasphemy, 'twill pass for wit;", "Care not for feeling--pass your proper jest,", "And stand a Critic, hated yet caress'd.", "", "And shall we own such judgment? no--as soon", "Seek roses in December--ice in June;", "Hope constancy in wind, or corn in chaff,", "Believe a woman or an epitaph,", "Or any other thing that's false, before", "You trust in Critics, who themselves are sore;", "Or yield one single thought to be misled", "By JEFFREY'S heart, or LAMB'S Boeotian head.", "To these young tyrants, by themselves misplaced,", "Combined usurpers on the Throne of Taste;", "To these, when Authors bend in humble awe,", "And hail their voice as Truth, their word as Law;", "While these are Censors, 'twould be sin to spare;", "While such are Critics, why should I forbear?", "But yet, so near all modern worthies run,", "'Tis doubtful whom to seek, or whom to shun;", "Nor know we when to spare, or where to strike,", "Our Bards and Censors are so much alike.", "Then should you ask me, why I venture o'er", "The path which POPE and GIFFORD trod before;", "If not yet sickened, you can still proceed;", "Go on; my rhyme will tell you as you read.", "\"But hold!\" exclaims a friend,--\"here's some neglect:", "This--that--and t'other line seem incorrect.\"", "What then? the self-same blunder Pope has got,", "And careless Dryden--\"Aye, but Pye has not:\"--", "Indeed!--'tis granted, faith!--but what care I?", "Better to err with POPE, than shine with PYE.", "", " Time was, ere yet in these degenerate days", "Ignoble themes obtained mistaken praise,", "When Sense and Wit with Poesy allied,", "No fabled Graces, flourished side by side,", "From the same fount their inspiration drew,", "And, reared by Taste, bloomed fairer as they grew.", "Then, in this happy Isle, a POPE'S pure strain", "Sought the rapt soul to charm, nor sought in vain;", "A polished nation's praise aspired to claim,", "And raised the people's, as the poet's fame.", "Like him great DRYDEN poured the tide of song,", "In stream less smooth, indeed, yet doubly strong.", "Then CONGREVE'S scenes could cheer, or OTWAY'S melt;", "For Nature then an English audience felt--", "But why these names, or greater still, retrace,", "When all to feebler Bards resign their place?", "Yet to such times our lingering looks are cast,", "When taste and reason with those times are past.", "Now look around, and turn each trifling page,", "Survey the precious works that please the age;", "This truth at least let Satire's self allow,", "No dearth of Bards can be complained of now.", "The loaded Press beneath her labour groans,", "And Printers' devils shake their weary bones;", "While SOUTHEY'S Epics cram the creaking shelves,", "And LITTLE'S Lyrics shine in hot-pressed twelves.", "Thus saith the _Preacher_: \"Nought beneath the sun", "Is new,\" yet still from change to change we run.", "What varied wonders tempt us as they pass!", "The Cow-pox, Tractors, Galvanism, and Gas,", "In turns appear, to make the vulgar stare,", "Till the swoln bubble bursts--and all is air!", "Nor less new schools of Poetry arise,", "Where dull pretenders grapple for the prize:", "O'er Taste awhile these Pseudo-bards prevail;", "Each country Book-club bows the knee to Baal,", "And, hurling lawful Genius from the throne,", "Erects a shrine and idol of its own;", "Some leaden calf--but whom it matters not,", "From soaring SOUTHEY, down to groveling STOTT.", "", " Behold! in various throngs the scribbling crew,", "For notice eager, pass in long review:", "Each spurs his jaded Pegasus apace,", "And Rhyme and Blank maintain an equal race;", "Sonnets on sonnets crowd, and ode on ode;", "And Tales of Terror jostle on the road;", "Immeasurable measures move along;", "For simpering Folly loves a varied song,", "To strange, mysterious Dulness still the friend,", "Admires the strain she cannot comprehend.", "Thus Lays of Minstrels -may they be the last!--", "On half-strung harps whine mournful to the blast.", "While mountain spirits prate to river sprites,", "That dames may listen to the sound at nights;", "And goblin brats, of Gilpin Horner's brood", "Decoy young Border-nobles through the wood,", "And skip at every step, Lord knows how high,", "And frighten foolish babes, the Lord knows why;", "While high-born ladies in their magic cell,", "Forbidding Knights to read who cannot spell,", "Despatch a courier to a wizard's grave,", "And fight with honest men to shield a knave.", "", " Next view in state, proud prancing on his roan,", "The golden-crested haughty Marmion,", "Now forging scrolls, now foremost in the fight,", "Not quite a Felon, yet but half a Knight.", "The gibbet or the field prepared to grace;", "A mighty mixture of the great and base.", "And think'st thou, SCOTT! by vain conceit perchance,", "On public taste to foist thy stale romance,", "Though MURRAY with his MILLER may combine", "To yield thy muse just half-a-crown per line?", "No! when the sons of song descend to trade,", "Their bays are sear, their former laurels fade,", "Let such forego the poet's sacred name,", "Who rack their brains for lucre, not for fame:", "Still for stern Mammon may they toil in vain!", "And sadly gaze on Gold they cannot gain!", "Such be their meed, such still the just reward", "Of prostituted Muse and hireling bard!", "For this we spurn Apollo's venal son,", "And bid a long \"good night to Marmion.\"", "", " These are the themes that claim our plaudits now;", "These are the Bards to whom the Muse must bow;", "While MILTON, DRYDEN, POPE, alike forgot,", "Resign their hallowed Bays to WALTER SCOTT.", "", " The time has been, when yet the Muse was young,", "When HOMER swept the lyre, and MARO sung,", "An Epic scarce ten centuries could claim,", "While awe-struck nations hailed the magic name:", "The work of each immortal Bard appears", "The single wonder of a thousand years.", "Empires have mouldered from the face of earth,", "Tongues have expired with those who gave them birth,", "Without the glory such a strain can give,", "As even in ruin bids the language live.", "Not so with us, though minor Bards, content,", "On one great work a life of labour spent:", "With eagle pinion soaring to the skies,", "Behold the Ballad-monger SOUTHEY rise!", "To him let CAMOËNS, MILTON, TASSO yield,", "Whose annual strains, like armies, take the field.", "First in the ranks see Joan of Arc advance,", "The scourge of England and the boast of France!", "Though burnt by wicked BEDFORD for a witch,", "Behold her statue placed in Glory's niche;", "Her fetters burst, and just released from prison,", "A virgin Phoenix from her ashes risen.", "Next see tremendous Thalaba come on,", "Arabia's monstrous, wild, and wond'rous son;", "Domdaniel's dread destroyer, who o'erthrew", "More mad magicians than the world e'er knew.", "Immortal Hero! all thy foes o'ercome,", "For ever reign--the rival of Tom Thumb!", "Since startled Metre fled before thy face,", "Well wert thou doomed the last of all thy race!", "Well might triumphant Genii bear thee hence,", "Illustrious conqueror of common sense!", "Now, last and greatest, Madoc spreads his sails,", "Cacique in Mexico, and Prince in Wales;", "Tells us strange tales, as other travellers do,", "More old than Mandeville's, and not so true.", "Oh, SOUTHEY! SOUTHEY! cease thy varied song!", "A bard may chaunt too often and too long:", "As thou art strong in verse, in mercy, spare!", "A fourth, alas! were more than we could bear.", "But if, in spite of all the world can say,", "Thou still wilt verseward plod thy weary way;", "If still in Berkeley-Ballads most uncivil,", "Thou wilt devote old women to the devil,", "The babe unborn thy dread intent may rue:", "\"God help thee,\" SOUTHEY, and thy readers too.", "", " Next comes the dull disciple of thy school,", "That mild apostate from poetic rule,", "The simple WORDSWORTH, framer of a lay", "As soft as evening in his favourite May,", "Who warns his friend \"to shake off toil and trouble,", "And quit his books, for fear of growing double;\"", "Who, both by precept and example, shows", "That prose is verse, and verse is merely prose;", "Convincing all, by demonstration plain,", "Poetic souls delight in prose insane;", "And Christmas stories tortured into rhyme", "Contain the essence of the true sublime.", "Thus, when he tells the tale of Betty Foy,", "The idiot mother of \"an idiot Boy;\"", "A moon-struck, silly lad, who lost his way,", "And, like his bard, confounded night with day", "So close on each pathetic part he dwells,", "And each adventure so sublimely tells,", "That all who view the \"idiot in his glory\"", "Conceive the Bard the hero of the story.", "", " Shall gentle COLERIDGE pass unnoticed here,", "To turgid ode and tumid stanza dear?", "Though themes of innocence amuse him best,", "Yet still Obscurity's a welcome guest.", "If Inspiration should her aid refuse", "To him who takes a Pixy for a muse,", "Yet none in lofty numbers can surpass", "The bard who soars to elegize an ass:", "So well the subject suits his noble mind,", "He brays, the Laureate of the long-eared kind.", "", "Oh! wonder-working LEWIS! Monk, or Bard,", "Who fain would make Parnassus a church-yard!", "Lo! wreaths of yew, not laurel, bind thy brow,", "Thy Muse a Sprite, Apollo's sexton thou!", "Whether on ancient tombs thou tak'st thy stand,", "By gibb'ring spectres hailed, thy kindred band;", "Or tracest chaste descriptions on thy page,", "To please the females of our modest age;", "All hail, M.P.! from whose infernal brain", "Thin-sheeted phantoms glide, a grisly train;", "At whose command \"grim women\" throng in crowds,", "And kings of fire, of water, and of clouds,", "With \"small grey men,\"--\"wild yagers,\" and what not,", "To crown with honour thee and WALTER SCOTT:", "Again, all hail! if tales like thine may please,", "St. Luke alone can vanquish the disease:", "Even Satan's self with thee might dread to dwell,", "And in thy skull discern a deeper Hell.", "", "Who in soft guise, surrounded by a choir", "Of virgins melting, not to Vesta's fire,", "With sparkling eyes, and cheek by passion flushed", "Strikes his wild lyre, whilst listening dames are hushed?", "'Tis LITTLE! young Catullus of his day,", "As sweet, but as immoral, in his Lay!", "Grieved to condemn, the Muse must still be just,", "Nor spare melodious advocates of lust.", "Pure is the flame which o'er her altar burns;", "From grosser incense with disgust she turns", "Yet kind to youth, this expiation o'er,", "She bids thee \"mend thy line, and sin no more.\"", "", "For thee, translator of the tinsel song,", "To whom such glittering ornaments belong,", "Hibernian STRANGFORD! with thine eyes of blue,", "And boasted locks of red or auburn hue,", "Whose plaintive strain each love-sick Miss admires,", "And o'er harmonious fustian half expires,", "Learn, if thou canst, to yield thine author's sense,", "Nor vend thy sonnets on a false pretence.", "Think'st thou to gain thy verse a higher place,", "By dressing Camoëns in a suit of lace?", "Mend, STRANGFORD! mend thy morals and thy taste;", "Be warm, but pure; be amorous, but be chaste:", "Cease to deceive; thy pilfered harp restore,", "Nor teach the Lusian Bard to copy MOORE.", "", "Behold--Ye Tarts!--one moment spare the text! -", "HAYLEY'S last work, and worst--until his next;", "Whether he spin poor couplets into plays,", "Or damn the dead with purgatorial praise,", "His style in youth or age is still the same,", "For ever feeble and for ever tame.", "Triumphant first see \"Temper's Triumphs\" shine!", "At least I'm sure they triumphed over mine.", "Of \"Music's Triumphs,\" all who read may swear", "That luckless Music never triumph'd there.", "", "Moravians, rise! bestow some meet reward", "On dull devotion--Lo! the Sabbath Bard,", "Sepulchral GRAHAME, pours his notes sublime", "In mangled prose, nor e'en aspires to rhyme;", "Breaks into blank the Gospel of St. Luke,", "And boldly pilfers from the Pentateuch;", "And, undisturbed by conscientious qualms,", "Perverts the Prophets, and purloins the Psalms.", "", " Hail, Sympathy! thy soft idea brings\"", "A thousand visions of a thousand things,", "And shows, still whimpering thro' threescore of years,", "The maudlin prince of mournful sonneteers.", "And art thou not their prince, harmonious Bowles!", "Thou first, great oracle of tender souls?", "Whether them sing'st with equal ease, and grief,", "The fall of empires, or a yellow leaf;", "Whether thy muse most lamentably tells", "What merry sounds proceed from Oxford bells,", "Or, still in bells delighting, finds a friend", "In every chime that jingled from Ostend;", "Ah! how much juster were thy Muse's hap,", "If to thy bells thou would'st but add a cap!", "Delightful BOWLES! still blessing and still blest,", "All love thy strain, but children like it best.", "'Tis thine, with gentle LITTLE'S moral song,", "To soothe the mania of the amorous throng!", "With thee our nursery damsels shed their tears,", "Ere Miss as yet completes her infant years:", "But in her teens thy whining powers are vain;", "She quits poor BOWLES for LITTLE'S purer strain.", "Now to soft themes thou scornest to confine", "The lofty numbers of a harp like thine;", "\"Awake a louder and a loftier strain,\"", "Such as none heard before, or will again!", "Where all discoveries jumbled from the flood,", "Since first the leaky ark reposed in mud,", "By more or less, are sung in every book,", "From Captain Noah down to Captain Cook.", "Nor this alone--but, pausing on the road,", "The Bard sighs forth a gentle episode,", "And gravely tells--attend, each beauteous Miss!--", "When first Madeira trembled to a kiss.", "Bowles! in thy memory let this precept dwell,", "Stick to thy Sonnets, Man!--at least they sell.", "But if some new-born whim, or larger bribe,", "Prompt thy crude brain, and claim thee for a scribe:", "If 'chance some bard, though once by dunces feared,", "Now, prone in dust, can only be revered;", "If Pope, whose fame and genius, from the first,", "Have foiled the best of critics, needs the worst,", "Do thou essay: each fault, each failing scan;", "The first of poets was, alas! but man.", "Rake from each ancient dunghill ev'ry pearl,", "Consult Lord Fanny, and confide in CURLL;", "Let all the scandals of a former age", "Perch on thy pen, and flutter o'er thy page;", "Affect a candour which thou canst not feel,", "Clothe envy in a garb of honest zeal;", "Write, as if St. John's soul could still inspire,", "And do from hate what MALLET did for hire.", "Oh! hadst thou lived in that congenial time,", "To rave with DENNIS, and with RALPH to rhyme;", "Thronged with the rest around his living head,", "Not raised thy hoof against the lion dead,", "A meet reward had crowned thy glorious gains,", "And linked thee to the Dunciad for thy pains.", "", " Another Epic! Who inflicts again", "More books of blank upon the sons of men?", "Boeotian COTTLE, rich Bristowa's boast,", "Imports old stories from the Cambrian coast,", "And sends his goods to market--all alive!", "Lines forty thousand, Cantos twenty-five!", "Fresh fish from Hippocrene! who'll buy? who'll buy?", "The precious bargain's cheap--in faith, not I.", "Your turtle-feeder's verse must needs be flat,", "Though Bristol bloat him with the verdant fat;", "If Commerce fills the purse, she clogs the brain,", "And AMOS COTTLE strikes the Lyre in vain.", "In him an author's luckless lot behold!", "Condemned to make the books which once he sold.", "Oh, AMOS COTTLE!--Phoebus! what a name", "To fill the speaking-trump of future fame!--", "Oh, AMOS COTTLE! for a moment think", "What meagre profits spring from pen and ink!", "When thus devoted to poetic dreams,", "Who will peruse thy prostituted reams?", "Oh! pen perverted! paper misapplied!", "Had COTTLE still adorned the counter's side,", "Bent o'er the desk, or, born to useful toils,", "Been taught to make the paper which he soils,", "Ploughed, delved, or plied the oar with lusty limb,", "He had not sung of Wales, nor I of him.", "", " As Sisyphus against the infernal steep", "Rolls the huge rock whose motions ne'er may sleep,", "So up thy hill, ambrosial Richmond! heaves", "Dull MAURICE all his granite weight of leaves:", "Smooth, solid monuments of mental pain!", "The petrifactions of a plodding brain,", "That, ere they reach the top, fall lumbering back again.", "", " With broken lyre and cheek serenely pale,", "Lo! sad Alcæus wanders down the vale;", "Though fair they rose, and might have bloomed at last,", "His hopes have perished by the northern blast:", "Nipped in the bud by Caledonian gales,", "His blossoms wither as the blast prevails!", "O'er his lost works let _classic_ SHEFFIELD weep;", "May no rude hand disturb their early sleep!", "", " Yet say! why should the Bard, at once, resign", "His claim to favour from the sacred Nine?", "For ever startled by the mingled howl", "Of Northern Wolves, that still in darkness prowl;", "A coward Brood, which mangle as they prey,", "By hellish instinct, all that cross their way;", "Aged or young, the living or the dead,\"", "No mercy find-these harpies must be fed.", "Why do the injured unresisting yield", "The calm possession of their native field?", "Why tamely thus before their fangs retreat,", "Nor hunt the blood-hounds back to Arthur's Seat?", "", " Health to immortal JEFFREY! once, in name,", "England could boast a judge almost the same;", "In soul so like, so merciful, yet just,", "Some think that Satan has resigned his trust,", "And given the Spirit to the world again,", "To sentence Letters, as he sentenced men.", "With hand less mighty, but with heart as black,", "With voice as willing to decree the rack;", "Bred in the Courts betimes, though all that law", "As yet hath taught him is to find a flaw,--", "Since well instructed in the patriot school", "To rail at party, though a party tool--", "Who knows? if chance his patrons should restore", "Back to the sway they forfeited before,", "His scribbling toils some recompense may meet,", "And raise this Daniel to the Judgment-Seat.", "Let JEFFREY'S shade indulge the pious hope,", "And greeting thus, present him with a rope:", "\"Heir to my virtues! man of equal mind!", "Skilled to condemn as to traduce mankind,", "This cord receive! for thee reserved with care,", "To wield in judgment, and at length to wear.\"", "", " Health to great JEFFREY! Heaven preserve his life,", "To flourish on the fertile shores of Fife,", "And guard it sacred in its future wars,", "Since authors sometimes seek the field of Mars!", "Can none remember that eventful day,", "That ever-glorious, almost fatal fray,", "When LITTLE'S leadless pistol met his eye,", "And Bow-street Myrmidons stood laughing by?", "Oh, day disastrous! on her firm-set rock,", "Dunedin's castle felt a secret shock;", "Dark rolled the sympathetic waves of Forth,", "Low groaned the startled whirlwinds of the north;", "TWEED ruffled half his waves to form a tear,", "The other half pursued his calm career;", "ARTHUR'S steep summit nodded to its base,", "The surly Tolbooth scarcely kept her place.", "The Tolbooth felt--for marble sometimes can,", "On such occasions, feel as much as man--", "The Tolbooth felt defrauded of his charms,", "If JEFFREY died, except within her arms:", "Nay last, not least, on that portentous morn,", "The sixteenth story, where himself was born,", "His patrimonial garret, fell to ground,", "And pale Edina shuddered at the sound:", "Strewed were the streets around with milk-white reams,", "Flowed all the Canongate with inky streams;", "This of his candour seemed the sable dew,", "That of his valour showed the bloodless hue;", "And all with justice deemed the two combined", "The mingled emblems of his mighty mind.", "But Caledonia's goddess hovered o'er", "The field, and saved him from the wrath of Moore;", "From either pistol snatched the vengeful lead,", "And straight restored it to her favourite's head;", "That head, with greater than magnetic power,", "Caught it, as Danäe caught the golden shower,", "And, though the thickening dross will scarce refine,", "Augments its ore, and is itself a mine.", "\"My son,\" she cried, \"ne'er thirst for gore again,", "Resign the pistol and resume the pen;", "O'er politics and poesy preside,", "Boast of thy country, and Britannia's guide!", "For long as Albion's heedless sons submit,", "Or Scottish taste decides on English wit,", "So long shall last thine unmolested reign,", "Nor any dare to take thy name in vain.", "Behold, a chosen band shall aid thy plan,", "And own thee chieftain of the critic clan.", "First in the oat-fed phalanx shall be seen", "The travelled Thane, Athenian Aberdeen.", "HERBERT shall wield THOR'S hammer, and sometimes", "In gratitude, thou'lt praise his rugged rhymes.", "Smug SYDNEY too thy bitter page shall seek,", "And classic HALLAM, much renowned for Greek;", "SCOTT may perchance his name and influence lend,", "And paltry PILLANS shall traduce his friend;", "While gay Thalia's luckless votary, LAMB,", "Damned like the Devil--Devil-like will damn.", "Known be thy name! unbounded be thy sway!", "Thy HOLLAND'S banquets shall each toil repay!", "While grateful Britain yields the praise she owes", "To HOLLAND'S hirelings and to Learning's foes.", "Yet mark one caution ere thy next Review", "Spread its light wings of Saffron and of Blue,", "Beware lest blundering BROUGHAM destroy the sale,", "Turn Beef to Bannocks, Cauliflowers to Kail.\"", "Thus having said, the kilted Goddess kist", "Her son, and vanished in a Scottish mist.", "", " Then prosper, JEFFREY! pertest of the train", "Whom Scotland pampers with her fiery grain!", "Whatever blessing waits a genuine Scot,", "In double portion swells thy glorious lot;", "For thee Edina culls her evening sweets,", "And showers their odours on thy candid sheets,", "Whose Hue and Fragrance to thy work adhere--", "This scents its pages, and that gilds its rear.", "Lo! blushing Itch, coy nymph, enamoured grown,", "Forsakes the rest, and cleaves to thee alone,", "And, too unjust to other Pictish men,", "Enjoys thy person, and inspires thy pen!", "", "Illustrious HOLLAND! hard would be his lot,", "His hirelings mentioned, and himself forgot!", "HOLLAND, with HENRY PETTY at his back,", "The whipper-in and huntsman of the pack.", "Blest be the banquets spread at Holland House,", "Where Scotchmen feed, and Critics may carouse!", "Long, long beneath that hospitable roof", "Shall Grub-street dine, while duns are kept aloof.", "See honest HALLAM lay aside his fork,", "Resume his pen, review his Lordship's work,", "And, grateful for the dainties on his plate,", "Declare his landlord can at least translate!", "Dunedin! view thy children with delight,", "They write for food--and feed because they write:", "And lest, when heated with the unusual grape,", "Some glowing thoughts should to the press escape,", "And tinge with red the female reader's cheek,", "My lady skims the cream of each critique;", "Breathes o'er the page her purity of soul,", "Reforms each error, and refines the whole.", "", " Now to the Drama turn--Oh! motley sight!", "What precious scenes the wondering eyes invite:", "Puns, and a Prince within a barrel pent,", "And Dibdin's nonsense yield complete content.", "Though now, thank Heaven! the Rosciomania's o'er.", "And full-grown actors are endured once more;", "Yet what avail their vain attempts to please,", "While British critics suffer scenes like these;", "While REYNOLDS vents his \"'dammes!'\" \"poohs!\" and", " \"zounds!\"", "And common-place and common sense confounds?", "While KENNEY'S \"World\"--ah! where is KENNEY'S wit? -", "Tires the sad gallery, lulls the listless Pit;", "And BEAUMONT'S pilfered Caratach affords", "A tragedy complete in all but words?", "Who but must mourn, while these are all the rage", "The degradation of our vaunted stage?", "Heavens! is all sense of shame and talent gone?", "Have we no living Bard of merit?--none?", "Awake, GEORGE COLMAN! CUMBERLAND, awake", "Ring the alarum bell! let folly quake!", "Oh! SHERIDAN! if aught can move thy pen,", "Let Comedy assume her throne again;", "Abjure the mummery of German schools;", "Leave new Pizarros to translating fools;", "Give, as thy last memorial to the age,", "One classic drama, and reform the stage.", "Gods! o'er those boards shall Folly rear her head,", "Where GARRICK trod, and SIDDONS lives to tread?", "On those shall Farce display buffoonery's mask,", "And HOOK conceal his heroes in a cask?", "Shall sapient managers new scenes produce", "From CHERRY, SKEFFINGTON, and Mother GOOSE?", "While SHAKESPEARE, OTWAY, MASSINGER, forgot,", "On stalls must moulder, or in closets rot?", "Lo! with what pomp the daily prints proclaim", "The rival candidates for Attic fame!", "In grim array though LEWIS' spectres rise,", "Still SKEFFINGTON and GOOSE divide the prize.", "And sure 'great' Skeffington must claim our praise,", "For skirtless coats and skeletons of plays", "Renowned alike; whose genius ne'er confines", "Her flight to garnish Greenwood's gay designs;", "Nor sleeps with \"Sleeping Beauties,\" but anon", "In five facetious acts comes thundering on.", "While poor John Bull, bewildered with the scene,", "Stares, wondering what the devil it can mean;", "But as some hands applaud, a venal few!", "Rather than sleep, why John applauds it too.", "", " Such are we now. Ah! wherefore should we turn", "To what our fathers were, unless to mourn?", "Degenerate Britons! are ye dead to shame,", "Or, kind to dulness, do you fear to blame?", "Well may the nobles of our present race", "Watch each distortion of a NALDI'S face;", "Well may they smile on Italy's buffoons,", "And worship CATALANI's pantaloons,", "Since their own Drama yields no fairer trace", "Of wit than puns, of humour than grimace.", "", " Then let Ausonia, skill'd in every art", "To soften manners, but corrupt the heart,", "Pour her exotic follies o'er the town,", "To sanction Vice, and hunt Decorum down:", "Let wedded strumpets languish o'er DESHAYES,", "And bless the promise which his form displays;", "While Gayton bounds before th' enraptured looks", "Of hoary Marquises, and stripling Dukes:", "Let high-born lechers eye the lively Presle", "Twirl her light limbs, that spurn the needless veil;", "Let Angiolini bare her breast of snow,", "Wave the white arm, and point the pliant toe;", "Collini trill her love-inspiring song,", "Strain her fair neck, and charm the listening throng!", "Whet not your scythe, Suppressors of our Vice!", "Reforming Saints! too delicately nice!", "By whose decrees, our sinful souls to save,", "No Sunday tankards foam, no barbers shave;", "And beer undrawn, and beards unmown, display", "Your holy reverence for the Sabbath-day.", "", " Or hail at once the patron and the pile", "Of vice and folly, Greville and Argyle!", "Where yon proud palace, Fashion's hallow'd fane,", "Spreads wide her portals for the motley train,", "Behold the new Petronius of the day,", "Our arbiter of pleasure and of play!", "There the hired eunuch, the Hesperian choir,", "The melting lute, the soft lascivious lyre,", "The song from Italy, the step from France,", "The midnight orgy, and the mazy dance,", "The smile of beauty, and the flush of wine,", "For fops, fools, gamesters, knaves, and Lords combine:", "Each to his humour--Comus all allows;", "Champaign, dice, music, or your neighbour's spouse.", "Talk not to us, ye starving sons of trade!", "Of piteous ruin, which ourselves have made;", "In Plenty's sunshine Fortune's minions bask,", "Nor think of Poverty, except \"en masque,\"", "When for the night some lately titled ass", "Appears the beggar which his grandsire was,", "The curtain dropped, the gay Burletta o'er,", "The audience take their turn upon the floor:", "Now round the room the circling dow'gers sweep,", "Now in loose waltz the thin-clad daughters leap;", "The first in lengthened line majestic swim,", "The last display the free unfettered limb!", "Those for Hibernia's lusty sons repair", "With art the charms which Nature could not spare;", "These after husbands wing their eager flight,", "Nor leave much mystery for the nuptial night.", "", " Oh! blest retreats of infamy and ease,", "Where, all forgotten but the power to please,", "Each maid may give a loose to genial thought,", "Each swain may teach new systems, or be taught:", "There the blithe youngster, just returned from Spain,", "Cuts the light pack, or calls the rattling main;", "The jovial Caster's set, and seven's the Nick,", "Or--done!--a thousand on the coming trick!", "If, mad with loss, existence 'gins to tire,", "And all your hope or wish is to expire,", "Here's POWELL'S pistol ready for your life,", "And, kinder still, two PAGETS for your wife:", "Fit consummation of an earthly race", "Begun in folly, ended in disgrace,", "While none but menials o'er the bed of death,", "Wash thy red wounds, or watch thy wavering breath;", "Traduced by liars, and forgot by all,", "The mangled victim of a drunken brawl,", "To live like CLODIUS, and like FALKLAND fall", "", " Truth! rouse some genuine Bard, and guide his hand", "To drive this pestilence from out the land.", "E'en I--least thinking of a thoughtless throng,", "Just skilled to know the right and choose the wrong,", "Freed at that age when Reason's shield is lost,", "To fight my course through Passion's countless host,", "Whom every path of Pleasure's flow'ry way", "Has lured in turn, and all have led astray--", "E'en I must raise my voice, e'en I must feel", "Such scenes, such men, destroy the public weal:", "Altho' some kind, censorious friend will say,", "\"What art thou better, meddling fool, than they?\"", "And every Brother Rake will smile to see", "That miracle, a Moralist in me.", "No matter--when some Bard in virtue strong,", "Gifford perchance, shall raise the chastening song,", "Then sleep my pen for ever! and my voice", "Be only heard to hail him, and rejoice,", "Rejoice, and yield my feeble praise, though I", "May feel the lash that Virtue must apply.", "", " As for the smaller fry, who swarm in shoals", "From silly HAFIZ up to simple BOWLES,", "Why should we call them from their dark abode,", "In Broad St. Giles's or Tottenham-Road?", "Or (since some men of fashion nobly dare", "To scrawl in verse) from Bond-street or the Square?", "If things of Ton their harmless lays indite,", "Most wisely doomed to shun the public sight,", "What harm? in spite of every critic elf,", "Sir T. may read his stanzas to himself;", "MILES ANDREWS still his strength in couplets try,", "And live in prologues, though his dramas die.", "Lords too are Bards: such things at times befall,", "And 'tis some praise in Peers to write at all.", "Yet, did or Taste or Reason sway the times,", "Ah! who would take their titles with their rhymes?", "ROSCOMMON! SHEFFIELD! with your spirits fled,", "No future laurels deck a noble head;", "No Muse will cheer, with renovating smile,", "The paralytic puling of CARLISLE.", "The puny schoolboy and his early lay", "Men pardon, if his follies pass away;", "But who forgives the Senior's ceaseless verse,", "Whose hairs grow hoary as his rhymes grow worse?", "What heterogeneous honours deck the Peer!", "Lord, rhymester, petit-maître, pamphleteer!", "So dull in youth, so drivelling in his age,", "His scenes alone had damned our sinking stage;", "But Managers for once cried, \"Hold, enough!\"", "Nor drugged their audience with the tragic stuff.", "Yet at their judgment let his Lordship laugh,", "And case his volumes in congenial calf;", "Yes! doff that covering, where Morocco shines,", "And hang a calf-skin on those recreant lines.", "", " With you, ye Druids! rich in native lead,", "Who daily scribble for your daily bread:", "With you I war not: GIFFORD'S heavy hand", "Has crushed, without remorse, your numerous band.", "On \"All the Talents\" vent your venal spleen;", "Want is your plea, let Pity be your screen.", "Let Monodies on Fox regale your crew,", "And Melville's Mantle prove a Blanket too!", "One common Lethe waits each hapless Bard,", "And, peace be with you! 'tis your best reward.", "Such damning fame; as Dunciads only give", "Could bid your lines beyond a morning live;", "But now at once your fleeting labours close,", "With names of greater note in blest repose.", "Far be't from me unkindly to upbraid", "The lovely ROSA'S prose in masquerade,", "Whose strains, the faithful echoes of her mind,", "Leave wondering comprehension far behind.", "Though Crusca's bards no more our journals fill,", "Some stragglers skirmish round the columns still;", "Last of the howling host which once was Bell's,", "Matilda snivels yet, and Hafiz yells;", "And Merry's metaphors appear anew,", "Chained to the signature of O. P. Q.", "When some brisk youth, the tenant of a stall,", "Employs a pen less pointed than his awl,", "Leaves his snug shop, forsakes his store of shoes,", "St. Crispin quits, and cobbles for the Muse,", "Heavens! how the vulgar stare! how crowds applaud!", "How ladies read, and Literati laud!", "If chance some wicked wag should pass his jest,", "'Tis sheer ill-nature--don't the world know best?", "Genius must guide when wits admire the rhyme,", "And CAPEL LOFFT declares 'tis quite sublime.", "Hear, then, ye happy sons of needless trade!", "Swains! quit the plough, resign the useless spade!", "Lo! BURNS and BLOOMFIELD, nay, a greater far,", "GIFFORD was born beneath an adverse star,", "Forsook the labours of a servile state,", "Stemmed the rude storm, and triumphed over Fate:", "Then why no more? if Phoebus smiled on you,", "BLOOMFIELD! why not on brother Nathan too?", "Him too the Mania, not the Muse, has seized;", "Not inspiration, but a mind diseased:", "And now no Boor can seek his last abode,", "No common be inclosed without an ode.", "Oh! since increased refinement deigns to smile", "On Britain's sons, and bless our genial Isle,", "Let Poesy go forth, pervade the whole,", "Alike the rustic, and mechanic soul!", "Ye tuneful cobblers! still your notes prolong,", "Compose at once a slipper and a song;", "So shall the fair your handywork peruse,", "Your sonnets sure shall please--perhaps your shoes.", "May Moorland weavers boast Pindaric skill,", "And tailors' lays be longer than their bill!", "While punctual beaux reward the grateful notes,", "And pay for poems--when they pay for coats.", "", " To the famed throng now paid the tribute due,", "Neglected Genius! let me turn to you.", "Come forth, oh CAMPBELL! give thy talents scope;", "Who dares aspire if thou must cease to hope?", "And thou, melodious ROGERS! rise at last,", "Recall the pleasing memory of the past;", "Arise! let blest remembrance still inspire,", "And strike to wonted tones thy hallowed lyre;", "Restore Apollo to his vacant throne,", "Assert thy country's honour and thine own.", "What! must deserted Poesy still weep", "Where her last hopes with pious COWPER sleep?", "Unless, perchance, from his cold bier she turns,", "To deck the turf that wraps her minstrel, BURNS!", "No! though contempt hath marked the spurious brood,", "The race who rhyme from folly, or for food,", "Yet still some genuine sons 'tis hers to boast,", "Who, least affecting, still affect the most:", "Feel as they write, and write but as they feel--", "Bear witness GIFFORD, SOTHEBY, MACNEIL.", "\"Why slumbers GIFFORD?\" once was asked in vain;", "Why slumbers GIFFORD? let us ask again.", "Are there no follies for his pen to purge?", "Are there no fools whose backs demand the scourge?", "Are there no sins for Satire's Bard to greet?", "Stalks not gigantic Vice in every street?", "Shall Peers or Princes tread pollution's path,", "And 'scape alike the Laws and Muse's wrath?", "Nor blaze with guilty glare through future time,", "Eternal beacons of consummate crime?", "Arouse thee, GIFFORD! be thy promise claimed,", "Make bad men better, or at least ashamed.", "", "Unhappy WHITE! while life was in its spring,", "And thy young Muse just waved her joyous wing,", "The Spoiler swept that soaring Lyre away,", "Which else had sounded an immortal lay.", "Oh! what a noble heart was here undone,", "When Science' self destroyed her favourite son!", "Yes, she too much indulged thy fond pursuit,", "She sowed the seeds, but Death has reaped the fruit.", "'Twas thine own Genius gave the final blow,", "And helped to plant the wound that laid thee low:", "So the struck Eagle, stretched upon the plain,", "No more through rolling clouds to soar again,", "Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart,", "And winged the shaft that quivered in his heart;", "Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel", "He nursed the pinion which impelled the steel;", "While the same plumage that had warmed his nest", "Drank the last life-drop of his bleeding breast.", "", " There be who say, in these enlightened days,", "That splendid lies are all the poet's praise;", "That strained Invention, ever on the wing,", "Alone impels the modern Bard to sing:", "Tis true, that all who rhyme--nay, all who write,", "Shrink from that fatal word to Genius--Trite;", "Yet Truth sometimes will lend her noblest fires,", "And decorate the verse herself inspires:", "This fact in Virtue's name let CRABBE attest;", "Though Nature's sternest Painter, yet the best.", "", " And here let SHEE and Genius find a place,", "Whose pen and pencil yield an equal grace;", "To guide whose hand the sister Arts combine,", "And trace the Poet's or the Painter's line;", "Whose magic touch can bid the canvas glow,", "Or pour the easy rhyme's harmonious flow;", "While honours, doubly merited, attend", "The Poet's rival, but the Painter's friend.", "", " Blest is the man who dares approach the bower", "Where dwelt the Muses at their natal hour;", "Whose steps have pressed, whose eye has marked afar,", "The clime that nursed the sons of song and war,", "The scenes which Glory still must hover o'er,", "Her place of birth, her own Achaian shore.", "But doubly blest is he whose heart expands", "With hallowed feelings for those classic lands;", "Who rends the veil of ages long gone by,", "And views their remnants with a poet's eye!", "WRIGHT! 'twas thy happy lot at once to view", "Those shores of glory, and to sing them too;", "And sure no common Muse inspired thy pen", "To hail the land of Gods and Godlike men.", "", " And you, associate Bards! who snatched to light", "Those gems too long withheld from modern sight;", "Whose mingling taste combined to cull the wreath", "While Attic flowers Aonian odours breathe,", "And all their renovated fragrance flung,", "To grace the beauties of your native tongue;", "Now let those minds, that nobly could transfuse", "The glorious Spirit of the Grecian Muse,", "Though soft the echo, scorn a borrowed tone:", "Resign Achaia's lyre, and strike your own.", "", " Let these, or such as these, with just applause,", "Restore the Muse's violated laws;", "But not in flimsy DARWIN'S pompous chime,", "That mighty master of unmeaning rhyme,", "Whose gilded cymbals, more adorned than clear,", "The eye delighted, but fatigued the ear,", "In show the simple lyre could once surpass,", "But now, worn down, appear in native brass;", "While all his train of hovering sylphs around", "Evaporate in similes and sound:", "Him let them shun, with him let tinsel die:", "False glare attracts, but more offends the eye.", "", " Yet let them not to vulgar WORDSWORTH stoop,", "The meanest object of the lowly group,", "Whose verse, of all but childish prattle void,", "Seems blessed harmony to LAMB and LLOYD:", "Let them--but hold, my Muse, nor dare to teach", "A strain far, far beyond thy humble reach:", "The native genius with their being given", "Will point the path, and peal their notes to heaven.", "", " And thou, too, SCOTT! resign to minstrels rude", "The wilder Slogan of a Border feud:", "Let others spin their meagre lines for hire;", "Enough for Genius, if itself inspire!", "Let SOUTHEY sing, altho' his teeming muse,", "Prolific every spring, be too profuse;", "Let simple WORDSWORTH chime his childish verse,", "And brother COLERIDGE lull the babe at nurse", "Let Spectre-mongering LEWIS aim, at most,", "To rouse the Galleries, or to raise a ghost;", "Let MOORE still sigh; let STRANGFORD steal from MOORE,", "And swear that CAMOËNS sang such notes of yore;", "Let HAYLEY hobble on, MONTGOMERY rave,", "And godly GRAHAME chant a stupid stave;", "Let sonneteering BOWLES his strains refine,", "And whine and whimper to the fourteenth line;", "Let STOTT, CARLISLE, MATILDA, and the rest", "Of Grub Street, and of Grosvenor Place the best,", "Scrawl on, 'till death release us from the strain,", "Or Common Sense assert her rights again;", "But Thou, with powers that mock the aid of praise,", "Should'st leave to humbler Bards ignoble lays:", "Thy country's voice, the voice of all the Nine,", "Demand a hallowed harp--that harp is thine.", "Say! will not Caledonia's annals yield", "The glorious record of some nobler field,", "Than the vile foray of a plundering clan,", "Whose proudest deeds disgrace the name of man?", "Or Marmion's acts of darkness, fitter food", "For SHERWOOD'S outlaw tales of ROBIN HOOD?", "Scotland! still proudly claim thy native Bard,", "And be thy praise his first, his best reward!", "Yet not with thee alone his name should live,", "But own the vast renown a world can give;", "Be known, perchance, when Albion is no more,", "And tell the tale of what she was before;", "To future times her faded fame recall,", "And save her glory, though his country fall.", "", " Yet what avails the sanguine Poet's hope,", "To conquer ages, and with time to cope?", "New eras spread their wings, new nations rise,", "And other Victors fill th' applauding skies;", "A few brief generations fleet along,", "Whose sons forget the Poet and his song:", "E'en now, what once-loved Minstrels scarce may claim", "The transient mention of a dubious name!", "When Fame's loud trump hath blown its noblest blast,", "Though long the sound, the echo sleeps at last;", "And glory, like the Phoenix midst her fires,", "Exhales her odours, blazes, and expires.", "", "Shall hoary Granta call her sable sons,", "Expert in science, more expert at puns?", "Shall these approach the Muse? ah, no! she flies,", "Even from the tempting ore of Seaton's prize;", "Though Printers condescend the press to soil", "With rhyme by HOARE, and epic blank by HOYLE:", "Not him whose page, if still upheld by whist,", "Requires no sacred theme to bid us list.", "Ye! who in Granta's honours would surpass,", "Must mount her Pegasus, a full-grown ass;", "A foal well worthy of her ancient Dam,", "Whose Helicon is duller than her Cam.", "", "There CLARKE, still striving piteously \"to please,\"", "Forgetting doggerel leads not to degrees,", "A would-be satirist, a hired Buffoon,", "A monthly scribbler of some low Lampoon,", "Condemned to drudge, the meanest of the mean,", "And furbish falsehoods for a magazine,", "Devotes to scandal his congenial mind;", "Himself a living libel on mankind.", "", "Oh! dark asylum of a Vandal race!", "At once the boast of learning, and disgrace!", "So lost to Phoebus, that nor Hodgson's verse", "Can make thee better, nor poor Hewson's worse.", "But where fair Isis rolls her purer wave,", "The partial Muse delighted loves to lave;", "On her green banks a greener wreath she wove,", "To crown the Bards that haunt her classic grove;", "Where RICHARDS wakes a genuine poet's fires,", "And modern Britons glory in their Sires.", "", "For me, who, thus unasked, have dared to tell", "My country, what her sons should know too well,", "Zeal for her honour bade me here engage", "The host of idiots that infest her age;", "No just applause her honoured name shall lose,", "As first in freedom, dearest to the Muse.", "Oh! would thy bards but emulate thy fame,", "And rise more worthy, Albion, of thy name!", "What Athens was in science, Rome in power,", "What Tyre appeared in her meridian hour,", "'Tis thine at once, fair Albion! to have been--", "Earth's chief Dictatress, Ocean's lovely Queen:", "But Rome decayed, and Athens strewed the plain,", "And Tyre's proud piers lie shattered in the main;", "Like these, thy strength may sink, in ruin hurled,", "And Britain fall, the bulwark of the world.", "But let me cease, and dread Cassandra's fate,", "With warning ever scoffed at, till too late;", "To themes less lofty still my lay confine,", "And urge thy Bards to gain a name like thine.", "", " Then, hapless Britain! be thy rulers blest,", "The senate's oracles, the people's jest!", "Still hear thy motley orators dispense", "The flowers of rhetoric, though not of sense,", "While CANNING'S colleagues hate him for his wit,", "And old dame PORTLAND fills the place of PITT.", "", " Yet once again, adieu! ere this the sail", "That wafts me hence is shivering in the gale;", "And Afric's coast and Calpe's adverse height,", "And Stamboul's minarets must greet my sight:", "Thence shall I stray through Beauty's native clime,", "Where Kaff is clad in rocks, and crowned with snows sublime.", "But should I back return, no tempting press", "Shall drag my Journal from the desk's recess;", "Let coxcombs, printing as they come from far,", "Snatch his own wreath of Ridicule from Carr;", "Let ABERDEEN and ELGIN still pursue", "The shade of fame through regions of Virtù;", "Waste useless thousands on their Phidian freaks,", "Misshapen monuments and maimed antiques;", "And make their grand saloons a general mart", "For all the mutilated blocks of art:", "Of Dardan tours let Dilettanti tell,", "I leave topography to rapid GELL;", "And, quite content, no more shall interpose", "To stun the public ear--at least with Prose.", "", " Thus far I've held my undisturbed career,", "Prepared for rancour, steeled 'gainst selfish fear;", "This thing of rhyme I ne'er disdained to own--", "Though not obtrusive, yet not quite unknown:", "My voice was heard again, though not so loud,", "My page, though nameless, never disavowed;", "And now at once I tear the veil away:--", "Cheer on the pack! the Quarry stands at bay,", "Unscared by all the din of MELBOURNE house,", "By LAMB'S resentment, or by HOLLAND'S spouse,", "By JEFFREY'S harmless pistol, HALLAM'S rage,", "Edina's brawny sons and brimstone page.", "Our men in buckram shall have blows enough,", "And feel they too are \"penetrable stuff:\"", "And though I hope not hence unscathed to go,", "Who conquers me shall find a stubborn foe.", "The time hath been, when no harsh sound would fall", "From lips that now may seem imbued with gall;", "Nor fools nor follies tempt me to despise", "The meanest thing that crawled beneath my eyes:", "But now, so callous grown, so changed since youth,", "I've learned to think, and sternly speak the truth;", "Learned to deride the critic's starch decree,", "And break him on the wheel he meant for me;", "To spurn the rod a scribbler bids me kiss,", "Nor care if courts and crowds applaud or hiss:", "Nay more, though all my rival rhymesters frown,", "I too can hunt a Poetaster down;", "And, armed in proof, the gauntlet cast at once", "To Scotch marauder, and to Southern dunce.", "Thus much I've dared; if my incondite lay", "Hath wronged these righteous times, let others say:", "This, let the world, which knows not how to spare,", "Yet rarely blames unjustly, now declare." ], "linecount": "1071" }, { "title": "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "TO IANTHE.", "", "Not in those climes where I have late been straying,", " Though Beauty long hath there been matchless deemed,", " Not in those visions to the heart displaying", " Forms which it sighs but to have only dreamed,", " Hath aught like thee in Truth or Fancy seemed:", " Nor, having seen thee, shall I vainly seek", " To paint those charms which varied as they beamed--", " To such as see thee not my words were weak;", "To those who gaze on thee what language could they speak?", "", "Ah! may'st thou ever be what now thou art,", " Nor unbeseem the promise of thy Spring--", " As fair in form, as warm yet pure in heart,", " Love's image upon earth without his wing,", " And guileless beyond Hope's imagining!", " And surely she who now so fondly rears", " Thy youth, in thee, thus hourly brightening,", " Beholds the Rainbow of her future years,", "Before whose heavenly hues all Sorrow disappears.", "", "Young Peri of the West!--'tis well for me", " My years already doubly number thine;", " My loveless eye unmoved may gaze on thee,", " And safely view thy ripening beauties shine;", " Happy, I ne'er shall see them in decline;", " Happier, that, while all younger hearts shall bleed,", " Mine shall escape the doom thine eyes assign", " To those whose admiration shall succeed,", "But mixed with pangs to Love's even loveliest hours decreed.", "", "Oh! let that eye, which, wild as the Gazelle's,", " Now brightly bold or beautifully shy,", " Wins as it wanders, dazzles where it dwells,", " Glance o'er this page, nor to my verse deny", " That smile for which my breast might vainly sigh", " Could I to thee be ever more than friend:", " This much, dear Maid, accord; nor question why", " To one so young my strain I would commend,", "But bid me with my wreath one matchless Lily blend.", "", "Such is thy name with this my verse entwined;", " And long as kinder eyes a look shall cast", " On Harold's page, Ianthe's here enshrined", " Shall thus be _first_ beheld, forgotten _last_:", " My days once numbered--should this homage past", " Attract thy fairy fingers near the Lyre", " Of him who hailed thee loveliest, as thou wast--", " Such is the most my Memory may desire;", "Though more than Hope can claim, could Friendship less require?", "", "A ROMAUNT.", "", "CANTO THE FIRST. I.", "", "Oh, thou! in Hellas deemed of heavenly birth,", " Muse! formed or fabled at the Minstrel's will!", " Since shamed full oft by later lyres on earth,", " Mine dares not call thee from thy sacred Hill:", " Yet there I've wandered by thy vaunted rill;", " Yes! sighed o'er Delphi's long deserted shrine,", " Where, save that feeble fountain, all is still;", " Nor mote my shell awake the weary Nine", "To grace so plain a tale--this lowly lay of mine.", "", "Whilome in Albion's isle there dwelt a youth,", " Who ne in Virtue's ways did take delight;", " But spent his days in riot most uncouth,", " And vexed with mirth the drowsy ear of Night.", " Ah me! in sooth he was a shameless wight,", " Sore given to revel and ungodly glee;", " Few earthly things found favour in his sight", " Save concubines and carnal companie,", "And flaunting wassailers of high and low degree.", "", "Childe Harold was he hight:--but whence his name", " And lineage long, it suits me not to say;", " Suffice it, that perchance they were of fame,", " And had been glorious in another day:", " But one sad losel soils a name for ay,", " However mighty in the olden time;", " Nor all that heralds rake from coffined clay,", " Nor florid prose, nor honied lies of rhyme,", "Can blazon evil deeds, or consecrate a crime.", "", "Childe Harold basked him in the Noontide sun,", " Disporting there like any other fly;", " Nor deemed before his little day was done", " One blast might chill him into misery.", " But long ere scarce a third of his passed by,", " Worse than Adversity the Childe befell;", " He felt the fulness of Satiety:", " Then loathed he in his native land to dwell,", "Which seemed to him more lone than Eremite's sad cell.", "", "For he through Sin's long labyrinth had run,", " Nor made atonement when he did amiss,", " Had sighed to many though he loved but one,", " And that loved one, alas! could ne'er be his.", " Ah, happy she! to 'scape from him whose kiss", " Had been pollution unto aught so chaste;", " Who soon had left her charms for vulgar bliss,", " And spoiled her goodly lands to gild his waste,", "Nor calm domestic peace had ever deigned to taste.", "", "And now Childe Harold was sore sick at heart,", " And from his fellow Bacchanals would flee;", " 'Tis said, at times the sullen tear would start,", " But Pride congealed the drop within his ee:", " Apart he stalked in joyless reverie,", " And from his native land resolved to go,", " And visit scorching climes beyond the sea;", " With pleasure drugged, he almost longed for woe,", "And e'en for change of scene would seek the shades below.", "", "The Childe departed from his father's hall:", " It was a vast and venerable pile;", " So old, it seeméd only not to fall,", " Yet strength was pillared in each massy aisle.", " Monastic dome! condemned to uses vile!", " Where Superstition once had made her den", " Now Paphian girls were known to sing and smile;", " And monks might deem their time was come agen,", "If ancient tales say true, nor wrong these holy men.", "", "Yet oft-times in his maddest mirthful mood", " Strange pangs would flash along Childe Harold's brow,", " As if the Memory of some deadly feud", " Or disappointed passion lurked below:", " But this none knew, nor haply cared to know;", " For his was not that open, artless soul", " That feels relief by bidding sorrow flow,", " Nor sought he friend to counsel or condole,", "Whate'er this grief mote be, which he could not control.", "", "And none did love him!--though to hall and bower", " He gathered revellers from far and near,", " He knew them flatterers of the festal hour,", " The heartless Parasites of present cheer.", " Yea! none did love him--not his lemans dear--", " But pomp and power alone are Woman's care,", " And where these are light Eros finds a feere;", " Maidens, like moths, are ever caught by glare,", "And Mammon wins his way where Seraphs might despair.", "", "Childe Harold had a mother--not forgot,", " Though parting from that mother he did shun;", " A sister whom he loved, but saw her not", " Before his weary pilgrimage begun:", " If friends he had, he bade adieu to none.", " Yet deem not thence his breast a breast of steel:", " Ye, who have known what 'tis to dote upon", " A few dear objects, will in sadness feel", "Such partings break the heart they fondly hope to heal.", "", "His house, his home, his heritage, his lands,", " The laughing dames in whom he did delight,", " Whose large blue eyes, fair locks, and snowy hands,", " Might shake the Saintship of an Anchorite,", " And long had fed his youthful appetite;", " His goblets brimmed with every costly wine,", " And all that mote to luxury invite,", " Without a sigh he left, to cross the brine,", "And traverse Paynim shores, and pass Earth's central line.", "", "The sails were filled, and fair the light winds blew,", " As glad to waft him from his native home;", " And fast the white rocks faded from his view,", " And soon were lost in circumambient foam:", " And then, it may be, of his wish to roam", " Repented he, but in his bosom slept", " The silent thought, nor from his lips did come", " One word of wail, whilst others sate and wept,", "And to the reckless gales unmanly moaning kept.", "", "But when the Sun was sinking in the sea", " He seized his harp, which he at times could string,", " And strike, albeit with untaught melody,", " When deemed he no strange ear was listening:", " And now his fingers o'er it he did fling,", " And tuned his farewell in the dim twilight;", " While flew the vessel on her snowy wing,", " And fleeting shores receded from his sight,", "Thus to the elements he poured his last \"Good Night.\"", "", "CHILDE HAROLD'S GOOD NIGHT.", "", "\"Adieu, adieu! my native shore", " Fades o'er the waters blue;", "The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar,", " And shrieks the wild sea-mew.", "Yon Sun that sets upon the sea", " We follow in his flight;", "Farewell awhile to him and thee,", " My native Land--Good Night!", "", "\"A few short hours and He will rise", " To give the Morrow birth;", "And I shall hail the main and skies,", " But not my mother Earth.", "Deserted is my own good Hall,", " Its hearth is desolate;", "Wild weeds are gathering on the wall;", " My Dog howls at the gate.", "", "\"Come hither, hither, my little page", " Why dost thou weep and wail?", "Or dost thou dread the billows' rage,", " Or tremble at the gale?", "But dash the tear-drop from thine eye;", " Our ship is swift and strong:", "Our fleetest falcon scarce can fly", " More merrily along.\"", "", "\"Let winds be shrill, let waves roll high,", " I fear not wave nor wind:", "Yet marvel not, Sir Childe, that I", " Am sorrowful in mind;", "For I have from my father gone,", " A mother whom I love,", "And have no friend, save these alone,", " But thee--and One above.", "", "'My father blessed me fervently,", " Yet did not much complain;", "But sorely will my mother sigh", " Till I come back again.'--", "\"Enough, enough, my little lad!", " Such tears become thine eye;", "If I thy guileless bosom had,", " Mine own would not be dry.", "", "\"Come hither, hither, my staunch yeoman,", " Why dost thou look so pale?", "Or dost thou dread a French foeman?", " Or shiver at the gale?\"--", "'Deem'st thou I tremble for my life?", " Sir Childe, I'm not so weak;", "But thinking on an absent wife", " Will blanch a faithful cheek.", "", "'My spouse and boys dwell near thy hall,", " Along the bordering Lake,", "And when they on their father call,", " What answer shall she make?'--", "\"Enough, enough, my yeoman good,", " Thy grief let none gainsay;", "But I, who am of lighter mood,", " Will laugh to flee away.", "", "\"For who would trust the seeming sighs", " Of wife or paramour?", "Fresh feeres will dry the bright blue eyes", " We late saw streaming o'er.", "For pleasures past I do not grieve,", " Nor perils gathering near;", "My greatest grief is that I leave", " No thing that claims a tear.", "", "\"And now I'm in the world alone,", " Upon the wide, wide sea:", "But why should I for others groan,", " When none will sigh for me?", "Perchance my Dog will whine in vain,", " Till fed by stranger hands;", "But long ere I come back again,", " He'd tear me where he stands.", "", "\"With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly go", " Athwart the foaming brine;", "Nor care what land thou bear'st me to,", " So not again to mine.", "Welcome, welcome, ye dark-blue waves!", " And when you fail my sight,", "Welcome, ye deserts, and ye caves!", " My native Land--Good Night!\"", "", "On, on the vessel flies, the land is gone,", " And winds are rude in Biscay's sleepless bay.", " Four days are sped, but with the fifth, anon,", " New shores descried make every bosom gay;", " And Cintra's mountain greets them on their way,", " And Tagus dashing onward to the Deep,", " His fabled golden tribute bent to pay;", " And soon on board the Lusian pilots leap,", "And steer 'twixt fertile shores where yet few rustics reap.", "", "Oh, Christ! it is a goodly sight to see", " What Heaven hath done for this delicious land!", " What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree!", " What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand!", " But man would mar them with an impious hand:", " And when the Almighty lifts his fiercest scourge", " 'Gainst those who most transgress his high command,", " With treble vengeance will his hot shafts urge", "Gaul's locust host, and earth from fellest foemen purge", "", "What beauties doth Lisboa first unfold!", " Her image floating on that noble tide,", " Which poets vainly pave with sands of gold,", " But now whereon a thousand keels did ride", " Of mighty strength, since Albion was allied,", " And to the Lusians did her aid afford:", " A nation swoln with ignorance and pride,", " Who lick yet loathe the hand that waves the sword", "To save them from the wrath of Gaul's unsparing lord.", "", "But whoso entereth within this town,", " That, sheening far, celestial seems to be,", " Disconsolate will wander up and down,", " 'Mid many things unsightly to strange ee;", " For hut and palace show like filthily:", " The dingy denizens are reared in dirt;", " Ne personage of high or mean degree", " Doth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt,", "Though shent with Egypt's plague, unkempt, unwashed, unhurt.", "", "Poor, paltry slaves! yet born 'midst noblest scenes--", " Why, Nature, waste thy wonders on such men?", " Lo! Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes", " In variegated maze of mount and glen.", " Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,", " To follow half on which the eye dilates", " Through views more dazzling unto mortal ken", " Than those whereof such things the Bard relates,", "Who to the awe-struck world unlocked Elysium's gates.", "", "The horrid crags, by toppling convent crowned,", " The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,", " The mountain-moss by scorching skies imbrowned,", " The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,", " The tender azure of the unruffled deep,", " The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,", " The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,", " The vine on high, the willow branch below,", "Mixed in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.", "", "Then slowly climb the many-winding way,", " And frequent turn to linger as you go,", " From loftier rocks new loveliness survey,", " And rest ye at \"Our Lady's house of Woe;\"", " Where frugal monks their little relics show,", " And sundry legends to the stranger tell:", " Here impious men have punished been, and lo!", " Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,", "In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a Hell.", "", "And here and there, as up the crags you spring,", " Mark many rude-carved crosses near the path:", " Yet deem not these Devotion's offering--", " These are memorials frail of murderous wrath:", " For wheresoe'er the shrieking victim hath", " Pour'd forth his blood beneath the assassin's knife,", " Some hand erects a cross of mouldering lath;", " And grove and glen with thousand such are rife", "Throughout this purple land, where Law secures not life.", "", "On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,", " Are domes where whilome kings did make repair;", " But now the wild flowers round them only breathe:", " Yet ruined Splendour still is lingering there.", " And yonder towers the Prince's palace fair:", " There thou too, Vathek! England's wealthiest son,", " Once formed thy Paradise, as not aware", " When wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,", "Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.", "", "Here didst thou dwell, here schemes of pleasure plan,", " Beneath yon mountain's ever beauteous brow:", " But now, as if a thing unblest by Man,", " Thy fairy dwelling is as lone as Thou!", " Here giant weeds a passage scarce allow", " To Halls deserted, portals gaping wide:", " Fresh lessons to the thinking bosom, how", " Vain are the pleasaunces on earth supplied;", "Swept into wrecks anon by Time's ungentle tide!", "", "Behold the hall where chiefs were late convened!", " Oh! dome displeasing unto British eye!", " With diadem hight Foolscap, lo! a Fiend,", " A little Fiend that scoffs incessantly,", " There sits in parchment robe arrayed, and by", " His side is hung a seal and sable scroll,", " Where blazoned glare names known to chivalry,", " And sundry signatures adorn the roll,", "Whereat the Urchin points and laughs with all his soul.", "", "Convention is the dwarfish demon styled", " That foiled the knights in Marialva's dome:", " Of brains (if brains they had) he them beguiled,", " And turned a nation's shallow joy to gloom.", " Here Folly dashed to earth the victor's plume,", " And Policy regained what arms had lost:", " For chiefs like ours in vain may laurels bloom!", " Woe to the conquering, not the conquered host,", "Since baffled Triumph droops on Lusitania's coast.", "", "And ever since that martial Synod met,", " Britannia sickens, Cintra! at thy name;", " And folks in office at the mention fret,", " And fain would blush, if blush they could, for shame.", " How will Posterity the deed proclaim!", " Will not our own and fellow-nations sneer,", " To view these champions cheated of their fame,", " By foes in fight o'erthrown, yet victors here,", "Where Scorn her finger points through many a coming year?", "", "So deemed the Childe, as o'er the mountains he", " Did take his way in solitary guise:", " Sweet was the scene, yet soon he thought to flee,", " More restless than the swallow in the skies:", " Though here awhile he learned to moralise,", " For Meditation fixed at times on him;", " And conscious Reason whispered to despise", " His early youth, misspent in maddest whim;", "But as he gazed on truth his aching eyes grew dim.", "", "To horse! to horse! he quits, for ever quits", " A scene of peace, though soothing to his soul:", " Again he rouses from his moping fits,", " But seeks not now the harlot and the bowl.", " Onward he flies, nor fixed as yet the goal", " Where he shall rest him on his pilgrimage;", " And o'er him many changing scenes must roll", " Ere toil his thirst for travel can assuage,", "Or he shall calm his breast, or learn experience sage.", "", "Yet Mafra shall one moment claim delay,", " Where dwelt of yore the Lusians' luckless queen;", " And Church and Court did mingle their array,", " And Mass and revel were alternate seen;", " Lordlings and freres--ill-sorted fry I ween!", " But here the Babylonian Whore hath built", " A dome, where flaunts she in such glorious sheen,", " That men forget the blood which she hath spilt,", "And bow the knee to Pomp that loves to varnish guilt.", "", "O'er vales that teem with fruits, romantic hills,", " (Oh, that such hills upheld a freeborn race!)", " Whereon to gaze the eye with joyaunce fills,", " Childe Harold wends through many a pleasant place.", " Though sluggards deem it but a foolish chase,", " And marvel men should quit their easy chair,", " The toilsome way, and long, long league to trace,", " Oh! there is sweetness in the mountain air,", "And Life, that bloated Ease can never hope to share.", "", "More bleak to view the hills at length recede,", " And, less luxuriant, smoother vales extend:", " Immense horizon-bounded plains succeed!", " Far as the eye discerns, withouten end,", " Spain's realms appear whereon her shepherds tend", " Flocks, whose rich fleece right well the trader knows--", " Now must the Pastor's arm his _lambs_ defend:", " For Spain is compassed by unyielding foes,", "And _all_ must shield their _all_, or share Subjection's woes.", "", "Where Lusitania and her Sister meet,", " Deem ye what bounds the rival realms divide?", " Or ere the jealous Queens of Nations greet,", " Doth Tayo interpose his mighty tide?", " Or dark Sierras rise in craggy pride?", " Or fence of art, like China's vasty wall?--", " Ne barrier wall, ne river deep and wide,", " Ne horrid crags, nor mountains dark and tall,", "Rise like the rocks that part Hispania's land from Gaul:", "", "But these between a silver streamlet glides,", " And scarce a name distinguisheth the brook,", " Though rival kingdoms press its verdant sides:", " Here leans the idle shepherd on his crook,", " And vacant on the rippling waves doth look,", " That peaceful still 'twixt bitterest foemen flow;", " For proud each peasant as the noblest duke:", " Well doth the Spanish hind the difference know", "'Twixt him and Lusian slave, the lowest of the low.", "", "But ere the mingling bounds have far been passed,", " Dark Guadiana rolls his power along", " In sullen billows, murmuring and vast,", " So noted ancient roundelays among.", " Whilome upon his banks did legions throng", " Of Moor and Knight, in mailéd splendour drest:", " Here ceased the swift their race, here sunk the strong;", " The Paynim turban and the Christian crest", "Mixed on the bleeding stream, by floating hosts oppressed.", "", "Oh, lovely Spain! renowned, romantic Land!", " Where is that standard which Pelagio bore,", " When Cava's traitor-sire first called the band", " That dyed thy mountain streams with Gothic gore?", " Where are those bloody Banners which of yore", " Waved o'er thy sons, victorious to the gale,", " And drove at last the spoilers to their shore?", " Red gleamed the Cross, and waned the Crescent pale,", "While Afric's echoes thrilled with Moorish matrons' wail.", "", "Teems not each ditty with the glorious tale?", " Ah! such, alas! the hero's amplest fate!", " When granite moulders and when records fail,", " A peasant's plaint prolongs his dubious date.", " Pride! bend thine eye from Heaven to thine estate,", " See how the Mighty shrink into a song!", " Can Volume, Pillar, Pile preserve thee great?", " Or must thou trust Tradition's simple tongue,", "When Flattery sleeps with thee, and History does thee wrong?", "", "Awake, ye Sons of Spain! awake! advance!", " Lo! Chivalry, your ancient Goddess, cries,", " But wields not, as of old, her thirsty lance,", " Nor shakes her crimson plumage in the skies:", " Now on the smoke of blazing bolts she flies,", " And speaks in thunder through yon engine's roar:", " In every peal she calls--\"Awake! arise!\"", " Say, is her voice more feeble than of yore,", "When her war-song was heard on Andalusia's shore?", "", "Hark!--heard you not those hoofs of dreadful note?", " Sounds not the clang of conflict on the heath?", " Saw ye not whom the reeking sabre smote,", " Nor saved your brethren ere they sank beneath", " Tyrants and Tyrants' slaves?--the fires of Death,", " The Bale-fires flash on high:--from rock to rock!", " Each volley tells that thousands cease to breathe;", " Death rides upon the sulphury Siroc,", "Red Battle stamps his foot, and Nations feel the shock.", "", "Lo! where the Giant on the mountain stands,", " His blood-red tresses deepening in the Sun,", " With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands,", " And eye that scorcheth all it glares upon;", " Restless it rolls, now fixed, and now anon", " Flashing afar,--and at his iron feet", " Destruction cowers, to mark what deeds are done;", " For on this morn three potent Nations meet,", "To shed before his Shrine the blood he deems most sweet.", "", "By Heaven! it is a splendid sight to see", " (For one who hath no friend, no brother there)", " Their rival scarfs of mixed embroidery,", " Their various arms that glitter in the air!", " What gallant War-hounds rouse them from their lair,", " And gnash their fangs, loud yelling for the prey!", " All join the chase, but few the triumph share;", " The Grave shall bear the chiefest prize away,", "And Havoc scarce for joy can number their array.", "", "Three hosts combine to offer sacrifice;", " Three tongues prefer strange orisons on high;", " Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue skies;", " The shouts are France, Spain, Albion, Victory!", " The Foe, the Victim, and the fond Ally", " That fights for all, but ever fights in vain,", " Are met--as if at home they could not die--", " To feed the crow on Talavera's plain,", "And fertilise the field that each pretends to gain.", "", "There shall they rot--Ambition's honoured fools!", " Yes, Honour decks the turf that wraps their clay!", " Vain Sophistry! in these behold the tools,", " The broken tools, that Tyrants cast away", " By myriads, when they dare to pave their way", " With human hearts--to what?--a dream alone.", " Can Despots compass aught that hails their sway?", " Or call with truth one span of earth their own,", "Save that wherein at last they crumble bone by bone?", "", "Oh, Albuera! glorious field of grief!", " As o'er thy plain the Pilgrim pricked his steed,", " Who could foresee thee, in a space so brief,", " A scene where mingling foes should boast and bleed!", " Peace to the perished! may the warrior's meed", " And tears of triumph their reward prolong!", " Till others fall where other chieftains lead", " Thy name shall circle round the gaping throng,", "And shine in worthless lays, the theme of transient song.", "", "Enough of Battle's minions! let them play", " Their game of lives, and barter breath for fame:", " Fame that will scarce reanimate their clay,", " Though thousands fall to deck some single name.", " In sooth 'twere sad to thwart their noble aim", " Who strike, blest hirelings! for their country's good,", " And die, that living might have proved her shame;", " Perished, perchance, in some domestic feud,", "Or in a narrower sphere wild Rapine's path pursued.", "", "Full swiftly Harold wends his lonely way", " Where proud Sevilla triumphs unsubdued:", " Yet is she free? the Spoiler's wished-for prey!", " Soon, soon shall Conquest's fiery foot intrude,", " Blackening her lovely domes with traces rude.", " Inevitable hour! 'Gainst fate to strive", " Where Desolation plants her famished brood", " Is vain, or Ilion, Tyre might yet survive,", "And Virtue vanquish all, and Murder cease to thrive", "", "But all unconscious of the coming doom,", " The feast, the song, the revel here abounds;", " Strange modes of merriment the hours consume,", " Nor bleed these patriots with their country's wounds:", " Nor here War's clarion, but Love's rebeck sounds;", " Here Folly still his votaries inthralls;", " And young-eyed Lewdness walks her midnight rounds:", " Girt with the silent crimes of Capitals,", "Still to the last kind Vice clings to the tott'ring walls.", "", "Not so the rustic--with his trembling mate", " He lurks, nor casts his heavy eye afar,", " Lest he should view his vineyard desolate,", " Blasted below the dun hot breath of War.", " No more beneath soft Eve's consenting star", " Fandango twirls his jocund castanet:", " Ah, Monarchs! could ye taste the mirth ye mar,", " Not in the toils of Glory would ye fret;", "The hoarse dull drum would sleep, and Man be happy yet!", "", "How carols now the lusty muleteer?", " Of Love, Romance, Devotion is his lay,", " As whilome he was wont the leagues to cheer,", " His quick bells wildly jingling on the way?", " No! as he speeds, he chants \"Vivā el Rey!\"", " And checks his song to execrate Godoy,", " The royal wittol Charles, and curse the day", " When first Spain's queen beheld the black-eyed boy,", "And gore-faced Treason sprung from her adulterate joy.", "", "On yon long level plain, at distance crowned", " With crags, whereon those Moorish turrets rest,", " Wide-scattered hoof-marks dint the wounded ground;", " And, scathed by fire, the greensward's darkened vest", " Tells that the foe was Andalusia's guest:", " Here was the camp, the watch-flame, and the host,", " Here the bold peasant stormed the Dragon's nest;", " Still does he mark it with triumphant boast,", "And points to yonder cliffs, which oft were won and lost.", "", "And whomsoe'er along the path you meet", " Bears in his cap the badge of crimson hue,", " Which tells you whom to shun and whom to greet:", " Woe to the man that walks in public view", " Without of loyalty this token true:", " Sharp is the knife, and sudden is the stroke;", " And sorely would the Gallic foeman rue,", " If subtle poniards, wrapt beneath the cloke,", "Could blunt the sabre's edge, or clear the cannon's smoke.", "", "At every turn Morena's dusky height", " Sustains aloft the battery's iron load;", " And, far as mortal eye can compass sight,", " The mountain-howitzer, the broken road,", " The bristling palisade, the fosse o'erflowed,", " The stationed bands, the never-vacant watch,", " The magazine in rocky durance stowed,", " The bolstered steed beneath the shed of thatch,", "The ball-piled pyramid, the ever-blazing match,", "", "Portend the deeds to come:--but he whose nod", " Has tumbled feebler despots from their sway,", " A moment pauseth ere he lifts the rod;", " A little moment deigneth to delay:", " Soon will his legions sweep through these their way;", " The West must own the Scourger of the world.", " Ah! Spain! how sad will be thy reckoning-day,", " When soars Gaul's Vulture, with his wings unfurled,", "And thou shall view thy sons in crowds to Hades hurled.", "", "And must they fall? the young, the proud, the brave,", " To swell one bloated Chiefs unwholesome reign?", " No step between submission and a grave?", " The rise of Rapine and the fall of Spain?", " And doth the Power that man adores ordain", " Their doom, nor heed the suppliant's appeal?", " Is all that desperate Valour acts in vain?", " And Counsel sage, and patriotic Zeal--", "The Veteran's skill--Youth's fire--and Manhood's heart of steel?", "", "Is it for this the Spanish maid, aroused,", " Hangs on the willow her unstrung guitar,", " And, all unsexed, the Anlace hath espoused,", " Sung the loud song, and dared the deed of war?", " And she, whom once the semblance of a scar", " Appalled, an owlet's 'larum chilled with dread,", " Now views the column-scattering bay'net jar,", " The falchion flash, and o'er the yet warm dead", "Stalks with Minerva's step where Mars might quake to tread.", "", "Ye who shall marvel when you hear her tale,", " Oh! had you known her in her softer hour,", " Marked her black eye that mocks her coal-black veil,", " Heard her light, lively tones in Lady's bower,", " Seen her long locks that foil the painter's power,", " Her fairy form, with more than female grace,", " Scarce would you deem that Saragoza's tower", " Beheld her smile in Danger's Gorgon face,", "Thin the closed ranks, and lead in Glory's fearful chase.", "", "Her lover sinks--she sheds no ill-timed tear;", " Her Chief is slain--she fills his fatal post;", " Her fellows flee--she checks their base career;", " The Foe retires--she heads the sallying host:", " Who can appease like her a lover's ghost?", " Who can avenge so well a leader's fall?", " What maid retrieve when man's flushed hope is lost?", " Who hang so fiercely on the flying Gaul,", "Foiled by a woman's hand, before a battered wall?", "", "Yet are Spain's maids no race of Amazons,", " But formed for all the witching arts of love:", " Though thus in arms they emulate her sons,", " And in the horrid phalanx dare to move,", " 'Tis but the tender fierceness of the dove,", " Pecking the hand that hovers o'er her mate:", " In softness as in firmness far above", " Remoter females, famed for sickening prate;", "Her mind is nobler sure, her charms perchance as great.", "", "The seal Love's dimpling finger hath impressed", " Denotes how soft that chin which bears his touch:", " Her lips, whose kisses pout to leave their nest,", " Bid man be valiant ere he merit such:", " Her glance how wildly beautiful! how much", " Hath Phoebus wooed in vain to spoil her cheek,", " Which glows yet smoother from his amorous clutch!", " Who round the North for paler dames would seek?", "How poor their forms appear! how languid, wan, and weak!", "", "Match me, ye climes! which poets love to laud;", " Match me, ye harems of the land! where now", " I strike my strain, far distant, to applaud", " Beauties that ev'n a cynic must avow;", " Match me those Houries, whom ye scarce allow", " To taste the gale lest Love should ride the wind,", " With Spain's dark-glancing daughters--deign to know,", " There your wise Prophet's Paradise we find,", "His black-eyed maids of Heaven, angelically kind.", "", "Oh, thou Parnassus! whom I now survey,", " Not in the phrensy of a dreamer's eye,", " Not in the fabled landscape of a lay,", " But soaring snow-clad through thy native sky,", " In the wild pomp of mountain-majesty!", " What marvel if I thus essay to sing?", " The humblest of thy pilgrims passing by", " Would gladly woo thine Echoes with his string,", "Though from thy heights no more one Muse will wave her wing.", "", "Oft have I dreamed of Thee! whose glorious name", " Who knows not, knows not man's divinest lore:", " And now I view thee--'tis, alas, with shame", " That I in feeblest accents must adore.", " When I recount thy worshippers of yore", " I tremble, and can only bend the knee;", " Nor raise my voice, nor vainly dare to soar,", " But gaze beneath thy cloudy canopy", "In silent joy to think at last I look on Thee!", "", "Happier in this than mightiest Bards have been,", " Whose Fate to distant homes confined their lot,", " Shall I unmoved behold the hallowed scene,", " Which others rave of, though they know it not?", " Though here no more Apollo haunts his Grot,", " And thou, the Muses' seat, art now their grave,", " Some gentle Spirit still pervades the spot,", " Sighs in the gale, keeps silence in the Cave,", "And glides with glassy foot o'er yon melodious wave.", "", "Of thee hereafter.--Ev'n amidst my strain", " I turned aside to pay my homage here;", " Forgot the land, the sons, the maids of Spain;", " Her fate, to every freeborn bosom dear;", " And hailed thee, not perchance without a tear.", " Now to my theme--but from thy holy haunt", " Let me some remnant, some memorial bear;", " Yield me one leaf of Daphne's deathless plant,", "Nor let thy votary's hope be deemed an idle vaunt.", "", "But ne'er didst thou, fair Mount! when Greece was young,", " See round thy giant base a brighter choir,", " Nor e'er did Delphi, when her Priestess sung", " The Pythian hymn with more than mortal fire,", " Behold a train more fitting to inspire", " The song of love, than Andalusia's maids,", " Nurst in the glowing lap of soft Desire:", " Ah! that to these were given such peaceful shades", "As Greece can still bestow, though Glory fly her glades.", "", "Fair is proud Seville; let her country boast", " Her strength, her wealth, her site of ancient days;", " But Cadiz, rising on the distant coast,", " Calls forth a sweeter, though ignoble praise.", " Ah, Vice! how soft are thy voluptuous ways!", " While boyish blood is mantling, who can 'scape", " The fascination of thy magic gaze?", " A Cherub-Hydra round us dost thou gape,", "And mould to every taste thy dear delusive shape.", "", "When Paphos fell by Time--accurséd Time!", " The Queen who conquers all must yield to thee--", " The Pleasures fled, but sought as warm a clime;", " And Venus, constant to her native Sea,", " To nought else constant, hither deigned to flee,", " And fixed her shrine within these walls of white:", " Though not to one dome circumscribeth She", " Her worship, but, devoted to her rite,", "A thousand Altars rise, for ever blazing bright.", "", "From morn till night, from night till startled Morn", " Peeps blushing on the Revel's laughing crew,", " The Song is heard, the rosy Garland worn;", " Devices quaint, and Frolics ever new,", " Tread on each other's kibes. A long adieu", " He bids to sober joy that here sojourns:", " Nought interrupts the riot, though in lieu", " Of true devotion monkish incense burns,", "And Love and Prayer unite, or rule the hour by turns.", "", "The Sabbath comes, a day of blessed rest:", " What hallows it upon this Christian shore?", " Lo! it is sacred to a solemn Feast:", " Hark! heard you not the forest-monarch's roar?", " Crashing the lance, he snuffs the spouting gore", " Of man and steed, o'erthrown beneath his horn;", " The thronged arena shakes with shouts for more;", " Yells the mad crowd o'er entrails freshly torn,", "Nor shrinks the female eye, nor ev'n affects to mourn.", "", "The seventh day this--the Jubilee of man!", " London! right well thou know'st the day of prayer:", " Then thy spruce citizen, washed artisan,", " And smug apprentice gulp their weekly air:", " Thy coach of hackney, whiskey, one-horse chair,", " And humblest gig through sundry suburbs whirl,", " To Hampstead, Brentford, Harrow make repair;", " Till the tired jade the wheel forgets to hurl,", "Provoking envious gibe from each pedestrian churl.", "", "Some o'er thy Thamis row the ribboned fair,", " Others along the safer turnpike fly;", " Some Richmond-hill ascend, some scud to Ware,", " And many to the steep of Highgate hie.", " Ask ye, Boeotian Shades! the reason why?", " 'Tis to the worship of the solemn Horn,", " Grasped in the holy hand of Mystery,", " In whose dread name both men and maids are sworn,", "And consecrate the oath with draught, and dance till morn.", "", "All have their fooleries--not alike are thine,", " Fair Cadiz, rising o'er the dark blue sea!", " Soon as the Matin bell proclaimeth nine,", " Thy Saint-adorers count the Rosary:", " Much is the VIRGIN teased to shrive them free", " (Well do I ween the only virgin there)", " From crimes as numerous as her beadsmen be;", " Then to the crowded circus forth they fare:", "Young, old, high, low, at once the same diversion share.", "", "The lists are oped, the spacious area cleared,", " Thousands on thousands piled are seated round;", " Long ere the first loud trumpet's note is heard,", " Ne vacant space for lated wight is found:", " Here Dons, Grandees, but chiefly Dames abound,", " Skilled in the ogle of a roguish eye,", " Yet ever well inclined to heal the wound;", " None through their cold disdain are doomed to die,", "As moon-struck bards complain, by Love's sad archery.", "", "Hushed is the din of tongues--on gallant steeds,", " With milk-white crest, gold spur, and light-poised lance,", " Four cavaliers prepare for venturous deeds,", " And lowly-bending to the lists advance;", " Rich are their scarfs, their chargers featly prance:", " If in the dangerous game they shine to-day,", " The crowd's loud shout and ladies' lovely glance,", " Best prize of better acts! they bear away,", "And all that kings or chiefs e'er gain their toils repay.", "", "In costly sheen and gaudy cloak arrayed.", " But all afoot, the light-limbed Matadore", " Stands in the centre, eager to invade", " The lord of lowing herds; but not before", " The ground, with cautious tread, is traversed o'er,", " Lest aught unseen should lurk to thwart his speed:", " His arms a dart, he fights aloof, nor more", " Can Man achieve without the friendly steed--", "Alas! too oft condemned for him to bear and bleed.", "", "Thrice sounds the Clarion; lo! the signal falls,", " The den expands, and Expectation mute", " Gapes round the silent circle's peopled walls.", " Bounds with one lashing spring the mighty brute,", " And, wildly staring, spurns, with sounding foot,", " The sand, nor blindly rushes on his foe:", " Here, there, he points his threatening front, to suit", " His first attack, wide-waving to and fro", "His angry tail; red rolls his eye's dilated glow.", "", "Sudden he stops--his eye is fixed--away--", " Away, thou heedless boy! prepare the spear:", " Now is thy time, to perish, or display", " The skill that yet may check his mad career!", " With well-timed croupe the nimble coursers veer;", " On foams the Bull, but not unscathed he goes;", " Streams from his flank the crimson torrent clear:", " He flies, he wheels, distracted with his throes;", "Dart follows dart--lance, lance--loud bellowings speak his woes.", "", "Again he comes; nor dart nor lance avail,", " Nor the wild plunging of the tortured horse;", " Though Man and Man's avenging arms assail,", " Vain are his weapons, vainer is his force.", " One gallant steed is stretched a mangled corse;", " Another, hideous sight! unseamed appears,", " His gory chest unveils life's panting source;", " Though death-struck, still his feeble frame he rears;", "Staggering, but stemming all, his Lord unharmed he bears.", "", "Foiled, bleeding, breathless, furious to the last,", " Full in the centre stands the Bull at bay,", " Mid wounds, and clinging darts, and lances brast,", " And foes disabled in the brutal fray:", " And now the Matadores around him play,", " Shake the red cloak, and poise the ready brand:", " Once more through all he bursts his thundering way--", " Vain rage! the mantle quits the conynge hand,", "Wraps his fierce eye--'tis past--he sinks upon the sand!", "", "Where his vast neck just mingles with the spine,", " Sheathed in his form the deadly weapon lies.", " He stops--he starts--disdaining to decline:", " Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries,", " Without a groan, without a struggle dies.", " The decorated car appears--on high", " The corse is piled--sweet sight for vulgar eyes--", " Four steeds that spurn the rein, as swift as shy,", "Hurl the dark bulk along, scarce seen in dashing by.", "", "Such the ungentle sport that oft invites", " The Spanish maid, and cheers the Spanish swain.", " Nurtured in blood betimes, his heart delights", " In vengeance, gloating on another's pain.", " What private feuds the troubled village stain!", " Though now one phalanxed host should meet the foe,", " Enough, alas! in humble homes remain,", " To meditate 'gainst friend the secret blow,", " For some slight cause of wrath, whence Life's warm stream must flow.", "", "But Jealousy has fled: his bars, his bolts,", " His withered Centinel, Duenna sage!", " And all whereat the generous soul revolts,", " Which the stern dotard deemed he could encage,", " Have passed to darkness with the vanished age.", " Who late so free as Spanish girls were seen,", " (Ere War uprose in his volcanic rage,)", " With braided tresses bounding o'er the green,", "While on the gay dance shone Night's lover-loving Queen?", "", "Oh! many a time and oft, had Harold loved,", " Or dreamed he loved, since Rapture is a dream;", " But now his wayward bosom was unmoved,", " For not yet had he drunk of Lethe's stream;", " And lately had he learned with truth to deem", " Love has no gift so grateful as his wings:", " How fair, how young, how soft soe'er he seem,", " Full from the fount of Joy's delicious springs", "Some bitter o'er the flowers its bubbling venom flings.", "", "Yet to the beauteous form he was not blind,", " Though now it moved him as it moves the wise;", " Not that Philosophy on such a mind", " E'er deigned to bend her chastely-awful eyes:", " But Passion raves herself to rest, or flies;", " And Vice, that digs her own voluptuous tomb,", " Had buried long his hopes, no more to rise:", " Pleasure's palled Victim! life-abhorring Gloom", "Wrote on his faded brow curst Cain's unresting doom.", "", "Still he beheld, nor mingled with the throng;", " But viewed them not with misanthropic hate:", " Fain would he now have joined the dance, the song;", " But who may smile that sinks beneath his fate?", " Nought that he saw his sadness could abate:", " Yet once he struggled 'gainst the Demon's sway,", " And as in Beauty's bower he pensive sate,", " Poured forth his unpremeditated lay,", "To charms as fair as those that soothed his happier day.", "", "TO INEZ.", "", "Nay, smile not at my sullen brow;", " Alas! I cannot smile again:", "Yet Heaven avert that ever thou", " Shouldst weep, and haply weep in vain.", "", "And dost thou ask what secret woe", " I bear, corroding Joy and Youth?", "And wilt thou vainly seek to know", " A pang, ev'n thou must fail to soothe?", "", "It is not love, it is not hate,", " Nor low Ambition's honours lost,", "That bids me loathe my present state,", " And fly from all I prized the most:", "", "It is that weariness which springs", " From all I meet, or hear, or see:", "To me no pleasure Beauty brings;", " Thine eyes have scarce a charm for me.", "", "It is that settled, ceaseless gloom", " The fabled Hebrew Wanderer bore;", "That will not look beyond the tomb,", " But cannot hope for rest before.", "", "What Exile from himself can flee?", " To zones though more and more remote,", "Still, still pursues, where'er I be,", " The blight of Life--the Demon Thought.", "", "Yet others rapt in pleasure seem,", " And taste of all that I forsake;", "Oh! may they still of transport dream,", " And ne'er--at least like me--awake!", "", "Through many a clime 'tis mine to go,", " With many a retrospection curst;", "And all my solace is to know,", " Whate'er betides, I've known the worst.", "", "What is that worst? Nay do not ask--", " In pity from the search forbear:", "Smile on--nor venture to unmask", " Man's heart, and view the Hell that's there.", "", "Adieu, fair Cadiz! yea, a long adieu!", " Who may forget how well thy walls have stood?", " When all were changing thou alone wert true,", " First to be free and last to be subdued;", " And if amidst a scene, a shock so rude,", " Some native blood was seen thy streets to dye,", " A Traitor only fell beneath the feud:", " Here all were noble, save Nobility;", "None hugged a Conqueror's chain, save fallen Chivalry!", "", "Such be the sons of Spain, and strange her Fate!", " They fight for Freedom who were never free,", " A Kingless people for a nerveless state;", " Her vassals combat when their Chieftains flee,", " True to the veriest slaves of Treachery:", " Fond of a land which gave them nought but life,", " Pride points the path that leads to Liberty;", " Back to the struggle, baffled in the strife,", "War, war is still the cry, \"War even to the knife!\"", "", "Ye, who would more of Spain and Spaniards know", " Go, read whate'er is writ of bloodiest strife:", " Whate'er keen Vengeance urged on foreign foe", " Can act, is acting there against man's life:", " From flashing scimitar to secret knife,", " War mouldeth there each weapon to his need--", " So may he guard the sister and the wife,", " So may he make each curst oppressor bleed--", "So may such foes deserve the most remorseless deed!", "", "Flows there a tear of Pity for the dead?", " Look o'er the ravage of the reeking plain;", " Look on the hands with female slaughter red;", " Then to the dogs resign the unburied slain,", " Then to the vulture let each corse remain,", " Albeit unworthy of the prey-bird's maw;", " Let their bleached bones, and blood's unbleaching stain,", " Long mark the battle-field with hideous awe:", "Thus only may our sons conceive the scenes we saw!", "", "Nor yet, alas! the dreadful work is done;", " Fresh legions pour adown the Pyrenees:", " It deepens still, the work is scarce begun,", " Nor mortal eye the distant end foresees.", " Fall'n nations gaze on Spain; if freed, she frees", " More than her fell Pizarros once enchained:", " Strange retribution! now Columbia's ease", " Repairs the wrongs that Quito's sons sustained,", "While o'er the parent clime prowls Murder unrestrained.", "", "Not all the blood at Talavera shed,", " Not all the marvels of Barossa's fight,", " Not Albuera lavish of the dead,", " Have won for Spain her well asserted right.", " When shall her Olive-Branch be free from blight?", " When shall she breathe her from the blushing toil?", " How many a doubtful day shall sink in night,", " Ere the Frank robber turn him from his spoil,", "And Freedom's stranger-tree grow native of the soil!", "", "And thou, my friend!--since unavailing woe", " Bursts from my heart, and mingles with the strain--", " Had the sword laid thee with the mighty low,", " Pride might forbid e'en Friendship to complain:", " But thus unlaurelled to descend in vain,", " By all forgotten, save the lonely breast,", " And mix unbleeding with the boasted slain,", " While Glory crowns so many a meaner crest!", "What hadst thou done to sink so peacefully to rest?", "", "Oh, known the earliest, and esteemed the most!", " Dear to a heart where nought was left so dear!", " Though to my hopeless days for ever lost,", " In dreams deny me not to see thee here!", " And Morn in secret shall renew the tear", " Of Consciousness awaking to her woes,", " And Fancy hover o'er thy bloodless bier,", " Till my frail frame return to whence it rose,", "And mourned and mourner lie united in repose.", "", "Here is one fytte of Harold's pilgrimage:", " Ye who of him may further seek to know,", " Shall find some tidings in a future page,", " If he that rhymeth now may scribble moe.", " Is this too much? stern Critic! say not so:", " Patience! and ye shall hear what he beheld", " In other lands, where he was doomed to go:", " Lands that contain the monuments of Eld,", "Ere Greece and Grecian arts by barbarous hands were quelled.", "", "CANTO THE SECOND.", "", "Come, blue-eyed Maid of Heaven!--but Thou, alas!", " Didst never yet one mortal song inspire--", " Goddess of Wisdom! here thy temple was,", " And is, despite of War and wasting fire,", " And years, that bade thy worship to expire:", " But worse than steel, and flame, and ages slow,", " Is the dread sceptre and dominion dire", " Of men who never felt the sacred glow", "That thoughts of thee and thine on polished breasts bestow.", "", "Ancient of days! august Athena! where,", " Where are thy men of might? thy grand in soul?", " Gone--glimmering through the dream of things that were:", " First in the race that led to Glory's goal,", " They won, and passed away--is this the whole?", " A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hour!", " The Warrior's weapon and the Sophist's stole", " Are sought in vain, and o'er each mouldering tower,", "Dim with the mist of years, gray flits the shade of power.", "", "Son of the Morning, rise! approach you here!", " Come--but molest not yon defenceless Urn:", " Look on this spot--a Nation's sepulchre!", " Abode of Gods, whose shrines no longer burn.", " Even Gods must yield--Religions take their turn:", " 'Twas Jove's--'tis Mahomet's--and other Creeds", " Will rise with other years, till Man shall learn", " Vainly his incense soars, his victim bleeds;", "Poor child of Doubt and Death, whose hope is built on reeds.", "", "Bound to the Earth, he lifts his eye to Heaven--", " Is't not enough, Unhappy Thing! to know", " Thou art? Is this a boon so kindly given,", " That being, thou would'st be again, and go,", " Thou know'st not, reck'st not to what region, so", " On Earth no more, but mingled with the skies?", " Still wilt thou dream on future Joy and Woe?", " Regard and weigh yon dust before it flies:", "That little urn saith more than thousand Homilies.", "", "Or burst the vanished Hero's lofty mound;", " Far on the solitary shore he sleeps:", " He fell, and falling nations mourned around;", " But now not one of saddening thousands weeps,", " Nor warlike worshipper his vigil keeps", " Where demi-gods appeared, as records tell.", " Remove yon skull from out the scattered heaps:", " Is that a Temple where a God may dwell?", "Why ev'n the Worm at last disdains her shattered cell!", "", "Look on its broken arch, its ruined wall,", " Its chambers desolate, and portals foul:", " Yes, this was once Ambition's airy hall,", " The Dome of Thought, the Palace of the Soul:", " Behold through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole,", " The gay recess of Wisdom and of Wit", " And Passion's host, that never brooked control:", " Can all Saint, Sage, or Sophist ever writ,", "People this lonely tower, this tenement refit?", "", "Well didst thou speak, Athena's wisest son!", " \"All that we know is, nothing can be known.\"", " Why should we shrink from what we cannot shun?", " Each hath its pang, but feeble sufferers groan", " With brain-born dreams of Evil all their own.", " Pursue what Chance or Fate proclaimeth best;", " Peace waits us on the shores of Acheron:", " There no forced banquet claims the sated guest,", "But Silence spreads the couch of ever welcome Rest.", "", "Yet if, as holiest men have deemed, there be", " A land of Souls beyond that sable shore,", " To shame the Doctrine of the Sadducee", " And Sophists, madly vain of dubious lore;", " How sweet it were in concert to adore", " With those who made our mortal labours light!", " To hear each voice we feared to hear no more!", " Behold each mighty shade revealed to sight,", "The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the Right!", "", "There, Thou!--whose Love and Life together fled,", " Have left me here to love and live in vain--", " Twined with my heart, and can I deem thee dead", " When busy Memory flashes on my brain?", " Well--I will dream that we may meet again,", " And woo the vision to my vacant breast:", " If aught of young Remembrance then remain,", " Be as it may Futurity's behest,", "For me 'twere bliss enough to know thy spirit blest!", "", "Here let me sit upon this massy stone,", " The marble column's yet unshaken base;", " Here, son of Saturn! was thy favourite throne:", " Mightiest of many such! Hence let me trace", " The latent grandeur of thy dwelling-place.", " It may not be: nor ev'n can Fancy's eye", " Restore what Time hath laboured to deface.", " Yet these proud Pillars claim no passing sigh;", "Unmoved the Moslem sits, the light Greek carols by.", "", "But who, of all the plunderers of yon Fane", " On high--where Pallas linger'd, loth to flee", " The latest relic of her ancient reign--", " The last, the worst, dull spoiler, who was he?", " Blush, Caledonia! such thy son could be!", " England! I joy no child he was of thine:", " Thy free-born men should spare what once was free;", " Yet they could violate each saddening shrine,", "And hear these altars o'er the long-reluctant brine.", "", "But most the modern Pict's ignoble boast,", " To rive what Goth, and Turk, and Time hath spared:", " Cold as the crags upon his native coast,", " His mind as barren and his heart as hard,", " Is he whose head conceived, whose hand prepared.", " Aught to displace Athenæ's poor remains:", " Her Sons too weak the sacred shrine to guard,", " Yet felt some portion of their Mother's pains,", "And never knew, till then, the weight of Despot's chains.", "", "What! shall it e'er be said by British tongue,", " Albion was happy in Athena's tears?", " Though in thy name the slaves her bosom wrung,", " Tell not the deed to blushing Europe's ears;", " The Ocean Queen, the free Britannia, bears", " The last poor plunder from a bleeding land:", " Yes, she, whose generous aid her name endears,", " Tore down those remnants with a Harpy's hand,", "Which envious Eld forbore, and tyrants left to stand.", "", "Where was thine Ægis, Pallas! that appalled", " Stern Alaric and Havoc on their way?", " Where Peleus' son? whom Hell in vain enthralled.", " His shade from Hades upon that dread day", " Bursting to light in terrible array!", " What! could not Pluto spare the Chief once more,", " To scare a second robber from his prey?", " Idly he wandered on the Stygian shore,", "Nor now preserved the walls he loved to shield before.", "", "Cold is the heart, fair Greece! that looks on Thee,", " Nor feels as Lovers o'er the dust they loved;", " Dull is the eye that will not weep to see", " Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed", " By British hands, which it had best behoved", " To guard those relics ne'er to be restored:--", " Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved,", " And once again thy hapless bosom gored,", "And snatched thy shrinking Gods to Northern climes abhorred!", "", "But where is Harold? shall I then forget", " To urge the gloomy Wanderer o'er the wave?", " Little recked he of all that Men regret;", " No loved-one now in feigned lament could rave;", " No friend the parting hand extended gave,", " Ere the cold Stranger passed to other climes:", " Hard is his heart whom charms may not enslave;", " But Harold felt not as in other times,", "And left without a sigh the land of War and Crimes.", "", "He that has sailed upon the dark blue sea", " Has viewed at times, I ween, a full fair sight,", " When the fresh breeze is fair as breeze may be,", " The white sail set, the gallant Frigate tight--", " Masts, spires, and strand retiring to the right,", " The glorious Main expanding o'er the bow,", " The Convoy spread like wild swans in their flight,", " The dullest sailer wearing bravely now--", "So gaily curl the waves before each dashing prow.", "", "And oh, the little warlike world within!", " The well-reeved guns, the netted canopy,", " The hoarse command, the busy humming din,", " When, at a word, the tops are manned on high:", " Hark, to the Boatswain's call, the cheering cry!", " While through the seaman's hand the tackle glides;", " Or schoolboy Midshipman that, standing by,", " Strains his shrill pipe as good or ill betides,", "And well the docile crew that skilful Urchin guides.", "", "White is the glassy deck, without a stain,", " Where on the watch the staid Lieutenant walks:", " Look on that part which sacred doth remain", " For the lone Chieftain, who majestic stalks,", " Silent and feared by all--not oft he talks", " With aught beneath him, if he would preserve", " That strict restraint, which broken, ever balks", " Conquest and Fame: but Britons rarely swerve", "From law, however stern, which tends their strength to nerve.", "", "Blow! swiftly blow, thou keel-compelling gale!", " Till the broad Sun withdraws his lessening ray:", " Then must the Pennant-bearer slacken sail,", " That lagging barks may make their lazy way.", " Ah! grievance sore, and listless dull delay,", " To waste on sluggish hulks the sweetest breeze!", " What leagues are lost, before the dawn of day,", " Thus loitering pensive on the willing seas,", "The flapping sail hauled down to halt for logs like these!", "", "The Moon is up; by Heaven, a lovely eve!", " Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand;", " Now lads on shore may sigh, and maids believe:", " Such be our fate when we return to land!", " Meantime some rude Arion's restless hand", " Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love;", " A circle there of merry listeners stand", " Or to some well-known measure featly move,", "Thoughtless, as if on shore they still were free to rove.", "", "Through Calpe's straits survey the steepy shore;", " Europe and Afric on each other gaze!", " Lands of the dark-eyed Maid and dusky Moor", " Alike beheld beneath pale Hecate's blaze:", " How softly on the Spanish shore she plays!", " Disclosing rock, and slope, and forest brown,", " Distinct, though darkening with her waning phase;", " But Mauritania's giant-shadows frown,", "From mountain-cliff to coast descending sombre down.", "", "'Tis night, when Meditation bids us feel", " We once have loved, though Love is at an end:", " The Heart, lone mourner of its baffled zeal,", " Though friendless now, will dream it had a friend.", " Who with the weight of years would wish to bend,", " When Youth itself survives young Love and Joy?", " Alas! when mingling souls forget to blend,", " Death hath but little left him to destroy!", "Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy?", "", "Thus bending o'er the vessel's laving side,", " To gaze on Dian's wave-reflected sphere,", " The Soul forgets her schemes of Hope and Pride,", " And flies unconscious o'er each backward year;", " None are so desolate but something dear,", " Dearer than self, possesses or possessed", " A thought, and claims the homage of a tear;", " A flashing pang! of which the weary breast", "Would still, albeit in vain, the heavy heart divest.", "", "To sit on rocks--to muse o'er flood and fell--", " To slowly trace the forest's shady scene,", " Where things that own not Man's dominion dwell,", " And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been;", " To climb the trackless mountain all unseen,", " With the wild flock that never needs a fold;", " Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean;", " This is not Solitude--'tis but to hold", "Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled.", "", "But midst the crowd, the hum, the shock of men,", " To hear, to see, to feel, and to possess,", " And roam along, the World's tired denizen,", " With none who bless us, none whom we can bless;", " Minions of Splendour shrinking from distress!", " None that, with kindred consciousness endued,", " If we were not, would seem to smile the less,", " Of all that flattered--followed--sought, and sued:", "This is to be alone--This, This is Solitude!", "", "More blest the life of godly Eremite,", " Such as on lonely Athos may be seen,", " Watching at eve upon the Giant Height,", " Which looks o'er waves so blue, skies so serene,", " That he who there at such an hour hath been", " Will wistful linger on that hallowed spot;", " Then slowly tear him from the 'witching scene,", " Sigh forth one wish that such had been his lot,", "Then turn to hate a world he had almost forgot.", "", "Pass we the long unvarying course, the track", " Oft trod, that never leaves a trace behind;", " Pass we the calm--the gale--the change--the tack,", " And each well known caprice of wave and wind;", " Pass we the joys and sorrows sailors find,", " Cooped in their wingéd sea-girt citadel;", " The foul--the fair--the contrary--the kind--", " As breezes rise and fall and billows swell,", "Till on some jocund morn--lo, Land! and All is well!", "", "But not in silence pass Calypso's isles,", " The sister tenants of the middle deep;", " There for the weary still a Haven smiles,", " Though the fair Goddess long hath ceased to weep,", " And o'er her cliffs a fruitless watch to keep", " For him who dared prefer a mortal bride:", " Here, too, his boy essayed the dreadful leap", " Stern Mentor urged from high to yonder tide;", "While thus of both bereft, the Nymph-Queen doubly sighed.", "", "Her reign is past, her gentle glories gone:", " But trust not this; too easy Youth, beware!", " A mortal Sovereign holds her dangerous throne,", " And thou may'st find a new Calypso there.", " Sweet Florence could another ever share", " This wayward, loveless heart, it would be thine:", " But checked by every tie, I may not dare", " To cast a worthless offering at thy shrine,", "Nor ask so dear a breast to feel one pang for _mine_.", "", "Thus Harold deemed, as on that Lady's eye", " He looked, and met its beam without a thought,", " Save Admiration glancing harmless by:", " Love kept aloof, albeit not far remote,", " Who knew his Votary often lost and caught,", " But knew him as his Worshipper no more,", " And ne'er again the Boy his bosom sought:", " Since now he vainly urged him to adore,", "Well deemed the little God his ancient sway was o'er.", "", "Fair Florence found, in sooth with some amaze,", " One who, 'twas said, still sighed to all he saw,", " Withstand, unmoved, the lustre of her gaze,", " Which others hailed with real or mimic awe,", " Their hope, their doom, their punishment, their law;", " All that gay Beauty from her bondsmen claims:", " And much she marvelled that a youth so raw", " Nor felt, nor feigned at least, the oft-told flames,", "Which though sometimes they frown, yet rarely anger dames.", "", "Little knew she that seeming marble heart,", " Now masked in silence or withheld by Pride,", " Was not unskilful in the spoiler's art,", " And spread its snares licentious far and wide;", " Nor from the base pursuit had turned aside,", " As long as aught was worthy to pursue:", " But Harold on such arts no more relied;", " And had he doted on those eyes so blue,", "Yet never would he join the lover's whining crew.", "", "Not much he kens, I ween, of Woman's breast,", " Who thinks that wanton thing is won by sighs;", " What careth she for hearts when once possessed?", " Do proper homage to thine Idol's eyes;", " But not too humbly, or she will despise", " Thee and thy suit, though told in moving tropes:", " Disguise ev'n tenderness, if thou art wise;", " Brisk Confidence still best with woman copes:", "Pique her and soothe in turn--soon Passion crowns thy hopes.", "", "'Tis an old lesson--Time approves it true,", " And those who know it best, deplore it most;", " When all is won that all desire to woo,", " The paltry prize is hardly worth the cost:", " Youth wasted--Minds degraded--Honour lost--", " These are thy fruits, successful Passion! these!", " If, kindly cruel, early Hope is crost,", " Still to the last it rankles, a disease,", "Not to be cured when Love itself forgets to please.", "", "Away! nor let me loiter in my song,", " For we have many a mountain-path to tread,", " And many a varied shore to sail along,", " By pensive Sadness, not by Fiction, led--", " Climes, fair withal as ever mortal head", " Imagined in its little schemes of thought;", " Or e'er in new Utopias were ared,", " To teach Man what he might be, or he ought--", "If that corrupted thing could ever such be taught.", "", "Dear Nature is the kindest mother still!", " Though always changing, in her aspect mild;", " From her bare bosom let me take my fill,", " Her never-weaned, though not her favoured child.", " Oh! she is fairest in her features wild,", " Where nothing polished dares pollute her path:", " To me by day or night she ever smiled,", " Though I have marked her when none other hath,", "And sought her more and more, and loved her best in wrath.", "", "Land of Albania! where Iskander rose,", " Theme of the young, and beacon of the wise,", " And he his namesake, whose oft-baffled foes", " Shrunk from his deeds of chivalrous emprize:", " Land of Albania! let me bend mine eyes", " On thee, thou rugged Nurse of savage men!", " The Cross descends, thy Minarets arise,", " And the pale Crescent sparkles in the glen,", "Through many a cypress-grove within each city's ken.", "", "Childe Harold sailed, and passed the barren spot,", " Where sad Penelope o'erlooked the wave;", " And onward viewed the mount, not yet forgot,", " The Lover's refuge, and the Lesbian's grave.", " Dark Sappho! could not Verse immortal save", " That breast imbued with such immortal fire?", " Could she not live who life eternal gave?", " If life eternal may await the lyre,", "That only Heaven to which Earth's children may aspire.", "", "'Twas on a Grecian autumn's gentle eve", " Childe Harold hailed Leucadia's cape afar;", " A spot he longed to see, nor cared to leave:", " Oft did he mark the scenes of vanished war,", " Actium--Lepanto--fatal Trafalgar;", " Mark them unmoved, for he would not delight", " (Born beneath some remote inglorious star)", " In themes of bloody fray, or gallant fight,", "But loathed the bravo's trade, and laughed at martial wight.", "", "But when he saw the Evening star above", " Leucadia's far-projecting rock of woe,", " And hailed the last resort of fruitless love,", " He felt, or deemed he felt, no common glow:", " And as the stately vessel glided slow", " Beneath the shadow of that ancient mount,", " He watched the billows' melancholy flow,", " And, sunk albeit in thought as he was wont,", "More placid seemed his eye, and smooth his pallid front.", "", "Morn dawns; and with it stern Albania's hills,", " Dark Suli's rocks, and Pindus' inland peak,", " Robed half in mist, bedewed with snowy rills,", " Arrayed in many a dun and purple streak,", " Arise; and, as the clouds along them break,", " Disclose the dwelling of the mountaineer:", " Here roams the wolf--the eagle whets his beak--", " Birds--beasts of prey--and wilder men appear,", "And gathering storms around convulse the closing year.", "", "Now Harold felt himself at length alone,", " And bade to Christian tongues a long adieu;", " Now he adventured on a shore unknown,", " Which all admire, but many dread to view:", " His breast was armed 'gainst fate, his wants were few", " Peril he sought not, but ne'er shrank to meet:", " The scene was savage, but the scene was new;", " _This_ made the ceaseless toil of travel sweet,", "Beat back keen Winter's blast, and welcomed Summer's heat.", "", "Here the red Cross, for still the Cross is here,", " Though sadly scoffed at by the circumcised,", " Forgets that Pride to pampered priesthood dear;", " Churchman and Votary alike despised.", " Foul Superstition! howsoe'er disguised,", " Idol--Saint--Virgin--Prophet--Crescent--Cross--", " For whatsoever symbol thou art prized,", " Thou sacerdotal gain, but general loss!", "Who from true Worship's gold can separate thy dross?", "", "Ambracia's gulf behold, where once was lost", " A world for Woman, lovely, harmless thing!", " In yonder rippling bay, their naval host", " Did many a Roman chief and Asian King", " To doubtful conflict, certain slaughter bring:", " Look where the second Cæsar's trophies rose!", " Now, like the hands that reared them, withering:", " Imperial Anarchs, doubling human woes!", "GOD! was thy globe ordained for such to win and lose?", "", "From the dark barriers of that rugged clime,", " Ev'n to the centre of Illyria's vales,", " Childe Harold passed o'er many a mount sublime,", " Through lands scarce noticed in historic tales:", " Yet in famed Attica such lovely dales", " Are rarely seen; nor can fair Tempe boast", " A charm they know not; loved Parnassus fails,", " Though classic ground and consecrated most,", "To match some spots that lurk within this lowering coast.", "", "He passed bleak Pindus, Acherusia's lake,", " And left the primal city of the land,", " And onwards did his further journey take", " To greet Albania's Chief, whose dread command", " Is lawless law; for with a bloody hand", " He sways a nation,--turbulent and bold:", " Yet here and there some daring mountain-band", " Disdain his power, and from their rocky hold", "Hurl their defiance far, nor yield, unless to gold.", "", "Monastic Zitza! from thy shady brow,", " Thou small, but favoured spot of holy ground!", " Where'er we gaze--around--above--below,--", " What rainbow tints, what magic charms are found!", " Rock, river, forest, mountain, all abound,", " And bluest skies that harmonise the whole:", " Beneath, the distant Torrent's rushing sound", " Tells where the volumed Cataract doth roll", "Between those hanging rocks, that shock yet please the soul.", "", "Amidst the grove that crowns yon tufted hill,", " Which, were it not for many a mountain nigh", " Rising in lofty ranks, and loftier still,", " Might well itself be deemed of dignity,", " The Convent's white walls glisten fair on high:", " Here dwells the caloyer, nor rude is he,", " Nor niggard of his cheer; the passer by", " Is welcome still; nor heedless will he flee", "From hence, if he delight kind Nature's sheen to see.", "", "Here in the sultriest season let him rest,", " Fresh is the green beneath those aged trees;", " Here winds of gentlest wing will fan his breast,", " From Heaven itself he may inhale the breeze:", " The plain is far beneath--oh! let him seize", " Pure pleasure while he can; the scorching ray", " Here pierceth not, impregnate with disease:", " Then let his length the loitering pilgrim lay,", "And gaze, untired, the Morn--the Noon--the Eve away.", "", "Dusky and huge, enlarging on the sight,", " Nature's volcanic Amphitheatre,", " Chimæra's Alps extend from left to right:", " Beneath, a living valley seems to stir;", " Flocks play, trees wave, streams flow, the mountain-fir", " Nodding above; behold black Acheron!", " Once consecrated to the sepulchre.", " Pluto! if this be Hell I look upon,", "Close shamed Elysium's gates, my shade shall seek for none.", "", "Ne city's towers pollute the lovely view;", " Unseen is Yanina, though not remote,", " Veiled by the screen of hills: here men are few,", " Scanty the hamlet, rare the lonely cot:", " But, peering down each precipice, the goat", " Browseth; and, pensive o'er his scattered flock,", " The little shepherd in his white capote", " Doth lean his boyish form along the rock,", "Or in his cave awaits the Tempest's short-lived shock.", "", "Oh! where, Dodona! is thine agéd Grove,", " Prophetic Fount, and Oracle divine?", " What valley echoed the response of Jove?", " What trace remaineth of the Thunderer's shrine?", " All, all forgotten--and shall Man repine", " That his frail bonds to fleeting life are broke?", " Cease, Fool! the fate of Gods may well be thine:", " Wouldst thou survive the marble or the oak?", "When nations, tongues, and worlds must sink beneath the stroke!", "", "Epirus' bounds recede, and mountains fail;", " Tired of up-gazing still, the wearied eye", " Reposes gladly on as smooth a vale", " As ever Spring yclad in grassy dye:", " Ev'n on a plain no humble beauties lie,", " Where some bold river breaks the long expanse,", " And woods along the banks are waving high,", " Whose shadows in the glassy waters dance,", "Or with the moonbeam sleep in Midnight's solemn trance.", "", "The Sun had sunk behind vast Tomerit,", " And Laos wide and fierce came roaring by;", " The shades of wonted night were gathering yet,", " When, down the steep banks winding warily,", " Childe Harold saw, like meteors in the sky,", " The glittering minarets of Tepalen,", " Whose walls o'erlook the stream; and drawing nigh,", " He heard the busy hum of warrior-men", "Swelling the breeze that sighed along the lengthening glen.", "", "He passed the sacred Haram's silent tower,", " And underneath the wide o'erarching gate", " Surveyed the dwelling of this Chief of power,", " Where all around proclaimed his high estate.", " Amidst no common pomp the Despot sate,", " While busy preparation shook the court,", " Slaves, eunuchs, soldiers, guests, and santons wait;", " Within, a palace, and without, a fort:", "Here men of every clime appear to make resort.", "", "Richly caparisoned, a ready row", " Of arméd horse, and many a warlike store,", " Circled the wide-extending court below;", " Above, strange groups adorned the corridore;", " And oft-times through the area's echoing door", " Some high-capped Tartar spurred his steed away:", " The Turk--the Greek--the Albanian--and the Moor,", " Here mingled in their many-hued array,", "While the deep war-drum's sound announced the close of day.", "", "The wild Albanian kirtled to his knee,", " With shawl-girt head and ornamented gun,", " And gold-embroidered garments, fair to see;", " The crimson-scarféd men of Macedon;", " The Delhi with his cap of terror on,", " And crooked glaive--the lively, supple Greek", " And swarthy Nubia's mutilated son;", " The bearded Turk that rarely deigns to speak,", "Master of all around, too potent to be meek,", "", "Are mixed conspicuous: some recline in groups,", " Scanning the motley scene that varies round;", " There some grave Moslem to devotion stoops,", " And some that smoke, and some that play, are found;", " Here the Albanian proudly treads the ground;", " Half-whispering there the Greek is heard to prate;", " Hark! from the Mosque the nightly solemn sound,", " The Muezzin's call doth shake the minaret,", "\"There is no god but God!--to prayer--lo! God is great!\"", "", "Just at this season Ramazani's fast", " Through the long day its penance did maintain:", " But when the lingering twilight hour was past,", " Revel and feast assumed the rule again:", " Now all was bustle, and the menial train", " Prepared and spread the plenteous board within;", " The vacant Gallery now seemed made in vain,", " But from the chambers came the mingling din,", "As page and slave anon were passing out and in.", "", "Here woman's voice is never heard: apart,", " And scarce permitted, guarded, veiled, to move,", " She yields to one her person and her heart,", " Tamed to her cage, nor feels a wish to rove:", " For, not unhappy in her Master's love,", " And joyful in a mother's gentlest cares,", " Blest cares! all other feelings far above!", " Herself more sweetly rears the babe she bears", "Who never quits the breast--no meaner passion shares.", "", "In marble-paved pavilion, where a spring", " Of living water from the centre rose,", " Whose bubbling did a genial freshness fling,", " And soft voluptuous couches breathed repose,", " ALI reclined, a man of war and woes:", " Yet in his lineaments ye cannot trace,", " While Gentleness her milder radiance throws", " Along that agéd venerable face,", "The deeds that lurk beneath, and stain him with disgrace.", "", "It is not that yon hoary lengthening beard", " Ill suits the passions which belong to Youth;", " Love conquers Age--so Hafiz hath averr'd,", " So sings the Teian, and he sings in sooth--", " But crimes that scorn the tender voice of ruth,", " Beseeming all men ill, but most the man", " In years, have marked him with a tiger's tooth;", " Blood follows blood, and, through their mortal span,", "In bloodier acts conclude those who with blood began.", "", "'Mid many things most new to ear and eye", " The Pilgrim rested here his weary feet,", " And gazed around on Moslem luxury,", " Till quickly, wearied with that spacious seat", " Of Wealth and Wantonness, the choice retreat", " Of sated Grandeur from the city's noise:", " And were it humbler it in sooth were sweet;", " But Peace abhorreth artificial joys,", "And Pleasure, leagued with Pomp, the zest of both destroys.", "", "Fierce are Albania's children, yet they lack", " Not virtues, were those virtues more mature.", " Where is the foe that ever saw their back?", " Who can so well the toil of War endure?", " Their native fastnesses not more secure", " Than they in doubtful time of troublous need:", " Their wrath how deadly! but their friendship sure,", " When Gratitude or Valour bids them bleed,", "Unshaken rushing on where'er their Chief may lead.", "", "Childe Harold saw them in their Chieftain's tower", " Thronging to War in splendour and success;", " And after viewed them, when, within their power,", " Himself awhile the victim of distress;", " That saddening hour when bad men hotlier press:", " But these did shelter him beneath their roof,", " When less barbarians would have cheered him less,", " And fellow-countrymen have stood aloof--", "In aught that tries the heart, how few withstand the proof!", "", "It chanced that adverse winds once drove his bark", " Full on the coast of Suli's shaggy shore,", " When all around was desolate and dark;", " To land was perilous, to sojourn more;", " Yet for awhile the mariners forbore,", " Dubious to trust where Treachery might lurk:", " At length they ventured forth, though doubting sore", " That those who loathe alike the Frank and Turk", "Might once again renew their ancient butcher-work.", "", "Vain fear! the Suliotes stretched the welcome hand,", " Led them o'er rocks and past the dangerous swamp,", " Kinder than polished slaves though not so bland,", " And piled the hearth, and wrung their garments damp,", " And filled the bowl, and trimmed the cheerful lamp,", " And spread their fare; though homely, all they had:", " Such conduct bears Philanthropy's rare stamp:", " To rest the weary and to soothe the sad,", "Doth lesson happier men, and shames at least the bad.", "", "It came to pass, that when he did address", " Himself to quit at length this mountain-land,", " Combined marauders half-way barred egress,", " And wasted far and near with glaive and brand;", " And therefore did he take a trusty band", " To traverse Acarnania's forest wide,", " In war well-seasoned, and with labours tanned,", " Till he did greet white Achelous' tide,", "And from his further bank Ætolia's wolds espied.", "", "Where lone Utraikey forms its circling cove,", " And weary waves retire to gleam at rest,", " How brown the foliage of the green hill's grove,", " Nodding at midnight o'er the calm bay's breast,", " As winds come lightly whispering from the West,", " Kissing, not ruffling, the blue deep's serene:--", " Here Harold was received a welcome guest;", " Nor did he pass unmoved the gentle scene,", "For many a joy could he from Night's soft presence glean.", "", "On the smooth shore the night-fires brightly blazed,", " The feast was done, the red wine circling fast,", " And he that unawares had there ygazed", " With gaping wonderment had stared aghast;", " For ere night's midmost, stillest hour was past,", " The native revels of the troop began;", " Each Palikar his sabre from him cast,", " And bounding hand in hand, man linked to man,", "Yelling their uncouth dirge, long daunced the kirtled clan.", "", "Childe Harold at a little distance stood", " And viewed, but not displeased, the revelrie,", " Nor hated harmless mirth, however rude:", " In sooth, it was no vulgar sight to see", " Their barbarous, yet their not indecent, glee;", " And, as the flames along their faces gleamed,", " Their gestures nimble, dark eyes flashing free,", " The long wild locks that to their girdles streamed,", "While thus in concert they this lay half sang,", " half screamed:--", "", "Tambourgi! Tambourgi! thy 'larum afar", "Gives hope to the valiant, and promise of war;", "All the Sons of the mountains arise at the note,", "Chimariot, Illyrian, and dark Suliote!", "", "Oh! who is more brave than a dark Suliote,", "In his snowy camese and his shaggy capote?", "To the wolf and the vulture he leaves his wild flock,", "And descends to the plain like the stream from the rock.", "", "Shall the sons of Chimari, who never forgive", "The fault of a friend, bid an enemy live?", "Let those guns so unerring such vengeance forego?", "What mark is so fair as the breast of a foe?", "", "Macedonia sends forth her invincible race;", "For a time they abandon the cave and the chase:", "But those scarfs of blood-red shall be redder, before", "The sabre is sheathed and the battle is o'er.", "", "Then the Pirates of Parga that dwell by the waves,", "And teach the pale Franks what it is to be slaves,", "Shall leave on the beach the long galley and oar,", "And track to his covert the captive on shore.", "", "I ask not the pleasures that riches supply,", "My sabre shall win what the feeble must buy;", "Shall win the young bride with her long flowing hair,", "And many a maid from her mother shall tear.", "", "I love the fair face of the maid in her youth,", "Her caresses shall lull me, her music shall soothe;", "Let her bring from the chamber her many-toned lyre,", "And sing us a song on the fall of her Sire.", "", "Remember the moment when Previsa fell,", "The shrieks of the conquered, the conquerors' yell;", "The roofs that we fired, and the plunder we shared,", "The wealthy we slaughtered, the lovely we spared.", "", "I talk not of mercy, I talk not of fear;", "He neither must know who would serve the Vizier:", "Since the days of our Prophet the Crescent ne'er saw", "A chief ever glorious like Ali Pashaw.", "", "Dark Muchtar his son to the Danube is sped,", "Let the yellow-haired Giaours", " view his horse-tail with dread;", "When his Delhis come dashing in blood o'er the banks,", "How few shall escape from the Muscovite ranks!", "", "Selictar! unsheathe then our chief's Scimitār;", "Tambourgi! thy 'larum gives promise of War.", "Ye Mountains, that see us descend to the shore,", "Shall view us as Victors, or view us no more!", "", "Fair Greece! sad relic of departed Worth!", " Immortal, though no more; though fallen, great!", " Who now shall lead thy scattered children forth,", " And long accustomed bondage uncreate?", " Not such thy sons who whilome did await,", " The helpless warriors of a willing doom,", " In bleak Thermopylæ's sepulchral strait--", " Oh! who that gallant spirit shall resume,", "Leap from Eurotas' banks, and call thee from the tomb?", "", "Spirit of Freedom! when on Phyle's brow", " Thou sat'st with Thrasybulus and his train,", " Couldst thou forebode the dismal hour which now", " Dims the green beauties of thine Attic plain?", " Not thirty tyrants now enforce the chain,", " But every carle can lord it o'er thy land;", " Nor rise thy sons, but idly rail in vain,", " Trembling beneath the scourge of Turkish hand,", "From birth till death enslaved; in word, in deed, unmanned.", "", "In all save form alone, how changed! and who", " That marks the fire still sparkling in each eye,", " Who but would deem their bosoms burned anew", " With thy unquenchéd beam, lost Liberty!", " And many dream withal the hour is nigh", " That gives them back their fathers' heritage:", " For foreign arms and aid they fondly sigh,", " Nor solely dare encounter hostile rage,", "Or tear their name defiled from Slavery's mournful page.", "", "Hereditary Bondsmen! know ye not", " _Who_ would be free _themselves_ must strike the blow?", " By their right arms the conquest must be wrought?", " Will Gaul or Muscovite redress ye? No!", " True--they may lay your proud despoilers low,", " But not for you will Freedom's Altars flame.", " Shades of the Helots! triumph o'er your foe!", " Greece! change thy lords, thy state is still the same;", "Thy glorious day is o'er, but not thine years of shame.", "", "The city won for Allah from the Giaour", " The Giaour from Othman's race again may wrest;", " And the Serai's impenetrable tower", " Receive the fiery Frank, her former guest;", " Or Wahab's rebel brood who dared divest", " The Prophet's tomb of all its pious spoil,", " May wind their path of blood along the West;", " But ne'er will Freedom seek this fated soil,", "But slave succeed to slave through years of endless toil.", "", "Yet mark their mirth--ere Lenten days begin,", " That penance which their holy rites prepare", " To shrive from Man his weight of mortal sin,", " By daily abstinence and nightly prayer;", " But ere his sackcloth garb Repentance wear,", " Some days of joyaunce are decreed to all,", " To take of pleasaunce each his secret share,", " In motley robe to dance at masking ball,", "And join the mimic train of merry Carnival.", "", "And whose more rife with merriment than thine,", " Oh Stamboul! once the Empress of their reign?", " Though turbans now pollute Sophia's shrine,", " And Greece her very altars eyes in vain:", " (Alas! her woes will still pervade my strain!)", " Gay were her minstrels once, for free her throng,", " All felt the common joy they now must feign,", " Nor oft I've seen such sight, nor heard such song,", "As wooed the eye, and thrilled the Bosphorus along.", "", "Loud was the lightsome tumult on the shore,", " Oft Music changed, but never ceased her tone,", " And timely echoed back the measured oar,", " And rippling waters made a pleasant moan:", " The Queen of tides on high consenting shone,", " And when a transient breeze swept o'er the wave,", " 'Twas, as if darting from her heavenly throne,", " A brighter glance her form reflected gave,", "Till sparkling billows seemed to light the banks they lave.", "", "Glanced many a light Caique along the foam,", " Danced on the shore the daughters of the land,", " No thought had man or maid of rest or home,", " While many a languid eye and thrilling hand", " Exchanged the look few bosoms may withstand,", " Or gently prest, returned the pressure still:", " Oh Love! young Love! bound in thy rosy band,", " Let sage or cynic prattle as he will,", "These hours, and only these, redeem Life's years of ill!", "", "But, midst the throng in merry masquerade,", " Lurk there no hearts that throb with secret pain,", " Even through the closest searment half betrayed?", " To such the gentle murmurs of the main", " Seem to re-echo all they mourn in vain;", " To such the gladness of the gamesome crowd", " Is source of wayward thought and stern disdain:", " How do they loathe the laughter idly loud,", "And long to change the robe of revel for the shroud!", "", "This must he feel, the true-born son of Greece,", " If Greece one true-born patriot still can boast:", " Not such as prate of War, but skulk in Peace,", " The bondsman's peace, who sighs for all he lost,", " Yet with smooth smile his Tyrant can accost,", " And wield the slavish sickle, not the sword:", " Ah! Greece! they love thee least who owe thee most--", " Their birth, their blood, and that sublime record", "Of hero Sires, who shame thy now degenerate horde!", "", "When riseth Lacedemon's Hardihood,", " When Thebes Epaminondas rears again,", " When Athens' children are with hearts endued,", " When Grecian mothers shall give birth to men,", " Then may'st thou be restored; but not till then.", " A thousand years scarce serve to form a state;", " An hour may lay it in the dust: and when", " Can Man its shattered splendour renovate,", "Recall its virtues back, and vanquish Time and Fate?", "", "And yet how lovely in thine age of woe,", " Land of lost Gods and godlike men, art thou!", " Thy vales of evergreen, thy hills of snow,", " Proclaim thee Nature's varied favourite now:", " Thy fanes, thy temples to thy surface bow,", " Commingling slowly with heroic earth,", " Broke by the share of every rustic plough:", " So perish monuments of mortal birth,", "So perish all in turn, save well-recorded _Worth_:", "", "Save where some solitary column mourns", " Above its prostrate brethren of the cave;", " Save where Tritonia's airy shrine adorns", " Colonna's cliff, and gleams along the wave;", " Save o'er some warrior's half-forgotten grave,", " Where the gray stones and unmolested grass", " Ages, but not Oblivion, feebly brave;", " While strangers, only, not regardless pass,", "Lingering like me, perchance, to gaze, and sigh \"Alas!\"", "", "Yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as wild;", " Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are thy fields,", " Thine olive ripe as when Minerva smiled,", " And still his honied wealth Hymettus yields;", " There the blithe Bee his fragrant fortress builds,", " The free-born wanderer of thy mountain-air;", " Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds,", " Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare:", "Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair.", "", "Where'er we tread 'tis haunted, holy ground;", " No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mould,", " But one vast realm of Wonder spreads around,", " And all the Muse's tales seem truly told,", " Till the sense aches with gazing to behold", " The scenes our earliest dreams have dwelt upon;", " Each hill and dale, each deepening glen and wold", " Defies the power which crushed thy temples gone:", "Age shakes Athenæ's tower, but spares gray Marathon.", "", "The Sun, the soil--but not the slave, the same;--", " Unchanged in all except its foreign Lord,", " Preserves alike its bounds and boundless fame", " The Battle-field, where Persia's victim horde", " First bowed beneath the brunt of Hellas' sword,", " As on the morn to distant Glory dear,", " When Marathon became a magic word;", " Which uttered, to the hearer's eye appear", "The camp, the host, the fight, the Conqueror's career,", "", "The flying Mede, his shaftless broken bow--", " The fiery Greek, his red pursuing spear;", " Mountains above--Earth's, Ocean's plain below--", " Death in the front, Destruction in the rear!", " Such was the scene--what now remaineth here?", " What sacred Trophy marks the hallowed ground,", " Recording Freedom's smile and Asia's tear?", " The rifled urn, the violated mound,", "The dust thy courser's hoof, rude stranger! spurns around.", "", "Yet to the remnants of thy Splendour past", " Shall pilgrims, pensive, but unwearied, throng;", " Long shall the voyager, with th' Ionian blast,", " Hail the bright clime of Battle and of Song:", " Long shall thine annals and immortal tongue", " Fill with thy fame the youth of many a shore;", " Boast of the agéd! lesson of the young!", " Which Sages venerate and Bards adore,", "As Pallas and the Muse unveil their awful lore.", "", "The parted bosom clings to wonted home,", " If aught that's kindred cheer the welcome hearth;", " He that is lonely--hither let him roam,", " And gaze complacent on congenial earth.", " Greece is no lightsome land of social mirth:", " But he whom Sadness sootheth may abide,", " And scarce regret the region of his birth,", " When wandering slow by Delphi's sacred side,", "Or gazing o'er the plains where Greek and Persian died.", "", "Let such approach this consecrated Land,", " And pass in peace along the magic waste;", " But spare its relics--let no busy hand", " Deface the scenes, already how defaced!", " Not for such purpose were these altars placed:", " Revere the remnants Nations once revered:", " So may our Country's name be undisgraced,", " So may'st thou prosper where thy youth was reared,", "By every honest joy of Love and Life endeared!", "", "For thee, who thus in too protracted song", " Hast soothed thine Idlesse with inglorious lays,", " Soon shall thy voice be lost amid the throng", " Of louder Minstrels in these later days:", " To such resign the strife for fading Bays--", " Ill may such contest now the spirit move", " Which heeds nor keen Reproach nor partial Praise,", " Since cold each kinder heart that might approve--", "And none are left to please when none are left to love.", "", "Thou too art gone, thou loved and lovely one!", " Whom Youth and Youth's affections bound to me;", " Who did for me what none beside have done,", " Nor shrank from one albeit unworthy thee.", " What is my Being! thou hast ceased to be!", " Nor staid to welcome here thy wanderer home,", " Who mourns o'er hours which we no more shall see--", " Would they had never been, or were to come!", "Would he had ne'er returned to find fresh cause to roam!", "", "Oh! ever loving, lovely, and beloved!", " How selfish Sorrow ponders on the past,", " And clings to thoughts now better far removed!", " But Time shall tear thy shadow from me last.", " All thou couldst have of mine, stern Death! thou hast;", " The Parent, Friend, and now the more than Friend:", " Ne'er yet for one thine arrows flew so fast,", " And grief with grief continuing still to blend,", "Hath snatched the little joy that Life had yet to lend.", "", "Then must I plunge again into the crowd,", " And follow all that Peace disdains to seek?", " Where Revel calls, and Laughter, vainly loud,", " False to the heart, distorts the hollow cheek,", " To leave the flagging spirit doubly weak;", " Still o'er the features, which perforce they cheer,", " To feign the pleasure or conceal the pique:", " Smiles form the channel of a future tear,", "Or raise the writhing lip with ill-dissembled sneer.", "", "What is the worst of woes that wait on Age?", " What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?", " To view each loved one blotted from Life's page,", " And be alone on earth, as I am now.", " Before the Chastener humbly let me bow,", " O'er Hearts divided and o'er Hopes destroyed:", " Roll on, vain days! full reckless may ye flow,", " Since Time hath reft whate'er my soul enjoyed,", "And with the ills of Eld mine earlier years alloyed.", "", "CANTO THE THIRD.", "", " \"Afin que cette application vous forcât à penser à autre chose.", " Il n'y a en vérité de remède que celui-là et le temps.\"--_Lettres", " du Roi de Prusse et de M. D'Alembert_.", "", "Is thy face like thy mothers, my fair child!", " ADA! sole daughter of my house and heart?", " When last I saw thy young blue eyes they smiled,", " And then we parted,--not as now we part,", " But with a hope.--", " Awaking with a start,", " The waters heave around me; and on high", " The winds lift up their voices: I depart,", " Whither I know not; but the hour's gone by,", "When Albion's lessening shores could grieve or glad mine eye.", "", "Once more upon the waters! yet once more!", " And the waves bound beneath me as a steed", " That knows his rider. Welcome to their roar!", " Swift be their guidance, wheresoe'er it lead!", " Though the strained mast should quiver as a reed,", " And the rent canvass fluttering strew the gale,", " Still must I on; for I am as a weed,", " Flung from the rock, on Ocean's foam, to sail", "Where'er the surge may sweep, the tempest's breath prevail.", "", "In my youth's summer I did sing of One,", " The wandering outlaw of his own dark mind;", " Again I seize the theme, then but begun,", " And bear it with me, as the rushing wind", " Bears the cloud onwards: in that Tale I find", " The furrows of long thought, and dried-up tears,", " Which, ebbing, leave a sterile track behind,", " O'er which all heavily the journeying years", "Plod the last sands of life,--where not a flower appears.", "", "Since my young days of passion--joy, or pain--", " Perchance my heart and harp have lost a string--", " And both may jar: it may be, that in vain", " I would essay as I have sung to sing:", " Yet, though a dreary strain, to this I cling;", " So that it wean me from the weary dream", " Of selfish grief or gladness--so it fling", " Forgetfulness around me--it shall seem", "To me, though to none else, a not ungrateful theme.", "", "He, who grown aged in this world of woe,", " In deeds, not years, piercing the depths of life,", " So that no wonder waits him--nor below", " Can Love or Sorrow, Fame, Ambition, Strife,", " Cut to his heart again with the keen knife", " Of silent, sharp endurance--he can tell", " Why Thought seeks refuge in lone caves, yet rife", " With airy images, and shapes which dwell", "Still unimpaired, though old, in the Soul's haunted cell.", "", "'Tis to create, and in creating live", " A being more intense that we endow", " With form our fancy, gaining as we give", " The life we image, even as I do now--", " What am I? Nothing: but not so art thou,", " Soul of my thought! with whom I traverse earth,", " Invisible but gazing, as I glow--", " Mixed with thy spirit, blended with thy birth,", "And feeling still with thee in my crushed feelings' dearth.", "", "Yet must I think less wildly:--I _have_ thought", " Too long and darkly, till my brain became,", " In its own eddy boiling and o'erwrought,", " A whirling gulf of phantasy and flame:", " And thus, untaught in youth my heart to tame,", " My springs of life were poisoned. 'Tis too late:", " Yet am I changed; though still enough the same", " In strength to bear what Time can not abate,", "And feed on bitter fruits without accusing Fate.", "", "Something too much of this:--but now 'tis past,", " And the spell closes with its silent seal--", " Long absent HAROLD re-appears at last;", " He of the breast which fain no more would feel,", " Wrung with the wounds which kill not, but ne'er heal;", " Yet Time, who changes all, had altered him", " In soul and aspect as in age: years steal", " Fire from the mind as vigour from the limb;", "And Life's enchanted cup but sparkles near the brim.", "", "His had been quaffed too quickly, and he found", " The dregs were wormwood; but he filled again,", " And from a purer fount, on holier ground,", " And deemed its spring perpetual--but in vain!", " Still round him clung invisibly a chain", " Which galled for ever, fettering though unseen,", " And heavy though it clanked not; worn with pain,", " Which pined although it spoke not, and grew keen,", "Entering with every step he took through many a scene.", "", "Secure in guarded coldness, he had mixed", " Again in fancied safety with his kind,", " And deemed his spirit now so firmly fixed", " And sheathed with an invulnerable mind,", " That, if no joy, no sorrow lurked behind;", " And he, as one, might 'midst the many stand", " Unheeded, searching through the crowd to find", " Fit speculation--such as in strange land", "He found in wonder-works of God and Nature's hand.", "", "But who can view the ripened rose, nor seek", " To wear it? who can curiously behold", " The smoothness and the sheen of Beauty's cheek,", " Nor feel the heart can never all grow old?", " Who can contemplate Fame through clouds unfold", " The star which rises o'er her steep, nor climb?", " Harold, once more within the vortex, rolled", " On with the giddy circle, chasing Time,", "Yet with a nobler aim than in his Youth's fond prime.", "", "But soon he knew himself the most unfit", " Of men to herd with Man, with whom he held", " Little in common; untaught to submit", " His thoughts to others, though his soul was quelled", " In youth by his own thoughts; still uncompelled,", " He would not yield dominion of his mind", " To Spirits against whom his own rebelled,", " Proud though in desolation--which could find", "A life within itself, to breathe without mankind.", "", "Where rose the mountains, there to him were friends;", " Where rolled the ocean, thereon was his home;", " Where a blue sky, and glowing clime, extends,", " He had the passion and the power to roam;", " The desert, forest, cavern, breaker's foam,", " Were unto him companionship; they spake", " A mutual language, clearer than the tome", " Of his land's tongue, which he would oft forsake", "For Nature's pages glassed by sunbeams on the lake.", "", "Like the Chaldean, he could watch the stars,", " Till he had peopled them with beings bright", " As their own beams; and earth, and earth-born jars,", " And human frailties, were forgotten quite:", " Could he have kept his spirit to that flight", " He had been happy; but this clay will sink", " Its spark immortal, envying it the light", " To which it mounts, as if to break the link", "That keeps us from yon heaven which woos us to its brink.", "", "But in Man's dwellings he became a thing", " Restless and worn, and stern and wearisome,", " Drooped as a wild-born falcon with clipt wing,", " To whom the boundless air alone were home:", " Then came his fit again, which to o'ercome,", " As eagerly the barred-up bird will beat", " His breast and beak against his wiry dome", " Till the blood tinge his plumage--so the heat", "Of his impeded Soul would through his bosom eat.", "", "Self-exiled Harold wanders forth again,", " With nought of Hope left--but with less of gloom;", " The very knowledge that he lived in vain,", " That all was over on this side the tomb,", " Had made Despair a smilingness assume,", " Which, though 'twere wild,--as on the plundered wreck", " When mariners would madly meet their doom", " With draughts intemperate on the sinking deck,--", "Did yet inspire a cheer, which he forbore to check.", "", "Stop!--for thy tread is on an Empire's dust!", " An Earthquake's spoil is sepulchred below!", " Is the spot marked with no colossal bust?", " Nor column trophied for triumphal show?", " None; but _the moral's truth_ tells simpler so.--", " As the ground was before, thus let it be;--", " How that red rain hath made the harvest grow!", " And is this all the world has gained by thee,", "Thou first and last of Fields! king-making Victory?", "", "And Harold stands upon this place of skulls,", " The grave of France, the deadly Waterloo!", " How in an hour the Power which gave annuls", " Its gifts, transferring fame as fleeting too!--", " In \"pride of place\" here last the Eagle flew,", " Then tore with bloody talon the rent plain,", " Pierced by the shaft of banded nations through;", " Ambition's life and labours all were vain--", "He wears the shattered links of the World's broken chain.", "", "Fit retribution! Gaul may champ the bit", " And foam in fetters;--but is Earth more free?", " Did nations combat to make _One_ submit?", " Or league to teach all Kings true Sovereignty?", " What! shall reviving Thraldom again be", " The patched-up Idol of enlightened days?", " Shall we, who struck the Lion down, shall we", " Pay the Wolf homage? proffering lowly gaze", "And servile knees to Thrones? No! _prove_ before ye praise!", "", "If not, o'er one fallen Despot boast no more!", " In vain fair cheeks were furrowed with hot tears", " For Europe's flowers long rooted up before", " The trampler of her vineyards; in vain, years", " Of death, depopulation, bondage, fears,", " Have all been borne, and broken by the accord", " Of roused-up millions: all that most endears", " Glory, is when the myrtle wreathes a Sword,", "Such as Harmodius drew on Athens' tyrant Lord.", "", "There was a sound of revelry by night,", " And Belgium's Capital had gathered then", " Her Beauty and her Chivalry--and bright", " The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men;", " A thousand hearts beat happily; and when", " Music arose with its voluptuous swell,", " Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,", " And all went merry as a marriage bell;", "But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!", "", "Did ye not hear it?--No--'twas but the Wind,", " Or the car rattling o'er the stony street;", " On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;", " No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet", " To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet--", " But hark!--that heavy sound breaks in once more,", " As if the clouds its echo would repeat;", " And nearer--clearer--deadlier than before!", "Arm! Arm! it is--it is--the cannon's opening roar!", "", "Within a windowed niche of that high hall", " Sate Brunswick's fated Chieftain; he did hear", " That sound the first amidst the festival,", " And caught its tone with Death's prophetic ear;", " And when they smiled because he deemed it near,", " His heart more truly knew that peal too well", " Which stretched his father on a bloody bier,", " And roused the vengeance blood alone could quell;", "He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell.", "", "Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro--", " And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,", " And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago", " Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness--", " And there were sudden partings, such as press", " The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs", " Which ne'er might be repeated; who could guess", " If ever more should meet those mutual eyes,", "Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise!", "", "And there was mounting in hot haste--the steed,", " The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,", " Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,", " And swiftly forming in the ranks of war--", " And the deep thunder peal on peal afar;", " And near, the beat of the alarming drum", " Roused up the soldier ere the Morning Star;", " While thronged the citizens with terror dumb,", "Or whispering, with white lips--\"The foe! They come! they come!\"", "", "And wild and high the \"Cameron's Gathering\" rose!", " The war-note of Lochiel, which Albyn's hills", " Have heard, and heard, too, have her Saxon foes;--", " How in the noon of night that pibroch thrills,", " Savage and shrill! But with the breath which fills", " Their mountain-pipe, so fill the mountaineers", " With the fierce native daring which instils", " The stirring memory of a thousand years,", "And Evan's--Donald's fame rings in each clansman's ears!", "", "And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves,", " Dewy with Nature's tear-drops, as they pass--", " Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,", " Over the unreturning brave,--alas!", " Ere evening to be trodden like the grass", " Which now beneath them, but above shall grow", " In its next verdure, when this fiery mass", " Of living Valour, rolling on the foe", "And burning with high Hope, shall moulder cold and low.", "", "Last noon beheld them full of lusty life;--", " Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay;", " The Midnight brought the signal-sound of strife,", " The Morn the marshalling in arms,--the Day", " Battle's magnificently-stern array!", " The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent", " The earth is covered thick with other clay", " Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent,", "Rider and horse,--friend,--foe,--in one red burial blent!", "", "Their praise is hymned by loftier harps than mine;", " Yet one I would select from that proud throng,", " Partly because they blend me with his line,", " And partly that I did his Sire some wrong,", " And partly that bright names will hallow song;", " And his was of the bravest, and when showered", " The death-bolts deadliest the thinned files along,", " Even where the thickest of War's tempest lowered,", "They reached no nobler breast than thine, young, gallant Howard!", "", "There have been tears and breaking hearts for thee,", " And mine were nothing, had I such to give;", " But when I stood beneath the fresh green tree,", " Which living waves where thou didst cease to live,", " And saw around me the wide field revive", " With fruits and fertile promise, and the Spring", " Come forth her work of gladness to contrive,", " With all her reckless birds upon the wing,", "I turned from all she brought to those she could not bring.", "", "I turned to thee, to thousands, of whom each", " And one as all a ghastly gap did make", " In his own kind and kindred, whom to teach", " Forgetfulness were mercy for their sake;", " The Archangel's trump, not Glory's, must awake", " Those whom they thirst for; though the sound of Fame", " May for a moment soothe, it cannot slake", " The fever of vain longing, and the name", "So honoured but assumes a stronger, bitterer claim.", "", "They mourn, but smile at length--and, smiling, mourn:", " The tree will wither long before it fall;", " The hull drives on, though mast and sail be torn;", " The roof-tree sinks, but moulders on the hall", " In massy hoariness; the ruined wall", " Stands when its wind-worn battlements are gone;", " The bars survive the captive they enthral;", " The day drags through though storms keep out the sun;", "And thus the heart will break, yet brokenly live on:", "", "Even as a broken Mirror, which the glass", " In every fragment multiplies--and makes", " A thousand images of one that was,", " The same--and still the more, the more it breaks;", " And thus the heart will do which not forsakes,", " Living in shattered guise; and still, and cold,", " And bloodless, with its sleepless sorrow aches,", " Yet withers on till all without is old,", "Showing no visible sign, for such things are untold.", "", "There is a very life in our despair,", " Vitality of poison,--a quick root", " Which feeds these deadly branches; for it were", " As nothing did we die; but Life will suit", " Itself to Sorrow's most detested fruit,", " Like to the apples on the Dead Sea's shore,", " All ashes to the taste: Did man compute", " Existence by enjoyment, and count o'er", "Such hours 'gainst years of life,--say, would he name threescore?", "", "The Psalmist numbered out the years of man:", " They are enough; and if thy tale be _true_,", " Thou, who didst grudge him even that fleeting span,", " More than enough, thou fatal Waterloo!", " Millions of tongues record thee, and anew", " Their children's lips shall echo them, and say--", " \"Here, where the sword united nations drew,", " Our countrymen were warring on that day!\"", "And this is much--and all--which will not pass away.", "", "There sunk the greatest, nor the worst of men,", " Whose Spirit, antithetically mixed,", " One moment of the mightiest, and again", " On little objects with like firmness fixed;", " Extreme in all things! hadst thou been betwixt,", " Thy throne had still been thine, or never been;", " For Daring made thy rise as fall: thou seek'st", " Even now to re-assume the imperial mien,", "And shake again the world, the Thunderer of the scene!", "", "Conqueror and Captive of the Earth art thou!", " She trembles at thee still, and thy wild name", " Was ne'er more bruited in men's minds than now", " That thou art nothing, save the jest of Fame,", " Who wooed thee once, thy Vassal, and became", " The flatterer of thy fierceness--till thou wert", " A God unto thyself; nor less the same", " To the astounded kingdoms all inert,", "Who deemed thee for a time whate'er thou didst assert.", "", "Oh, more or less than man--in high or low--", " Battling with nations, flying from the field;", " Now making monarchs' necks thy footstool, now", " More than thy meanest soldier taught to yield;", " An Empire thou couldst crush, command, rebuild,", " But govern not thy pettiest passion, nor,", " However deeply in men's spirits skilled,", " Look through thine own, nor curb the lust of War,", "Nor learn that tempted Fate will leave the loftiest Star.", "", "Yet well thy soul hath brooked the turning tide", " With that untaught innate philosophy,", " Which, be it Wisdom, Coldness, or deep Pride,", " Is gall and wormwood to an enemy.", " When the whole host of hatred stood hard by,", " To watch and mock thee shrinking, thou hast smiled", " With a sedate and all-enduring eye;--", " When Fortune fled her spoiled and favourite child,", "He stood unbowed beneath the ills upon him piled.", "", "Sager than in thy fortunes; for in them", " Ambition steeled thee on too far to show", " That just habitual scorn, which could contemn", " Men and their thoughts; 'twas wise to feel, not so", " To wear it ever on thy lip and brow,", " And spurn the instruments thou wert to use", " Till they were turned unto thine overthrow:", " 'Tis but a worthless world to win or lose;", "So hath it proved to thee, and all such lot who choose.", "", "If, like a tower upon a headlong rock,", " Thou hadst been made to stand or fall alone,", " Such scorn of man had helped to brave the shock;", " But men's thoughts were the steps which paved thy throne,", " _Their_ admiration thy best weapon shone;", " The part of Philip's son was thine, not then", " (Unless aside thy Purple had been thrown)", " Like stern Diogenes to mock at men--", "For sceptred Cynics Earth were far too wide a den.", "", "But Quiet to quick bosoms is a Hell,", " And _there_ hath been thy bane; there is a fire", " And motion of the Soul which will not dwell", " In its own narrow being, but aspire", " Beyond the fitting medium of desire;", " And, but once kindled, quenchless evermore,", " Preys upon high adventure, nor can tire", " Of aught but rest; a fever at the core,", "Fatal to him who bears, to all who ever bore.", "", "This makes the madmen who have made men mad", " By their contagion; Conquerors and Kings,", " Founders of sects and systems, to whom add", " Sophists, Bards, Statesmen, all unquiet things", " Which stir too strongly the soul's secret springs,", " And are themselves the fools to those they fool;", " Envied, yet how unenviable! what stings", " Are theirs! One breast laid open were a school", "Which would unteach Mankind the lust to shine or rule:", "", "Their breath is agitation, and their life", " A storm whereon they ride, to sink at last,", " And yet so nursed and bigoted to strife,", " That should their days, surviving perils past,", " Melt to calm twilight, they feel overcast", " With sorrow and supineness, and so die;", " Even as a flame unfed, which runs to waste", " With its own flickering, or a sword laid by,", "Which eats into itself, and rusts ingloriously.", "", "He who ascends to mountain-tops, shall find", " The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow;", " He who surpasses or subdues mankind,", " Must look down on the hate of those below.", " Though high _above_ the Sun of Glory glow,", " And far _beneath_ the Earth and Ocean spread,", " _Round_ him are icy rocks, and loudly blow", " Contending tempests on his naked head,", "And thus reward the toils which to those summits led.", "", "Away with these! true Wisdom's world will be", " Within its own creation, or in thine,", " Maternal Nature! for who teems like thee,", " Thus on the banks of thy majestic Rhine?", " There Harold gazes on a work divine,", " A blending of all beauties; streams and dells,", " Fruit, foliage, crag, wood, cornfield, mountain, vine,", " And chiefless castles breathing stern farewells", "From gray but leafy walls, where Ruin greenly dwells.", "", "And there they stand, as stands a lofty mind,", " Worn, but unstooping to the baser crowd,", " All tenantless, save to the crannying Wind,", " Or holding dark communion with the Cloud", " There was a day when they were young and proud;", " Banners on high, and battles passed below;", " But they who fought are in a bloody shroud,", " And those which waved are shredless dust ere now,", "And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow.", "", "Beneath these battlements, within those walls,", " Power dwelt amidst her passions; in proud state", " Each robber chief upheld his arméd halls,", " Doing his evil will, nor less elate", " Than mightier heroes of a longer date.", " What want these outlaws conquerors should have", " But History's purchased page to call them great?", " A wider space--an ornamented grave?", "Their hopes were not less warm, their souls were full as brave.", "", "In their baronial feuds and single fields,", " What deeds of prowess unrecorded died!", " And Love, which lent a blazon to their shields,", " With emblems well devised by amorous pride,", " Through all the mail of iron hearts would glide;", " But still their flame was fierceness, and drew on", " Keen contest and destruction near allied,", " And many a tower for some fair mischief won,", "Saw the discoloured Rhine beneath its ruin run.", "", "But Thou, exulting and abounding river!", " Making thy waves a blessing as they flow", " Through banks whose beauty would endure for ever", " Could man but leave thy bright creation so,", " Nor its fair promise from the surface mow", " With the sharp scythe of conflict, then to see", " Thy valley of sweet waters, were to know", " Earth paved like Heaven--and to seem such to me,", "Even now what wants thy stream?--that it should Lethe be.", "", "A thousand battles have assailed thy banks,", " But these and half their fame have passed away,", " And Slaughter heaped on high his weltering ranks:", " Their very graves are gone, and what are they?", " Thy tide washed down the blood of yesterday,", " And all was stainless, and on thy clear stream", " Glassed, with its dancing light, the sunny ray;", " But o'er the blacken'd memory's blighting dream", "Thy waves would vainly roll, all sweeping as they seem.", "", "Thus Harold inly said, and passed along,", " Yet not insensible to all which here", " Awoke the jocund birds to early song", " In glens which might have made even exile dear:", " Though on his brow were graven lines austere,", " And tranquil sternness, which had ta'en the place", " Of feelings fierier far but less severe--", " Joy was not always absent from his face,", "But o'er it in such scenes would steal with transient trace.", "", "Nor was all Love shut from him, though his days", " Of Passion had consumed themselves to dust.", " It is in vain that we would coldly gaze", " On such as smile upon us; the heart must", " Leap kindly back to kindness, though Disgust", " Hath weaned it from all worldlings: thus he felt,", " For there was soft Remembrance, and sweet Trust", " In one fond breast, to which his own would melt,", "And in its tenderer hour on that his bosom dwelt.", "", "And he had learned to love,--I know not why,", " For this in such as him seems strange of mood,", " The helpless looks of blooming Infancy,", " Even in its earliest nurture; what subdued,", " To change like this, a mind so far imbued", " With scorn of man, it little boots to know;", " But thus it was; and though in solitude", " Small power the nipped affections have to grow,", "In him this glowed when all beside had ceased to glow.", "", "And there was one soft breast, as hath been said,", " Which unto his was bound by stronger ties", " Than the church links withal; and--though unwed,", " _That_ love was pure--and, far above disguise,", " Had stood the test of mortal enmities", " Still undivided, and cemented more", " By peril, dreaded most in female eyes;", " But this was firm, and from a foreign shore", "Well to that heart might his these absent greetings pour!", "", "The castled Crag of Drachenfels", "Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine,", "Whose breast of waters broadly swells", "Between the banks which bear the vine,", "And hills all rich with blossomed trees,", "And fields which promise corn and wine,", "And scattered cities crowning these,", "Whose far white walls along them shine,", "Have strewed a scene, which I should see", "With double joy wert _thou_ with me.", "", "And peasant girls, with deep blue eyes,", "And hands which offer early flowers,", "Walk smiling o'er this Paradise;", "Above, the frequent feudal towers", "Through green leaves lift their walls of gray;", "And many a rock which steeply lowers,", "And noble arch in proud decay,", "Look o'er this vale of vintage-bowers;", "But one thing want these banks of Rhine,--", "Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine!", "", "I send the lilies given to me--", "Though long before thy hand they touch,", "I know that they must withered be,", "But yet reject them not as such;", "For I have cherished them as dear,", "Because they yet may meet thine eye,", "And guide thy soul to mine even here,", "When thou behold'st them drooping nigh,", "And know'st them gathered by the Rhine,", "And offered from my heart to thine!", "", "The river nobly foams and flows--", "The charm of this enchanted ground,", "And all its thousand turns disclose", "Some fresher beauty varying round:", "The haughtiest breast its wish might bound", "Through life to dwell delighted here;", "Nor could on earth a spot be found", "To Nature and to me so dear--", "Could thy dear eyes in following mine", "Still sweeten more these banks of Rhine!", "", "By Coblentz, on a rise of gentle ground,", " There is a small and simple Pyramid,", " Crowning the summit of the verdant mound;", " Beneath its base are Heroes' ashes hid--", " Our enemy's--but let not that forbid", " Honour to Marceau! o'er whose early tomb", " Tears, big tears, gushed from the rough soldier's lid,", " Lamenting and yet envying such a doom,", "Falling for France, whose rights he battled to resume.", "", "Brief, brave, and glorious was his young career,--", " His mourners were two hosts, his friends and foes;", " And fitly may the stranger lingering here", " Pray for his gallant Spirit's bright repose;--", " For he was Freedom's Champion, one of those,", " The few in number, who had not o'erstept", " The charter to chastise which she bestows", " On such as wield her weapons; he had kept", "The whiteness of his soul--and thus men o'er him wept.", "", "Here Ehrenbreitstein, with her shattered wall", " Black with the miner's blast, upon her height", " Yet shows of what she was, when shell and ball", " Rebounding idly on her strength did light:--", " A Tower of Victory! from whence the flight", " Of baffled foes was watched along the plain:", " But Peace destroyed what War could never blight,", " And laid those proud roofs bare to Summer's rain--", "On which the iron shower for years had poured in vain.", "", "Adieu to thee, fair Rhine! How long delighted", " The stranger fain would linger on his way!", " Thine is a scene alike where souls united", " Or lonely Contemplation thus might stray;", " And could the ceaseless vultures cease to prey", " On self-condemning bosoms, it were here,", " Where Nature, nor too sombre nor too gay,", " Wild but not rude, awful yet not austere,", "Is to the mellow Earth as Autumn to the year.", "", "Adieu to thee again! a vain adieu!", " There can be no farewell to scene like thine;", " The mind is coloured by thy every hue;", " And if reluctantly the eyes resign", " Their cherished gaze upon thee, lovely Rhine!", " 'Tis with the thankful glance of parting praise;", " More mighty spots may rise--more glaring shine,", " But none unite in one attaching maze", "The brilliant, fair, and soft,--the glories of old days,", "", "The negligently grand, the fruitful bloom", " Of coming ripeness, the white city's sheen,", " The rolling stream, the precipice's gloom,", " The forest's growth, and Gothic walls between,--", " The wild rocks shaped, as they had turrets been,", " In mockery of man's art; and these withal", " A race of faces happy as the scene,", " Whose fertile bounties here extend to all,", "Still springing o'er thy banks, though Empires near them fall.", "", "But these recede. Above me are the Alps,", " The Palaces of Nature, whose vast walls", " Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps,", " And throned Eternity in icy halls", " Of cold Sublimity, where forms and falls", " The Avalanche--the thunderbolt of snow!", " All that expands the spirit, yet appals,", " Gather around these summits, as to show", "How Earth may pierce to Heaven, yet leave vain man below.", "", "But ere these matchless heights I dare to scan,", " There is a spot should not be passed in vain,--", " Morat! the proud, the patriot field! where man", " May gaze on ghastly trophies of the slain,", " Nor blush for those who conquered on that plain;", " Here Burgundy bequeathed his tombless host,", " A bony heap, through ages to remain,", " Themselves their monument;--the Stygian coast", "Unsepulchred they roamed, and shrieked each", " wandering ghost.", "", "While Waterloo with Cannæ's carnage vies,", " Morat and Marathon twin names shall stand;", " They were true Glory's stainless victories,", " Won by the unambitious heart and hand", " Of a proud, brotherly, and civic band,", " All unbought champions in no princely cause", " Of vice-entailed Corruption; they no land", " Doomed to bewail the blasphemy of laws", "Making Kings' rights divine, by some Draconic clause.", "", "By a lone wall a lonelier column rears", " A gray and grief-worn aspect of old days;", " 'Tis the last remnant of the wreck of years,", " And looks as with the wild-bewildered gaze", " Of one to stone converted by amaze,", " Yet still with consciousness; and there it stands", " Making a marvel that it not decays,", " When the coeval pride of human hands,", "Levelled Aventicum, hath strewed her subject lands.", "", "And there--oh! sweet and sacred be the name!--", " Julia--the daughter--the devoted--gave", " Her youth to Heaven; her heart, beneath a claim", " Nearest to Heaven's, broke o'er a father's grave.", " Justice is sworn 'gainst tears, and hers would crave", " The life she lived in--but the Judge was just--", " And then she died on him she could not save.", " Their tomb was simple, and without a bust,", "And held within their urn one mind--one heart--one dust.", "", "But these are deeds which should not pass away,", " And names that must not wither, though the Earth", " Forgets her empires with a just decay,", " The enslavers and the enslaved--their death and birth;", " The high, the mountain-majesty of Worth", " Should be--and shall, survivor of its woe,", " And from its immortality, look forth", " In the sun's face, like yonder Alpine snow,", "Imperishably pure beyond all things below.", "", "Lake Leman woos me with its crystal face,", " The mirror where the stars and mountains view", " The stillness of their aspect in each trace", " Its clear depth yields of their far height and hue:", " There is too much of Man here, to look through", " With a fit mind the might which I behold;", " But soon in me shall Loneliness renew", " Thoughts hid, but not less cherished than of old,", "Ere mingling with the herd had penned me in their fold.", "", "To fly from, need not be to hate, mankind:", " All are not fit with them to stir and toil,", " Nor is it discontent to keep the mind", " Deep in its fountain, lest it overboil", " In the hot throng, where we become the spoil", " Of our infection, till too late and long", " We may deplore and struggle with the coil,", " In wretched interchange of wrong for wrong", "Midst a contentious world, striving where none are strong.", "", "There, in a moment, we may plunge our years", " In fatal penitence, and in the blight", " Of our own Soul turn all our blood to tears,", " And colour things to come with hues of Night;", " The race of life becomes a hopeless flight", " To those that walk in darkness: on the sea", " The boldest steer but where their ports invite--", " But there are wanderers o'er Eternity", "Whose bark drives on and on, and anchored ne'er shall be.", "", "Is it not better, then, to be alone,", " And love Earth only for its earthly sake?", " By the blue rushing of the arrowy Rhone,", " Or the pure bosom of its nursing Lake,", " Which feeds it as a mother who doth make", " A fair but froward infant her own care,", " Kissing its cries away as these awake;--", " Is it not better thus our lives to wear,", "Than join the crushing crowd, doomed to inflict or bear?", "", "I live not in myself, but I become", " Portion of that around me; and to me", " High mountains are a feeling, but the hum", " Of human cities torture: I can see", " Nothing to loathe in Nature, save to be", " A link reluctant in a fleshly chain,", " Classed among creatures, when the soul can flee,", " And with the sky--the peak--the heaving plain", "Of Ocean, or the stars, mingle--and not in vain.", "", "And thus I am absorbed, and this is life:--", " I look upon the peopled desert past,", " As on a place of agony and strife,", " Where, for some sin, to Sorrow I was cast,", " To act and suffer, but remount at last", " With a fresh pinion; which I feel to spring,", " Though young, yet waxing vigorous as the Blast", " Which it would cope with, on delighted wing,", "Spurning the clay-cold bonds which round our being cling.", "", "And when, at length, the mind shall be all free", " From what it hates in this degraded form,", " Reft of its carnal life, save what shall be", " Existent happier in the fly and worm,--", " When Elements to Elements conform,", " And dust is as it should be, shall I not", " Feel all I see less dazzling but more warm?", " The bodiless thought? the Spirit of each spot?", "Of which, even now, I share at times the immortal lot?", "", "Are not the mountains, waves, and skies, a part", " Of me and of my Soul, as I of them?", " Is not the love of these deep in my heart", " With a pure passion? should I not contemn", " All objects, if compared with these? and stem", " A tide of suffering, rather than forego", " Such feelings for the hard and worldly phlegm", " Of those whose eyes are only turned below,", "Gazing upon the ground, with thoughts which dare not glow?", "", "But this is not my theme; and I return", " To that which is immediate, and require", " Those who find contemplation in the urn,", " To look on One, whose dust was once all fire,--", " A native of the land where I respire", " The clear air for a while--a passing guest,", " Where he became a being,--whose desire", " Was to be glorious; 'twas a foolish quest,", "The which to gain and keep, he sacrificed all rest.", "", "Here the self-torturing sophist, wild Rousseau,", " The apostle of Affliction, he who threw", " Enchantment over Passion, and from Woe", " Wrung overwhelming eloquence, first drew", " The breath which made him wretched; yet he knew", " How to make Madness beautiful, and cast", " O'er erring deeds and thoughts, a heavenly hue", " Of words, like sunbeams, dazzling as they past", "The eyes, which o'er them shed tears feelingly and fast.", "", "His love was Passion's essence--as a tree", " On fire by lightning; with ethereal flame", " Kindled he was, and blasted; for to be", " Thus, and enamoured, were in him the same.", " But his was not the love of living dame,", " Nor of the dead who rise upon our dreams,", " But of ideal Beauty, which became", " In him existence, and o'erflowing teems", "Along his burning page, distempered though it seems.", "", "_This_ breathed itself to life in Julie, _this_", " Invested her with all that's wild and sweet;", " This hallowed, too, the memorable kiss", " Which every morn his fevered lip would greet,", " From hers, who but with friendship his would meet;", " But to that gentle touch, through brain and breast", " Flashed the thrilled Spirit's love-devouring heat;", " In that absorbing sigh perchance more blest", "Than vulgar minds may be with all they seek possest.", "", "His life was one long war with self-sought foes,", " Or friends by him self-banished; for his mind", " Had grown Suspicion's sanctuary, and chose,", " For its own cruel sacrifice, the kind,", " 'Gainst whom he raged with fury strange and blind.", " But he was phrensied, wherefore, who may know?", " Since cause might be which Skill could never find;", " But he was phrensied by disease or woe,", "To that worst pitch of all, which wears a reasoning show.", "", "For then he was inspired, and from him came,", " As from the Pythian's mystic cave of yore,", " Those oracles which set the world in flame,", " Nor ceased to burn till kingdoms were no more:", " Did he not this for France? which lay before", " Bowed to the inborn tyranny of years?", " Broken and trembling to the yoke she bore,", " Till by the voice of him and his compeers,", "Roused up to too much wrath which follows o'ergrown fears?", "", "They made themselves a fearful monument!", " The wreck of old opinions--things which grew,", " Breathed from the birth of Time: the veil they rent,", " And what behind it lay, all earth shall view.", " But good with ill they also overthrew,", " Leaving but ruins, wherewith to rebuild", " Upon the same foundation, and renew", " Dungeons and thrones, which the same hour refilled,", "As heretofore, because Ambition was self-willed.", "", "But this will not endure, nor be endured!", " Mankind have felt their strength, and made it felt.", " They might have used it better, but, allured", " By their new vigour, sternly have they dealt", " On one another; Pity ceased to melt", " With her once natural charities. But they,", " Who in Oppression's darkness caved had dwelt,", " They were not eagles, nourished with the day;", "What marvel then, at times, if they mistook their prey?", "", "What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?", " The heart's bleed longest, and but heal to wear", " That which disfigures it; and they who war", " With their own hopes, and have been vanquished, bear", " Silence, but not submission: in his lair", " Fixed Passion holds his breath, until the hour", " Which shall atone for years; none need despair:", " It came--it cometh--and will come,--the power", "To punish or forgive--in _one_ we shall be slower.", "", "Clear, placid Leman! thy contrasted lake,", " With the wild world I dwelt in, is a thing", " Which warns me, with its stillness, to forsake", " Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring.", " This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing", " To waft me from distraction; once I loved", " Torn Ocean's roar, but thy soft murmuring", " Sounds sweet as if a Sister's voice reproved,", "That I with stern delights should e'er have been so moved.", "", "It is the hush of night, and all between", " Thy margin and the mountains, dusk, yet clear,", " Mellowed and mingling, yet distinctly seen,", " Save darkened Jura, whose capt heights appear", " Precipitously steep; and drawing near,", " There breathes a living fragrance from the shore,", " Of flowers yet fresh with childhood; on the ear", " Drops the light drip of the suspended oar,", "Or chirps the grasshopper one good-night carol more.", "", "He is an evening reveller, who makes", " His life an infancy, and sings his fill;", " At intervals, some bird from out the brakes", " Starts into voice a moment, then is still.", " There seems a floating whisper on the hill,", " But that is fancy--for the Starlight dews", " All silently their tears of Love instil,", " Weeping themselves away, till they infuse", "Deep into Nature's breast the spirit of her hues.", "", "Ye Stars! which are the poetry of Heaven!", " If in your bright leaves we would read the fate", " Of men and empires,--'tis to be forgiven,", " That in our aspirations to be great,", " Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state,", " And claim a kindred with you; for ye are", " A Beauty and a Mystery, and create", " In us such love and reverence from afar,", "That Fortune,--Fame,--Power,--Life, have named themselves a Star.", "", "All Heaven and Earth are still--though not in sleep,", " But breathless, as we grow when feeling most;", " And silent, as we stand in thoughts too deep:--", " All Heaven and Earth are still: From the high host", " Of stars, to the lulled lake and mountain-coast,", " All is concentered in a life intense,", " Where not a beam, nor air, nor leaf is lost,", " But hath a part of Being, and a sense", "Of that which is of all Creator and Defence.", "", "Then stirs the feeling infinite, so felt", " In solitude, where we are _least_ alone;", " A truth, which through our being then doth melt,", " And purifies from self: it is a tone,", " The soul and source of Music, which makes known", " Eternal harmony, and sheds a charm", " Like to the fabled Cytherea's zone,", " Binding all things with beauty;--'twould disarm", "The spectre Death, had he substantial power to harm.", "", "Not vainly did the early Persian make", " His altar the high places, and the peak", " Of earth-o'ergazing mountains, --and thus take", " A fit and unwalled temple, there to seek", " The Spirit, in whose honour shrines are weak", " Upreared of human hands. Come, and compare", " Columns and idol-dwellings--Goth or Greek--", " With Nature's realms of worship, earth and air--", "Nor fix on fond abodes to circumscribe thy prayer!", "", "The sky is changed!--and such a change! Oh Night,", " And Storm, and Darkness, ye are wondrous strong,", " Yet lovely in your strength, as is the light", " Of a dark eye in Woman! Far along,", " From peak to peak, the rattling crags among", " Leaps the live thunder! Not from one lone cloud,", " But every mountain now hath found a tongue,", " And Jura answers, through her misty shroud,", "Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her aloud!", "", "And this is in the Night:--Most glorious Night!", " Thou wert not sent for slumber! let me be", " A sharer in thy fierce and far delight,--", " A portion of the tempest and of thee!", " How the lit lake shines, a phosphoric sea,", " And the big rain comes dancing to the earth!", " And now again 'tis black,--and now, the glee", " Of the loud hills shakes with its mountain-mirth,", "As if they did rejoice o'er a young Earthquake's birth.", "", "Now, where the swift Rhone cleaves his way between", " Heights which appear as lovers who have parted", " In hate, whose mining depths so intervene,", " That they can meet no more, though broken-hearted:", " Though in their souls, which thus each other thwarted,", " Love was the very root of the fond rage", " Which blighted their life's bloom, and then departed:--", " Itself expired, but leaving them an age", "Of years all winters,--war within themselves to wage:", "", "Now, where the quick Rhone thus hath cleft his way,", " The mightiest of the storms hath ta'en his stand:", " For here, not one, but many, make their play,", " And fling their thunder-bolts from hand to hand,", " Flashing and cast around: of all the band,", " The brightest through these parted hills hath forked", " His lightnings,--as if he did understand,", " That in such gaps as Desolation worked,", "There the hot shaft should blast whatever therein lurked.", "", "Sky--Mountains--River--Winds--Lake--Lightnings! ye!", " With night, and clouds, and thunder--and a Soul", " To make these felt and feeling, well may be", " Things that have made me watchful; the far roll", " Of your departing voices, is the knoll", " Of what in me is sleepless,--if I rest.", " But where of ye, O Tempests! is the goal?", " Are ye like those within the human breast?", "Or do ye find, at length, like eagles, some high nest?", "", "Could I embody and unbosom now", " That which is most within me,--could I wreak", " My thoughts upon expression, and thus throw", " Soul--heart--mind--passions--feelings--strong or weak--", " All that I would have sought, and all I seek,", " Bear, know, feel--and yet breathe--into _one_ word,", " And that one word were Lightning, I would speak;", " But as it is, I live and die unheard,", "With a most voiceless thought, sheathing it as a sword.", "", "The Morn is up again, the dewy Morn,", " With breath all incense, and with cheek all bloom--", " Laughing the clouds away with playful scorn,", " And living as if earth contained no tomb,--", " And glowing into day: we may resume", " The march of our existence: and thus I,", " Still on thy shores, fair Leman! may find room", " And food for meditation, nor pass by", "Much, that may give us pause, if pondered fittingly.", "", "Clarens! sweet Clarens birthplace of deep Love!", " Thine air is the young breath of passionate Thought;", " Thy trees take root in Love; the snows above,", " The very Glaciers have his colours caught,", " And Sun-set into rose-hues sees them wrought", " By rays which sleep there lovingly: the rocks,", " The permanent crags, tell here of Love, who sought", " In them a refuge from the worldly shocks,", "Which stir and sting the Soul with Hope that woos, then mocks.", "", "Clarens! by heavenly feet thy paths are trod,--", " Undying Love's, who here ascends a throne", " To which the steps are mountains; where the God", " Is a pervading Life and Light,--so shown", " Not on those summits solely, nor alone", " In the still cave and forest; o'er the flower", " His eye is sparkling, and his breath hath blown,", " His soft and summer breath, whose tender power", "Passes the strength of storms in their most desolate hour.", "", "All things are here of _Him_; from the black pines,", " Which are his shade on high, and the loud roar", " Of torrents, where he listeneth, to the vines", " Which slope his green path downward to the shore,", " Where the bowed Waters meet him, and adore,", " Kissing his feet with murmurs; and the Wood,", " The covert of old trees, with trunks all hoar,", " But light leaves, young as joy, stands where it stood,", "Offering to him, and his, a populous solitude.", "", "A populous solitude of bees and birds,", " And fairy-formed and many-coloured things,", " Who worship him with notes more sweet than words,", " And innocently open their glad wings,", " Fearless and full of life: the gush of springs,", " And fall of lofty fountains, and the bend", " Of stirring branches, and the bud which brings", " The swiftest thought of Beauty, here extend", "Mingling--and made by Love--unto one mighty end.", "", "He who hath loved not, here would learn that lore,", " And make his heart a spirit; he who knows", " That tender mystery, will love the more;", " For this is Love's recess, where vain men's woes,", " And the world's waste, have driven him far from those,", " For 'tis his nature to advance or die;", " He stands not still, but or decays, or grows", " Into a boundless blessing, which may vie", "With the immortal lights, in its eternity!", "", "'Twas not for fiction chose Rousseau this spot,", " Peopling it with affections; but he found", " It was the scene which Passion must allot", " To the Mind's purified beings; 'twas the ground", " Where early Love his Psyche's zone unbound,", " And hallowed it with loveliness: 'tis lone,", " And wonderful, and deep, and hath a sound,", " And sense, and sight of sweetness; here the Rhone", "Hath spread himself a couch, the Alps have reared a throne.", "", "Lausanne! and Ferney! ye have been the abodes", " Of Names which unto you bequeathed a name;", " Mortals, who sought and found, by dangerous roads,", " A path to perpetuity of Fame:", " They were gigantic minds, and their steep aim", " Was, Titan-like, on daring doubts to pile", " Thoughts which should call down thunder, and the flame", " Of Heaven again assailed--if Heaven, the while,", "On man and man's research could deign do more than smile.", "", "The one was fire and fickleness, a child", " Most mutable in wishes, but in mind", " A wit as various,--gay, grave, sage, or wild,--", " Historian, bard, philosopher, combined;", " He multiplied himself among mankind,", " The Proteus of their talents: But his own", " Breathed most in ridicule,--which, as the wind,", " Blew where it listed, laying all things prone,--", "Now to o'erthrow a fool, and now to shake a throne.", "", "The other, deep and slow, exhausting thought,", " And hiving wisdom with each studious year,", " In meditation dwelt--with learning wrought,", " And shaped his weapon with an edge severe,", " Sapping a solemn creed with solemn sneer;", " The lord of irony,--that master-spell,", " Which stung his foes to wrath, which grew from fear", " And doomed him to the zealot's ready Hell,", "Which answers to all doubts so eloquently well.", "", "Yet, peace be with their ashes,--for by them,", " If merited, the penalty is paid;", " It is not ours to judge,--far less condemn;", " The hour must come when such things shall be made", " Known unto all,--or hope and dread allayed", " By slumber, on one pillow, in the dust,", " Which, thus much we are sure, must lie decayed;", " And when it shall revive, as is our trust,", "'Twill be to be forgiven--or suffer what is just.", "", "But let me quit Man's works, again to read", " His Maker's, spread around me, and suspend", " This page, which from my reveries I feed,", " Until it seems prolonging without end.", " The clouds above me to the white Alps tend,", " And I must pierce them, and survey whate'er", " May be permitted, as my steps I bend", " To their most great and growing region, where", "The earth to her embrace compels the powers of air.", "", "Italia too! Italia! looking on thee,", " Full flashes on the Soul the light of ages,", " Since the fierce Carthaginian almost won thee,", " To the last halo of the Chiefs and Sages", " Who glorify thy consecrated pages;", " Thou wert the throne and grave of empires; still,", " The fount at which the panting Mind assuages", " Her thirst of knowledge, quaffing there her fill,", "Flows from the eternal source of Rome's imperial hill.", "", "Thus far have I proceeded in a theme", " Renewed with no kind auspices:--to feel", " We are not what we have been, and to deem", " We are not what we should be,--and to steel", " The heart against itself; and to conceal,", " With a proud caution, love, or hate, or aught,--", " Passion or feeling, purpose, grief, or zeal,--", " Which is the tyrant Spirit of our thought,", "Is a stern task of soul:--No matter,--it is taught.", "", "And for these words, thus woven into song,", " It may be that they are a harmless wile,--", " The colouring of the scenes which fleet along,", " Which I would seize, in passing, to beguile", " My breast, or that of others, for a while.", " Fame is the thirst of youth,--but I am not", " So young as to regard men's frown or smile,", " As loss or guerdon of a glorious lot;--", "I stood and stand alone,--remembered or forgot.", "", "I have not loved the World, nor the World me;", " I have not flattered its rank breath, nor bowed", " To its idolatries a patient knee,", " Nor coined my cheek to smiles,--nor cried aloud", " In worship of an echo: in the crowd", " They could not deem me one of such--I stood", " Among them, but not of them--in a shroud", " Of thoughts which were not their thoughts, and still could,", "Had I not filed my mind, which thus itself subdued.", "", "I have not loved the World, nor the World me,--", " But let us part fair foes; I do believe,", " Though I have found them not, that there may be", " Words which are things,--hopes which will not deceive,", " And Virtues which are merciful, nor weave", " Snares for the failing; I would also deem", " O'er others' griefs that some sincerely grieve--", " That two, or one, are almost what they seem,--", "That Goodness is no name--and Happiness no dream.", "", "My daughter! with thy name this song begun!", " My daughter! with thy name thus much shall end!--", " I see thee not--I hear thee not--but none", " Can be so wrapt in thee; Thou art the Friend", " To whom the shadows of far years extend:", " Albeit my brow thou never should'st behold,", " My voice shall with thy future visions blend,", " And reach into thy heart,--when mine is cold,--", "A token and a tone, even from thy father's mould.", "", "To aid thy mind's developement,--to watch", " Thy dawn of little joys,--to sit and see", " Almost thy very growth,--to view thee catch", " Knowledge of objects,--wonders yet to thee!", " To hold thee lightly on a gentle knee,", " And print on thy soft cheek a parent's kiss,--", " This, it should seem, was not reserved for me--", " Yet this was in my nature:--as it is,", "I know not what is there, yet something like to this.", "", "Yet, though dull Hate as duty should be taught,", " I know that thou wilt love me: though my name", " Should be shut from thee, as a spell still fraught", " With desolation, and a broken claim:", " Though the grave closed between us,--'twere the same,", " I know that thou wilt love me--though to drain", " _My_ blood from out thy being were an aim,", " And an attainment,--all would be in vain,--", "Still thou would'st love me, still that more than life retain.", "", "The child of Love! though born in bitterness,", " And nurtured in Convulsion! Of thy sire", " These were the elements,--and thine no less.", " As yet such are around thee,--but thy fire", " Shall be more tempered, and thy hope far higher!", " Sweet be thy cradled slumbers! O'er the sea", " And from the mountains where I now respire,", " Fain would I waft such blessing upon thee,", "As--with a sigh--I deem thou might'st have been to me!", "", "CANTO THE FOURTH.", "", " \"Visto ho Toscana Lombardia Romagna,", " Quel monte che divide, e quel che serra", " Italia, e un mare e l'altro che la bagna.\"", "", " _Ariosto_, Satira iv. lines 58-60.", "", "I stood in Venice, on the \"Bridge of Sighs;\"", " A Palace and a prison on each hand:", " I saw from out the wave her structures rise", " As from the stroke of the Enchanter's wand:", " A thousand Years their cloudy wings expand", " Around me, and a dying Glory smiles", " O'er the far times, when many a subject land", " Looked to the winged Lion's marble piles,", "Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles!", "", "She looks a sea Cybele, fresh from Ocean,", " Rising with her tiara of proud towers", " At airy distance, with majestic motion,", " A Ruler of the waters and their powers:", " And such she was;--her daughters had their dowers", " From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East", " Poured in her lap all gems in sparkling showers.", " In purple was she robed, and of her feast", "Monarchs partook, and deemed their dignity increased.", "", "In Venice Tasso's echoes are no more,", " And silent rows the songless Gondolier;", " Her palaces are crumbling to the shore,", " And Music meets not always now the ear:", " Those days are gone--but Beauty still is here.", " States fall--Arts fade--but Nature doth not die,", " Nor yet forget how Venice once was dear,", " The pleasant place of all festivity,", "The Revel of the earth--the Masque of Italy!", "", "But unto us she hath a spell beyond", " Her name in story, and her long array", " Of mighty shadows, whose dim forms despond", " Above the Dogeless city's vanished sway;", " Ours is a trophy which will not decay", " With the Rialto; Shylock and the Moor,", " And Pierre, can not be swept or worn away--", " The keystones of the Arch! though all were o'er,", "For us repeopled were the solitary shore.", "", "The Beings of the Mind are not of clay:", " Essentially immortal, they create", " And multiply in us a brighter ray", " And more beloved existence: that which Fate", " Prohibits to dull life in this our state", " Of mortal bondage, by these Spirits supplied,", " First exiles, then replaces what we hate;", " Watering the heart whose early flowers have died,", "And with a fresher growth replenishing the void.", "", "Such is the refuge of our youth and age--", " The first from Hope, the last from Vacancy;", " And this wan feeling peoples many a page--", " And, may be, that which grows beneath mine eye:", " Yet there are things whose strong reality", " Outshines our fairy-land; in shape and hues", " More beautiful than our fantastic sky,", " And the strange constellations which the Muse", "O'er her wild universe is skilful to diffuse:", "", "I saw or dreamed of such,--but let them go,--", " They came like Truth--and disappeared like dreams;", " And whatsoe'er they were--are now but so:", " I could replace them if I would; still teems", " My mind with many a form which aptly seems", " Such as I sought for, and at moments found;", " Let these too go--for waking Reason deems", " Such over-weening phantasies unsound,", "And other voices speak, and other sights surround.", "", "I've taught me other tongues--and in strange eyes", " Have made me not a stranger; to the mind", " Which is itself, no changes bring surprise;", " Nor is it harsh to make, nor hard to find", " A country with--aye, or without mankind;", " Yet was I born where men are proud to be,--", " Not without cause; and should I leave behind", " The inviolate Island of the sage and free,", "And seek me out a home by a remoter sea,", "", "Perhaps I loved it well; and should I lay", " My ashes in a soil which is not mine,", " My Spirit shall resume it--if we may", " Unbodied choose a sanctuary. I twine", " My hopes of being remembered in my line", " With my land's language: if too fond and far", " These aspirations in their scope incline,--", " If my Fame should be, as my fortunes are,", "Of hasty growth and blight, and dull Oblivion bar", "", "My name from out the temple where the dead", " Are honoured by the Nations--let it be--", " And light the Laurels on a loftier head!", " And be the Spartan's epitaph on me--", " \"Sparta hath many a worthier son than he.\"", " Meantime I seek no sympathies, nor need--", " The thorns which I have reaped are of the tree", " I planted,--they have torn me,--and I bleed:", "I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.", "", "The spouseless Adriatic mourns her Lord,", " And annual marriage now no more renewed--", " The Bucentaur lies rotting unrestored,", " Neglected garment of her widowhood!", " St. Mark yet sees his Lion where he stood", " Stand, but in mockery of his withered power,", " Over the proud Place where an Emperor sued,", " And monarchs gazed and envied in the hour", "When Venice was a Queen with an unequalled dower.", "", "The Suabian sued, and now the Austrian reigns--", " An Emperor tramples where an Emperor knelt;", " Kingdoms are shrunk to provinces, and chains", " Clank over sceptred cities; Nations melt", " From Power's high pinnacle, when they have felt", " The sunshine for a while, and downward go", " Like Lauwine loosened from the mountain's belt;", " Oh for one hour of blind old Dandolo!", "Th' octogenarian chief, Byzantium's conquering foe.", "", "Before St. Mark still glow his Steeds of brass,", " Their gilded collars glittering in the sun;", " But is not Doria's menace come to pass?", " Are they not bridled?--Venice, lost and won,", " Her thirteen hundred years of freedom done,", " Sinks, like a sea-weed, unto whence she rose!", " Better be whelmed beneath the waves, and shun,", " Even in Destruction's depth, her foreign foes,", "From whom Submission wrings an infamous repose.", "", "In youth She was all glory,--a new Tyre,--", " Her very by-word sprung from Victory,", " The \"Planter of the Lion,\" which through fire", " And blood she bore o'er subject Earth and Sea;", " Though making many slaves, Herself still free,", " And Europe's bulwark 'gainst the Ottomite;", " Witness Troy's rival, Candia! Vouch it, ye", " Immortal waves that saw Lepanto's fight!", "For ye are names no Time nor Tyranny can blight.", "", "Statues of glass--all shivered--the long file", " Of her dead Doges are declined to dust;", " But where they dwelt, the vast and sumptuous pile", " Bespeaks the pageant of their splendid trust;", " Their sceptre broken, and their sword in rust,", " Have yielded to the stranger: empty halls,", " Thin streets, and foreign aspects, such as must", " Too oft remind her who and what enthrals,", "Have flung a desolate cloud o'er Venice' lovely walls.", "", "When Athens' armies fell at Syracuse,", " And fettered thousands bore the yoke of war,", " Redemption rose up in the Attic Muse,", " Her voice their only ransom from afar:", " See! as they chant the tragic hymn, the car", " Of the o'ermastered Victor stops--the reins", " Fall from his hands--his idle scimitar", " Starts from its belt--he rends his captive's chains,", "And bids him thank the Bard for Freedom and his strains.", "", "Thus, Venice! if no stronger claim were thine,", " Were all thy proud historic deeds forgot--", " Thy choral memory of the Bard divine,", " Thy love of Tasso, should have cut the knot", " Which ties thee to thy tyrants; and thy lot", " Is shameful to the nations,--most of all,", " Albion! to thee: the Ocean queen should not", " Abandon Ocean's children; in the fall", "Of Venice think of thine, despite thy watery wall.", "", "I loved her from my boyhood--she to me", " Was as a fairy city of the heart,", " Rising like water-columns from the sea--", " Of Joy the sojourn, and of Wealth the mart;", " And Otway, Radcliffe, Schiller, Shakespeare's art,", " Had stamped her image in me, and even so,", " Although I found her thus, we did not part;", " Perchance even dearer in her day of woe,", "Than when she was a boast, a marvel, and a show.", "", "I can repeople with the past--and of", " The present there is still for eye and thought,", " And meditation chastened down, enough;", " And more, it may be, than I hoped or sought;", " And of the happiest moments which were wrought", " Within the web of my existence, some", " From thee, fair Venice! have their colours caught:", " There are some feelings Time can not benumb,", "Nor Torture shake, or mine would now be cold and dumb.", "", "But from their nature will the Tannen grow", " Loftiest on loftiest and least sheltered rocks,", " Rooted in barrenness, where nought below", " Of soil supports them 'gainst the Alpine shocks", " Of eddying storms; yet springs the trunk, and mocks", " The howling tempest, till its height and frame", " Are worthy of the mountains from whose blocks", " Of bleak, gray granite into life it came,", "And grew a giant tree;--the Mind may grow the same.", "", "Existence may be borne, and the deep root", " Of life and sufferance make its firm abode", " In bare and desolated bosoms: mute", " The camel labours with the heaviest load,", " And the wolf dies in silence--not bestowed", " In vain should such example be; if they,", " Things of ignoble or of savage mood,", " Endure and shrink not, we of nobler clay", "May temper it to bear,--it is but for a day.", "", "All suffering doth destroy, or is destroyed,", " Even by the sufferer--and, in each event,", " Ends:--Some, with hope replenished and rebuoyed,", " Return to whence they came--with like intent,", " And weave their web again; some, bowed and bent,", " Wax gray and ghastly, withering ere their time,", " And perish with the reed on which they leant;", " Some seek devotion--toil--war--good or crime,", "According as their souls were formed to sink or climb.", "", "But ever and anon of griefs subdued", " There comes a token like a Scorpion's sting,", " Scarce seen, but with fresh bitterness imbued;", " And slight withal may be the things which bring", " Back on the heart the weight which it would fling", " Aside for ever: it may be a sound--", " A tone of music--summer's eve--or spring--", " A flower--the wind--the Ocean--which shall wound,", "Striking the electric chain wherewith we are darkly bound;", "", "And how and why we know not, nor can trace", " Home to its cloud this lightning of the mind,", " But feel the shock renewed, nor can efface", " The blight and blackening which it leaves behind,", " Which out of things familiar, undesigned,", " When least we deem of such, calls up to view", " The Spectres whom no exorcism can bind,--", " The cold--the changed--perchance the dead, anew--", "The mourned--the loved--the lost--too many! yet how few!", "", "But my Soul wanders; I demand it back", " To meditate amongst decay, and stand", " A ruin amidst ruins; there to track", " Fall'n states and buried greatness, o'er a land", " Which _was_ the mightiest in its old command,", " And _is_ the loveliest, and must ever be", " The master-mould of Nature's heavenly hand;", " Wherein were cast the heroic and the free,--", "The beautiful--the brave--the Lords of earth and sea,", "", "The Commonwealth of Kings--the Men of Rome!", " And even since, and now, fair Italy!", " Thou art the Garden of the World, the Home", " Of all Art yields, and Nature can decree;", " Even in thy desert, what is like to thee?", " Thy very weeds are beautiful--thy waste", " More rich than other climes' fertility;", " Thy wreck a glory--and thy ruin graced", "With an immaculate charm which cannot be defaced.", "", "The Moon is up, and yet it is not night--", " Sunset divides the sky with her--a sea", " Of glory streams along the Alpine height", " Of blue Friuli's mountains; Heaven is free", " From clouds, but of all colours seems to be,--", " Melted to one vast Iris of the West,--", " Where the Day joins the past Eternity;", " While, on the other hand, meek Dian's crest", "Floats through the azure air--an island of the blest!", "", "A single star is at her side, and reigns", " With her o'er half the lovely heaven; but still", " Yon sunny Sea heaves brightly, and remains", " Rolled o'er the peak of the far Rhætian hill,", " As Day and Night contending were, until", " Nature reclaimed her order:--gently flows", " The deep-dyed Brenta, where their hues instil", " The odorous purple of a new-born rose,", "Which streams upon her stream, and glassed within it glows,", "", "Filled with the face of heaven, which, from afar,", " Comes down upon the waters! all its hues,", " From the rich sunset to the rising star,", " Their magical variety diffuse:", " And now they change--a paler Shadow strews", " Its mantle o'er the mountains; parting Day", " Dies like the Dolphin, whom each pang imbues", " With a new colour as it gasps away--", "The last still loveliest, till--'tis gone--and all is gray.", "", "There is a tomb in Arqua;--reared in air,", " Pillared in their sarcophagus, repose", " The bones of Laura's lover: here repair", " Many familiar with his well-sung woes,", " The Pilgrims of his Genius. He arose", " To raise a language, and his land reclaim", " From the dull yoke of her barbaric foes:", " Watering the tree which bears his Lady's name", "With his melodious tears, he gave himself to Fame.", "", "They keep his dust in Arqua, where he died--", " The mountain-village where his latter days", " Went down the vale of years; and 'tis their pride--", " An honest pride--and let it be their praise,", " To offer to the passing stranger's gaze", " His mansion and his sepulchre--both plain", " And venerably simple--such as raise", " A feeling more accordant with his strain", "Than if a Pyramid formed his monumental fane.", "", "And the soft quiet hamlet where he dwelt", " Is one of that complexion which seems made", " For those who their mortality have felt,", " And sought a refuge from their hopes decayed", " In the deep umbrage of a green hill's shade,", " Which shows a distant prospect far away", " Of busy cities, now in vain displayed,", " For they can lure no further; and the ray", "Of a bright Sun can make sufficient holiday,", "", "Developing the mountains, leaves, and flowers,", " And shining in the brawling brook, where-by,", " Clear as its current, glide the sauntering hours", " With a calm languor, which, though to the eye", " Idlesse it seem, hath its morality--", " If from society we learn to live,", " 'Tis Solitude should teach us how to die;", " It hath no flatterers--Vanity can give", "No hollow aid; alone--man with his God must strive:", "", "Or, it may be, with Demons, who impair", " The strength of better thoughts, and seek their prey", " In melancholy bosoms--such as were", " Of moody texture from their earliest day,", " And loved to dwell in darkness and dismay", " Deeming themselves predestined to a doom", " Which is not of the pangs that pass away;", " Making the Sun like blood, the Earth a tomb,", "The tomb a hell--and Hell itself a murkier gloom.", "", "Ferrara! in thy wide and grass-grown streets,", " Whose symmetry was not for solitude,", " There seems as 'twere a curse upon the Seats", " Of former Sovereigns, and the antique brood", " Of Este, which for many an age made good", " Its strength within thy walls, and was of yore", " Patron or Tyrant, as the changing mood", " Of petty power impelled, of those who wore", "The wreath which Dante's brow alone had worn before.", "", "And Tasso is their glory and their shame--", " Hark to his strain! and then survey his cell!", " And see how dearly earned Torquato's fame,", " And where Alfonso bade his poet dwell:", " The miserable Despot could not quell", " The insulted mind he sought to quench, and blend", " With the surrounding maniacs, in the hell", " Where he had plunged it. Glory without end", "Scattered the clouds away--and on that name attend", "", "The tears and praises of all time, while thine", " Would rot in its oblivion--in the sink", " Of worthless dust, which from thy boasted line", " Is shaken into nothing--but the link", " Thou formest in his fortunes bids us think", " Of thy poor malice, naming thee with scorn:", " Alfonso! how thy ducal pageants shrink", " From thee! if in another station born,", "Scarce fit to be the slave of him thou mad'st to mourn:", "", "_Thou!_ formed to eat, and be despised, and die,", " Even as the beasts that perish--save that thou", " Hadst a more splendid trough and wider sty:--", " _He!_ with a glory round his furrowed brow,", " Which emanated then, and dazzles now,", " In face of all his foes, the Cruscan quire,", " And Boileau, whose rash envy could allow", " No strain which shamed his country's creaking lyre,", "That whetstone of the teeth--Monotony in wire!", "", "Peace to Torquato's injured shade! 'twas his", " In life and death to be the mark where Wrong", " Aimed with her poisoned arrows,--but to miss.", " Oh, Victor unsurpassed in modern song!", " Each year brings forth its millions--but how long", " The tide of Generations shall roll on,", " And not the whole combined and countless throng", " Compose a mind like thine? though all in one", "Condensed their scattered rays--they would not form a Sun.", "", "Great as thou art, yet paralleled by those,", " Thy countrymen, before thee born to shine,", " The Bards of Hell and Chivalry: first rose", " The Tuscan Father's Comedy Divine;", " Then, not unequal to the Florentine,", " The southern Scott, the minstrel who called forth", " A new creation with his magic line,", " And, like the Ariosto of the North,", "Sang Ladye-love and War, Romance and Knightly Worth.", "", "The lightning rent from Ariosto's bust", " The iron crown of laurel's mimicked leaves;", " Nor was the ominous element unjust,", " For the true laurel-wreath which Glory weaves", " Is of the tree no bolt of thunder cleaves,", " And the false semblance but disgraced his brow;", " Yet still, if fondly Superstition grieves,", " Know, that the lightning sanctifies below", "Whate'er it strikes;--yon head is doubly sacred now.", "", "Italia! oh, Italia! thou who hast", " The fatal gift of Beauty, which became", " A funeral dower of present woes and past--", " On thy sweet brow is sorrow ploughed by shame,", " And annals graved in characters of flame.", " Oh, God! that thou wert in thy nakedness", " Less lovely or more powerful, and couldst claim", " Thy right, and awe the robbers back, who press", "To shed thy blood, and drink the tears of thy distress;", "", "Then might'st thou more appal--or, less desired,", " Be homely and be peaceful, undeplored", " For thy destructive charms; then, still untired,", " Would not be seen the arméd torrents poured", " Down the deep Alps; nor would the hostile horde", " Of many-nationed spoilers from the Po", " Quaff blood and water; nor the stranger's sword", " Be thy sad weapon of defence--and so,", "Victor or vanquished, thou the slave of friend or foe.", "", "Wandering in youth, I traced the path of him,", " The Roman friend of Rome's least-mortal mind,", " The friend of Tully: as my bark did skim", " The bright blue waters with a fanning wind,", " Came Megara before me, and behind", " Ægina lay--Piræus on the right,", " And Corinth on the left; I lay reclined", " Along the prow, and saw all these unite", "In ruin--even as he had seen the desolate sight;", "", "For Time hath not rebuilt them, but upreared", " Barbaric dwellings on their shattered site,", " Which only make more mourned and more endeared", " The few last rays of their far-scattered light,", " And the crashed relics of their vanished might.", " The Roman saw these tombs in his own age,", " These sepulchres of cities, which excite", " Sad wonder, and his yet surviving page", "The moral lesson bears, drawn from such pilgrimage.", "", "That page is now before me, and on mine", " _His_ Country's ruin added to the mass", " Of perished states he mourned in their decline,", " And I in desolation: all that _was_", " Of then destruction _is_; and now, alas!", " Rome--Rome imperial, bows her to the storm,", " In the same dust and blackness, and we pass", " The skeleton of her Titanic form,", "Wrecks of another world, whose ashes still are warm.", "", "Yet, Italy! through every other land", " Thy wrongs should ring--and shall--from side to side;", " Mother of Arts! as once of Arms! thy hand", " Was then our Guardian, and is still our Guide;", " Parent of our Religion! whom the wide", " Nations have knelt to for the keys of Heaven!", " Europe, repentant of her parricide,", " Shall yet redeem thee, and, all backward driven,", "Roll the barbarian tide, and sue to be forgiven.", "", "But Arno wins us to the fair white walls,", " Where the Etrurian Athens claims and keeps", " A softer feeling for her fairy halls:", " Girt by her theatre of hills, she reaps", " Her corn, and wine, and oil--and Plenty leaps", " To laughing life, with her redundant Horn.", " Along the banks where smiling Arno sweeps", " Was modern Luxury of Commerce born,", "And buried Learning rose, redeemed to a new Morn.", "", "There, too, the Goddess loves in stone, and fills", " The air around with Beauty--we inhale", " The ambrosial aspect, which, beheld, instils", " Part of its immortality--the veil", " Of heaven is half undrawn--within the pale", " We stand, and in that form and face behold", " What Mind can make, when Nature's self would fail;", " And to the fond Idolaters of old", "Envy the innate flash which such a Soul could mould:", "", "We gaze and turn away, and know not where,", " Dazzled and drunk with Beauty, till the heart", " Reels with its fulness; there--for ever there--", " Chained to the chariot of triumphal Art,", " We stand as captives, and would not depart.", " Away!--there need no words, nor terms precise,", " The paltry jargon of the marble mart,", " Where Pedantry gulls Folly--we have eyes:", "Blood--pulse--and breast confirm the Dardan Shepherd's prize.", "", "Appear'dst thou not to Paris in this guise?", " Or to more deeply blest Anchises? or,", " In all thy perfect Goddess-ship, when lies", " Before thee thy own vanquished Lord of War?", " And gazing in thy face as toward a star,", " Laid on thy lap, his eyes to thee upturn,", " Feeding on thy sweet cheek! while thy lips are", " With lava kisses melting while they burn,", "Showered on his eyelids, brow, and mouth, as from an urn!", "", "Glowing, and circumfused in speechless love--", " Their full divinity inadequate", " That feeling to express, or to improve--", " The Gods become as mortals--and man's fate", " Has moments like their brightest; but the weight", " Of earth recoils upon us;--let it go!", " We can recall such visions, and create,", " From what has been, or might be, things which grow", "Into thy statue's form, and look like gods below.", "", "I leave to learnéd fingers, and wise hands,", " The Artist and his Ape, to teach and tell", " How well his Connoisseurship understands", " The graceful bend, and the voluptuous swell:", " Let these describe the undescribable:", " I would not their vile breath should crisp the stream", " Wherein that Image shall for ever dwell--", " The unruffled mirror of the loveliest dream", "That ever left the sky on the deep soul to beam.", "", "In Santa Croce's holy precincts lie", " Ashes which make it holier, dust which is", " Even in itself an immortality,", " Though there were nothing save the past, and this,", " The particle of those sublimities", " Which have relapsed to chaos:--here repose", " Angelo's--Alfieri's bones--and his,", " The starry Galileo, with his woes;", "Here Machiavelli's earth returned to whence it rose.", "", "These are four minds, which, like the elements,", " Might furnish forth creation:--Italy!", " Time, which hath wronged thee with ten thousand rents", " Of thine imperial garment, shall deny", " And hath denied, to every other sky,", " Spirits which soar from ruin:--thy Decay", " Is still impregnate with divinity,", " Which gilds it with revivifying ray;", "Such as the great of yore, Canova is to-day.", "", "But where repose the all Etruscan three--", " Dante, and Petrarch, and, scarce less than they,", " The Bard of Prose, creative Spirit! he", " Of the Hundred Tales of Love--where did they lay", " Their bones, distinguished from our common clay", " In death as life? Are they resolved to dust,", " And have their Country's Marbles nought to say?", " Could not her quarries furnish forth one bust?", "Did they not to her breast their filial earth entrust?", "", "Ungrateful Florence! Dante sleeps afar,", " Like Scipio buried by the upbraiding shore:", " Thy factions, in their worse than civil war,", " Proscribed the Bard whose name for evermore", " Their children's children would in vain adore", " With the remorse of ages; and the crown", " Which Petrarch's laureate brow supremely wore,", " Upon a far and foreign soil had grown,", "His Life, his Fame, his Grave, though rifled--not thine own.", "", "Boccaccio to his parent earth bequeathed", " His dust,--and lies it not her Great among,", " With many a sweet and solemn requiem breathed", " O'er him who formed the Tuscan's siren tongue?", " That music in itself, whose sounds are song,", " The poetry of speech? No;--even his tomb", " Uptorn, must bear the hyæna bigot's wrong,", " No more amidst the meaner dead find room,", "Nor claim a passing sigh, because it told for _whom!_", "", "And Santa Croce wants their mighty dust;", " Yet for this want more noted, as of yore", " The Cæsar's pageant, shorn of Brutus' bust,", " Did but of Rome's best Son remind her more:", " Happier Ravenna! on thy hoary shore,", " Fortress of falling Empire! honoured sleeps", " The immortal Exile;--Arqua, too, her store", " Of tuneful relics proudly claims and keeps,", "While Florence vainly begs her banished dead and weeps.", "", "What is her Pyramid of precious stones?", " Of porphyry, jasper, agate, and all hues", " Of gem and marble, to encrust the bones", " Of merchant-dukes? the momentary dews", " Which, sparkling to the twilight stars, infuse", " Freshness in the green turf that wraps the dead,", " Whose names are Mausoleums of the Muse,", " Are gently prest with far more reverent tread", "Than ever paced the slab which paves the princely head.", "", "There be more things to greet the heart and eyes", " In Arno's dome of Art's most princely shrine,", " Where Sculpture with her rainbow Sister vies;", " There be more marvels yet--but not for mine;", " For I have been accustomed to entwine", " My thoughts with Nature rather in the fields,", " Than Art in galleries: though a work divine", " Calls for my Spirit's homage, yet it yields", "Less than it feels, because the weapon which it wields", "", "Is of another temper, and I roam", " By Thrasimene's lake, in the defiles", " Fatal to Roman rashness, more at home;", " For there the Carthaginian's warlike wiles", " Come back before me, as his skill beguiles", " The host between the mountains and the shore,", " Where Courage falls in her despairing files,", " And torrents, swoll'n to rivers with their gore,", "Reek through the sultry plain, with legions scattered o'er.", "", "Like to a forest felled by mountain winds;", " And such the storm of battle on this day,", " And such the frenzy, whose convulsion blinds", " To all save Carnage, that, beneath the fray,", " An Earthquake reeled unheededly away!", " None felt stern Nature rocking at his feet,", " And yawning forth a grave for those who lay", " Upon their bucklers for a winding sheet--", "Such is the absorbing hate when warring nations meet!", "", "The Earth to them was as a rolling bark", " Which bore them to Eternity--they saw", " The Ocean round, but had no time to mark", " The motions of their vessel; Nature's law,", " In them suspended, recked not of the awe", " Which reigns when mountains tremble, and the birds", " Plunge in the clouds for refuge, and withdraw", " From their down-toppling nests; and bellowing herds", "Stumble o'er heaving plains--and Man's dread hath no words.", "", "Far other scene is Thrasimene now;", " Her lake a sheet of silver, and her plain", " Rent by no ravage save the gentle plough;", " Her agéd trees rise thick as once the slain", " Lay where their roots are; but a brook hath ta'en--", " A little rill of scanty stream and bed--", " A name of blood from that day's sanguine rain;", " And Sanguinetto tells ye where the dead", "Made the earth wet, and turned the unwilling waters red.", "", "But thou, Clitumnus! in thy sweetest wave", " Of the most living crystal that was e'er", " The haunt of river-Nymph, to gaze and lave", " Her limbs where nothing hid them, thou dost rear", " Thy grassy banks whereon the milk-white steer", " Grazes--the purest God of gentle waters!", " And most serene of aspect, and most clear;", " Surely that stream was unprofaned by slaughters--", "A mirror and a bath for Beauty's youngest daughters!", "", "And on thy happy shore a Temple still,", " Of small and delicate proportion, keeps", " Upon a mild declivity of hill,", " Its memory of thee; beneath it sweeps", " Thy current's calmness; oft from out it leaps", " The finny darter with the glittering scales,", " Who dwells and revels in thy glassy deeps;", " While, chance, some scattered water-lily sails", "Down where the shallower wave still tells its bubbling tales.", "", "Pass not unblest the Genius of the place!", " If through the air a Zephyr more serene", " Win to the brow, 'tis his; and if ye trace", " Along his margin a more eloquent green,", " If on the heart the freshness of the scene", " Sprinkle its coolness, and from the dry dust", " Of weary life a moment lave it clean", " With Nature's baptism,--'tis to him ye must", "Pay orisons for this suspension of disgust.", "", "The roar of waters!--from the headlong height", " Velino cleaves the wave-worn precipice;", " The fall of waters! rapid as the light", " The flashing mass foams shaking the abyss;", " The Hell of Waters! where they howl and hiss,", " And boil in endless torture; while the sweat", " Of their great agony, wrung out from this", " Their Phlegethon, curls round the rocks of jet", "That gird the gulf around, in pitiless horror set,", "", "And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again", " Returns in an unceasing shower, which round,", " With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain,", " Is an eternal April to the ground,", " Making it all one emerald:--how profound", " The gulf! and how the Giant Element", " From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound,", " Crushing the cliffs, which, downward worn and rent", "With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent", "", "To the broad column which rolls on, and shows", " More like the fountain of an infant sea", " Torn from the womb of mountains by the throes", " Of a new world, than only thus to be", " Parent of rivers, which flow gushingly,", " With many windings, through the vale:--Look back!", " Lo! where it comes like an Eternity,", " As if to sweep down all things in its track,", "Charming the eye with dread,--a matchless cataract,", "", "Horribly beautiful! but on the verge,", " From side to side, beneath the glittering morn,", " An Iris sits, amidst the infernal surge,", " Like Hope upon a death-bed, and, unworn", " Its steady dyes, while all around is torn", " By the distracted waters, bears serene", " Its brilliant hues with all their beams unshorn:", " Resembling, 'mid the torture of the scene,", "Love watching Madness with unalterable mien.", "", "Once more upon the woody Apennine--", " The infant Alps, which--had I not before", " Gazed on their mightier Parents, where the pine", " Sits on more shaggy summits, and where roar", " The thundering Lauwine--might be worshipped more;", " But I have seen the soaring Jungfrau rear", " Her never-trodden snow, and seen the hoar", " Glaciers of bleak Mont Blanc both far and near--", "And in Chimari heard the Thunder-Hills of fear,", "", "Th' Acroceraunian mountains of old name;", " And on Parnassus seen the Eagles fly", " Like Spirits of the spot, as 'twere for fame.", " For still they soared unutterably high:", " I've looked on Ida with a Trojan's eye;", " Athos--Olympus--Ætna.--Atlas--made", " These hills seem things of lesser dignity;", " All, save the lone Soracte's height, displayed", "Not _now_ in snow, which asks the lyric Roman's aid", "", "For our remembrance, and from out the plain", " Heaves like a long-swept wave about to break,", " And on the curl hangs pausing: not in vain", " May he, who will, his recollections rake,", " And quote in classic raptures, and awake", " The hills with Latian echoes--I abhorred", " Too much, to conquer for the Poet's sake,", " The drilled dull lesson, forced down word by word", "In my repugnant youth, with pleasure to record", "", "Aught that recalls the daily drug which turned", " My sickening memory; and, though Time hath taught", " My mind to meditate what then it learned,", " Yet such the fixed inveteracy wrought", " By the impatience of my early thought,", " That, with the freshness wearing out before", " My mind could relish what it might have sought,", " If free to choose, I cannot now restore", "Its health--but what it then detested, still abhor.", "", "Then farewell, Horace--whom I hated so,", " Not for thy faults, but mine: it is a curse", " To understand, not feel thy lyric flow,", " To comprehend, but never love thy verse;", " Although no deeper Moralist rehearse", " Our little life, nor Bard prescribe his art,", " Nor livelier Satirist the conscience pierce,", " Awakening without wounding the touched heart,", "Yet fare thee well--upon Soracte's ridge we part.", "", "Oh, Rome! my Country! City of the Soul!", " The orphans of the heart must turn to thee,", " Lone Mother of dead Empires! and control", " In their shut breasts their petty misery.", " What are our woes and sufferance? Come and see", " The cypress--hear the owl--and plod your way", " O'er steps of broken thrones and temples--Ye!", " Whose agonies are evils of a day--", "A world is at our feet as fragile as our clay.", "", "The Niobe of nations! there she stands,", " Childless and crownless, in her voiceless woe;", " empty urn within her withered hands,", " Whose holy dust was scattered long ago;", " The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now;", " The very sepulchres lie tenantless", " Of their heroic dwellers: dost thou flow,", " Old Tiber! through a marble wilderness?", "Rise, with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress.", "", "The Goth, the Christian--Time--War--Flood, and Fire,", " Have dealt upon the seven-hilled City's pride;", " She saw her glories star by star expire,", " And up the steep barbarian Monarchs ride,", " Where the car climbed the Capitol; far and wide", " Temple and tower went down, nor left a site:", " Chaos of ruins! who shall trace the void,", " O'er the dim fragments cast a lunar light,", "And say, \"here was, or is,\" where all is doubly night?", "", "The double night of ages, and of her,", " Night's daughter, Ignorance, hath wrapt and wrap", " All round us; we but feel our way to err:", " The Ocean hath his chart, the Stars their map,", " And Knowledge spreads them on her ample lap;", " But Rome is as the desert--where we steer", " Stumbling o'er recollections; now we clap", " Our hands, and cry \"Eureka!\" \"it is clear\"--", "When but some false Mirage of ruin rises near.", "", "Alas! the lofty city! and alas!", " The trebly hundred triumphs! and the day", " When Brutus made the dagger's edge surpass", " The Conqueror's sword in bearing fame away!", " Alas, for Tully's voice, and Virgil's lay,", " And Livy's pictured page!--but these shall be", " Her resurrection; all beside--decay.", " Alas, for Earth, for never shall we see", "That brightness in her eye she bore when Rome was free!", "", "Oh, thou, whose chariot rolled on Fortune's wheel,", " Triumphant Sylla! Thou, who didst subdue", " Thy country's foes ere thou wouldst pause to feel", " The wrath of thy own wrongs, or reap the due", " Of hoarded vengeance till thine Eagles flew", " O'er prostrate Asia;--thou, who with thy frown", " Annihilated senates;--Roman, too,", " With all thy vices--for thou didst lay down", "With an atoning smile a more than earthly crown,", "", "Thy dictatorial wreath--couldst thou divine", " To what would one day dwindle that which made", " Thee more than mortal? and that so supine", " By aught than Romans Rome should thus be laid?", " She who was named Eternal, and arrayed", " Her warriors but to conquer--she who veiled", " Earth with her haughty shadow, and displayed,", " Until the o'er-canopied horizon failed,", "Her rushing wings--Oh! she who was Almighty hailed!", "", "Sylla was first of victors; but our own,", " The sagest of usurpers, Cromwell!--he", " Too swept off senates while he hewed the throne", " Down to a block--immortal rebel! See", " What crimes it costs to be a moment free,", " And famous through all ages! but beneath", " His fate the moral lurks of destiny;", " His day of double victory and death", "Beheld him win two realms, and, happier, yield his breath.", "", "The third of the same Moon whose former course", " Had all but crowned him, on the selfsame day", " Deposed him gently from his throne of force,", " And laid him with the Earth's preceding clay.", " And showed not Fortune thus how fame and sway,", " And all we deem delightful, and consume", " Our souls to compass through each arduous way,", " Are in her eyes less happy than the tomb?", "Were they but so in Man's, how different were his doom!", "", "And thou, dread Statue! yet existent in", " The austerest form of naked majesty--", " Thou who beheldest, 'mid the assassins' din,", " At thy bathed base the bloody Cæsar lie,", " Folding his robe in dying dignity--", " An offering to thine altar from the Queen", " Of gods and men, great Nemesis! did he die,", " And thou, too, perish, Pompey? have ye been", "Victors of countless kings, or puppets of a scene?", "", "And thou, the thunder-stricken nurse of Rome!", " She-wolf! whose brazen-imaged dugs impart", " The milk of conquest yet within the dome", " Where, as a monument of antique art,", " Thou standest:--Mother of the mighty heart,", " Which the great Founder sucked from thy wild teat,", " Scorched by the Roman Jove's ethereal dart,", " And thy limbs black with lightning--dost thou yet", "Guard thine immortal cubs, nor thy fond charge forget?", "", "Thou dost;--but all thy foster-babes are dead--", " The men of iron; and the World hath reared", " Cities from out their sepulchres: men bled", " In imitation of the things they feared,", " And fought and conquered, and the same course steered,", " At apish distance; but as yet none have,", " Nor could, the same supremacy have neared,", " Save one vain Man, who is not in the grave--", "But, vanquished by himself, to his own slaves a slave--", "", "The fool of false dominion--and a kind", " Of bastard Cæsar, following him of old", " With steps unequal; for the Roman's mind", " Was modelled in a less terrestrial mould,", " With passions fiercer, yet a judgment cold,", " And an immortal instinct which redeemed", " The frailties of a heart so soft, yet bold--", " Alcides with the distaff now he seemed", "At Cleopatra's feet,--and now himself he beamed,", "", "And came--and saw--and conquered! But the man", " Who would have tamed his Eagles down to flee,", " Like a trained falcon, in the Gallic van,", " Which he, in sooth, long led to Victory,", " With a deaf heart which never seemed to be", " A listener to itself, was strangely framed;", " With but one weakest weakness--Vanity--", " Coquettish in ambition--still he aimed--", "And what? can he avouch, or answer what he claimed?", "", "And would be all or nothing--nor could wait", " For the sure grave to level him; few years", " Had fixed him with the Cæsars in his fate", " On whom we tread: For _this_ the conqueror rears", " The Arch of Triumph! and for this the tears", " And blood of earth flow on as they have flowed,", " An universal Deluge, which appears", " Without an Ark for wretched Man's abode,", "And ebbs but to reflow!--Renew thy rainbow, God!", "", "What from this barren being do we reap?", " Our senses narrow, and our reason frail,", " Life short, and truth a gem which loves the deep,", " And all things weighed in Custom's falsest scale;", " Opinion an Omnipotence,--whose veil", " Mantles the earth with darkness, until right", " And wrong are accidents, and Men grow pale", " Lest their own judgments should become too bright,", "And their free thoughts be crimes, and Earth have too much light.", "", "And thus they plod in sluggish misery,", " Rotting from sire to son, and age to age,", " Proud of their trampled nature, and so die,", " Bequeathing their hereditary rage", " To the new race of inborn slaves, who wage", " War for their chains, and rather than be free,", " Bleed gladiator-like, and still engage", " Within the same Arena where they see", "Their fellows fall before, like leaves of the same tree.", "", "I speak not of men's creeds--they rest between", " Man and his Maker--but of things allowed,", " Averred, and known, and daily, hourly seen--", " The yoke that is upon us doubly bowed,", " And the intent of Tyranny avowed,", " The edict of Earth's rulers, who are grown", " The apes of him who humbled once the proud,", " And shook them from their slumbers on the throne;", "Too glorious, were this all his mighty arm had done.", "", "Can tyrants but by tyrants conquered be,", " And Freedom find no Champion and no Child", " Such as Columbia saw arise when she", " Sprung forth a Pallas, armed and undefined?", " Or must such minds be nourished in the wild,", " Deep in the unpruned forest, 'midst the roar", " Of cataracts, where nursing Nature smiled", " On infant Washington? Has Earth no more", "Such seeds within her breast, or Europe no such shore?", "", "But France got drunk with blood to vomit crime;", " And fatal have her Saturnalia been", " To Freedom's cause, in every age and clime;", " Because the deadly days which we have seen,", " And vile Ambition, that built up between", " Man and his hopes an adamantine wall,", " And the base pageant last upon the scene,", " Are grown the pretext for the eternal thrall", "Which nips Life's tree, and dooms Man's worst--his second fall.", "", "Yet, Freedom! yet thy banner, torn, but flying,", " Streams like the thunder-storm _against_ the wind;", " Thy trumpet voice, though broken now and dying,", " The loudest still the Tempest leaves behind;", " Thy tree hath lost its blossoms, and the rind,", " Chopped by the axe, looks rough and little worth,", " But the sap lasts,--and still the seed we find", " Sown deep, even in the bosom of the North;", "So shall a better spring less bitter fruit bring forth.", "", "There is a stern round tower of other days", " Firm as a fortress, with its fence of stone,", " Such as an army's baffled strength delays,", " Standing with half its battlements alone,", " And with two thousand years of ivy grown,", " The garland of Eternity, where wave", " The green leaves over all by Time o'erthrown;--", " What was this tower of strength? within its cave", "What treasure lay so locked, so hid?--A woman's grave.", "", "But who was she, the Lady of the dead,", " Tombed in a palace? Was she chaste and fair?", " Worthy a king's--or more--a Roman's bed?", " What race of Chiefs and Heroes did she bear?", " What daughter of her beauties was the heir?", " How lived--how loved--how died she? Was she not", " So honoured--and conspicuously there,", " Where meaner relics must not dare to rot,", "Placed to commemorate a more than mortal lot?", "", "Was she as those who love their lords, or they", " Who love the lords of others? such have been", " Even in the olden time, Rome's annals say.", " Was she a matron of Cornelia's mien,", " Or the light air of Egypt's graceful Queen,", " Profuse of joy--or 'gainst it did she war,", " Inveterate in virtue? Did she lean", " To the soft side of the heart, or wisely bar", "Love from amongst her griefs?--for such the affections are.", "", "Perchance she died in youth--it may be, bowed", " With woes far heavier than the ponderous tomb", " That weighed upon her gentle dust: a cloud", " Might gather o'er her beauty, and a gloom", " In her dark eye, prophetic of the doom", " Heaven gives its favourites--early death--yet shed", " A sunset charm around her, and illume", " With hectic light, the Hesperus of the dead,", "Of her consuming cheek the autumnal leaf-like red.", "", "Perchance she died in age--surviving all,", " Charms--kindred--children--with the silver gray", " On her long tresses, which might yet recall,", " It may be, still a something of the day", " When they were braided, and her proud array", " And lovely form were envied, praised, and eyed", " By Rome--But whither would Conjecture stray?", " Thus much alone we know--Metella died,", "The wealthiest Roman's wife: Behold his love or pride!", "", "I know not why--but standing thus by thee", " It seems as if I had thine inmate known,", " Thou Tomb! and other days come back on me", " With recollected music, though the tone", " Is changed and solemn, like the cloudy groan", " Of dying thunder on the distant wind;", " Yet could I seat me by this ivied stone", " Till I had bodied forth the heated mind", "Forms from the floating wreck which Ruin leaves behind:", "", "And from the planks, far shattered o'er the rocks,", " Built me a little bark of hope, once more", " To battle with the Ocean and the shocks", " Of the loud breakers, and the ceaseless roar", " Which rushes on the solitary shore", " Where all lies foundered that was ever dear:", " But could I gather from the wave-worn store", " Enough for my rude boat, where should I steer?", "There woos no home, nor hope, nor life, save what is here.", "", "Then let the Winds howl on! their harmony", " Shall henceforth be my music, and the Night", " The sound shall temper with the owlets' cry,", " As I now hear them, in the fading light", " Dim o'er the bird of darkness' native site,", " Answering each other on the Palatine,", " With their large eyes, all glistening gray and bright,", " And sailing pinions.--Upon such a shrine", "What are our petty griefs?--let me not number mine.", "", "Cypress and ivy, weed and wallflower grown", " Matted and massed together--hillocks heaped", " On what were chambers--arch crushed, column strown", " In fragments--choked up vaults, and frescos steeped", " In subterranean damps, where the owl peeped,", " Deeming it midnight:--Temples--Baths--or Halls?", " Pronounce who can: for all that Learning reaped", " From her research hath been, that these are walls--", "Behold the Imperial Mount! 'tis thus the Mighty falls.", "", "There is the moral of all human tales;", " 'Tis but the same rehearsal of the past,", " First Freedom, and then Glory--when that fails,", " Wealth--Vice--Corruption,--Barbarism at last.", " And History, with all her volumes vast,", " Hath but _one_ page,--'tis better written here,", " Where gorgeous Tyranny hath thus amassed", " All treasures, all delights, that Eye or Ear,", "Heart, Soul could seek--Tongue ask--Away with words! draw near,", "", "Admire--exult--despise--laugh--weep,--for here", " There is such matter for all feeling:--Man!", " Thou pendulum betwixt a smile and tear,", " Ages and Realms are crowded in this span,", " This mountain, whose obliterated plan", " The pyramid of Empires pinnacled,", " Of Glory's gewgaws shining in the van", " Till the Sun's rays with added flame were filled!", "Where are its golden roofs? where those who dared to build?", "", "Tully was not so eloquent as thou,", " Thou nameless column with the buried base!", " What are the laurels of the Cæsar's brow?", " Crown me with ivy from his dwelling-place.", " Whose arch or pillar meets me in the face,", " Titus or Trajan's? No--'tis that of Time:", " Triumph, arch, pillar, all he doth displace", " Scoffing; and apostolic statues climb", "To crush the imperial urn, whose ashes slept sublime,", "", "Buried in air, the deep blue sky of Rome,", " And looking to the stars: they had contained", " A Spirit which with these would find a home,", " The last of those who o'er the whole earth reigned,", " The Roman Globe--for, after, none sustained,", " But yielded back his conquests:--he was more", " Than a mere Alexander, and, unstained", " With household blood and wine, serenely wore", "His sovereign virtues--still we Trajan's name adore.", "", "Where is the rock of Triumph, the high place", " Where Rome embraced her heroes?--where the steep", " Tarpeian?--fittest goal of Treason's race,", " The Promontory whence the Traitor's Leap", " Cured all ambition? Did the conquerors heap", " Their spoils here? Yes; and in yon field below,", " A thousand years of silenced factions sleep--", " The Forum, where the immortal accents glow,", "And still the eloquent air breathes-burns with Cicero!", "", "The field of Freedom--Faction--Fame--and Blood:", " Here a proud people's passions were exhaled,", " From the first hour of Empire in the bud", " To that when further worlds to conquer failed;", " But long before had Freedom's face been veiled,", " And Anarchy assumed her attributes;", " Till every lawless soldier who assailed", " Trod on the trembling Senate's slavish mutes,", "Or raised the venal voice of baser prostitutes.", "", "Then turn we to her latest Tribune's name,", " From her ten thousand tyrants turn to thee,", " Redeemer of dark centuries of shame--", " The friend of Petrarch--hope of Italy--", " Rienzi! last of Romans! While the tree", " Of Freedom's withered trunk puts forth a leaf,", " Even for thy tomb a garland let it be--", " The Forum's champion, and the people's chief--", "Her new-born Numa thou--with reign, alas! too brief.", "", "Egeria! sweet creation of some heart", " Which found no mortal resting-place so fair", " As thine ideal breast; whate'er thou art", " Or wert,--a young Aurora of the air,", " The nympholepsy of some fond despair--", " Or--it might be--a Beauty of the earth,", " Who found a more than common Votary there", " Too much adoring--whatsoe'er thy birth,", "Thou wert a beautiful Thought, and softly bodied forth.", "", "The mosses of thy Fountain still are sprinkled", " With thine Elysian water-drops; the face", " Of thy cave-guarded Spring, with years unwrinkled,", " Reflects the meek-eyed Genius of the place,", " Whose green, wild margin now no more erase", " Art's works; nor must the delicate waters sleep", " Prisoned in marble--bubbling from the base", " Of the cleft statue, with a gentle leap", "The rill runs o'er--and round, fern, flowers, and ivy, creep", "", "Fantastically tangled: the green hills", " Are clothed with early blossoms--through the grass", " The quick-eyed lizard rustles--and the bills", " Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass;", " Flowers fresh in hue, and many in their class,", " Implore the pausing step, and with their dyes", " Dance in the soft breeze in a fairy mass;", " The sweetness of the Violet's deep blue eyes,", "Kissed by the breath of heaven, seems coloured by its skies.", "", "Here didst thou dwell, in this enchanted cover,", " Egeria! thy all heavenly bosom beating", " For the far footsteps of thy mortal lover;", " The purple Midnight veiled that mystic meeting", " With her most starry canopy--and seating", " Thyself by thine adorer, what befel?", " This cave was surely shaped out for the greeting", " Of an enamoured Goddess, and the cell", "Haunted by holy Love--the earliest Oracle!", "", "And didst thou not, thy breast to his replying,", " Blend a celestial with a human heart;", " And Love, which dies as it was born, in sighing,", " Share with immortal transports? could thine art", " Make them indeed immortal, and impart", " The purity of Heaven to earthly joys,", " Expel the venom and not blunt the dart--", " The dull satiety which all destroys--", "And root from out the soul the deadly weed which cloys?", "", "Alas! our young affections run to waste,", " Or water but the desert! whence arise", " But weeds of dark luxuriance, tares of haste,", " Rank at the core, though tempting to the eyes", " Flowers whose wild odours breathe but agonies,", " And trees whose gums are poison; such the plants", " Which spring beneath her steps as Passion flies", " O'er the World's wilderness, and vainly pants", "For some celestial fruit forbidden to our wants.", "", "Oh, Love! no habitant of earth thou art--", " An unseen Seraph, we believe in thee,--", " A faith whose martyrs are the broken heart,--", " But never yet hath seen, nor e'er shall see", " The naked eye, thy form, as it should be;", " The mind hath made thee, as it peopled Heaven,", " Even with its own desiring phantasy,", " And to a thought such shape and image given,", "As haunts the unquenched soul--parched--wearied--wrung--and riven.", "", "Of its own beauty is the mind diseased,", " And fevers into false creation:--where,", " Where are the forms the sculptor's soul hath seized?", " In him alone. Can Nature show so fair?", " Where are the charms and virtues which we dare", " Conceive in boyhood and pursue as men,", " The unreached Paradise of our despair,", " Which o'er-informs the pencil and the pen,", "And overpowers the page where it would bloom again?", "", "Who loves, raves--'tis youth's frenzy--but the cure", " Is bitterer still, as charm by charm unwinds", " Which robed our idols, and we see too sure", " Nor Worth nor Beauty dwells from out the mind's", " Ideal shape of such; yet still it binds", " The fatal spell, and still it draws us on,", " Reaping the whirlwind from the oft-sown winds;", " The stubborn heart, its alchemy begun,", "Seems ever near the prize--wealthiest when most undone.", "", "We wither from our youth, we gasp away--", " Sick--sick; unfound the boon--unslaked the thirst,", " Though to the last, in verge of our decay,", " Some phantom lures, such as we sought at first--", " But all too late,--so are we doubly curst.", " Love, Fame, Ambition, Avarice--'tis the same,", " Each idle--and all ill--and none the worst--", " For all are meteors with a different name,", "And Death the sable smoke where vanishes the flame.", "", "Few--none--find what they love or could have loved,", " Though accident, blind contact, and the strong", " Necessity of loving, have removed", " Antipathies--but to recur, ere long,", " Envenomed with irrevocable wrong;", " And Circumstance, that unspiritual God", " And Miscreator, makes and helps along", " Our coming evils with a crutch-like rod,", "Whose touch turns Hope to dust,--the dust we all have trod.", "", "Our life is a false nature--'tis not in", " The harmony of things,--this hard decree,", " This uneradicable taint of Sin,", " This boundless Upas, this all-blasting tree,", " Whose root is Earth--whose leaves and branches be", " The skies which rain their plagues on men like dew--", " Disease, death, bondage--all the woes we see,", " And worse, the woes we see not--which throb through", "The immedicable soul, with heart-aches ever new.", "", "Yet let us ponder boldly--'tis a base", " Abandonment of reason to resign", " Our right of thought--our last and only place", " Of refuge; this, at least, shall still be mine:", " Though from our birth the Faculty divine", " Is chained and tortured--cabined, cribbed, confined,", " And bred in darkness, lest the Truth should shine", " Too brightly on the unpreparéd mind,", "The beam pours in--for Time and Skill will couch the blind.", "", "Arches on arches! as it were that Rome,", " Collecting the chief trophies of her line,", " Would build up all her triumphs in one dome,", " Her Coliseum stands; the moonbeams shine", " As 'twere its natural torches--for divine", " Should be the light which streams here,--to illume", " This long-explored but still exhaustless mine", " Of Contemplation; and the azure gloom", "Of an Italian night, where the deep skies assume", "", "Hues which have words, and speak to ye of Heaven,", " Floats o'er this vast and wondrous monument,", " And shadows forth its glory. There is given", " Unto the things of earth, which Time hath bent,", " A Spirit's feeling, and where he hath leant", " His hand, but broke his scythe, there is a power", " And magic in the ruined battlement,", " For which the Palace of the present hour", "Must yield its pomp, and wait till Ages are its dower.", "", "Oh, Time! the Beautifier of the dead,", " Adorner of the ruin--Comforter", " And only Healer when the heart hath bled;", " Time! the Corrector where our judgments err,", " The test of Truth, Love--sole philosopher,", " For all beside are sophists--from thy thrift,", " Which never loses though it doth defer--", " Time, the Avenger! unto thee I lift", "My hands, and eyes, and heart, and crave of thee a gift:", "", "Amidst this wreck, where thou hast made a shrine", " And temple more divinely desolate--", " Among thy mightier offerings here are mine,", " Ruins of years--though few, yet full of fate:--", " If thou hast ever seen me too elate,", " Hear me not; but if calmly I have borne", " Good, and reserved my pride against the hate", " Which shall not whelm me, let me not have worn", "This iron in my soul in vain--shall _they_ not mourn?", "", "And Thou, who never yet of human wrong", " Left the unbalanced scale, great Nemesis!", " Here, where the ancient paid thee homage long--", " Thou, who didst call the Furies from the abyss,", " And round Orestes bade them howl and hiss", " For that unnatural retribution--just,", " Had it but been from hands less near--in this", " Thy former realm, I call thee from the dust!", "Dost thou not hear my heart?--Awake! thou shalt, and must.", "", "It is not that I may not have incurred,", " For my ancestral faults or mine, the wound", " I bleed withal; and, had it been conferred", " With a just weapon, it had flowed unbound;", " But now my blood shall not sink in the ground--", " To thee I do devote it--_Thou_ shalt take", " The vengeance, which shall yet be sought and found--", " Which if _I_ have not taken for the sake--", "But let that pass--I sleep--but Thou shalt yet awake.", "", "And if my voice break forth, 'tis not that now", " I shrink from what is suffered: let him speak", " Who hath beheld decline upon my brow,", " Or seen my mind's convulsion leave it weak;", " But in this page a record will I seek.", " Not in the air shall these my words disperse,", " Though I be ashes; a far hour shall wreak", " The deep prophetic fulness of this verse,", "And pile on human heads the mountain of my curse!", "", "That curse shall be Forgiveness.--Have I not--", " Hear me, my mother Earth! behold it, Heaven!--", " Have I not had to wrestle with my lot?", " Have I not suffered things to be forgiven?", " Have I not had my brain seared, my heart riven,", " Hopes sapped, name blighted, Life's life lied away?", " And only not to desperation driven,", " Because not altogether of such clay", "As rots into the souls of those whom I survey.", "", "From mighty wrongs to petty perfidy", " Have I not seen what human things could do?", " From the loud roar of foaming calumny", " To the small whisper of the as paltry few--", " And subtler venom of the reptile crew,", " The Janus glance of whose significant eye,", " Learning to lie with silence, would _seem_ true--", " And without utterance, save the shrug or sigh,", "Deal round to happy fools its speechless obloquy.", "", "But I have lived, and have not lived in vain:", " My mind may lose its force, my blood its fire,", " And my frame perish even in conquering pain;", " But there is that within me which shall tire", " Torture and Time, and breathe when I expire;", " Something unearthly, which they deem not of,", " Like the remembered tone of a mute lyre,", " Shall on their softened spirits sink, and move", "In hearts all rocky now the late remorse of Love.", "", "The seal is set.--Now welcome, thou dread Power!", " Nameless, yet thus omnipotent, which here", " Walk'st in the shadow of the midnight hour", " With a deep awe, yet all distinct from fear;", " Thy haunts are ever where the dead walls rear", " Their ivy mantles, and the solemn scene", " Derives from thee a sense so deep and clear", " That we become a part of what has been,", "And grow upon the spot--all-seeing but unseen.", "", "And here the buzz of eager nations ran,", " In murmured pity, or loud-roared applause,", " As man was slaughtered by his fellow man.", " And wherefore slaughtered? wherefore, but because", " Such were the bloody Circus' genial laws,", " And the imperial pleasure.--Wherefore not?", " What matters where we fall to fill the maws", " Of worms--on battle-plains or listed spot?", "Both are but theatres--where the chief actors rot.", "", "I see before me the Gladiator lie:", " He leans upon his hand--his manly brow", " Consents to death, but conquers agony,", " And his drooped head sinks gradually low--", " And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow", " From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,", " Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now", " The arena swims around him--he is gone,", "Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won.", "", "He heard it, but he heeded not--his eyes", " Were with his heart--and that was far away;", " He recked not of the life he lost nor prize,", " But where his rude hut by the Danube lay--", " _There_ were his young barbarians all at play,", " _There_ was their Dacian mother--he, their sire,", " Butchered to make a Roman holiday--", " All this rushed with his blood--Shall he expire", "And unavenged?--Arise! ye Goths, and glut your ire!", "", "But here, where Murder breathed her bloody steam;--", " And here, where buzzing nations choked the ways,", " And roared or murmured like a mountain stream", " Dashing or winding as its torrent strays;", " Here, where the Roman million's blame or praise", " Was Death or Life--the playthings of a crowd--", " My voice sounds much--and fall the stars' faint rays", " On the arena void--seats crushed--walls bowed--", "And galleries, where my steps seem echoes strangely loud.", "", "A Ruin--yet what Ruin! from its mass", " Walls--palaces--half-cities, have been reared;", " Yet oft the enormous skeleton ye pass,", " And marvel where the spoil could have appeared.", " Hath it indeed been plundered, or but cleared?", " Alas! developed, opens the decay,", " When the colossal fabric's form is neared:", " It will not bear the brightness of the day,", "Which streams too much on all--years--man--have reft away.", "", "But when the rising moon begins to climb", " Its topmost arch, and gently pauses there--", " When the stars twinkle through the loops of Time,", " And the low night-breeze waves along the air", " The garland-forest, which the gray walls wear,", " Like laurels on the bald first Cæsar's head--", " When the light shines serene but doth not glare--", " Then in this magic circle raise the dead;--", "Heroes have trod this spot--'tis on their dust ye tread.", "", "\"While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand:", " When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall;", " And when Rome falls--the World.\" From our own land", " Thus spake the pilgrims o'er this mighty wall", " In Saxon times, which we are wont to call", " Ancient; and these three mortal things are still", " On their foundations, and unaltered all--", " Rome and her Ruin past Redemption's skill--", "The World--the same wide den--of thieves, or what ye will.", "", "Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime--", " Shrine of all saints and temple of all Gods,", " From Jove to Jesus--spared and blest by Time--", " Looking tranquillity, while falls or nods", " Arch--empire--each thing round thee--and Man plods", " His way through thorns to ashes--glorious Dome!", " Shalt thou not last? Time's scythe and Tyrants' rods", " Shiver upon thee--sanctuary and home", "Of Art and Piety--Pantheon!--pride of Rome!", "", "Relic of nobler days, and noblest arts!", " Despoiled yet perfect! with thy circle spreads", " A holiness appealing to all hearts;", " To Art a model--and to him who treads", " Rome for the sake of ages, Glory sheds", " Her light through thy sole aperture; to those", " Who worship, here are altars for their beads--", " And they who feel for Genius may repose", "Their eyes on honoured forms, whose busts around them close.", "", "There is a dungeon, in whose dim drear light", " What do I gaze on? Nothing--Look again!", " Two forms are slowly shadowed on my sight--", " Two insulated phantoms of the brain:", " It is not so--I see them full and plain--", " An old man, and a female young and fair,", " Fresh as a nursing mother, in whose vein", " The blood is nectar:--but what doth she there,", "With her unmantled neck, and bosom white and bare?", "", "Full swells the deep pure fountain of young life,", " Where _on_ the heart and _from_ the heart we took", " Our first and sweetest nurture--when the wife,", " Blest into mother, in the innocent look,", " Or even the piping cry of lips that brook", " No pain and small suspense, a joy perceives", " Man knows not--when from out its cradled nook", " She sees her little bud put forth its leaves--", "What may the fruit be yet?--I know not--Cain was Eve's.", "", "But here Youth offers to Old Age the food,", " The milk of his own gift: it is her Sire", " To whom she renders back the debt of blood", " Born with her birth:--No--he shall not expire", " While in those warm and lovely veins the fire", " Of health and holy feeling can provide", " Great Nature's Nile, whose deep stream rises higher", " Than Egypt's river:--from that gentle side", "Drink--drink, and live--Old Man! Heaven's realm holds no such tide.", "", "The starry fable of the Milky Way", " Has not thy story's purity; it is", " A constellation of a sweeter ray,", " And sacred Nature triumphs more in this", " Reverse of her decree, than in the abyss", " Where sparkle distant worlds:--Oh, holiest Nurse!", " No drop of that clear stream its way shall miss", " To thy Sire's heart, replenishing its source", "With life, as our freed souls rejoin the Universe.", "", "Turn to the Mole which Hadrian reared on high,", " Imperial mimic of old Egypt's piles,", " Colossal copyist of deformity--", " Whose travelled phantasy from the far Nile's", " Enormous model, doomed the artist's toils", " To build for Giants, and for his vain earth,", " His shrunken ashes, raise this Dome: How smiles", " The gazer's eye with philosophic mirth,", "To view the huge design which sprung from such a birth!", "", "But lo! the Dome--the vast and wondrous Dome,", " To which Diana's marvel was a cell--", " Christ's mighty shrine above His martyr's tomb!", " I have beheld the Ephesian's miracle--", " Its columns strew the wilderness, and dwell", " The hyæna and the jackal in their shade;", " I have beheld Sophia's bright roofs swell", " Their glittering mass i' the Sun, and have surveyed", "Its sanctuary the while the usurping Moslem prayed;", "", "But thou, of temples old, or altars new,", " Standest alone--with nothing like to thee--", " Worthiest of God, the Holy and the True!", " Since Zion's desolation, when that He", " Forsook his former city, what could be,", " Of earthly structures, in His honour piled,", " Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty--", " Power--Glory--Strength--and Beauty all are aisled", "In this eternal Ark of worship undefiled.", "", "Enter: its grandeur overwhelms thee not;", " And why? it is not lessened--but thy mind,", " Expanded by the Genius of the spot,", " Has grown colossal, and can only find", " A fit abode wherein appear enshrined", " Thy hopes of Immortality--and thou", " Shalt one day, if found worthy, so defined", " See thy God face to face, as thou dost now", "His Holy of Holies--nor be blasted by his brow.", "", "Thou movest--but increasing with the advance,", " Like climbing some great Alp, which still doth rise,", " Deceived by its gigantic elegance--", " Vastness which grows, but grows to harmonize--", " All musical in its immensities;", " Rich marbles, richer painting--shrines where flame", " The lamps of gold--and haughty dome which vies", " In air with Earth's chief structures, though their frame", "Sits on the firm-set ground--and this the clouds must claim.", "", "Thou seest not all--but piecemeal thou must break,", " To separate contemplation, the great whole;", " And as the Ocean many bays will make", " That ask the eye--so here condense thy soul", " To more immediate objects, and control", " Thy thoughts until thy mind hath got by heart", " Its eloquent proportions, and unroll", " In mighty graduations, part by part,", "The Glory which at once upon thee did not dart,", "", "Not by its fault--but thine: Our outward sense", " Is but of gradual grasp--and as it is", " That what we have of feeling most intense", " Outstrips our faint expression; even so this", " Outshining and o'erwhelming edifice", " Fools our fond gaze, and greatest of the great", " Defies at first our Nature's littleness,", " Till, growing with its growth, we thus dilate", "Our Spirits to the size of that they contemplate.", "", "Then pause, and be enlightened; there is more", " In such a survey than the sating gaze", " Of wonder pleased, or awe which would adore", " The worship of the place, or the mere praise", " Of Art and its great Masters, who could raise", " What former time, nor skill, nor thought could plan:", " The fountain of Sublimity displays", " Its depth, and thence may draw the mind of Man", "Its golden sands, and learn what great Conceptions can.", "", "Or, turning to the Vatican, go see", " Laocoön's torture dignifying pain--", " A Father's love and Mortal's agony", " With an Immortal's patience blending:--Vain", " The struggle--vain, against the coiling strain", " And gripe, and deepening of the dragon's grasp,", " The Old Man's clench; the long envenomed chain", " Rivets the living links,--the enormous Asp", "Enforces pang on pang, and stifles gasp on gasp.", "", "Or view the Lord of the unerring bow,", " The God of Life, and Poesy, and Light--", " The Sun in human limbs arrayed, and brow", " All radiant from his triumph in the fight;", " The shaft hath just been shot--the arrow bright", " With an Immortal's vengeance--in his eye", " And nostril beautiful Disdain, and Might", " And Majesty, flash their full lightnings by,", "Developing in that one glance the Deity.", "", "But in his delicate form--a dream of Love,", " Shaped by some solitary Nymph, whose breast", " Longed for a deathless lover from above,", " And maddened in that vision--are exprest", " All that ideal Beauty ever blessed", " The mind with in its most unearthly mood,", " When each Conception was a heavenly Guest--", " A ray of Immortality--and stood,", "Starlike, around, until they gathered to a God!", "", "And if it be Prometheus stole from Heaven", " The fire which we endure--it was repaid", " By him to whom the energy was given", " Which this poetic marble hath arrayed", " With an eternal Glory--which, if made", " By human hands, is not of human thought--", " And Time himself hath hallowed it, nor laid", " One ringlet in the dust--nor hath it caught", "A tinge of years, but breathes the flame with which 'twas wrought.", "", "But where is he, the Pilgrim of my Song,", " The Being who upheld it through the past?", " Methinks he cometh late and tarries long.", " He is no more--these breathings are his last--", " His wanderings done--his visions ebbing fast,", " And he himself as nothing:--if he was", " Aught but a phantasy, and could be classed", " With forms which live and suffer--let that pass--", "His shadow fades away into Destruction's mass,", "", "Which gathers shadow--substance--life, and all", " That we inherit in its mortal shroud--", " And spreads the dim and universal pall", " Through which all things grow phantoms; and the cloud", " Between us sinks and all which ever glowed,", " Till Glory's self is twilight, and displays", " A melancholy halo scarce allowed", " To hover on the verge of darkness--rays", "Sadder than saddest night, for they distract the gaze,", "", "And send us prying into the abyss,", " To gather what we shall be when the frame", " Shall be resolved to something less than this--", " Its wretched essence; and to dream of fame,", " And wipe the dust from off the idle name", " We never more shall hear,--but never more,", " Oh, happier thought! can we be made the same:--", " It is enough in sooth that _once_ we bore", "These fardels of the heart--the heart whose sweat was gore.", "", "Hark! forth from the abyss a voice proceeds,", " A long low distant murmur of dread sound,", " Such as arises when a nation bleeds", " With some deep and immedicable wound;--", " Through storm and darkness yawns the rending ground--", " The gulf is thick with phantoms, but the Chief", " Seems royal still, though with her head discrowned,", " And pale, but lovely, with maternal grief--", "She clasps a babe, to whom her breast yields no relief.", "", "Scion of Chiefs and Monarchs, where art thou?", " Fond Hope of many nations, art thou dead?", " Could not the Grave forget thee, and lay low", " Some less majestic, less belovéd head?", " In the sad midnight, while thy heart still bled,", " The mother of a moment, o'er thy boy,", " Death hushed that pang for ever: with thee fled", " The present happiness and promised joy", "Which filled the Imperial Isles so full it seemed to cloy.", "", "Peasants bring forth in safety.--Can it be,", " Oh thou that wert so happy, so adored!", " Those who weep not for Kings shall weep for thee,", " And Freedom's heart, grown heavy, cease to hoard", " Her many griefs for _One_; for she had poured", " Her orisons for thee, and o'er thy head", " Beheld her Iris.--Thou, too, lonely Lord,", " And desolate Consort--vainly wert thou wed!", "The husband of a year! the father of the dead!", "", "Of sackcloth was thy wedding garment made;", " Thy bridal's fruit is ashes: in the dust", " The fair-haired Daughter of the Isles is laid,", " The love of millions! How we did entrust", " Futurity to her! and, though it must", " Darken above our bones, yet fondly deemed", " Our children should obey her child, and blessed", " Her and her hoped-for seed, whose promise seemed", "Like stars to shepherd's eyes:--'twas but a meteor beamed.", "", "Woe unto us--not her--for she sleeps well:", " The fickle reek of popular breath, the tongue", " Of hollow counsel, the false oracle,", " Which from the birth of Monarchy hath rung", " Its knell in princely ears, till the o'erstung", " Nations have armed in madness--the strange fate", " Which tumbles mightiest sovereigns, and hath flung", " Against their blind omnipotence a weight", "Within the opposing scale, which crushes soon or late,--", "", "These might have been her destiny--but no--", " Our hearts deny it: and so young, so fair,", " Good without effort, great without a foe;", " But now a Bride and Mother--and now _there!_", " How many ties did that stern moment tear!", " From thy Sire's to his humblest subject's breast", " Is linked the electric chain of that despair,", " Whose shock was as an Earthquake's, and opprest", "The land which loved thee so that none could love thee best.", "", "Lo, Nemi! navelled in the woody hills", " So far, that the uprooting Wind which tears", " The oak from his foundation, and which spills", " The Ocean o'er its boundary, and bears", " Its foam against the skies, reluctant spares", " The oval mirror of thy glassy lake;", " And calm as cherished hate, its surface wears", " A deep cold settled aspect nought can shake,", "All coiled into itself and round, as sleeps the snake.", "", "And near, Albano's scarce divided waves", " Shine from a sister valley;--and afar", " The Tiber winds, and the broad Ocean laves", " The Latian coast where sprung the Epic war,", " \"Arms and the Man,\" whose re-ascending star", " Rose o'er an empire:--but beneath thy right", " Tully reposed from Rome;--and where yon bar", " Of girdling mountains intercepts the sight", "The Sabine farm was tilled, the weary Bard's delight.", "", "But I forget.--My Pilgrim's shrine is won,", " And he and I must part,--so let it be,--", " His task and mine alike are nearly done;", " Yet once more let us look upon the Sea;", " The Midland Ocean breaks on him and me,", " And from the Alban Mount we now behold", " Our friend of youth, that Ocean, which when we", " Beheld it last by Calpe's rock unfold", "Those waves, we followed on till the dark Euxine rolled", "", "Upon the blue Symplegades: long years--", " Long, though not very many--since have done", " Their work on both; some suffering and some tears", " Have left us nearly where we had begun:", " Yet not in vain our mortal race hath run--", " We have had our reward--and it is here,--", " That we can yet feel gladdened by the Sun,", " And reap from Earth--Sea--joy almost as dear", "As if there were no Man to trouble what is clear.", "", "Oh! that the Desert were my dwelling-place,", " With one fair Spirit for my minister,", " That I might all forget the human race,", " And, hating no one, love but only her!", " Ye elements!--in whose ennobling stir", " I feel myself exalted--Can ye not", " Accord me such a Being? Do I err", " In deeming such inhabit many a spot?", "Though with them to converse can rarely be our lot.", "", "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,", " There is a rapture on the lonely shore,", " There is society, where none intrudes,", " By the deep Sea, and Music in its roar:", " I love not Man the less, but Nature more,", " From these our interviews, in which I steal", " From all I may be, or have been before,", " To mingle with the Universe, and feel", "What I can ne'er express--yet can not all conceal.", "", "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean--roll!", " Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;", " Man marks the earth with ruin--his control", " Stops with the shore;--upon the watery plain", " The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain", " A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,", " When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,", " He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan--", "Without a grave--unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.", "", "His steps are not upon thy paths,--thy fields", " Are not a spoil for him,--thou dost arise", " And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields", " For Earth's destruction thou dost all despise,", " Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies--", " And send'st him, shivering in thy playful spray", " And howling, to his Gods, where haply lies", " His petty hope in some near port or bay,", "And dashest him again to Earth:--there let him lay.", "", "The armaments which thunderstrike the walls", " Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake,", " And Monarchs tremble in their Capitals,", " The oak Leviathans, whose huge ribs make", " Their clay creator the vain title take", " Of Lord of thee, and Arbiter of War--", " These are thy toys, and, as the snowy flake,", " They melt into thy yeast of waves, which mar", "Alike the Armada's pride or spoils of Trafalgar.", "", "Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee--", " Assyria--Greece--Rome--Carthage--what are they?", " Thy waters washed them power while they were free,", " And many a tyrant since; their shores obey", " The stranger, slave, or savage; their decay", " Has dried up realms to deserts:--not so thou,", " Unchangeable save to thy wild waves' play,", " Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow--", "Such as Creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now.", "", "Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form", " Glasses itself in tempests; in all time,", " Calm or convulsed--in breeze, or gale, or storm--", " Icing the Pole, or in the torrid clime", " Dark-heaving--boundless, endless, and sublime--", " The image of Eternity-the throne", " Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime", " The monsters of the deep are made--each Zone", "Obeys thee--thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone.", "", "And I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joy", " Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be", " Borne, like thy bubbles, onward: from a boy", " I wantoned with thy breakers--they to me", " Were a delight; and if the freshening sea", " Made them a terror--'twas a pleasing fear,", " For I was as it were a Child of thee,", " And trusted to thy billows far and near,", "And laid my hand upon thy mane--as I do here.", "", "My task is done--my song hath ceased--my theme", " Has died into an echo; it is fit", " The spell should break of this protracted dream.", " The torch shall be extinguished which hath lit", " My midnight lamp--and what is writ, is writ,--", " Would it were worthier! but I am not now", " That which I have been--and my visions flit", " Less palpably before me--and the glow", "Which in my Spirit dwelt is fluttering, faint, and low.", "", "Farewell! a word that must be, and hath been--", " A sound which makes us linger;--yet--farewell!", " Ye! who have traced the Pilgrim to the scene", " Which is his last--if in your memories dwell", " A thought which once was his--if on ye swell", " A single recollection--not in vain", " He wore his sandal-shoon, and scallop-shell;", " Farewell! with _him_ alone may rest the pain,", "If such there were--with _you_, the Moral of his Strain." ], "linecount": "4720" }, { "title": "Lines Written in an Album, at Malta", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "As o'er the cold sepulchral stone", " Some _name_ arrests the passer-by;", "Thus, when thou view'st this page alone,", " May _mine_ attract thy pensive eye!", "", "And when by thee that name is read,", " Perchance in some succeeding year,", "Reflect on _me_ as on the _dead_,", " And think my _Heart_ is buried _here_." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Stanzas Written in Passing the Ambracian Gulf", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Through cloudless skies, in silvery sheen,", " Full beams the moon on Actium's coast:", "And on these waves, for Egypt's queen,", " The ancient world was won and lost.", "", "And now upon the scene I look,", " The azure grave of many a Roman;", "Where stern Ambition once forsook", " His wavering crown to follow _Woman_.", "", "Florence! whom I will love as well", " (As ever yet was said or sung,", "Since Orpheus sang his spouse from Hell)", " Whilst _thou_ art _fair_ and _I_ am _young_;", "", "Sweet Florence! those were pleasant times,", " When worlds were staked for Ladies' eyes:", "Had bards as many realms as rhymes,", " Thy charms might raise new Antonies.", "", "Though Fate forbids such things to be,", " Yet, by thine eyes and ringlets curled!", "I cannot _lose_ a _world_ for thee,", " But would not lose _thee_ for a _World_." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "The Spell Is Broke, the Charm Is Flown!", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The spell is broke, the charm is flown!", " Thus is it with Life's fitful fever:", "We madly smile when we should groan;", " Delirium is our best deceiver.", "Each lucid interval of thought", " Recalls the woes of Nature's charter;", "And _He_ that acts as _wise men ought_,", " But _lives_--as Saints have died--a martyr." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Written After Swimming From Sestos to Abydos", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "If, in the month of dark December,", " Leander, who was nightly wont", "(What maid will not the tale remember?)", " To cross thy stream, broad Hellespont!", "", "If, when the wintry tempest roared,", " He sped to Hero, nothing loth,", "And thus of old thy current poured,", " Fair Venus! how I pity both!", "", "For _me_, degenerate modern wretch,", " Though in the genial month of May,", "My dripping limbs I faintly stretch,", " And think I've done a feat to-day.", "", "But since he crossed the rapid tide,", " According to the doubtful story,", "To woo,--and--Lord knows what beside,", " And swam for Love, as I for Glory;", "", "'Twere hard to say who fared the best:", " Sad mortals! thus the Gods still plague you!", "He lost his labour, I my jest:", " For he was drowned, and I've the ague." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "Lines in the Travellers' Book at Orchomenus", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "IN THIS BOOK A TRAVELLER HAD WRITTEN:--", "", "\"Fair Albion, smiling, sees her son depart", "To trace the birth and nursery of art:", "Noble his object, glorious is his aim;", "He comes to Athens, and he--writes his name.\"", "", "BENEATH WHICH LORD BYRON INSERTED THE FOLLOWING:--", "", "The modest bard, like many a bard unknown,", "Rhymes on our names, but wisely hides his own;", "But yet, whoe'er he be, to say no worse,", "His name would bring more credit than his verse." ], "linecount": "10" }, { "title": "Maid of Athens, Ere We Part", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.", "", "Maid of Athens, ere we part,", "Give, oh give me back my heart!", "Or, since that has left my breast,", "Keep it now, and take the rest!", "Hear my vow before I go,", "Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.", "", "By those tresses unconfined,", "Wooed by each Ægean wind;", "By those lids whose jetty fringe", "Kiss thy soft cheeks' blooming tinge;", "By those wild eyes like the roe,", "Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.", "", "By that lip I long to taste;", "By that zone-encircled waist;", "By all the token-flowers that tell", "What words can never speak so well;", "By love's alternate joy and woe,", "Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ.", "", "Maid of Athens! I am gone:", "Think of me, sweet! when alone.", "Though I fly to Istambol,", "Athens holds my heart and soul:", "Can I cease to love thee? No!", "Ζωή μου, σᾶς ἀγαπῶ." ], "linecount": "25" }, { "title": "Fragment From the \"Monk of Athos.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Beside the confines of the Ægean main,", " Where northward Macedonia bounds the flood,", "And views opposed the Asiatic plain,", " Where once the pride of lofty Ilion stood,", "Like the great Father of the giant brood,", " With lowering port majestic Athos stands,", "Crowned with the verdure of eternal wood,", " As yet unspoiled by sacrilegious hands,", "And throws his mighty shade o'er seas and distant lands.", "", "And deep embosomed in his shady groves", " Full many a convent rears its glittering spire,", "Mid scenes where Heavenly Contemplation loves", " To kindle in her soul her hallowed fire,", "Where air and sea with rocks and woods conspire", " To breathe a sweet religious calm around,", "Weaning the thoughts from every low desire,", " And the wild waves that break with murmuring sound", "Along the rocky shore proclaim it holy ground.", "", "Sequestered shades where Piety has given", " A quiet refuge from each earthly care,", "Whence the rapt spirit may ascend to Heaven!", "", "Oh, ye condemned the ills of life to bear!", " As with advancing age your woes increase,", "What bliss amidst these solitudes to share", " The happy foretaste of eternal Peace,", "Till Heaven in mercy bids your pain and sorrows cease." ], "linecount": "26" }, { "title": "Lines Written Beneath a Picture", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Dear object of defeated care!", " Though now of Love and thee bereft,", "To reconcile me with despair", " Thine image and my tears are left.", "", "'Tis said with Sorrow Time can cope;", " But this I feel can ne'er be true:", "For by the death-blow of my Hope", " My Memory immortal grew." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "On Parting", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The kiss, dear maid! thy lip has left", " Shall never part from mine,", "Till happier hours restore the gift", " Untainted back to thine.", "", "Thy parting glance, which fondly beams,", " An equal love may see:", "The tear that from thine eyelid streams", " Can weep no change in me.", "", "I ask no pledge to make me blest", " In gazing when alone;", "Nor one memorial for a breast,", " Whose thoughts are all thine own.", "", "Nor need I write--to tell the tale", " My pen were doubly weak:", "Oh! what can idle words avail,", " Unless the heart could speak?", "", "By day or night, in weal or woe,", " That heart, no longer free,", "Must bear the love it cannot show,", " And silent ache for thee." ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "Lines to a Lady Weeping", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Weep, daughter of a royal line,", " A Sire's disgrace, a realm's decay;", "Ah! happy if each tear of thine", " Could wash a Father's fault away!", "Weep--for thy tears are Virtue's tears--", " Auspicious to these suffering Isles;", "And be each drop in future years", " Repaid thee by thy People's smiles!" ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "On a Cornelian Heart Which Was Broken", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Ill-fated Heart! and can it be,", " That thou shouldst thus be rent in twain?", "Have years of care for thine and thee", " Alike been all employed in vain?", "", "Yet precious seems each shattered part,", " And every fragment dearer grown,", "Since he who wears thee feels thou art", " A fitter emblem of _his own_." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Lines Written on a Blank Leaf of _the Pleasures of Memory_", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Absent or present, still to thee,", " My friend, what magic spells belong!", "As all can tell, who share, like me,", " In turn thy converse, and thy song.", "", "But when the dreaded hour shall come", " By Friendship ever deemed too nigh,", "And \"Memory\" o'er her Druid's tomb", " Shall weep that aught of thee can die,", "", "How fondly will she then repay", " Thy homage offered at her shrine,", "And blend, while ages roll away,", " _Her_ name immortally with _thine_!" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Verses Found in a Summer-House at Hales-Owen", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When Dryden's fool, \"unknowing what he sought,\"", "His hours in whistling spent, \"for want of thought,\"", "This guiltless oaf his vacancy of sense", "Supplied, and amply too, by innocence:", "Did modern swains, possessed of Cymon's powers,", "In Cymon's manner waste their leisure hours,", "Th' offended guests would not, with blushing, see", "These fair green walks disgraced by infamy.", "Severe the fate of modern fools, alas!", "When vice and folly mark them as they pass.", "Like noxious reptiles o'er the whitened wall,", "The filth they leave still points out where they crawl." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Remember Thee! Remember Thee!", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Remember thee! remember thee!", " Till Lethe quench life's burning stream", "Remorse and Shame shall cling to thee,", " And haunt thee like a feverish dream!", "", "Remember thee! Aye, doubt it not.", " Thy husband too shall think of thee:", "By neither shalt thou be forgot,", " Thou _false_ to him, thou _fiend_ to me!" ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "On Being Asked What Was the \"Origin of Love.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The \"Origin of Love!\"--Ah, why", " That cruel question ask of me,", "When thou mayst read in many an eye", " He starts to life on seeing thee?", "And shouldst thou seek his _end_ to know:", " My heart forebodes, my fears foresee,", "He'll linger long in silent woe;", " But live until--I cease to be." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Impromptu, in Reply to a Friend", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When, from the heart where Sorrow sits,", " Her dusky shadow mounts too high,", "And o'er the changing aspect flits,", " And clouds the brow, or fills the eye;", "Heed not that gloom, which soon shall sink:", " My Thoughts their dungeon know too well;", "Back to my breast the Wanderers shrink,", " And _droop_ within their silent cell." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Sonnet. to Genevra", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Thine eyes' blue tenderness, thy long fair hair,", " And the warm lustre of thy features--caught", " From contemplation--where serenely wrought,", "Seems Sorrow's softness charmed from its despair--", "Have thrown such speaking sadness in thine air,", " That--but I know thy blessed bosom fraught", " With mines of unalloyed and stainless thought--", "I should have deemed thee doomed to earthly care.", "With such an aspect, by his colours blent,", " When from his beauty-breathing pencil born,", "(Except that _thou_ hast nothing to repent)", " The Magdalen of Guido saw the morn--", "Such seem'st thou--but how much more excellent!", " With nought Remorse can claim--nor Virtue scorn." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Sonnet. to Genevra", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Thy cheek is pale with thought, but not from woe,", " And yet so lovely, that if Mirth could flush", " Its rose of whiteness with the brightest blush,", "My heart would wish away that ruder glow:", "And dazzle not thy deep-blue eyes--but, oh!", " While gazing on them sterner eyes will gush,", " And into mine my mother's weakness rush,", "Soft as the last drops round Heaven's airy bow.", "For, through thy long dark lashes low depending,", " The soul of melancholy Gentleness", "Gleams like a Seraph from the sky descending,", " Above all pain, yet pitying all distress;", "At once such majesty with sweetness blending,", " I worship more, but cannot love thee less." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "From the Portuguese. \"Tu MI Chamas\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In moments to delight devoted,", " \"My Life!\" with tenderest tone, you cry;", "Dear words! on which my heart had doted,", " If Youth could neither fade nor die.", "", "To Death even hours like these must roll,", " Ah! then repeat those accents never;", "Or change \"my Life!\" into \"my Soul!\"", " Which, like my Love, exists for ever." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "The Corsair. ", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "\"----nessun maggior dolore,", "Che ricordarsi del tempo felice", "Nella miseria,----\"", " Dante, _Inferno_, v. 121.", "", "\"O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,", "Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free,", "Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,", "Survey our empire, and behold our home!", "These are our realms, no limits to their sway--", "Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey.", "Ours the wild life in tumult still to range", "From toil to rest, and joy in every change.", "Oh, who can tell? not thou, luxurious slave!", "Whose soul would sicken o'er the heaving wave;", "Not thou, vain lord of Wantonness and Ease!", "Whom Slumber soothes not--Pleasure cannot please--", "Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,", "And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide,", "The exulting sense--the pulse's maddening play,", "That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way?", "That for itself can woo the approaching fight,", "And turn what some deem danger to delight;", "That seeks what cravens shun with more than zeal,", "And where the feebler faint can only feel--", "Feel--to the rising bosom's inmost core,", "Its hope awaken and its spirit soar?", "No dread of Death--if with us die our foes--", "Save that it seems even duller than repose;", "Come when it will--we snatch the life of Life--", "When lost--what recks it by disease or strife?", "Let him who crawls, enamoured of decay,", "Cling to his couch, and sicken years away;", "Heave his thick breath, and shake his palsied head;", "Ours the fresh turf, and not the feverish bed,--", "While gasp by gasp he falters forth his soul,", "Ours with one pang--one bound--escapes control.", "His corse may boast its urn and narrow cave,", "And they who loathed his life may gild his grave:", "Ours are the tears, though few, sincerely shed,", "When Ocean shrouds and sepulchres our dead.", "For us, even banquets fond regret supply", "In the red cup that crowns our memory;", "And the brief epitaph in Danger's day,", "When those who win at length divide the prey,", "And cry, Remembrance saddening o'er each brow,", "How had the brave who fell exulted _now_!\"", "", "Such were the notes that from the Pirate's isle", "Around the kindling watch-fire rang the while:", "Such were the sounds that thrilled the rocks along,", "And unto ears as rugged seemed a song!", "In scattered groups upon the golden sand,", "They game--carouse--converse--or whet the brand;", "Select the arms--to each his blade assign,", "And careless eye the blood that dims its shine;", "Repair the boat, replace the helm or oar,", "While others straggling muse along the shore;", "For the wild bird the busy springes set,", "Or spread beneath the sun the dripping net:", "Gaze where some distant sail a speck supplies,", "With all the thirsting eye of Enterprise;", "Tell o'er the tales of many a night of toil,", "And marvel where they next shall seize a spoil:", "No matter where--their chief's allotment this;", "Theirs to believe no prey nor plan amiss.", "But who that Chief? his name on every shore", "Is famed and feared--they ask and know no more", "With these he mingles not but to command;", "Few are his words, but keen his eye and hand.", "Ne'er seasons he with mirth their jovial mess,", "But they forgive his silence for success.", "Ne'er for his lip the purpling cup they fill,", "That goblet passes him untasted still--", "And for his fare--the rudest of his crew", "Would that, in turn, have passed untasted too;", "Earth's coarsest bread, the garden's homeliest roots,", "And scarce the summer luxury of fruits,", "His short repast in humbleness supply", "With all a hermit's board would scarce deny.", "But while he shuns the grosser joys of sense,", "His mind seems nourished by that abstinence.", "\"Steer to that shore!\"--they sail. \"Do this!\"--'tis done:", "\"Now form and follow me!\"--the spoil is won.", "Thus prompt his accents and his actions still,", "And all obey and few inquire his will;", "To such, brief answer and contemptuous eye", "Convey reproof, nor further deign reply.", "", "\"A sail!--a sail!\"--a promised prize to Hope!", "Her nation--flag--how speaks the telescope?", "No prize, alas! but yet a welcome sail:", "The blood-red signal glitters in the gale.", "Yes--she is ours--a home-returning bark--", "Blow fair, thou breeze!--she anchors ere the dark.", "Already doubled is the cape--our bay", "Receives that prow which proudly spurns the spray.", "How gloriously her gallant course she goes!", "Her white wings flying--never from her foes--", "She walks the waters like a thing of Life!", "And seems to dare the elements to strife.", "Who would not brave the battle-fire, the wreck,", "To move the monarch of her peopled deck!", "", "Hoarse o'er her side the rustling cable rings:", "The sails are furled; and anchoring round she swings;", "And gathering loiterers on the land discern", "Her boat descending from the latticed stern.", "'Tis manned--the oars keep concert to the strand,", "Till grates her keel upon the shallow sand.", "Hail to the welcome shout!--the friendly speech!", "When hand grasps hand uniting on the beach;", "The smile, the question, and the quick reply,", "And the Heart's promise of festivity!", "", "The tidings spread, and gathering grows the crowd:", "The hum of voices, and the laughter loud,", "And Woman's gentler anxious tone is heard--", "Friends'--husbands'--lovers' names in each dear word:", "\"Oh! are they safe? we ask not of success--", "But shall we see them? will their accents bless?", "From where the battle roars, the billows chafe,", "They doubtless boldly did--but who are safe?", "Here let them haste to gladden and surprise,", "And kiss the doubt from these delighted eyes!\"", "", "\"Where is our Chief? for him we bear report--", "And doubt that joy--which hails our coming--short;", "Yet thus sincere--'tis cheering, though so brief;", "But, Juan! instant guide us to our Chief:", "Our greeting paid, we'll feast on our return,", "And all shall hear what each may wish to learn.\"", "Ascending slowly by the rock-hewn way,", "To where his watch-tower beetles o'er the bay,", "By bushy brake, the wild flowers blossoming,", "And freshness breathing from each silver spring,", "Whose scattered streams from granite basins burst,", "Leap into life, and sparkling woo your thirst;", "From crag to cliff they mount--Near yonder cave,", "What lonely straggler looks along the wave?", "In pensive posture leaning on the brand,", "Not oft a resting-staff to that red hand?", "\"'Tis he--'tis Conrad--here--as wont--alone;", "On--Juan!--on--and make our purpose known.", "The bark he views--and tell him we would greet", "His ear with tidings he must quickly meet:", "We dare not yet approach--thou know'st his mood,", "When strange or uninvited steps intrude.\"", "", "Him Juan sought, and told of their intent;--", "He spake not, but a sign expressed assent,", "These Juan calls--they come--to their salute", "He bends him slightly, but his lips are mute.", "\"These letters, Chief, are from the Greek--the spy,", "Who still proclaims our spoil or peril nigh:", "Whate'er his tidings, we can well report,", "Much that\"--\"Peace, peace!\"--he cuts their prating short.", "Wondering they turn, abashed, while each to each", "Conjecture whispers in his muttering speech:", "They watch his glance with many a stealing look,", "To gather how that eye the tidings took;", "But, this as if he guessed, with head aside,", "Perchance from some emotion, doubt, or pride,", "He read the scroll--\"My tablets, Juan, hark--", "Where is Gonsalvo?\"", "", " \"In the anchored bark.\"", "\"There let him stay--to him this order bear--", "Back to your duty--for my course prepare:", "Myself this enterprise to-night will share.\"", "\"To-night, Lord Conrad?\"", " \"Aye! at set of sun:", "The breeze will freshen when the day is done.", "My corslet--cloak--one hour and we are gone.", "Sling on thy bugle--see that free from rust", "My carbine-lock springs worthy of my trust;", "Be the edge sharpened of my boarding-brand,", "And give its guard more room to fit my hand.", "This let the Armourer with speed dispose;", "Last time, it more fatigued my arm than foes;", "Mark that the signal-gun be duly fired,", "To tell us when the hour of stay's expired.\"", "", "They make obeisance, and retire in haste,", "Too soon to seek again the watery waste:", "Yet they repine not--so that Conrad guides;", "And who dare question aught that he decides?", "That man of loneliness and mystery,", "Scarce seen to smile, and seldom heard to sigh;", "Whose name appals the fiercest of his crew,", "And tints each swarthy cheek with sallower hue;", "Still sways their souls with that commanding art", "That dazzles, leads, yet chills the vulgar heart.", "What is that spell, that thus his lawless train", "Confess and envy--yet oppose in vain?", "What should it be, that thus their faith can bind?", "The power of Thought--the magic of the Mind!", "Linked with success, assumed and kept with skill,", "That moulds another's weakness to its will;", "Wields with their hands, but, still to these unknown,", "Makes even their mightiest deeds appear his own.", "Such hath it been--shall be--beneath the Sun", "The many still must labour for the one!", "'Tis Nature's doom--but let the wretch who toils,", "Accuse not--hate not--_him_ who wears the spoils.", "Oh! if he knew the weight of splendid chains,", "How light the balance of his humbler pains!", "", "Unlike the heroes of each ancient race,", "Demons in act, but Gods at least in face,", "In Conrad's form seems little to admire,", "Though his dark eyebrow shades a glance of fire:", "Robust but not Herculean--to the sight", "No giant frame sets forth his common height;", "Yet, in the whole, who paused to look again,", "Saw more than marks the crowd of vulgar men;", "They gaze and marvel how--and still confess", "That thus it is, but why they cannot guess.", "Sun-burnt his cheek, his forehead high and pale", "The sable curls in wild profusion veil;", "And oft perforce his rising lip reveals", "The haughtier thought it curbs, but scarce conceals.", "Though smooth his voice, and calm his general mien,", "Still seems there something he would not have seen:", "His features' deepening lines and varying hue", "At times attracted, yet perplexed the view,", "As if within that murkiness of mind", "Worked feelings fearful, and yet undefined;", "Such might it be--that none could truly tell--", "Too close inquiry his stern glance would quell.", "There breathe but few whose aspect might defy", "The full encounter of his searching eye;", "He had the skill, when Cunning's gaze would seek", "To probe his heart and watch his changing cheek,", "At once the observer's purpose to espy,", "And on himself roll back his scrutiny,", "Lest he to Conrad rather should betray", "Some secret thought, than drag that Chief's to day.", "There was a laughing Devil in his sneer,", "That raised emotions both of rage and fear;", "And where his frown of hatred darkly fell,", "Hope withering fled--and Mercy sighed farewell!", "", "Slight are the outward signs of evil thought,", "Within--within--'twas there the spirit wrought!", "Love shows all changes--Hate, Ambition, Guile,", "Betray no further than the bitter smile;", "The lip's least curl, the lightest paleness thrown", "Along the governed aspect, speak alone", "Of deeper passions; and to judge their mien,", "He, who would see, must be himself unseen.", "Then--with the hurried tread, the upward eye,", "The clenchéd hand, the pause of agony,", "That listens, starting, lest the step too near", "Approach intrusive on that mood of fear:", "Then--with each feature working from the heart,", "With feelings, loosed to strengthen--not depart,", "That rise--convulse--contend--that freeze or glow,", "Flush in the cheek, or damp upon the brow;", "Then--Stranger! if thou canst, and tremblest not,", "Behold his soul--the rest that soothes his lot!", "Mark how that lone and blighted bosom sears", "The scathing thought of execrated years!", "Behold--but who hath seen, or e'er shall see,", "Man as himself--the secret spirit free?", "", "Yet was not Conrad thus by Nature sent", "To lead the guilty--Guilt's worse instrument--", "His soul was changed, before his deeds had driven", "Him forth to war with Man and forfeit Heaven.", "Warped by the world in Disappointment's school,", "In words too wise--in conduct _there_ a fool;", "Too firm to yield, and far too proud to stoop,", "Doomed by his very virtues for a dupe,", "He cursed those virtues as the cause of ill,", "And not the traitors who betrayed him still;", "Nor deemed that gifts bestowed on better men", "Had left him joy, and means to give again.", "Feared--shunned--belied--ere Youth had lost her force,", "He hated Man too much to feel remorse,", "And thought the voice of Wrath a sacred call,", "To pay the injuries of some on all.", "He knew himself a villain--but he deemed", "The rest no better than the thing he seemed;", "And scorned the best as hypocrites who hid", "Those deeds the bolder spirit plainly did.", "He knew himself detested, but he knew", "The hearts that loathed him, crouched and dreaded too.", "Lone, wild, and strange, he stood alike exempt", "From all affection and from all contempt:", "His name could sadden, and his acts surprise;", "But they that feared him dared not to despise:", "Man spurns the worm, but pauses ere he wake", "The slumbering venom of the folded snake:", "The first may turn, but not avenge the blow;", "The last expires, but leaves no living foe;", "Fast to the doomed offender's form it clings,", "And he may crush--not conquer--still it stings!", "", "None are all evil--quickening round his heart,", "One softer feeling would not yet depart;", "Oft could he sneer at others as beguiled", "By passions worthy of a fool or child;", "Yet 'gainst that passion vainly still he strove,", "And even in him it asks the name of Love!", "Yes, it was love--unchangeable--unchanged,", "Felt but for one from whom he never ranged;", "Though fairest captives daily met his eye,", "He shunned, nor sought, but coldly passed them by;", "Though many a beauty drooped in prisoned bower,", "None ever soothed his most unguarded hour,", "Yes--it was Love--if thoughts of tenderness,", "Tried in temptation, strengthened by distress,", "Unmoved by absence, firm in every clime,", "And yet--Oh more than all!--untired by Time;", "Which nor defeated hope, nor baffled wile,", "Could render sullen were She near to smile,", "Nor rage could fire, nor sickness fret to vent", "On her one murmur of his discontent;", "Which still would meet with joy, with calmness part,", "Lest that his look of grief should reach her heart;", "Which nought removed, nor menaced to remove--", "If there be Love in mortals--this was Love!", "He was a villain--aye, reproaches shower", "On him--but not the Passion, nor its power,", "Which only proved--all other virtues gone--", "Not Guilt itself could quench this loveliest one!", "", "He paused a moment--till his hastening men", "Passed the first winding downward to the glen.", "\"Strange tidings!--many a peril have I passed,", "Nor know I why this next appears the last!", "Yet so my heart forebodes, but must not fear,", "Nor shall my followers find me falter here.", "'Tis rash to meet--but surer death to wait", "Till here they hunt us to undoubted fate;", "And, if my plan but hold, and Fortune smile,", "We'll furnish mourners for our funeral pile.", "Aye, let them slumber--peaceful be their dreams!", "Morn ne'er awoke them with such brilliant beams", "As kindle high to-night (but blow, thou breeze!)", "To warm these slow avengers of the seas.", "Now to Medora--Oh! my sinking heart,", "Long may her own be lighter than thou art!", "Yet was I brave--mean boast where all are brave!", "Ev'n insects sting for aught they seek to save.", "This common courage which with brutes we share,", "That owes its deadliest efforts to Despair,", "Small merit claims--but 'twas my nobler hope", "To teach my few with numbers still to cope;", "Long have I led them--not to vainly bleed:", "No medium now--we perish or succeed!", "So let it be--it irks not me to die;", "But thus to urge them whence they cannot fly.", "My lot hath long had little of my care,", "But chafes my pride thus baffled in the snare:", "Is this my skill? my craft? to set at last", "Hope, Power and Life upon a single cast?", "Oh, Fate!--accuse thy folly--not thy fate;", "She may redeem thee still--nor yet too late.\"", "", "Thus with himself communion held he, till", "He reached the summit of his tower-crowned hill:", "There at the portal paused--for wild and soft", "He heard those accents never heard too oft!", "Through the high lattice far yet sweet they rung,", "And these the notes his Bird of Beauty sung:", "", "\"Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells,", " Lonely and lost to light for evermore,", "Save when to thine my heart responsive swells,", " Then trembles into silence as before.", "", "\"There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp", " Burns the slow flame, eternal--but unseen;", "Which not the darkness of Despair can damp,", " Though vain its ray as it had never been.", "", "\"Remember me--Oh! pass not thou my grave", " Without one thought whose relics there recline:", "The only pang my bosom dare not brave", " Must be to find forgetfulness in thine.", "", "\"My fondest--faintest--latest accents hear--", " Grief for the dead not Virtue can reprove;", "Then give me all I ever asked--a tear,", " The first--last--sole reward of so much love!\"", "", "He passed the portal, crossed the corridor,", "And reached the chamber as the strain gave o'er:", "\"My own Medora! sure thy song is sad--\"", "", "\"In Conrad's absence would'st thou have it glad?", "Without thine ear to listen to my lay,", "Still must my song my thoughts, my soul betray:", "Still must each accent to my bosom suit,", "My heart unhushed--although my lips were mute!", "Oh! many a night on this lone couch reclined,", "My dreaming fear with storms hath winged the wind,", "And deemed the breath that faintly fanned thy sail", "The murmuring prelude of the ruder gale;", "Though soft--it seemed the low prophetic dirge,", "That mourned thee floating on the savage surge:", "Still would I rise to rouse the beacon fire,", "Lest spies less true should let the blaze expire;", "And many a restless hour outwatched each star,", "And morning came--and still thou wert afar.", "Oh! how the chill blast on my bosom blew,", "And day broke dreary on my troubled view,", "And still I gazed and gazed--and not a prow", "Was granted to my tears--my truth--my vow!", "At length--'twas noon--I hailed and blest the mast", "That met my sight--it neared--Alas! it passed!", "Another came--Oh God! 'twas thine at last!", "Would that those days were over! wilt thou ne'er,", "My Conrad! learn the joys of peace to share?", "Sure thou hast more than wealth, and many a home", "As bright as this invites us not to roam:", "Thou know'st it is not peril that I fear,", "I only tremble when thou art not here;", "Then not for mine, but that far dearer life,", "Which flies from love and languishes for strife--", "How strange that heart, to me so tender still,", "Should war with Nature and its better will!\"", "", "\"Yea, strange indeed--that heart hath long been changed;", "Worm-like 'twas trampled--adder-like avenged--", "Without one hope on earth beyond thy love,", "And scarce a glimpse of mercy from above.", "Yet the same feeling which thou dost condemn,", "My very love to thee is hate to them,", "So closely mingling here, that disentwined,", "I cease to love thee when I love Mankind:", "Yet dread not this--the proof of all the past", "Assures the future that my love will last;", "But--Oh, Medora! nerve thy gentler heart;", "This hour again--but not for long--we part.\"", "", "\"This hour we part!--my heart foreboded this:", "Thus ever fade my fairy dreams of bliss.", "This hour--it cannot be--this hour away!", "Yon bark hath hardly anchored in the bay:", "Her consort still is absent, and her crew", "Have need of rest before they toil anew;", "My Love! thou mock'st my weakness; and wouldst steel", "My breast before the time when it must feel;", "But trifle now no more with my distress,", "Such mirth hath less of play than bitterness.", "Be silent, Conrad!--dearest! come and share", "The feast these hands delighted to prepare;", "Light toil! to cull and dress thy frugal fare!", "See, I have plucked the fruit that promised best,", "And where not sure, perplexed, but pleased, I guessed", "At such as seemed the fairest; thrice the hill", "My steps have wound to try the coolest rill;", "Yes! thy Sherbet to-night will sweetly flow,", "See how it sparkles in its vase of snow!", "The grapes' gay juice thy bosom never cheers;", "Thou more than Moslem when the cup appears:", "Think not I mean to chide--for I rejoice", "What others deem a penance is thy choice.", "But come, the board is spread; our silver lamp", "Is trimmed, and heeds not the Sirocco's damp:", "Then shall my handmaids while the time along,", "And join with me the dance, or wake the song;", "Or my guitar, which still thou lov'st to hear,", "Shall soothe or lull--or, should it vex thine ear,", "We'll turn the tale, by Ariosto told,", "Of fair Olympia loved and left of old.", "Why, thou wert worse than he who broke his vow", "To that lost damsel, should thou leave me _now_--", "Or even that traitor chief--I've seen thee smile,", "When the clear sky showed Ariadne's Isle,", "Which I have pointed from these cliffs the while:", "And thus half sportive--half in fear--I said,", "Lest Time should raise that doubt to more than dread,", "Thus Conrad, too, will quit me for the main:", "And he deceived me--for--he came again!\"", "", "\"Again, again--and oft again--my Love!", "If there be life below, and hope above,", "He will return--but now, the moments bring", "The time of parting with redoubled wing:", "The why, the where--what boots it now to tell?", "Since all must end in that wild word--Farewell!", "Yet would I fain--did time allow--disclose--", "Fear not--these are no formidable foes!", "And here shall watch a more than wonted guard,", "For sudden siege and long defence prepared:", "Nor be thou lonely, though thy Lord's away,", "Our matrons and thy handmaids with thee stay;", "And this thy comfort--that, when next we meet,", "Security shall make repose more sweet.", "List!--'tis the bugle!\"--Juan shrilly blew--", "\"One kiss--one more--another--Oh! Adieu!\"", "She rose--she sprung--she clung to his embrace,", "Till his heart heaved beneath her hidden face:", "He dared not raise to his that deep-blue eye,", "Which downcast drooped in tearless agony.", "Her long fair hair lay floating o'er his arms,", "In all the wildness of dishevelled charms;", "Scarce beat that bosom where his image dwelt", "So full--_that_ feeling seem'd almost unfelt!", "Hark--peals the thunder of the signal-gun!", "It told 'twas sunset, and he cursed that sun.", "Again--again--that form he madly pressed,", "Which mutely clasped, imploringly caressed!", "And tottering to the couch his bride he bore,", "One moment gazed--as if to gaze no more;", "Felt that for him Earth held but her alone,", "Kissed her cold forehead--turned--is Conrad gone?", "", "\"And is he gone?\"--on sudden solitude", "How oft that fearful question will intrude!", "\"'Twas but an instant past, and here he stood!", "And now\"--without the portal's porch she rushed,", "And then at length her tears in freedom gushed;", "Big, bright, and fast, unknown to her they fell;", "But still her lips refused to send--\"Farewell!\"", "For in that word--that fatal word--howe'er", "We promise--hope--believe--there breathes Despair.", "O'er every feature of that still, pale face,", "Had Sorrow fixed what Time can ne'er erase:", "The tender blue of that large loving eye", "Grew frozen with its gaze on vacancy,", "Till--Oh, how far!--it caught a glimpse of him,", "And then it flowed, and phrensied seemed to swim", "Through those long, dark, and glistening lashes dewed", "With drops of sadness oft to be renewed.", "\"He's gone!\"--against her heart that hand is driven,", "Convulsed and quick--then gently raised to Heaven:", "She looked and saw the heaving of the main:", "The white sail set--she dared not look again;", "But turned with sickening soul within the gate--", "\"It is no dream--and I am desolate!\"", "", "From crag to crag descending, swiftly sped", "Stern Conrad down, nor once he turned his head;", "But shrunk whene'er the windings of his way", "Forced on his eye what he would not survey,", "His lone, but lovely dwelling on the steep,", "That hailed him first when homeward from the deep:", "And she--the dim and melancholy Star,", "Whose ray of Beauty reached him from afar,", "On her he must not gaze, he must not think--", "There he might rest--but on Destruction's brink:", "Yet once almost he stopped--and nearly gave", "His fate to chance, his projects to the wave:", "But no--it must not be--a worthy chief", "May melt, but not betray to Woman's grief.", "He sees his bark, he notes how fair the wind,", "And sternly gathers all his might of mind:", "Again he hurries on--and as he hears", "The clang of tumult vibrate on his ears,", "The busy sounds, the bustle of the shore,", "The shout, the signal, and the dashing oar;", "As marks his eye the seaboy on the mast,", "The anchors rise, the sails unfurling fast,", "The waving kerchiefs of the crowd that urge", "That mute Adieu to those who stem the surge;", "And more than all, his blood-red flag aloft,", "He marvelled how his heart could seem so soft.", "Fire in his glance, and wildness in his breast,", "He feels of all his former self possest;", "He bounds--he flies--until his footsteps reach", "The verge where ends the cliff, begins the beach,", "There checks his speed; but pauses less to breathe", "The breezy freshness of the deep beneath,", "Than there his wonted statelier step renew;", "Nor rush, disturbed by haste, to vulgar view:", "For well had Conrad learned to curb the crowd,", "By arts that veil, and oft preserve the proud;", "His was the lofty port, the distant mien,", "That seems to shun the sight--and awes if seen:", "The solemn aspect, and the high-born eye,", "That checks low mirth, but lacks not courtesy;", "All these he wielded to command assent:", "But where he wished to win, so well unbent,", "That Kindness cancelled fear in those who heard,", "And others' gifts showed mean beside his word,", "When echoed to the heart as from his own", "His deep yet tender melody of tone:", "But such was foreign to his wonted mood,", "He cared not what he softened, but subdued;", "The evil passions of his youth had made", "Him value less who loved--than what obeyed.", "", "Around him mustering ranged his ready guard.", "Before him Juan stands--\"Are all prepared?\"", "\"They are--nay more--embarked: the latest boat", "Waits but my chief----\"", " \"My sword, and my capote.\"", "Soon firmly girded on, and lightly slung,", "His belt and cloak were o'er his shoulders flung:", "\"Call Pedro here!\" He comes--and Conrad bends,", "With all the courtesy he deigned his friends;", "\"Receive these tablets, and peruse with care,", "Words of high trust and truth are graven there;", "Double the guard, and when Anselmo's bark", "Arrives, let him alike these orders mark:", "In three days (serve the breeze) the sun shall shine", "On our return--till then all peace be thine!\"", "This said, his brother Pirate's hand he wrung,", "Then to his boat with haughty gesture sprung.", "Flashed the dipt oars, and sparkling with the stroke,", "Around the waves' phosphoric brightness broke;", "They gain the vessel--on the deck he stands,--", "Shrieks the shrill whistle, ply the busy hands--", "He marks how well the ship her helm obeys,", "How gallant all her crew, and deigns to praise.", "His eyes of pride to young Gonsalvo turn--", "Why doth he start, and inly seem to mourn?", "Alas! those eyes beheld his rocky tower,", "And live a moment o'er the parting hour;", "She--his Medora--did she mark the prow?", "Ah! never loved he half so much as now!", "But much must yet be done ere dawn of day--", "Again he mans himself and turns away;", "Down to the cabin with Gonsalvo bends,", "And there unfolds his plan--his means, and ends;", "Before them burns the lamp, and spreads the chart,", "And all that speaks and aids the naval art;", "They to the midnight watch protract debate;", "To anxious eyes what hour is ever late?", "Meantime, the steady breeze serenely blew,", "And fast and falcon-like the vessel flew;", "Passed the high headlands of each clustering isle,", "To gain their port--long--long ere morning smile:", "And soon the night-glass through the narrow bay", "Discovers where the Pacha's galleys lay.", "Count they each sail, and mark how there supine", "The lights in vain o'er heedless Moslem shine.", "Secure, unnoted, Conrad's prow passed by,", "And anchored where his ambush meant to lie;", "Screened from espial by the jutting cape,", "That rears on high its rude fantastic shape.", "Then rose his band to duty--not from sleep--", "Equipped for deeds alike on land or deep;", "While leaned their Leader o'er the fretting flood,", "And calmly talked--and yet he talked of blood!", "", "CANTO THE SECOND.", "", " \"Conosceste i dubbiosi desiri?\"", "Dante, _Inferno_, v, 120.", "", "In Coron's bay floats many a galley light,", "Through Coron's lattices the lamps are bright,", "For Seyd, the Pacha, makes a feast to-night:", "A feast for promised triumph yet to come,", "When he shall drag the fettered Rovers home;", "This hath he sworn by Allah and his sword,", "And faithful to his firman and his word,", "His summoned prows collect along the coast,", "And great the gathering crews, and loud the boast;", "Already shared the captives and the prize,", "Though far the distant foe they thus despise;", "'Tis but to sail--no doubt to-morrow's Sun", "Will see the Pirates bound--their haven won!", "Meantime the watch may slumber, if they will,", "Nor only wake to war, but dreaming kill.", "Though all, who can, disperse on shore and seek", "To flesh their glowing valour on the Greek;", "How well such deed becomes the turbaned brave--", "To bare the sabre's edge before a slave!", "Infest his dwelling--but forbear to slay,", "Their arms are strong, yet merciful to-day,", "And do not deign to smite because they may!", "Unless some gay caprice suggests the blow,", "To keep in practice for the coming foe.", "Revel and rout the evening hours beguile,", "And they who wish to wear a head must smile;", "For Moslem mouths produce their choicest cheer,", "And hoard their curses, till the coast is clear.", "", "High in his hall reclines the turbaned Seyd;", "Around--the bearded chiefs he came to lead.", "Removed the banquet, and the last pilaff--", "Forbidden draughts, 'tis said, he dared to quaff,", "Though to the rest the sober berry's juice", "The slaves bear round for rigid Moslems' use;", "The long chibouque's dissolving cloud supply,", "While dance the Almas to wild minstrelsy.", "The rising morn will view the chiefs embark;", "But waves are somewhat treacherous in the dark:", "And revellers may more securely sleep", "On silken couch than o'er the rugged deep:", "Feast there who can--nor combat till they must,", "And less to conquest than to Korans trust;", "And yet the numbers crowded in his host", "Might warrant more than even the Pacha's boast.", "", "With cautious reverence from the outer gate", "Slow stalks the slave, whose office there to wait,", "Bows his bent head--his hand salutes the floor,", "Ere yet his tongue the trusted tidings bore:", "\"A captive Dervise, from the Pirate's nest", "Escaped, is here--himself would tell the rest.\"", "He took the sign from Seyd's assenting eye,", "And led the holy man in silence nigh.", "His arms were folded on his dark-green vest,", "His step was feeble, and his look deprest;", "Yet worn he seemed of hardship more than years,", "And pale his cheek with penance, not from fears.", "Vowed to his God--his sable locks he wore,", "And these his lofty cap rose proudly o'er:", "Around his form his loose long robe was thrown,", "And wrapt a breast bestowed on heaven alone;", "Submissive, yet with self-possession manned,", "He calmly met the curious eyes that scanned;", "And question of his coming fain would seek,", "Before the Pacha's will allowed to speak.", "", "\"Whence com'st thou, Dervise?\"", " \"From the Outlaw's den", "A fugitive--\"", " \"Thy capture where and when?\"", "\"From Scalanova's port to Scio's isle,", "The Saick was bound; but Allah did not smile", "Upon our course--the Moslem merchant's gains", "The Rovers won; our limbs have worn their chains.", "I had no death to fear, nor wealth to boast,", "Beyond the wandering freedom which I lost;", "At length a fisher's humble boat by night", "Afforded hope, and offered chance of flight;", "I seized the hour, and find my safety here--", "With thee--most mighty Pacha! who can fear?\"", "", "\"How speed the outlaws? stand they well prepared,", "Their plundered wealth, and robber's rock, to guard?", "Dream they of this our preparation, doomed", "To view with fire their scorpion nest consumed?\"", "", "\"Pacha! the fettered captive's mourning eye,", "That weeps for flight, but ill can play the spy;", "I only heard the reckless waters roar,", "Those waves that would not bear me from the shore;", "I only marked the glorious Sun and sky,", "Too bright--too blue--for my captivity;", "And felt that all which Freedom's bosom cheers", "Must break my chain before it dried my tears.", "This mayst thou judge, at least, from my escape,", "They little deem of aught in Peril's shape;", "Else vainly had I prayed or sought the Chance", "That leads me here--if eyed with vigilance:", "The careless guard that did not see me fly,", "May watch as idly when thy power is nigh.", "Pacha! my limbs are faint--and nature craves", "Food for my hunger, rest from tossing waves:", "Permit my absence--peace be with thee! Peace", "With all around!--now grant repose--release.\"", "", "\"Stay, Dervise! I have more to question--stay,", "I do command thee--sit--dost hear?--obey!", "More I must ask, and food the slaves shall bring;", "Thou shall not pine where all are banqueting:", "The supper done--prepare thee to reply,", "Clearly and full--I love not mystery.\"", "'Twere vain to guess what shook the pious man,", "Who looked not lovingly on that Divan;", "Nor showed high relish for the banquet prest,", "And less respect for every fellow guest.", "Twas but a moment's peevish hectic passed", "Along his cheek, and tranquillised as fast:", "He sate him down in silence, and his look", "Resumed the calmness which before forsook:", "The feast was ushered in--but sumptuous fare", "He shunned as if some poison mingled there.", "For one so long condemned to toil and fast,", "Methinks he strangely spares the rich repast.", "\"What ails thee, Dervise? eat--dost thou suppose", "This feast a Christian's? or my friends thy foes?", "Why dost thou shun the salt? that sacred pledge,", "Which, once partaken, blunts the sabre's edge,", "Makes even contending tribes in peace unite,", "And hated hosts seem brethren to the sight!\"", "", "\"Salt seasons dainties--and my food is still", "The humblest root, my drink the simplest rill;", "And my stern vow and Order's laws oppose", "To break or mingle bread with friends or foes;", "It may seem strange--if there be aught to dread", "That peril rests upon my single head;", "But for thy sway--nay more--thy Sultan's throne,", "I taste nor bread nor banquet--save alone;", "Infringed our Order's rule, the Prophet's rage", "To Mecca's dome might bar my pilgrimage.\"", "", "\"Well--as thou wilt--ascetic as thou art--", "One question answer; then in peace depart.", "How many?--Ha! it cannot sure be day?", "What Star--what Sun is bursting on the bay?", "It shines a lake of fire!--away--away!", "Ho! treachery! my guards! my scimitar!", "The galleys feed the flames--and I afar!", "Accurséd Dervise!--these thy tidings--thou", "Some villain spy--seize--cleave him--slay him now!\"", "", "Up rose the Dervise with that burst of light,", "Nor less his change of form appalled the sight:", "Up rose that Dervise--not in saintly garb,", "But like a warrior bounding on his barb,", "Dashed his high cap, and tore his robe away--", "Shone his mailed breast, and flashed his sabre's ray!", "His close but glittering casque, and sable plume,", "More glittering eye, and black brow's sabler gloom,", "Glared on the Moslems' eyes some Afrit Sprite,", "Whose demon death-blow left no hope for fight.", "The wild confusion, and the swarthy glow", "Of flames on high, and torches from below;", "The shriek of terror, and the mingling yell--", "For swords began to clash, and shouts to swell--", "Flung o'er that spot of earth the air of Hell!", "Distracted, to and fro, the flying slaves", "Behold but bloody shore and fiery waves;", "Nought heeded they the Pacha's angry cry,", "_They_ seize that Dervise!--seize on Zatanai!", "He saw their terror--checked the first despair", "That urged him but to stand and perish there,", "Since far too early and too well obeyed,", "The flame was kindled ere the signal made;", "He saw their terror--from his baldric drew", "His bugle--brief the blast--but shrilly blew;", "'Tis answered--\"Well ye speed, my gallant crew!", "Why did I doubt their quickness of career?", "And deem design had left me single here?\"", "Sweeps his long arm--that sabre's whirling sway", "Sheds fast atonement for its first delay;", "Completes his fury, what their fear begun,", "And makes the many basely quail to one.", "The cloven turbans o'er the chamber spread,", "And scarce an arm dare rise to guard its head:", "Even Seyd, convulsed, o'erwhelmed, with rage, surprise,", "Retreats before him, though he still defies.", "No craven he--and yet he dreads the blow,", "So much Confusion magnifies his foe!", "His blazing galleys still distract his sight,", "He tore his beard, and foaming fled the fight;", "For now the pirates passed the Haram gate,", "And burst within--and it were death to wait;", "Where wild Amazement shrieking--kneeling--throws", "The sword aside--in vain--the blood o'erflows!", "The Corsairs pouring, haste to where within", "Invited Conrad's bugle, and the din", "Of groaning victims, and wild cries for life,", "Proclaimed how well he did the work of strife.", "They shout to find him grim and lonely there,", "A glutted tiger mangling in his lair!", "But short their greeting, shorter his reply--", "\"'Tis well--but Seyd escapes--and he must die--", "Much hath been done--but more remains to do--", "Their galleys blaze--why not their city too?\"", "", "Quick at the word they seized him each a torch,", "And fire the dome from minaret to porch.", "A stern delight was fixed in Conrad's eye,", "But sudden sunk--for on his ear the cry", "Of women struck, and like a deadly knell", "Knocked at that heart unmoved by Battle's yell.", "\"Oh! burst the Haram--wrong not on your lives", "One female form--remember--_we_ have wives.", "On them such outrage Vengeance will repay;", "Man is our foe, and such 'tis ours to slay:", "But still we spared--must spare the weaker prey.", "Oh! I forgot--but Heaven will not forgive", "If at my word the helpless cease to live;", "Follow who will--I go--we yet have time", "Our souls to lighten of at least a crime.\"", "He climbs the crackling stair--he bursts the door,", "Nor feels his feet glow scorching with the floor;", "His breath choked gasping with the volumed smoke,", "But still from room to room his way he broke.", "They search--they find--they save: with lusty arms", "Each bears a prize of unregarded charms;", "Calm their loud fears; sustain their sinking frames", "With all the care defenceless Beauty claims:", "So well could Conrad tame their fiercest mood,", "And check the very hands with gore imbrued.", "But who is she? whom Conrad's arms convey,", "From reeking pile and combat's wreck, away--", "Who but the love of him he dooms to bleed?", "The Haram queen--but still the slave of Seyd!", "", "Brief time had Conrad now to greet Gulnare,", "Few words to reassure the trembling Fair;", "For in that pause Compassion snatched from War,", "The foe before retiring, fast and far,", "With wonder saw their footsteps unpursued,", "First slowlier fled--then rallied--then withstood.", "This Seyd perceives, then first perceives how few,", "Compared with his, the Corsair's roving crew,", "And blushes o'er his error, as he eyes", "The ruin wrought by Panic and Surprise.", "Alla il Alla! Vengeance swells the cry--", "Shame mounts to rage that must atone or die!", "And flame for flame and blood for blood must tell.", "The tide of triumph ebbs that flowed too well--", "When Wrath returns to renovated strife,", "And those who fought for conquest strike for life.", "Conrad beheld the danger--he beheld", "His followers faint by freshening foes repelled:", "\"One effort--one--to break the circling host!\"", "They form--unite--charge--waver--all is lost!", "Within a narrower ring compressed, beset,", "Hopeless, not heartless, strive and struggle yet--", "Ah! now they fight in firmest file no more,", "Hemmed in--cut off--cleft down and trampled o'er;", "But each strikes singly--silently--and home,", "And sinks outwearied rather than o'ercome--", "His last faint quittance rendering with his breath,", "Till the blade glimmers in the grasp of Death!", "", "But first, ere came the rallying host to blows,", "And rank to rank, and hand to hand oppose,", "Gulnare and all her Haram handmaids freed,", "Safe in the dome of one who held their creed,", "By Conrad's mandate safely were bestowed,", "And dried those tears for life and fame that flowed:", "And when that dark-eyed lady, young Gulnare,", "Recalled those thoughts late wandering in despair,", "Much did she marvel o'er the courtesy", "That smoothed his accents, softened in his eye--", "'Twas strange--_that_ robber thus with gore bedewed,", "Seemed gentler then than Seyd in fondest mood.", "The Pacha wooed as if he deemed the slave", "_Must_ seem delighted with the heart he gave;", "The Corsair vowed protection, soothed affright,", "As if his homage were a Woman's right.", "\"The wish is wrong--nay, worse for female--vain:", "Yet much I long to view that Chief again;", "If but to thank for, what my fear forgot,", "The life--my loving Lord remembered not!\"", "", "And him she saw, where thickest carnage spread,", "But gathered breathing from the happier dead;", "Far from his band, and battling with a host", "That deem right dearly won the field he lost,", "Felled--bleeding--baffled of the death he sought,", "And snatched to expiate all the ills he wrought;", "Preserved to linger and to live in vain,", "While Vengeance pondered o'er new plans of pain,", "And stanched the blood she saves to shed again--", "But drop by drop, for Seyd's unglutted eye", "Would doom him ever dying--ne'er to die!", "Can this be he? triumphant late she saw,", "When his red hand's wild gesture waved, a law!", "'Tis he indeed--disarmed but undeprest,", "His sole regret the life he still possest;", "His wounds too slight, though taken with that will,", "Which would have kissed the hand that then could kill.", "Oh were there none, of all the many given,", "To send his soul--he scarcely asked to Heaven?", "Must he alone of all retain his breath,", "Who more than all had striven and struck for death?", "He deeply felt--what mortal hearts must feel,", "When thus reversed on faithless Fortune's wheel,", "For crimes committed, and the victor's threat", "Of lingering tortures to repay the debt--", "He deeply, darkly felt; but evil Pride", "That led to perpetrate--now serves to hide.", "Still in his stern and self-collected mien", "A conqueror's more than captive's air is seen,", "Though faint with wasting toil and stiffening wound,", "But few that saw--so calmly gazed around:", "Though the far shouting of the distant crowd,", "Their tremors o'er, rose insolently loud,", "The better warriors who beheld him near,", "Insulted not the foe who taught them fear;", "And the grim guards that to his durance led,", "In silence eyed him with a secret dread.", "", "The Leech was sent--but not in mercy--there,", "To note how much the life yet left could bear;", "He found enough to load with heaviest chain,", "And promise feeling for the wrench of Pain;", "To-morrow--yea--to-morrow's evening Sun", "Will, sinking, see Impalement's pangs begun,", "And rising with the wonted blush of morn", "Behold how well or ill those pangs are borne.", "Of torments this the longest and the worst,", "Which adds all other agony to thirst,", "That day by day Death still forbears to slake,", "While famished vultures flit around the stake.", "\"Oh! water--water!\"--smiling Hate denies", "The victim's prayer, for if he drinks he dies.", "This was his doom;--the Leech, the guard, were gone,", "And left proud Conrad fettered and alone.", "", "'Twere vain to paint to what his feelings grew--", "It even were doubtful if their victim knew.", "There is a war, a chaos of the mind,", "When all its elements convulsed, combined", "Lie dark and jarring with perturbéd force,", "And gnashing with impenitent Remorse--", "That juggling fiend, who never spake before,", "But cries \"I warned thee!\" when the deed is o'er.", "Vain voice! the spirit burning but unbent,", "May writhe--rebel--the weak alone repent!", "Even in that lonely hour when most it feels,", "And, to itself, all--all that self reveals,--", "No single passion, and no ruling thought", "That leaves the rest, as once, unseen, unsought,", "But the wild prospect when the Soul reviews,", "_All_ rushing through their thousand avenues--", "Ambition's dreams expiring, Love's regret,", "Endangered Glory, Life itself beset;", "The joy untasted, the contempt or hate", "'Gainst those who fain would triumph in our fate;", "The hopeless past, the hasting future driven", "Too quickly on to guess if Hell or Heaven;", "Deeds--thoughts--and words, perhaps remembered not", "So keenly till that hour, but ne'er forgot;", "Things light or lovely in their acted time,", "But now to stern Reflection each a crime;", "The withering sense of Evil unrevealed,", "Not cankering less because the more concealed;", "All, in a word, from which all eyes must start,", "That opening sepulchre, the naked heart", "Bares with its buried woes--till Pride awake,", "To snatch the mirror from the soul, and break.", "Aye, Pride can veil, and Courage brave it all--", "All--all--before--beyond--the deadliest fall.", "Each hath some fear, and he who least betrays,", "The only hypocrite deserving praise:", "Not the loud recreant wretch who boasts and flies;", "But he who looks on Death--and silent dies:", "So, steeled by pondering o'er his far career,", "He half-way meets Him should He menace near!", "", "In the high chamber of his highest tower", "Sate Conrad, fettered in the Pacha's power.", "His palace perished in the flame--this fort", "Contained at once his captive and his court.", "Not much could Conrad of his sentence blame,", "His foe, if vanquished, had but shared the same:--", "Alone he sate--in solitude had scanned", "His guilty bosom, but that breast he manned:", "One thought alone he could not--dared not meet--", "\"Oh, how these tidings will Medora greet?\"", "Then--only then--his clanking hands he raised,", "And strained with rage the chain on which he gazed;", "But soon he found, or feigned, or dreamed relief,", "And smiled in self-derision of his grief,", "\"And now come Torture when it will, or may--", "More need of rest to nerve me for the day!\"", "This said, with langour to his mat he crept,", "And, whatso'er his visions, quickly slept.", "", "'Twas hardly midnight when that fray begun,", "For Conrad's plans matured, at once were done,", "And Havoc loathes so much the waste of time,", "She scarce had left an uncommitted crime.", "One hour beheld him since the tide he stemmed--", "Disguised--discovered--conquering--ta'en--condemned--", "A Chief on land--an outlaw on the deep--", "Destroying--saving--prisoned--and asleep!", "", "He slept in calmest seeming, for his breath", "Was hushed so deep--Ah! happy if in death!", "He slept--Who o'er his placid slumber bends?", "His foes are gone--and here he hath no friends;", "Is it some Seraph sent to grant him grace?", "No,'tis an earthly form with heavenly face!", "Its white arm raised a lamp--yet gently hid,", "Lest the ray flash abruptly on the lid", "Of that closed eye, which opens but to pain,", "And once unclosed--but once may close again.", "That form, with eye so dark, and cheek so fair,", "And auburn waves of gemmed and braided hair;", "With shape of fairy lightness--naked foot,", "That shines like snow, and falls on earth as mute--", "Through guards and dunnest night how came it there?", "Ah! rather ask what will not Woman dare?", "Whom Youth and Pity lead like thee, Gulnare!", "She could not sleep--and while the Pacha's rest", "In muttering dreams yet saw his pirate-guest,", "She left his side--his signet-ring she bore,", "Which oft in sport adorned her hand before--", "And with it, scarcely questioned, won her way", "Through drowsy guards that must that sign obey.", "Worn out with toil, and tired with changing blows,", "Their eyes had envied Conrad his repose;", "And chill and nodding at the turret door,", "They stretch their listless limbs, and watch no more;", "Just raised their heads to hail the signet-ring,", "Nor ask or what or who the sign may bring.", "", "She gazed in wonder, \"Can he calmly sleep,", "While other eyes his fall or ravage weep?", "And mine in restlessness are wandering here--", "What sudden spell hath made this man so dear?", "True--'tis to him my life, and more, I owe,", "And me and mine he spared from worse than woe:", "'Tis late to think--but soft--his slumber breaks--", "How heavily he sighs!--he starts--awakes!\"", "He raised his head, and dazzled with the light,", "His eye seemed dubious if it saw aright:", "He moved his hand--the grating of his chain", "Too harshly told him that he lived again.", "\"What is that form? if not a shape of air,", "Methinks, my jailor's face shows wondrous fair!\"", "\"Pirate! thou know'st me not, but I am one,", "Grateful for deeds thou hast too rarely done;", "Look on me--and remember her, thy hand", "Snatched from the flames, and thy more fearful band.", "I come through darkness--and I scarce know why--", "Yet not to hurt--I would not see thee die.\"", "", "\"If so, kind lady! thine the only eye", "That would not here in that gay hope delight:", "Theirs is the chance--and let them use their right.", "But still I thank their courtesy or thine,", "That would confess me at so fair a shrine!\"", "", "Strange though it seem--yet with extremest grief", "Is linked a mirth--it doth not bring relief--", "That playfulness of Sorrow ne'er beguiles,", "And smiles in bitterness--but still it smiles;", "And sometimes with the wisest and the best,", "Till even the scaffold echoes with their jest!", "Yet not the joy to which it seems akin--", "It may deceive all hearts, save that within.", "Whate'er it was that flashed on Conrad, now", "A laughing wildness half unbent his brow:", "And these his accents had a sound of mirth,", "As if the last he could enjoy on earth;", "Yet 'gainst his nature--for through that short life,", "Few thoughts had he to spare from gloom and strife.", "", "\"Corsair! thy doom is named--but I have power", "To soothe the Pacha in his weaker hour.", "Thee would I spare--nay more--would save thee now,", "But this--Time--Hope--nor even thy strength allow;", "But all I can,--I will--at least delay", "The sentence that remits thee scarce a day.", "More now were ruin--even thyself were loth", "The vain attempt should bring but doom to both.\"", "", "\"Yes!--loth indeed:--my soul is nerved to all,", "Or fall'n too low to fear a further fall:", "Tempt not thyself with peril--me with hope", "Of flight from foes with whom I could not cope:", "Unfit to vanquish--shall I meanly fly,", "The one of all my band that would not die?", "Yet there is one--to whom my Memory clings,", "Till to these eyes her own wild softness springs.", "My sole resources in the path I trod", "Were these--my bark--my sword--my love--my God!", "The last I left in youth!--He leaves me now--", "And Man but works his will to lay me low.", "I have no thought to mock his throne with prayer", "Wrung from the coward crouching of Despair;", "It is enough--I breathe--and I can bear.", "My sword is shaken from the worthless hand", "That might have better kept so true a brand;", "My bark is sunk or captive--but my Love--", "For her in sooth my voice would mount above:", "Oh! she is all that still to earth can bind--", "And this will break a heart so more than kind,", "And blight a form--till thine appeared, Gulnare!", "Mine eye ne'er asked if others were as fair.\"", "", "\"Thou lov'st another then?--but what to me", "Is this--'tis nothing--nothing e'er can be:", "But yet--thou lov'st--and--Oh! I envy those", "Whose hearts on hearts as faithful can repose,", "Who never feel the void--the wandering thought", "That sighs o'er visions--such as mine hath wrought.\"", "", "\"Lady--methought thy love was his, for whom", "This arm redeemed thee from a fiery tomb.\"", "", "\"My love stern Seyd's! Oh--No--No--not my love--", "Yet much this heart, that strives no more, once strove", "To meet his passion--but it would not be.", "I felt--I feel--Love dwells with--with the free.", "I am a slave, a favoured slave at best,", "To share his splendour, and seem very blest!", "Oft must my soul the question undergo,", "Of--'Dost thou love?' and burn to answer, 'No!'", "Oh! hard it is that fondness to sustain,", "And struggle not to feel averse in vain;", "But harder still the heart's recoil to bear,", "And hide from one--perhaps another there.", "He takes the hand I give not--nor withhold--", "Its pulse nor checked--nor quickened--calmly cold:", "And when resigned, it drops a lifeless weight", "From one I never loved enough to hate.", "No warmth these lips return by his imprest,", "And chilled Remembrance shudders o'er the rest.", "Yes--had I ever proved that Passion's zeal,", "The change to hatred were at least to feel:", "But still--he goes unmourned--returns unsought--", "And oft when present--absent from my thought.", "Or when Reflection comes--and come it must--", "I fear that henceforth 'twill but bring disgust;", "I am his slave--but, in despite of pride,", "'Twere worse than bondage to become his bride.", "Oh! that this dotage of his breast would cease!", "Or seek another and give mine release,", "But yesterday--I could have said, to peace!", "Yes, if unwonted fondness now I feign,", "Remember--Captive! 'tis to break thy chain;", "Repay the life that to thy hand I owe;", "To give thee back to all endeared below,", "Who share such love as I can never know.", "Farewell--Morn breaks--and I must now away:", "'Twill cost me dear--but dread no death to-day!\"", "", "She pressed his fettered fingers to her heart,", "And bowed her head, and turned her to depart,", "And noiseless as a lovely dream is gone.", "And was she here? and is he now alone?", "What gem hath dropped and sparkles o'er his chain?", "The tear most sacred, shed for others' pain,", "That starts at once--bright--pure--from Pity's mine,", "Already polished by the hand divine!", "Oh! too convincing--dangerously dear--", "In Woman's eye the unanswerable tear!", "That weapon of her weakness she can wield,", "To save, subdue--at once her spear and shield:", "Avoid it--Virtue ebbs and Wisdom errs,", "Too fondly gazing on that grief of hers!", "What lost a world, and bade a hero fly?", "The timid tear in Cleopatra's eye.", "Yet be the soft Triumvir's fault forgiven;", "By this--how many lose not earth--but Heaven!", "Consign their souls to Man's eternal foe,", "And seal their own to spare some Wanton's woe!", "", "'Tis Morn--and o'er his altered features play", "The beams--without the Hope of yesterday.", "What shall he be ere night? perchance a thing", "O'er which the raven flaps her funeral wing,", "By his closed eye unheeded and unfelt;", "While sets that Sun, and dews of Evening melt,", "Chill, wet, and misty round each stiffened limb,", "Refreshing earth--reviving all but him!", "", "CANTO THE THIRD.", "", " \"Come vedi--ancor non m'abbandona\"", " Dante, _Inferno_, v. 105.", "", "Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run,", "Along Morea's hills the setting Sun;", "Not, as in Northern climes, obscurely bright,", "But one unclouded blaze of living light!", "O'er the hushed deep the yellow beam he throws,", "Gilds the green wave, that trembles as it glows.", "On old Ægina's rock, and Idra's isle,", "The God of gladness sheds his parting smile;", "O'er his own regions lingering, loves to shine,", "Though there his altars are no more divine.", "Descending fast the mountain shadows kiss", "Thy glorious gulf, unconquered Salamis!", "Their azure arches through the long expanse", "More deeply purpled met his mellowing glance,", "And tenderest tints, along their summits driven,", "Mark his gay course, and own the hues of Heaven;", "Till, darkly shaded from the land and deep,", "Behind his Delphian cliff he sinks to sleep.", "", "On such an eve, his palest beam he cast,", "When--Athens! here thy Wisest looked his last.", "How watched thy better sons his farewell ray,", "That closed their murdered Sage's latest day!", "Not yet--not yet--Sol pauses on the hill--", "The precious hour of parting lingers still;", "But sad his light to agonising eyes,", "And dark the mountain's once delightful dyes:", "Gloom o'er the lovely land he seemed to pour,", "The land, where Phoebus never frowned before:", "But ere he sunk below Cithæron's head,", "The cup of woe was quaffed--the Spirit fled;", "The Soul of him who scorned to fear or fly--", "Who lived and died, as none can live or die!", "", "But lo! from high Hymettus to the plain,", "The Queen of night asserts her silent reign.", "No murky vapour, herald of the storm,", "Hides her fair face, nor girds her glowing form;", "With cornice glimmering as the moon-beams play,", "There the white column greets her grateful ray,", "And bright around with quivering beams beset,", "Her emblem sparkles o'er the Minaret:", "The groves of olive scattered dark and wide", "Where meek Cephisus pours his scanty tide;", "The cypress saddening by the sacred Mosque,", "The gleaming turret of the gay Kiosk;", "And, dun and sombre 'mid the holy calm,", "Near Theseus' fane yon solitary palm,", "All tinged with varied hues arrest the eye--", "And dull were his that passed him heedless by.", "", "Again the Ægean, heard no more afar,", "Lulls his chafed breast from elemental war;", "Again his waves in milder tints unfold", "Their long array of sapphire and of gold,", "Mixed with the shades of many a distant isle,", "That frown--where gentler Ocean seems to smile.", "", "Not now my theme--why turn my thoughts to thee?", "Oh! who can look along thy native sea,", "Nor dwell upon thy name, whate'er the tale,", "So much its magic must o'er all prevail?", "Who that beheld that Sun upon thee set,", "Fair Athens! could thine evening face forget?", "Not he--whose heart nor time nor distance frees,", "Spell-bound within the clustering Cyclades!", "Nor seems this homage foreign to its strain,", "His Corsair's isle was once thine own domain--", "Would that with freedom it were thine again!", "", "The Sun hath sunk--and, darker than the night,", "Sinks with its beam upon the beacon height", "Medora's heart--the third day's come and gone--", "With it he comes not--sends not--faithless one!", "The wind was fair though light! and storms were none.", "Last eve Anselmo's bark returned, and yet", "His only tidings that they had not met!", "Though wild, as now, far different were the tale", "Had Conrad waited for that single sail.", "The night-breeze freshens--she that day had passed", "In watching all that Hope proclaimed a mast;", "Sadly she sate on high--Impatience bore", "At last her footsteps to the midnight shore,", "And there she wandered, heedless of the spray", "That dashed her garments oft, and warned away:", "She saw not, felt not this--nor dared depart,", "Nor deemed it cold--her chill was at her heart;", "Till grew such certainty from that suspense--", "His very Sight had shocked from life or sense!", "", "It came at last--a sad and shattered boat,", "Whose inmates first beheld whom first they sought;", "Some bleeding--all most wretched--these the few--", "Scarce knew they how escaped--_this_ all they knew.", "In silence, darkling, each appeared to wait", "His fellow's mournful guess at Conrad's fate:", "Something they would have said; but seemed to fear", "To trust their accents to Medora's ear.", "She saw at once, yet sunk not--trembled not--", "Beneath that grief, that loneliness of lot,", "Within that meek fair form, were feelings high,", "That deemed not till they found their energy.", "While yet was Hope they softened, fluttered, wept--", "All lost--that Softness died not--but it slept;", "And o'er its slumber rose that Strength which said,", "\"With nothing left to love, there's nought to dread.\"", "'Tis more than Nature's--like the burning might", "Delirium gathers from the fever's height.", "", "\"Silent you stand--nor would I hear you tell", "What--speak not--breathe not--for I know it well--", "Yet would I ask--almost my lip denies", "The--quick your answer--tell me where he lies.\"", "", "\"Lady! we know not--scarce with life we fled;", "But here is one denies that he is dead:", "He saw him bound; and bleeding--but alive.\"", "", "She heard no further--'twas in vain to strive--", "So throbbed each vein--each thought--till then withstood;", "Her own dark soul--these words at once subdued:", "She totters--falls--and senseless had the wave", "Perchance but snatched her from another grave;", "But that with hands though rude, yet weeping eyes,", "They yield such aid as Pity's haste supplies:", "Dash o'er her deathlike cheek the ocean dew,", "Raise, fan, sustain--till life returns anew;", "Awake her handmaids, with the matrons leave", "That fainting form o'er which they gaze and grieve;", "Then seek Anselmo's cavern, to report", "The tale too tedious--when the triumph short.", "", "In that wild council words waxed warm and strange,", "With thoughts of ransom, rescue, and revenge;", "All, save repose or flight: still lingering there", "Breathed Conrad's spirit, and forbade despair;", "Whate'er his fate--the breasts he formed and led", "Will save him living, or appease him dead.", "Woe to his foes! there yet survive a few,", "Whose deeds are daring, as their hearts are true.", "", "Within the Haram's secret chamber sate", "Stern Seyd, still pondering o'er his Captive's fate;", "His thoughts on love and hate alternate dwell,", "Now with Gulnare, and now in Conrad's cell;", "Here at his feet the lovely slave reclined", "Surveys his brow--would soothe his gloom of mind;", "While many an anxious glance her large dark eye", "Sends in its idle search for sympathy,", "_His_ only bends in seeming o'er his beads,", "But inly views his victim as he bleeds.", "", "\"Pacha! the day is thine; and on thy crest", "Sits Triumph--Conrad taken--fall'n the rest!", "His doom is fixed--he dies; and well his fate", "Was earned--yet much too worthless for thy hate:", "Methinks, a short release, for ransom told", "With all his treasure, not unwisely sold;", "Report speaks largely of his pirate-hoard--", "Would that of this my Pacha were the lord!", "While baffled, weakened by this fatal fray--", "Watched--followed--he were then an easier prey;", "But once cut off--the remnant of his band", "Embark their wealth, and seek a safer strand.\"", "", "\"Gulnare!--if for each drop of blood a gem", "Where offered rich as Stamboul's diadem;", "If for each hair of his a massy mine", "Of virgin ore should supplicating shine;", "If all our Arab tales divulge or dream", "Of wealth were here--that gold should not redeem!", "It had not now redeemed a single hour,", "But that I know him fettered, in my power;", "And, thirsting for revenge, I ponder still", "On pangs that longest rack--and latest kill.\"", "", "\"Nay, Seyd! I seek not to restrain thy rage,", "Too justly moved for Mercy to assuage;", "My thoughts were only to secure for thee", "His riches--thus released, he were not free:", "Disabled--shorn of half his might and band,", "His capture could but wait thy first command.\"", "", "\"His capture _could!_--and shall I then resign", "One day to him--the wretch already mine?", "Release my foe!--at whose remonstrance?--thine!", "Fair suitor!--to thy virtuous gratitude,", "That thus repays this Giaour's relenting mood,", "Which thee and thine alone of all could spare--", "No doubt, regardless--if the prize were fair--", "My thanks and praise alike are due--now hear!", "I have a counsel for thy gentler ear:", "I do mistrust thee, Woman! and each word", "Of thine stamps truth on all Suspicion heard.", "Borne in his arms through fire from yon Serai--", "Say, wert thou lingering there with him to fly?", "Thou need'st not answer--thy confession speaks,", "Already reddening on thy guilty cheeks:", "Then--lovely Dame--bethink thee! and beware:", "'Tis not _his_ life alone may claim such care!", "Another word and--nay--I need no more.", "Accursed was the moment when he bore", "Thee from the flames, which better far--but no--", "I then had mourned thee with a lover's woe--", "Now 'tis thy lord that warns--deceitful thing!", "Know'st thou that I can clip thy wanton wing?", "In words alone I am not wont to chafe:", "Look to thyself--nor deem thy falsehood safe!\"", "", "He rose--and slowly, sternly thence withdrew,", "Rage in his eye, and threats in his adieu:", "Ah! little recked that Chief of womanhood--", "Which frowns ne'er quelled, nor menaces subdued;", "And little deemed he what thy heart, Gulnare!", "When soft could feel--and when incensed could dare!", "His doubts appeared to wrong--nor yet she knew", "How deep the root from whence Compassion grew--", "She was a slave--from such may captives claim", "A fellow-feeling, differing but in name;", "Still half unconscious--heedless of his wrath,", "Again she ventured on the dangerous path,", "Again his rage repelled--until arose", "That strife of thought, the source of Woman's woes!", "", "Meanwhile--long--anxious--weary--still the same", "Rolled day and night: his soul could Terror tame--", "This fearful interval of doubt and dread,", "When every hour might doom him worse than dead;", "When every step that echoed by the gate,", "Might entering lead where axe and stake await;", "When every voice that grated on his ear", "Might be the last that he could ever hear;", "Could Terror tame--that Spirit stern and high", "Had proved unwilling as unfit to die;", "'Twas worn--perhaps decayed--yet silent bore", "That conflict, deadlier far than all before:", "The heat of fight, the hurry of the gale,", "Leave scarce one thought inert enough to quail:", "But bound and fixed in fettered solitude,", "To pine, the prey of every changing mood;", "To gaze on thine own heart--and meditate", "Irrevocable faults, and coming fate--", "Too late the last to shun--the first to mend--", "To count the hours that struggle to thine end,", "With not a friend to animate and tell", "To other ears that Death became thee well;", "Around thee foes to forge the ready lie,", "And blot Life's latest scene with calumny;", "Before thee tortures, which the Soul can dare,", "Yet doubts how well the shrinking flesh may bear;", "But deeply feels a single cry would shame,", "To Valour's praise thy last and dearest claim;", "The life thou leav'st below, denied above", "By kind monopolists of heavenly love;", "And more than doubtful Paradise--thy Heaven", "Of earthly hope--thy loved one from thee riven.", "Such were the thoughts that outlaw must sustain,", "And govern pangs surpassing mortal pain:", "And those sustained he--boots it well or ill?", "Since not to sink beneath, is something still!", "", "The first day passed--he saw not her--Gulnare--", "The second, third--and still she came not there;", "But what her words avouched, her charms had done,", "Or else he had not seen another Sun.", "The fourth day rolled along, and with the night", "Came storm and darkness in their mingling might.", "Oh! how he listened to the rushing deep,", "That ne'er till now so broke upon his sleep;", "And his wild Spirit wilder wishes sent,", "Roused by the roar of his own element!", "Oft had he ridden on that wingéd wave,", "And loved its roughness for the speed it gave;", "And now its dashing echoed on his ear,", "A long known voice--alas! too vainly near!", "Loud sung the wind above; and, doubly loud,", "Shook o'er his turret cell the thunder-cloud;", "And flashed the lightning by the latticed bar,", "To him more genial than the Midnight Star:", "Close to the glimmering grate he dragged his chain,", "And hoped _that_ peril might not prove in vain.", "He rais'd his iron hand to Heaven, and prayed", "One pitying flash to mar the form it made:", "His steel and impious prayer attract alike--", "The storm rolled onward, and disdained to strike;", "Its peal waxed fainter--ceased--he felt alone,", "As if some faithless friend had spurned his groan!", "", "The midnight passed, and to the massy door", "A light step came--it paused--it moved once more;", "Slow turns the grating bolt and sullen key:", "'Tis as his heart foreboded--that fair She!", "Whate'er her sins, to him a Guardian Saint,", "And beauteous still as hermit's hope can paint;", "Yet changed since last within that cell she came,", "More pale her cheek, more tremulous her frame:", "On him she cast her dark and hurried eye,", "Which spoke before her accents--\"Thou must die!", "Yes, thou must die--there is but one resource,", "The last--the worst--if torture were not worse.\"", "", "\"Lady! I look to none; my lips proclaim", "What last proclaimed they--Conrad still the same:", "Why should'st thou seek an outlaw's life to spare,", "And change the sentence I deserve to bear?", "Well have I earned--nor here alone--the meed", "Of Seyd's revenge, by many a lawless deed.\"", "", "\"Why should I seek? because--Oh! did'st thou not", "Redeem my life from worse than Slavery's lot?", "Why should I seek?--hath Misery made thee blind", "To the fond workings of a woman's mind?", "And must I say?--albeit my heart rebel", "With all that Woman feels, but should not tell--", "Because--despite thy crimes--that heart is moved:", "It feared thee--thanked thee--pitied--maddened--loved.", "Reply not, tell not now thy tale again,", "Thou lov'st another--and I love in vain:", "Though fond as mine her bosom, form more fair,", "I rush through peril which she would not dare.", "If that thy heart to hers were truly dear,", "Were I thine own--thou wert not lonely here:", "An outlaw's spouse--and leave her Lord to roam!", "What hath such gentle dame to do with home?", "But speak not now--o'er thine and o'er my head", "Hangs the keen sabre by a single thread;", "If thou hast courage still, and would'st be free,", "Receive this poniard--rise and follow me!\"", "", "\"Aye--in my chains! my steps will gently tread,", "With these adornments, o'er such slumbering head!", "Thou hast forgot--is this a garb for flight?", "Or is that instrument more fit for fight?\"", "", "\"Misdoubting Corsair! I have gained the guard,", "Ripe for revolt, and greedy for reward.", "A single word of mine removes that chain:", "Without some aid how here could I remain?", "Well, since we met, hath sped my busy time,", "If in aught evil, for thy sake the crime:", "The crime--'tis none to punish those of Seyd.", "That hatred tyrant, Conrad--he must bleed!", "I see thee shudder, but my soul is changed--", "Wronged--spurned--reviled--and it shall be avenged--", "Accused of what till now my heart disdained--", "Too faithful, though to bitter bondage chained.", "Yes, smile!--but he had little cause to sneer,", "I was not treacherous then, nor thou too dear:", "But he has said it--and the jealous well,--", "Those tyrants--teasing--tempting to rebel,--", "Deserve the fate their fretting lips foretell.", "I never loved--he bought me--somewhat high--", "Since with me came a heart he could not buy.", "I was a slave unmurmuring; he hath said,", "But for his rescue I with thee had fled.", "'Twas false thou know'st--but let such Augurs rue,", "Their words are omens Insult renders true.", "Nor was thy respite granted to my prayer;", "This fleeting grace was only to prepare", "New torments for thy life, and my despair.", "Mine too he threatens; but his dotage still", "Would fain reserve me for his lordly will:", "When wearier of these fleeting charms and me,", "There yawns the sack--and yonder rolls the sea!", "What, am I then a toy for dotard's play,", "To wear but till the gilding frets away?", "I saw thee--loved thee--owe thee all--would save,", "If but to show how grateful is a slave.", "But had he not thus menaced fame and life,--", "And well he keeps his oaths pronounced in strife--", "I still had saved thee--but the Pacha spared:", "Now I am all thine own--for all prepared:", "Thou lov'st me not--nor know'st--or but the worst.", "Alas! _this_ love--_that_ hatred--are the first--", "Oh! could'st thou prove my truth, thou would'st not start,", "Nor fear the fire that lights an Eastern heart;", "'Tis now the beacon of thy safety--now", "It points within the port a Mainote prow:", "But in one chamber, where our path must lead,", "There sleeps--he must not wake--the oppressor Seyd!\"", "", "\"Gulnare--Gulnare--I never felt till now", "My abject fortune, withered fame so low:", "Seyd is mine enemy; had swept my band", "From earth with ruthless but with open hand,", "And therefore came I, in my bark of war,", "To smite the smiter with the scimitar;", "Such is my weapon--not the secret knife;", "Who spares a Woman's seeks not Slumber's life.", "Thine saved I gladly, Lady--not for this;", "Let me not deem that mercy shown amiss.", "Now fare thee well--more peace be with thy breast!", "Night wears apace, my last of earthly rest!\"", "", "\"Rest! rest! by sunrise must thy sinews shake,", "And thy limbs writhe around the ready stake,", "I heard the order--saw--I will not see--", "If thou wilt perish, I will fall with thee.", "My life--my love--my hatred--all below", "Are on this cast--Corsair! 'tis but a blow!", "Without it flight were idle--how evade", "His sure pursuit?--my wrongs too unrepaid,", "My youth disgraced--the long, long wasted years,", "One blow shall cancel with our future fears;", "But since the dagger suits thee less than brand,", "I'll try the firmness of a female hand.", "The guards are gained--one moment all were o'er--", "Corsair! we meet in safety or no more;", "If errs my feeble hand, the morning cloud", "Will hover o'er thy scaffold, and my shroud.\"", "", "She turned, and vanished ere he could reply,", "But his glance followed far with eager eye;", "And gathering, as he could, the links that bound", "His form, to curl their length, and curb their sound,", "Since bar and bolt no more his steps preclude,", "He, fast as fettered limbs allow, pursued.", "'Twas dark and winding, and he knew not where", "That passage led; nor lamp nor guard was there:", "He sees a dusky glimmering--shall he seek", "Or shun that ray so indistinct and weak?", "Chance guides his steps--a freshness seems to bear", "Full on his brow as if from morning air;", "He reached an open gallery--on his eye", "Gleamed the last star of night, the clearing sky:", "Yet scarcely heeded these--another light", "From a lone chamber struck upon his sight.", "Towards it he moved; a scarcely closing door", "Revealed the ray within, but nothing more.", "With hasty step a figure outward passed,", "Then paused, and turned--and paused--'tis She at last!", "No poniard in that hand, nor sign of ill--", "\"Thanks to that softening heart--she could not kill!\"", "Again he looked, the wildness of her eye", "Starts from the day abrupt and fearfully.", "She stopped--threw back her dark far-floating hair,", "That nearly veiled her face and bosom fair,", "As if she late had bent her leaning head", "Above some object of her doubt or dread.", "They meet--upon her brow--unknown--forgot--", "Her hurrying hand had left--'twas but a spot--", "Its hue was all he saw, and scarce withstood--", "Oh! slight but certain pledge of crime--'tis Blood!", "", "He had seen battle--he had brooded lone", "O'er promised pangs to sentenced Guilt foreshown;", "He had been tempted--chastened--and the chain", "Yet on his arms might ever there remain:", "But ne'er from strife--captivity--remorse--", "From all his feelings in their inmost force--", "So thrilled, so shuddered every creeping vein,", "As now they froze before that purple stain.", "That spot of blood, that light but guilty streak,", "Had banished all the beauty from her cheek!", "Blood he had viewed--could view unmoved--but then", "It flowed in combat, or was shed by men!", "", "\"'Tis done--he nearly waked--but it is done.", "Corsair! he perished--thou art dearly won.", "All words would now be vain--away--away!", "Our bark is tossing--'tis already day.", "The few gained over, now are wholly mine,", "And these thy yet surviving band shall join:", "Anon my voice shall vindicate my hand,", "When once our sail forsakes this hated strand.\"", "", "She clapped her hands, and through the gallery pour,", "Equipped for flight, her vassals--Greek and Moor;", "Silent but quick they stoop, his chains unbind;", "Once more his limbs are free as mountain wind!", "But on his heavy heart such sadness sate,", "As if they there transferred that iron weight.", "No words are uttered--at her sign, a door", "Reveals the secret passage to the shore;", "The city lies behind--they speed, they reach", "The glad waves dancing on the yellow beach;", "And Conrad following, at her beck, obeyed,", "Nor cared he now if rescued or betrayed;", "Resistance were as useless as if Seyd", "Yet lived to view the doom his ire decreed.", "", "Embarked--the sail unfurled--the light breeze blew--", "How much had Conrad's memory to review!", "Sunk he in contemplation, till the Cape", "Where last he anchored reared its giant shape.", "Ah!--since that fatal night, though brief the time,", "Had swept an age of terror, grief, and crime.", "As its far shadow frowned above the mast,", "He veiled his face, and sorrowed as he passed;", "He thought of all--Gonsalvo and his band,", "His fleeting triumph and his failing hand;", "He thought on her afar, his lonely bride:", "He turned and saw--Gulnare, the Homicide!", "", "She watched his features till she could not bear", "Their freezing aspect and averted air;", "And that strange fierceness foreign to her eye", "Fell quenched in tears, too late to shed or dry.", "She knelt beside him and his hand she pressed,", "\"Thou may'st forgive though Allah's self detest;", "But for that deed of darkness what wert thou?", "Reproach me--but not yet--Oh! spare me _now!_", "I am not what I seem--this fearful night", "My brain bewildered--do not madden quite!", "If I had never loved--though less my guilt--", "Thou hadst not lived to--hate me--if thou wilt.\"", "", "She wrongs his thoughts--they more himself upbraid", "Than her--though undesigned--the wretch he made;", "But speechless all, deep, dark, and unexprest,", "They bleed within that silent cell--his breast.", "Still onward, fair the breeze, nor rough the surge,", "The blue waves sport around the stern they urge;", "Far on the Horizon's verge appears a speck,", "A spot--a mast--a sail--an arméd deck!", "Their little bark her men of watch descry,", "And ampler canvass woos the wind from high;", "She bears her down majestically near,", "Speed on her prow, and terror in her tier;", "A flash is seen--the ball beyond her bow", "Booms harmless, hissing to the deep below.", "Up rose keen Conrad from his silent trance,", "A long, long absent gladness in his glance;", "\"'Tis mine--my blood-rag flag! again--again--", "I am not all deserted on the main!\"", "They own the signal, answer to the hail,", "Hoist out the boat at once, and slacken sail.", "\"'Tis Conrad! Conrad!\" shouting from the deck,", "Command nor Duty could their transport check!", "With light alacrity and gaze of Pride,", "They view him mount once more his vessel's side;", "A smile relaxing in each rugged face,", "Their arms can scarce forbear a rough embrace.", "He, half forgetting danger and defeat,", "Returns their greeting as a Chief may greet,", "Wrings with a cordial grasp Anselmo's hand,", "And feels he yet can conquer and command!", "", "These greetings o'er, the feelings that o'erflow,", "Yet grieve to win him back without a blow;", "They sailed prepared for vengeance--had they known", "A woman's hand secured that deed her own,", "She were their Queen--less scrupulous are they", "Than haughty Conrad how they win their way.", "With many an asking smile, and wondering stare,", "They whisper round, and gaze upon Gulnare;", "And her, at once above--beneath her sex,", "Whom blood appalled not, their regards perplex.", "To Conrad turns her faint imploring eye,", "She drops her veil, and stands in silence by;", "Her arms are meekly folded on that breast,", "Which--Conrad safe--to Fate resigned the rest.", "Though worse than frenzy could that bosom fill,", "Extreme in love or hate, in good or ill,", "The worst of crimes had left her Woman still!", "", "This Conrad marked, and felt--ah! could he less?--", "Hate of that deed--but grief for her distress;", "What she has done no tears can wash away,", "And Heaven must punish on its angry day:", "But--it was done: he knew, whate'er her guilt,", "For him that poniard smote, that blood was spilt;", "And he was free!--and she for him had given", "Her all on earth, and more than all in heaven!", "And now he turned him to that dark-eyed slave", "Whose brow was bowed beneath the glance he gave,", "Who now seemed changed and humbled, faint and meek,", "But varying oft the colour of her cheek", "To deeper shades of paleness--all its red", "That fearful spot which stained it from the dead!", "He took that hand--it trembled--now too late--", "So soft in love--so wildly nerved in hate;", "He clasped that hand--it trembled--and his own", "Had lost its firmness, and his voice its tone.", "\"Gulnare!\"--but she replied not--\"dear Gulnare!\"", "She raised her eye--her only answer there--", "At once she sought and sunk in his embrace:", "If he had driven her from that resting-place,", "His had been more or less than mortal heart,", "But--good or ill--it bade her not depart.", "Perchance, but for the bodings of his breast,", "His latest virtue then had joined the rest.", "Yet even Medora might forgive the kiss", "That asked from form so fair no more than this,", "The first, the last that Frailty stole from Faith--", "To lips where Love had lavished all his breath,", "To lips--whose broken sighs such fragrance fling,", "As he had fanned them freshly with his wing!", "", "They gain by twilight's hour their lonely isle.", "To them the very rocks appear to smile;", "The haven hums with many a cheering sound,", "The beacons blaze their wonted stations round,", "The boats are darting o'er the curly bay,", "And sportive Dolphins bend them through the spray;", "Even the hoarse sea-bird's shrill, discordant shriek,", "Greets like the welcome of his tuneless beak!", "Beneath each lamp that through its lattice gleams,", "Their fancy paints the friends that trim the beams.", "Oh! what can sanctify the joys of home,", "Like Hope's gay glance from Ocean's troubled foam?", "", "The lights are high on beacon and from bower,", "And 'midst them Conrad seeks Medora's tower:", "He looks in vain--'tis strange--and all remark,", "Amid so many, hers alone is dark.", "'Tis strange--of yore its welcome never failed,", "Nor now, perchance, extinguished--only veiled.", "With the first boat descends he for the shore,", "And looks impatient on the lingering oar.", "Oh! for a wing beyond the falcon's flight,", "To bear him like an arrow to that height!", "With the first pause the resting rowers gave,", "He waits not--looks not--leaps into the wave,", "Strives through the surge, bestrides the beach, and high", "Ascends the path familiar to his eye.", "", "He reached his turret door--he paused--no sound", "Broke from within; and all was night around.", "He knocked, and loudly--footstep nor reply", "Announced that any heard or deemed him nigh:", "He knocked, but faintly--for his trembling hand", "Refused to aid his heavy heart's demand.", "The portal opens--'tis a well known face--", "But not the form he panted to embrace.", "Its lips are silent--twice his own essayed,", "And failed to frame the question they delayed;", "He snatched the lamp--its light will answer all--", "It quits his grasp, expiring in the fall.", "He would not wait for that reviving ray--", "As soon could he have lingered there for day;", "But, glimmering through the dusky corridor,", "Another chequers o'er the shadowed floor;", "His steps the chamber gain--his eyes behold", "All that his heart believed not--yet foretold!", "", "He turned not--spoke not--sunk not--fixed his look,", "And set the anxious frame that lately shook:", "He gazed--how long we gaze despite of pain,", "And know, but dare not own, we gaze in vain!", "In life itself she was so still and fair,", "That Death with gentler aspect withered there;", "And the cold flowers her colder hand contained,", "In that last grasp as tenderly were strained", "As if she scarcely felt, but feigned a sleep--", "And made it almost mockery yet to weep:", "The long dark lashes fringed her lids of snow,", "And veiled--Thought shrinks from all that lurked below--Oh!", "o'er the eye Death most exerts his might,", "And hurls the Spirit from her throne of light;", "Sinks those blue orbs in that long last eclipse,", "But spares, as yet, the charm around her lips--", "Yet, yet they seem as they forebore to smile,", "And wished repose,--but only for a while;", "But the white shroud, and each extended tress,", "Long, fair--but spread in utter lifelessness,", "Which, late the sport of every summer wind,", "Escaped the baffled wreath that strove to bind;", "These--and the pale pure cheek, became the bier--", "But She is nothing--wherefore is he here?", "", "He asked no question--all were answered now", "By the first glance on that still, marble brow.", "It was enough--she died--what recked it how?", "The love of youth, the hope of better years,", "The source of softest wishes, tenderest fears,", "The only living thing he could not hate,", "Was reft at once--and he deserved his fate,", "But did not feel it less;--the Good explore,", "For peace, those realms where Guilt can never soar:", "The proud, the wayward--who have fixed below", "Their joy, and find this earth enough for woe,", "Lose in that one their all--perchance a mite--", "But who in patience parts with all delight?", "Full many a stoic eye and aspect stern", "Mask hearts where Grief hath little left to learn;", "And many a withering thought lies hid, not lost,", "In smiles that least befit who wear them most.", "", "By those, that deepest feel, is ill exprest", "The indistinctness of the suffering breast;", "Where thousand thoughts begin to end in one,", "Which seeks from all the refuge found in none;", "No words suffice the secret soul to show,", "For Truth denies all eloquence to Woe.", "On Conrad's stricken soul Exhaustion prest,", "And Stupor almost lulled it into rest;", "So feeble now--his mother's softness crept", "To those wild eyes, which like an infant's wept:", "It was the very weakness of his brain,", "Which thus confessed without relieving pain.", "None saw his trickling tears--perchance, if seen,", "That useless flood of grief had never been:", "Nor long they flowed--he dried them to depart,", "In helpless--hopeless--brokenness of heart:", "The Sun goes forth, but Conrad's day is dim:", "And the night cometh--ne'er to pass from him.", "There is no darkness like the cloud of mind,", "On Grief's vain eye--the blindest of the blind!", "Which may not--dare not see--but turns aside", "To blackest shade--nor will endure a guide!", "", "His heart was formed for softness--warped to wrong,", "Betrayed too early, and beguiled too long;", "Each feeling pure--as falls the dropping dew", "Within the grot--like that had hardened too;", "Less clear, perchance, its earthly trials passed,", "But sunk, and chilled, and petrified at last.", "Yet tempests wear, and lightning cleaves the rock;", "If such his heart, so shattered it the shock.", "There grew one flower beneath its rugged brow,", "Though dark the shade--it sheltered--saved till now.", "The thunder came--that bolt hath blasted both,", "The Granite's firmness, and the Lily's growth:", "The gentle plant hath left no leaf to tell", "Its tale, but shrunk and withered where it fell;", "And of its cold protector, blacken round", "But shivered fragments on the barren ground!", "", "'Tis morn--to venture on his lonely hour", "Few dare; though now Anselmo sought his tower.", "He was not there, nor seen along the shore;", "Ere night, alarmed, their isle is traversed o'er:", "Another morn--another bids them seek,", "And shout his name till Echo waxeth weak;", "Mount--grotto--cavern--valley searched in vain,", "They find on shore a sea-boat's broken chain:", "Their hope revives--they follow o'er the main.", "'Tis idle all--moons roll on moons away,", "And Conrad comes not, came not since that day:", "Nor trace nor tidings of his doom declare", "Where lives his grief, or perished his despair!", "Long mourned his band whom none could mourn beside;", "And fair the monument they gave his Bride:", "For him they raise not the recording stone--", "His death yet dubious, deeds too widely known;", "He left a Corsair's name to other times,", "Linked with one virtue, and a thousand crimes." ], "linecount": "1880" }, { "title": "Lara. ", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "The Serfs are glad through Lara's wide domain,", "And Slavery half forgets her feudal chain;", "He, their unhoped, but unforgotten lord,", "The long self-exiled Chieftain, is restored:", "There be bright faces in the busy hall,", "Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall;", "Far checkering o'er the pictured window, plays", "The unwonted faggot's hospitable blaze;", "And gay retainers gather round the hearth,", "With tongues all loudness, and with eyes all mirth.", "", "The Chief of Lara is returned again:", "And why had Lara crossed the bounding main?", "Left by his Sire, too young such loss to know,", "Lord of himself,--that heritage of woe,", "That fearful empire which the human breast", "But holds to rob the heart within of rest!--", "With none to check, and few to point in time", "The thousand paths that slope the way to crime;", "Then, when he most required commandment, then", "Had Lara's daring boyhood governed men.", "It skills not, boots not step by step to trace", "His youth through all the mazes of its race;", "Short was the course his restlessness had run,", "But long enough to leave him half undone.", "", "And Lara left in youth his father-land;", "But from the hour he waved his parting hand", "Each trace waxed fainter of his course, till all", "Had nearly ceased his memory to recall.", "His sire was dust, his vassals could declare,", "'Twas all they knew, that Lara was not there;", "Nor sent, nor came he, till conjecture grew", "Cold in the many, anxious in the few.", "His hall scarce echoes with his wonted name,", "His portrait darkens in its fading frame,", "Another chief consoled his destined bride,", "The young forgot him, and the old had died;", "\"Yet doth he live!\" exclaims the impatient heir,", "And sighs for sables which he must not wear.", "A hundred scutcheons deck with gloomy grace", "The Laras' last and longest dwelling-place;", "But one is absent from the mouldering file,", "That now were welcome in that Gothic pile.", "", "He comes at last in sudden loneliness,", "And whence they know not, why they need not guess;", "They more might marvel, when the greeting's o'er", "Not that he came, but came not long before:", "No train is his beyond a single page,", "Of foreign aspect, and of tender age.", "Years had rolled on, and fast they speed away", "To those that wander as to those that stay;", "But lack of tidings from another clime", "Had lent a flagging wing to weary Time.", "They see, they recognise, yet almost deem", "The present dubious, or the past a dream.", "", "He lives, nor yet is past his Manhood's prime,", "Though seared by toil, and something touched by Time;", "His faults, whate'er they were, if scarce forgot,", "Might be untaught him by his varied lot;", "Nor good nor ill of late were known, his name", "Might yet uphold his patrimonial fame:", "His soul in youth was haughty, but his sins", "No more than pleasure from the stripling wins;", "And such, if not yet hardened in their course,", "Might be redeemed, nor ask a long remorse.", "", "And they indeed were changed--'tis quickly seen,", "Whate'er he be, 'twas not what he had been:", "That brow in furrowed lines had fixed at last,", "And spake of passions, but of passion past:", "The pride, but not the fire, of early days,", "Coldness of mien, and carelessness of praise;", "A high demeanour, and a glance that took", "Their thoughts from others by a single look;", "And that sarcastic levity of tongue,", "The stinging of a heart the world hath stung,", "That darts in seeming playfulness around,", "And makes those feel that will not own the wound;", "All these seemed his, and something more beneath", "Than glance could well reveal, or accent breathe.", "Ambition, Glory, Love, the common aim,", "That some can conquer, and that all would claim,", "Within his breast appeared no more to strive,", "Yet seemed as lately they had been alive;", "And some deep feeling it were vain to trace", "At moments lightened o'er his livid face.", "", "Not much he loved long question of the past,", "Nor told of wondrous wilds, and deserts vast,", "In those far lands where he had wandered lone,", "And--as himself would have it seem--unknown:", "Yet these in vain his eye could scarcely scan,", "Nor glean experience from his fellow man;", "But what he had beheld he shunned to show,", "As hardly worth a stranger's care to know;", "If still more prying such inquiry grew,", "His brow fell darker, and his words more few.", "", "Not unrejoiced to see him once again,", "Warm was his welcome to the haunts of men;", "Born of high lineage, linked in high command,", "He mingled with the Magnates of his land;", "Joined the carousals of the great and gay,", "And saw them smile or sigh their hours away;", "But still he only saw, and did not share,", "The common pleasure or the general care;", "He did not follow what they all pursued", "With hope still baffled still to be renewed;", "Nor shadowy Honour, nor substantial Gain,", "Nor Beauty's preference, and the rival's pain:", "Around him some mysterious circle thrown", "Repelled approach, and showed him still alone;", "Upon his eye sat something of reproof,", "That kept at least Frivolity aloof;", "And things more timid that beheld him near", "In silence gazed, or whispered mutual fear;", "And they the wiser, friendlier few confessed", "They deemed him better than his air expressed.", "", "Twas strange--in youth all action and all life,", "Burning for pleasure, not averse from strife;", "Woman--the Field--the Ocean, all that gave", "Promise of gladness, peril of a grave,", "In turn he tried--he ransacked all below,", "And found his recompense in joy or woe,", "No tame, trite medium; for his feelings sought", "In that intenseness an escape from thought:", "The Tempest of his Heart in scorn had gazed", "On that the feebler Elements hath raised;", "The Rapture of his Heart had looked on high,", "And asked if greater dwelt beyond the sky:", "Chained to excess, the slave of each extreme,", "How woke he from the wildness of that dream!", "Alas! he told not--but he did awake", "To curse the withered heart that would not break.", "", "Books, for his volume heretofore was Man,", "With eye more curious he appeared to scan,", "And oft in sudden mood, for many a day,", "From all communion he would start away:", "And then, his rarely called attendants said,", "Through night's long hours would sound his hurried tread", "O'er the dark gallery, where his fathers frowned", "In rude but antique portraiture around:", "They heard, but whispered--\"_that_ must not be known--", "The sound of words less earthly than his own.", "Yes, they who chose might smile, but some had seen", "They scarce knew what, but more than should have been.", "Why gazed he so upon the ghastly head", "Which hands profane had gathered from the dead,", "That still beside his opened volume lay,", "As if to startle all save him away?", "Why slept he not when others were at rest?", "Why heard no music, and received no guest?", "All was not well, they deemed--but where the wrong?", "Some knew perchance--but 'twere a tale too long;", "And such besides were too discreetly wise,", "To more than hint their knowledge in surmise;", "But if they would--they could\"--around the board", "Thus Lara's vassals prattled of their lord.", "", "It was the night--and Lara's glassy stream", "The stars are studding, each with imaged beam;", "So calm, the waters scarcely seem to stray,", "And yet they glide like Happiness away;", "Reflecting far and fairy-like from high", "The immortal lights that live along the sky:", "Its banks are fringed with many a goodly tree,", "And flowers the fairest that may feast the bee;", "Such in her chaplet infant Dian wove,", "And Innocence would offer to her love.", "These deck the shore; the waves their channel make", "In windings bright and mazy like the snake.", "All was so still, so soft in earth and air,", "You scarce would start to meet a spirit there;", "Secure that nought of evil could delight", "To walk in such a scene, on such a night!", "It was a moment only for the good:", "So Lara deemed, nor longer there he stood,", "But turned in silence to his castle-gate;", "Such scene his soul no more could contemplate:", "Such scene reminded him of other days,", "Of skies more cloudless, moons of purer blaze,", "Of nights more soft and frequent, hearts that now--", "No--no--the storm may beat upon his brow,", "Unfelt, unsparing--but a night like this,", "A night of Beauty, mocked such breast as his.", "", "He turned within his solitary hall,", "And his high shadow shot along the wall:", "There were the painted forms of other times,", "'Twas all they left of virtues or of crimes,", "Save vague tradition; and the gloomy vaults", "That hid their dust, their foibles, and their faults;", "And half a column of the pompous page,", "That speeds the specious tale from age to age;", "Where History's pen its praise or blame supplies,", "And lies like Truth, and still most truly lies.", "He wandering mused, and as the moonbeam shone", "Through the dim lattice, o'er the floor of stone,", "And the high fretted roof, and saints, that there", "O'er Gothic windows knelt in pictured prayer,", "Reflected in fantastic figures grew,", "Like life, but not like mortal life, to view;", "His bristling locks of sable, brow of gloom,", "And the wide waving of his shaken plume,", "Glanced like a spectre's attributes--and gave", "His aspect all that terror gives the grave.", "", "'Twas midnight--all was slumber; the lone light", "Dimmed in the lamp, as both to break the night.", "Hark! there be murmurs heard in Lara's hall--", "A sound--a voice--a shriek--a fearful call!", "A long, loud shriek--and silence--did they hear", "That frantic echo burst the sleeping ear?", "They heard and rose, and, tremulously brave,", "Rush where the sound invoked their aid to save;", "They come with half-lit tapers in their hands,", "And snatched in startled haste unbelted brands.", "", "Cold as the marble where his length was laid,", "Pale as the beam that o'er his features played,", "Was Lara stretched; his half-drawn sabre near,", "Dropped it should seem in more than Nature's fear;", "Yet he was firm, or had been firm till now,", "And still Defiance knit his gathered brow;", "Though mixed with terror, senseless as he lay,", "There lived upon his lip the wish to slay;", "Some half formed threat in utterance there had died,", "Some imprecation of despairing Pride;", "His eye was almost sealed, but not forsook,", "Even in its trance, the gladiator's look,", "That oft awake his aspect could disclose,", "And now was fixed in horrible repose.", "They raise him--bear him;--hush! he breathes, he speaks,", "The swarthy blush recolours in his cheeks,", "His lip resumes its red, his eye, though dim,", "Rolls wide and wild, each slowly quivering limb", "Recalls its function, but his words are strung", "In terms that seem not of his native tongue;", "Distinct but strange, enough they understand", "To deem them accents of another land;", "And such they were, and meant to meet an ear", "That hears him not--alas! that cannot hear!", "", "His page approached, and he alone appeared", "To know the import of the words they heard;", "And, by the changes of his cheek and brow,", "They were not such as Lara should avow,", "Nor he interpret,--yet with less surprise", "Than those around their Chieftain's state he eyes,", "But Lara's prostrate form he bent beside,", "And in that tongue which seemed his own replied;", "And Lara heeds those tones that gently seem", "To soothe away the horrors of his dream--", "If dream it were, that thus could overthrow", "A breast that needed not ideal woe.", "", "Whate'er his frenzy dreamed or eye beheld,--", "If yet remembered ne'er to be revealed,--", "Rests at his heart: the customed morning came,", "And breathed new vigour in his shaken frame;", "And solace sought he none from priest nor leech,", "And soon the same in movement and in speech,", "As heretofore he filled the passing hours,", "Nor less he smiles, nor more his forehead lowers,", "Than these were wont; and if the coming night", "Appeared less welcome now to Lara's sight,", "He to his marvelling vassals showed it not,", "Whose shuddering proved _their_ fear was less forgot.", "In trembling pairs (alone they dared not) crawl", "The astonished slaves, and shun the fated hall;", "The waving banner, and the clapping door,", "The rustling tapestry, and the echoing floor;", "The long dim shadows of surrounding trees,", "The flapping bat, the night song of the breeze;", "Aught they behold or hear their thought appals,", "As evening saddens o'er the dark grey walls.", "", "Vain thought! that hour of ne'er unravelled gloom", "Came not again, or Lara could assume", "A seeming of forgetfulness, that made", "His vassals more amazed nor less afraid.", "Had Memory vanished then with sense restored?", "Since word, nor look, nor gesture of their lord", "Betrayed a feeling that recalled to these", "That fevered moment of his mind's disease.", "Was it a dream? was his the voice that spoke", "Those strange wild accents; his the cry that broke", "Their slumber? his the oppressed, o'erlaboured heart", "That ceased to beat, the look that made them start?", "Could he who thus had suffered so forget,", "When such as saw that suffering shudder yet?", "Or did that silence prove his memory fixed", "Too deep for words, indelible, unmixed", "In that corroding secrecy which gnaws", "The heart to show the effect, but not the cause?", "Not so in him; his breast had buried both,", "Nor common gazers could discern the growth", "Of thoughts that mortal lips must leave half told;", "They choke the feeble words that would unfold.", "", "In him inexplicably mixed appeared", "Much to be loved and hated, sought and feared;", "Opinion varying o'er his hidden lot,", "In praise or railing ne'er his name forgot:", "His silence formed a theme for others' prate--", "They guessed--they gazed--they fain would know his fate.", "What had he been? what was he, thus unknown,", "Who walked their world, his lineage only known?", "A hater of his kind? yet some would say,", "With them he could seem gay amidst the gay;", "But owned that smile, if oft observed and near,", "Waned in its mirth, and withered to a sneer;", "That smile might reach his lip, but passed not by,", "Nor e'er could trace its laughter to his eye:", "Yet there was softness too in his regard,", "At times, a heart as not by nature hard,", "But once perceived, his Spirit seemed to chide", "Such weakness, as unworthy of its pride,", "And steeled itself, as scorning to redeem", "One doubt from others' half withheld esteem;", "In self-inflicted penance of a breast", "Which Tenderness might once have wrung from Rest;", "In vigilance of Grief that would compel", "The soul to hate for having loved too well.", "", "There was in him a vital scorn of all:", "As if the worst had fallen which could befall,", "He stood a stranger in this breathing world,", "An erring Spirit from another hurled;", "A thing of dark imaginings, that shaped", "By choice the perils he by chance escaped;", "But 'scaped in vain, for in their memory yet", "His mind would half exult and half regret:", "With more capacity for love than Earth", "Bestows on most of mortal mould and birth.", "His early dreams of good outstripped the truth,", "And troubled Manhood followed baffled Youth;", "With thought of years in phantom chase misspent,", "And wasted powers for better purpose lent;", "And fiery passions that had poured their wrath", "In hurried desolation o'er his path,", "And left the better feelings all at strife", "In wild reflection o'er his stormy life;", "But haughty still, and loth himself to blame,", "He called on Nature's self to share the shame,", "And charged all faults upon the fleshly form", "She gave to clog the soul, and feast the worm:", "Till he at last confounded good and ill,", "And half mistook for fate the acts of will:", "Too high for common selfishness, he could", "At times resign his own for others' good,", "But not in pity--not because he ought,", "But in some strange perversity of thought,", "That swayed him onward with a secret pride", "To do what few or none would do beside;", "And this same impulse would, in tempting time,", "Mislead his spirit equally to crime;", "So much he soared beyond, or sunk beneath,", "The men with whom he felt condemned to breathe,", "And longed by good or ill to separate", "Himself from all who shared his mortal state;", "His mind abhorring this had fixed her throne", "Far from the world, in regions of her own:", "Thus coldly passing all that passed below,", "His blood in temperate seeming now would flow:", "Ah! happier if it ne'er with guilt had glowed,", "But ever in that icy smoothness flowed!", "'Tis true, with other men their path he walked,", "And like the rest in seeming did and talked,", "Nor outraged Reason's rules by flaw nor start,", "His Madness was not of the head, but heart;", "And rarely wandered in his speech, or drew", "His thoughts so forth as to offend the view.", "", "With all that chilling mystery of mien,", "And seeming gladness to remain unseen,", "He had (if 'twere not nature's boon) an art", "Of fixing memory on another's heart:", "It was not love perchance--nor hate--nor aught", "That words can image to express the thought;", "But they who saw him did not see in vain,", "And once beheld--would ask of him again:", "And those to whom he spake remembered well,", "And on the words, however light, would dwell:", "None knew, nor how, nor why, but he entwined", "Himself perforce around the hearer's mind;", "There he was stamped, in liking, or in hate,", "If greeted once; however brief the date", "That friendship, pity, or aversion knew,", "Still there within the inmost thought he grew.", "You could not penetrate his soul, but found,", "Despite your wonder, to your own he wound;", "His presence haunted still; and from the breast", "He forced an all unwilling interest:", "Vain was the struggle in that mental net--", "His Spirit seemed to dare you to forget!", "", "There is a festival, where knights and dames,", "And aught that wealth or lofty lineage claims,", "Appear--a high-born and a welcome guest", "To Otho's hall came Lara with the rest.", "The long carousal shakes the illumined hall,", "Well speeds alike the banquet and the ball;", "And the gay dance of bounding Beauty's train", "Links grace and harmony in happiest chain:", "Blest are the early hearts and gentle hands", "That mingle there in well according bands;", "It is a sight the careful brow might smooth,", "And make Age smile, and dream itself to youth,", "And Youth forget such hour was past on earth,", "So springs the exulting bosom to that mirth!", "", "And Lara gazed on these, sedately glad,", "His brow belied him if his soul was sad;", "And his glance followed fast each fluttering fair,", "Whose steps of lightness woke no echo there:", "He leaned against the lofty pillar nigh,", "With folded arms and long attentive eye,", "Nor marked a glance so sternly fixed on his--", "Ill brooked high Lara scrutiny like this:", "At length he caught it--'tis a face unknown,", "But seems as searching his, and his alone;", "Prying and dark, a stranger's by his mien,", "Who still till now had gazed on him unseen:", "At length encountering meets the mutual gaze", "Of keen enquiry, and of mute amaze;", "On Lara's glance emotion gathering grew,", "As if distrusting that the stranger threw;", "Along the stranger's aspect, fixed and stern,", "Flashed more than thence the vulgar eye could learn.", "", "\"'Tis he!\" the stranger cried, and those that heard", "Re-echoed fast and far the whispered word.", "\"'Tis he!\"--\"'Tis who?\" they question far and near,", "Till louder accents rung on Lara's ear;", "So widely spread, few bosoms well could brook", "The general marvel, or that single look:", "But Lara stirred not, changed not, the surprise", "That sprung at first to his arrested eyes", "Seemed now subsided--neither sunk nor raised", "Glanced his eye round, though still the stranger gazed;", "And drawing nigh, exclaimed, with haughty sneer,", "\"'Tis he!--how came he thence?--what doth he here?\"", "", "It were too much for Lara to pass by", "Such questions, so repeated fierce and high;", "With look collected, but with accent cold,", "More mildly firm than petulantly bold,", "He turned, and met the inquisitorial tone--", "\"My name is Lara--when thine own is known,", "Doubt not my fitting answer to requite", "The unlooked for courtesy of such a knight.", "'Tis Lara!--further wouldst thou mark or ask?", "I shun no question, and I wear no mask.\"", "", " \"Thou _shunn'st_ no question! Ponder--is there none", "Thy heart must answer, though thine ear would shun?", "And deem'st thou me unknown too? Gaze again!", "At least thy memory was not given in vain.", "Oh! never canst thou cancel half her debt--", "Eternity forbids thee to forget.\"", "With slow and searching glance upon his face", "Grew Lara's eyes, but nothing there could trace", "They knew, or chose to know--with dubious look", "He deigned no answer, but his head he shook,", "And half contemptuous turned to pass away;", "But the stern stranger motioned him to stay.", "", " \"A word!--I charge thee stay, and answer here", "To one, who, wert thou noble, were thy peer,", "But as thou wast and art--nay, frown not, Lord,", "If false, 'tis easy to disprove the word--", "But as thou wast and art, on thee looks down,", "Distrusts thy smiles, but shakes not at thy frown.", "Art thou not he? whose deeds----\"", " \"Whate'er I be,", "Words wild as these, accusers like to thee,", "I list no further; those with whom they weigh", "May hear the rest, nor venture to gainsay", "The wondrous tale no doubt thy tongue can tell,", "Which thus begins so courteously and well.", "Let Otho cherish here his polished guest,", "To him my thanks and thoughts shall be expressed.\"", "And here their wondering host hath interposed--", " \"Whate'er there be between you undisclosed,", "This is no time nor fitting place to mar", "The mirthful meeting with a wordy war.", "If thou, Sir Ezzelin, hast aught to show", "Which it befits Count Lara's ear to know,", "To-morrow, here, or elsewhere, as may best", "Beseem your mutual judgment, speak the rest;", "I pledge myself for thee, as not unknown,", "Though, like Count Lara, now returned alone", "From other lands, almost a stranger grown;", "And if from Lara's blood and gentle birth", "I augur right of courage and of worth,", "He will not that untainted line belie,", "Nor aught that Knighthood may accord, deny.\"", "", " \"To-morrow be it,\" Ezzelin replied,", "\"And here our several worth and truth be tried;", "I gage my life, my falchion to attest", "My words, so may I mingle with the blest!\"", "What answers Lara? to its centre shrunk", "His soul, in deep abstraction sudden sunk;", "The words of many, and the eyes of all", "That there were gathered, seemed on him to fall;", "But his were silent, his appeared to stray", "In far forgetfulness away--away--", "Alas! that heedlessness of all around", "Bespoke remembrance only too profound.", "", "\"To-morrow!--aye, to-morrow!\" further word", "Than those repeated none from Lara heard;", "Upon his brow no outward passion spoke;", "From his large eye no flashing anger broke;", "Yet there was something fixed in that low tone,", "Which showed resolve, determined, though unknown.", "He seized his cloak--his head he slightly bowed,", "And passing Ezzelin, he left the crowd;", "And, as he passed him, smiling met the frown", "With which that Chieftain's brow would bear him down:", "It was nor smile of mirth, nor struggling pride", "That curbs to scorn the wrath it cannot hide;", "But that of one in his own heart secure", "Of all that he would do, or could endure.", "Could this mean peace? the calmness of the good?", "Or guilt grown old in desperate hardihood?", "Alas! too like in confidence are each,", "For man to trust to mortal look or speech;", "From deeds, and deeds alone, may he discern", "Truths which it wrings the unpractised heart to learn.", "", "And Lara called his page, and went his way--", "Well could that stripling word or sign obey:", "His only follower from those climes afar,", "Where the Soul glows beneath a brighter star:", "For Lara left the shore from whence he sprung,", "In duty patient, and sedate though young;", "Silent as him he served, his faith appears", "Above his station, and beyond his years.", "Though not unknown the tongue of Lara's land,", "In such from him he rarely heard command;", "But fleet his step, and clear his tones would come,", "When Lara's lip breathed forth the words of home:", "Those accents, as his native mountains dear,", "Awake their absent echoes in his ear,", "Friends'--kindred's--parents'--wonted voice recall,", "Now lost, abjured, for one--his friend, his all:", "For him earth now disclosed no other guide;", "What marvel then he rarely left his side?", "", "Light was his form, and darkly delicate", "That brow whereon his native sun had sate,", "But had not marred, though in his beams he grew,", "The cheek where oft the unbidden blush shone through;", "Yet not such blush as mounts when health would show", "All the heart's hue in that delighted glow;", "But 'twas a hectic tint of secret care", "That for a burning moment fevered there;", "And the wild sparkle of his eye seemed caught", "From high, and lightened with electric thought,", "Though its black orb those long low lashes' fringe", "Had tempered with a melancholy tinge;", "Yet less of sorrow than of pride was there,", "Or, if 'twere grief, a grief that none should share:", "And pleased not him the sports that please his age,", "The tricks of Youth, the frolics of the Page;", "For hours on Lara he would fix his glance,", "As all-forgotten in that watchful trance;", "And from his chief withdrawn, he wandered lone,", "Brief were his answers, and his questions none;", "His walk the wood, his sport some foreign book;", "His resting-place the bank that curbs the brook:", "He seemed, like him he served, to live apart", "From all that lures the eye, and fills the heart;", "To know no brotherhood, and take from earth", "No gift beyond that bitter boon--our birth.", "", "If aught he loved, 'twas Lara; but was shown", "His faith in reverence and in deeds alone;", "In mute attention; and his care, which guessed", "Each wish, fulfilled it ere the tongue expressed.", "Still there was haughtiness in all he did,", "A spirit deep that brooked not to be chid;", "His zeal, though more than that of servile hands,", "In act alone obeys, his air commands;", "As if 'twas Lara's less than _his_ desire", "That thus he served, but surely not for hire.", "Slight were the tasks enjoined him by his Lord,", "To hold the stirrup, or to bear the sword;", "To tune his lute, or, if he willed it more,", "On tomes of other times and tongues to pore;", "But ne'er to mingle with the menial train,", "To whom he showed nor deference nor disdain,", "But that well-worn reserve which proved he knew", "No sympathy with that familiar crew:", "His soul, whate'er his station or his stem,", "Could bow to Lara, not descend to them.", "Of higher birth he seemed, and better days,", "Nor mark of vulgar toil that hand betrays,", "So femininely white it might bespeak", "Another sex, when matched with that smooth cheek,", "But for his garb, and something in his gaze,", "More wild and high than Woman's eye betrays;", "A latent fierceness that far more became", "His fiery climate than his tender frame:", "True, in his words it broke not from his breast,", "But from his aspect might be more than guessed.", "Kaled his name, though rumour said he bore", "Another ere he left his mountain-shore;", "For sometimes he would hear, however nigh,", "That name repeated loud without reply,", "As unfamiliar--or, if roused again,", "Start to the sound, as but remembered then;", "Unless 'twas Lara's wonted voice that spake,", "For then--ear--eyes--and heart would all awake.", "", "He had looked down upon the festive hall,", "And mark'd that sudden strife so marked of all:", "And when the crowd around and near him told", "Their wonder at the calmness of the bold,", "Their marvel how the high-born Lara bore", "Such insult from a stranger, doubly sore,", "The colour of young Kaled went and came,", "The lip of ashes, and the cheek of flame;", "And o'er his brow the dampening heart-drops threw", "The sickening iciness of that cold dew,", "That rises as the busy bosom sinks", "With heavy thoughts from which Reflection shrinks.", "Yes--there be things which we must dream and dare,", "And execute ere thought be half aware:", "Whate'er might Kaled's be, it was enow", "To seal his lip, but agonise his brow.", "He gazed on Ezzelin till Lara cast", "That sidelong smile upon the knight he past;", "When Kaled saw that smile his visage fell,", "As if on something recognised right well:", "His memory read in such a meaning more", "Than Lara's aspect unto others wore:", "Forward he sprung--a moment, both were gone,", "And all within that hall seemed left alone;", "Each had so fixed his eye on Lara's mien,", "All had so mixed their feelings with that scene,", "That when his long dark shadow through the porch", "No more relieves the glare of yon high torch,", "Each pulse beats quicker, and all bosoms seem", "To bound as doubting from too black a dream,", "Such as we know is false, yet dread in sooth,", "Because the worst is ever nearest truth.", "And they are gone--but Ezzelin is there,", "With thoughtful visage and imperious air;", "But long remained not; ere an hour expired", "He waved his hand to Otho, and retired.", "", "The crowd are gone, the revellers at rest;", "The courteous host, and all-approving guest,", "Again to that accustomed couch must creep", "Where Joy subsides, and Sorrow sighs to sleep,", "And Man, o'erlaboured with his Being's strife,", "Shrinks to that sweet forgetfulness of life:", "There lie Love's feverish hope, and Cunning's guile,", "Hate's working brain, and lulled Ambition's wile;", "O'er each vain eye Oblivion's pinions wave,", "And quenched Existence crouches in a grave.", "What better name may Slumber's bed become?", "Night's sepulchre, the universal home,", "Where Weakness--Strength--Vice--Virtue--sunk supine,", "Alike in naked helplessness recline;", "Glad for a while to heave unconscious breath,", "Yet wake to wrestle with the dread of Death,", "And shun--though Day but dawn on ills increased--", "That sleep,--the loveliest, since it dreams the least.", "", "CANTO THE SECOND.", "", "Night wanes--the vapours round the mountains curled", "Melt into morn, and Light awakes the world,", "Man has another day to swell the past,", "And lead him near to little, but his last;", "But mighty Nature bounds as from her birth,", "The Sun is in the heavens, and Life on earth;", "Flowers in the valley, splendour in the beam,", "Health on the gale, and freshness in the stream.", "Immortal Man! behold her glories shine,", "And cry, exulting inly, \"They are thine!\"", "Gaze on, while yet thy gladdened eye may see:", "A morrow comes when they are not for thee:", "And grieve what may above thy senseless bier,", "Nor earth nor sky will yield a single tear;", "Nor cloud shall gather more, nor leaf shall fall,", "Nor gale breathe forth one sigh for thee, for all;", "But creeping things shall revel in their spoil,", "And fit thy clay to fertilise the soil.", "", "'Tis morn--'tis noon--assembled in the hall,", "The gathered Chieftains come to Otho's call;", "'Tis now the promised hour, that must proclaim", "The life or death of Lara's future fame;", "And Ezzelin his charge may here unfold,", "And whatsoe'er the tale, it must be told.", "His faith was pledged, and Lara's promise given,", "To meet it in the eye of Man and Heaven.", "Why comes he not? Such truths to be divulged,", "Methinks the accuser's rest is long indulged.", "", "The hour is past, and Lara too is there,", "With self-confiding, coldly patient air;", "Why comes not Ezzelin? The hour is past,", "And murmurs rise, and Otho's brow's o'ercast.", "\"I know my friend! his faith I cannot fear,", "If yet he be on earth, expect him here;", "The roof that held him in the valley stands", "Between my own and noble Lara's lands;", "My halls from such a guest had honour gained,", "Nor had Sir Ezzelin his host disdained,", "But that some previous proof forbade his stay,", "And urged him to prepare against to-day;", "The word I pledged for his I pledge again,", "Or will myself redeem his knighthood's stain.\"", "He ceased--and Lara answered, \"I am here", "To lend at thy demand a listening ear", "To tales of evil from a stranger's tongue,", "Whose words already might my heart have wrung,", "But that I deemed him scarcely less than mad,", "Or, at the worst, a foe ignobly bad.", "I know him not--but me it seems he knew", "In lands where--but I must not trifle too:", "Produce this babbler--or redeem the pledge;", "Here in thy hold, and with thy falchion's edge.\"", "", "Proud Otho on the instant, reddening, threw", "His glove on earth, and forth his sabre flew.", "\"The last alternative befits me best,", "And thus I answer for mine absent guest.\"", "", "With cheek unchanging from its sallow gloom,", "However near his own or other's tomb;", "With hand, whose almost careless coolness spoke", "Its grasp well-used to deal the sabre-stroke;", "With eye, though calm, determined not to spare,", "Did Lara too his willing weapon bare.", "In vain the circling Chieftains round them closed,", "For Otho's frenzy would not be opposed;", "And from his lip those words of insult fell--", "His sword is good who can maintain them well.", "", "Short was the conflict; furious, blindly rash,", "Vain Otho gave his bosom to the gash:", "He bled, and fell; but not with deadly wound,", "Stretched by a dextrous sleight along the ground.", "\"Demand thy life!\" He answered not: and then", "From that red floor he ne'er had risen again,", "For Lara's brow upon the moment grew", "Almost to blackness in its demon hue;", "And fiercer shook his angry falchion now", "Than when his foe's was levelled at his brow;", "Then all was stern collectedness and art,", "Now rose the unleavened hatred of his heart;", "So little sparing to the foe he felled,", "That when the approaching crowd his arm withheld,", "He almost turned the thirsty point on those", "Who thus for mercy dared to interpose;", "But to a moment's thought that purpose bent;", "Yet looked he on him still with eye intent,", "As if he loathed the ineffectual strife", "That left a foe, howe'er o'erthrown, with life;", "As if to search how far the wound he gave", "Had sent its victim onward to his grave.", "", "They raised the bleeding Otho, and the Leech", "Forbade all present question, sign, and speech;", "The others met within a neighbouring hall,", "And he, incensed, and heedless of them all,", "The cause and conqueror in this sudden fray,", "In haughty silence slowly strode away;", "He backed his steed, his homeward path he took,", "Nor cast on Otho's towers a single look.", "", "But where was he? that meteor of a night,", "Who menaced but to disappear with light.", "Where was this Ezzelin? who came and went,", "To leave no other trace of his intent.", "He left the dome of Otho long ere morn,", "In darkness, yet so well the path was worn", "He could not miss it: near his dwelling lay;", "But there he was not, and with coming day", "Came fast inquiry, which unfolded nought,", "Except the absence of the Chief it sought.", "A chamber tenantless, a steed at rest,", "His host alarmed, his murmuring squires distressed:", "Their search extends along, around the path,", "In dread to meet the marks of prowlers' wrath:", "But none are there, and not a brake hath borne", "Nor gout of blood, nor shred of mantle torn;", "Nor fall nor struggle hath defaced the grass,", "Which still retains a mark where Murder was;", "Nor dabbling fingers left to tell the tale,", "The bitter print of each convulsive nail,", "When agoniséd hands that cease to guard,", "Wound in that pang the smoothness of the sward.", "Some such had been, if here a life was reft,", "But these were not; and doubting Hope is left;", "And strange Suspicion, whispering Lara's name,", "Now daily mutters o'er his blackened fame;", "Then sudden silent when his form appeared,", "Awaits the absence of the thing it feared", "Again its wonted wondering to renew,", "And dye conjecture with a darker hue.", "", "Days roll along, and Otho's wounds are healed,", "But not his pride; and hate no more concealed:", "He was a man of power, and Lara's foe,", "The friend of all who sought to work him woe,", "And from his country's justice now demands", "Account of Ezzelin at Lara's hands.", "Who else than Lara could have cause to fear", "His presence? who had made him disappear,", "If not the man on whom his menaced charge", "Had sate too deeply were he left at large?", "The general rumour ignorantly loud,", "The mystery dearest to the curious crowd;", "The seeming friendliness of him who strove", "To win no confidence, and wake no love;", "The sweeping fierceness which his soul betrayed,", "The skill with which he wielded his keen blade;", "Where had his arm unwarlike caught that art?", "Where had that fierceness grown upon his heart?", "For it was not the blind capricious rage", "A word can kindle and a word assuage;", "But the deep working of a soul unmixed", "With aught of pity where its wrath had fixed;", "Such as long power and overgorged success", "Concentrates into all that's merciless:", "These, linked with that desire which ever sways", "Mankind, the rather to condemn than praise,", "'Gainst Lara gathering raised at length a storm,", "Such as himself might fear, and foes would form,", "And he must answer for the absent head", "Of one that haunts him still, alive or dead.", "", "Within that land was many a malcontent,", "Who cursed the tyranny to which he bent;", "That soil full many a wringing despot saw,", "Who worked his wantonness in form of law;", "Long war without and frequent broil within", "Had made a path for blood and giant sin,", "That waited but a signal to begin", "New havoc, such as civil discord blends,", "Which knows no neuter, owns but foes or friends;", "Fixed in his feudal fortress each was lord,", "In word and deed obeyed, in soul abhorred.", "Thus Lara had inherited his lands,", "And with them pining hearts and sluggish hands;", "But that long absence from his native clime", "Had left him stainless of Oppression's crime,", "And now, diverted by his milder sway,", "All dread by slow degrees had worn away.", "The menials felt their usual awe alone,", "But more for him than them that fear was grown;", "They deemed him now unhappy, though at first", "Their evil judgment augured of the worst,", "And each long restless night, and silent mood,", "Was traced to sickness, fed by solitude:", "And though his lonely habits threw of late", "Gloom o'er his chamber, cheerful was his gate;", "For thence the wretched ne'er unsoothed withdrew,", "For them, at least, his soul compassion knew.", "Cold to the great, contemptuous to the high,", "The humble passed not his unheeding eye;", "Much he would speak not, but beneath his roof", "They found asylum oft, and ne'er reproof.", "And they who watched might mark that, day by day,", "Some new retainers gathered to his sway;", "But most of late, since Ezzelin was lost,", "He played the courteous lord and bounteous host:", "Perchance his strife with Otho made him dread", "Some snare prepared for his obnoxious head;", "Whate'er his view, his favour more obtains", "With these, the people, than his fellow thanes.", "If this were policy, so far 'twas sound,", "The million judged but of him as they found;", "From him by sterner chiefs to exile driven", "They but required a shelter, and 'twas given.", "By him no peasant mourned his rifled cot,", "And scarce the Serf could murmur o'er his lot;", "With him old Avarice found its hoard secure,", "With him contempt forbore to mock the poor;", "Youth present cheer and promised recompense", "Detained, till all too late to part from thence:", "To Hate he offered, with the coming change,", "The deep reversion of delayed revenge;", "To Love, long baffled by the unequal match,", "The well-won charms success was sure to snatch.", "All now was ripe, he waits but to proclaim", "That slavery nothing which was still a name.", "The moment came, the hour when Otho thought", "Secure at last the vengeance which he sought:", "His summons found the destined criminal", "Begirt by thousands in his swarming hall;", "Fresh from their feudal fetters newly riven,", "Defying earth, and confident of heaven.", "That morning he had freed the soil-bound slaves,", "Who dig no land for tyrants but their graves!", "Such is their cry--some watchword for the fight", "Must vindicate the wrong, and warp the right;", "Religion--Freedom--Vengeance--what you will,", "A word's enough to raise Mankind to kill;", "Some factious phrase by cunning caught and spread,", "That Guilt may reign-and wolves and worms be fed!", "", "Throughout that clime the feudal Chiefs had gained", "Such sway, their infant monarch hardly reigned;", "Now was the hour for Faction's rebel growth,", "The Serfs contemned the one, and hated both:", "They waited but a leader, and they found", "One to their cause inseparably bound;", "By circumstance compelled to plunge again,", "In self-defence, amidst the strife of men.", "Cut off by some mysterious fate from those", "Whom Birth and Nature meant not for his foes,", "Had Lara from that night, to him accurst,", "Prepared to meet, but not alone, the worst:", "Some reason urged, whate'er it was, to shun", "Inquiry into deeds at distance done;", "By mingling with his own the cause of all,", "E'en if he failed, he still delayed his fall.", "The sullen calm that long his bosom kept,", "The storm that once had spent itself and slept,", "Roused by events that seemed foredoomed to urge", "His gloomy fortunes to their utmost verge,", "Burst forth, and made him all he once had been,", "And is again; he only changed the scene.", "Light care had he for life, and less for fame,", "But not less fitted for the desperate game:", "He deemed himself marked out for others' hate,", "And mocked at Ruin so they shared his fate.", "And cared he for the freedom of the crowd?", "He raised the humble but to bend the proud.", "He had hoped quiet in his sullen lair,", "But Man and Destiny beset him there:", "Inured to hunters, he was found at bay;", "And they must kill, they cannot snare the prey.", "Stern, unambitious, silent, he had been", "Henceforth a calm spectator of Life's scene;", "But dragged again upon the arena, stood", "A leader not unequal to the feud;", "In voice--mien--gesture--savage nature spoke,", "And from his eye the gladiator broke.", "", "What boots the oft-repeated tale of strife,", "The feast of vultures, and the waste of life?", "The varying fortune of each separate field,", "The fierce that vanquish, and the faint that yield?", "The smoking ruin, and the crumbled wall?", "In this the struggle was the same with all;", "Save that distempered passions lent their force", "In bitterness that banished all remorse.", "None sued, for Mercy knew her cry was vain,", "The captive died upon the battle-plain:", "In either cause, one rage alone possessed", "The empire of the alternate victor's breast;", "And they that smote for freedom or for sway,", "Deemed few were slain, while more remained to slay.", "It was too late to check the wasting brand,", "And Desolation reaped the famished land;", "The torch was lighted, and the flame was spread,", "And Carnage smiled upon her daily dead.", "", "Fresh with the nerve the new-born impulse strung,", "The first success to Lara's numbers clung:", "But that vain victory hath ruined all;", "They form no longer to their leader's call:", "In blind confusion on the foe they press,", "And think to snatch is to secure success.", "The lust of booty, and the thirst of hate,", "Lure on the broken brigands to their fate:", "In vain he doth whate'er a chief may do,", "To check the headlong fury of that crew;", "In vain their stubborn ardour he would tame,", "The hand that kindles cannot quench the flame;", "The wary foe alone hath turned their mood,", "And shown their rashness to that erring brood:", "The feigned retreat, the nightly ambuscade,", "The daily harass, and the fight delayed,", "The long privation of the hoped supply,", "The tentless rest beneath the humid sky,", "The stubborn wall that mocks the leaguer's art,", "And palls the patience of his baffled art,", "Of these they had not deemed: the battle-day", "They could encounter as a veteran may;", "But more preferred the fury of the strife,", "And present death, to hourly suffering life:", "And Famine wrings, and Fever sweeps away", "His numbers melting fast from their array;", "Intemperate triumph fades to discontent,", "And Lara's soul alone seems still unbent;", "But few remain to aid his voice and hand,", "And thousands dwindled to a scanty band:", "Desperate, though few, the last and best remained", "To mourn the discipline they late disdained.", "One hope survives, the frontier is not far,", "And thence they may escape from native war:", "And bear within them to the neighbouring state", "An exile's sorrows, or an outlaw's hate:", "Hard is the task their father-land to quit,", "But harder still to perish or submit.", "", "It is resolved--they march--consenting Night", "Guides with her star their dim and torchless flight;", "Already they perceive its tranquil beam", "Sleep on the surface of the barrier stream;", "Already they descry--Is yon the bank?", "Away! 'tis lined with many a hostile rank.", "Return or fly!--What glitters in the rear?", "'Tis Otho's banner--the pursuer's spear!", "Are those the shepherds' fires upon the height?", "Alas! they blaze too widely for the flight:", "Cut off from hope, and compassed in the toil,", "Less blood perchance hath bought a richer spoil!", "", "A moment's pause--'tis but to breathe their band,", "Or shall they onward press, or here withstand?", "It matters little--if they charge the foes", "Who by their border-stream their march oppose,", "Some few, perchance, may break and pass the line,", "However linked to baffle such design.", "\"The charge be ours! to wait for their assault", "Were fate well worthy of a coward's halt.\"", "Forth flies each sabre, reined is every steed,", "And the next word shall scarce outstrip the deed:", "In the next tone of Lara's gathering breath", "How many shall but hear the voice of Death!", "", "His blade is bared,--in him there is an air", "As deep, but far too tranquil for despair;", "A something of indifference more than then", "Becomes the bravest, if they feel for men--", "He turned his eye on Kaled, ever near,", "And still too faithful to betray one fear;", "Perchance 'twas but the moon's dim twilight threw", "Along his aspect an unwonted hue", "Of mournful paleness, whose deep tint expressed", "The truth, and not the terror of his breast.", "This Lara marked, and laid his hand on his:", "It trembled not in such an hour as this;", "His lip was silent, scarcely beat his heart,", "His eye alone proclaimed, \"We will not part!", "Thy band may perish, or thy friends may flee,", "Farewell to Life--but not Adieu to thee!\"", "", "The word hath passed his lips, and onward driven,", "Pours the linked band through ranks asunder riven:", "Well has each steed obeyed the arméd heel,", "And flash the scimitars, and rings the steel;", "Outnumbered, not outbraved, they still oppose", "Despair to daring, and a front to foes;", "And blood is mingled with the dashing stream,", "Which runs all redly till the morning beam.", "", "Commanding--aiding--animating all,", "Where foe appeared to press, or friend to fall,", "Cheers Lara's voice, and waves or strikes his steel,", "Inspiring hope, himself had ceased to feel.", "None fled, for well they knew that flight were vain;", "But those that waver turn to smite again,", "While yet they find the firmest of the foe", "Recoil before their leader's look and blow:", "Now girt with numbers, now almost alone,", "He foils their ranks, or re-unites his own;", "Himself he spared not--once they seemed to fly--", "Now was the time, he waved his hand on high,", "And shook--Why sudden droops that pluméd crest?", "The shaft is sped--the arrow's in his breast!", "That fatal gesture left the unguarded side,", "And Death has stricken down yon arm of pride.", "The word of triumph fainted from his tongue;", "That hand, so raised, how droopingly it hung!", "But yet the sword instinctively retains,", "Though from its fellow shrink the falling reins;", "These Kaled snatches: dizzy with the blow,", "And senseless bending o'er his saddle-bow,", "Perceives not Lara that his anxious page", "Beguiles his charger from the combat's rage:", "Meantime his followers charge, and charge again;", "Too mixed the slayers now to heed the slain!", "", "Day glimmers on the dying and the dead,", "The cloven cuirass, and the helmless head;", "The war-horse masterless is on the earth,", "And that last gasp hath burst his bloody girth;", "And near, yet quivering with what life remained,", "The heel that urged him and the hand that reined;", "And some too near that rolling torrent lie,", "Whose waters mock the lip of those that die;", "That panting thirst which scorches in the breath", "Of those that die the soldier's fiery death,", "In vain impels the burning mouth to crave", "One drop--the last--to cool it for the grave;", "With feeble and convulsive effort swept,", "Their limbs along the crimsoned turf have crept;", "The faint remains of life such struggles waste,", "But yet they reach the stream, and bend to taste:", "They feel its freshness, and almost partake--", "Why pause? No further thirst have they to slake--", "It is unquenched, and yet they feel it not;", "It was an agony--but now forgot!", "", "Beneath a lime, remoter from the scene,", "Where but for him that strife had never been,", "A breathing but devoted warrior lay:", "'Twas Lara bleeding fast from life away.", "His follower once, and now his only guide,", "Kneels Kaled watchful o'er his welling side,", "And with his scarf would staunch the tides that rush,", "With each convulsion, in a blacker gush;", "And then, as his faint breathing waxes low,", "In feebler, not less fatal tricklings flow:", "He scarce can speak, but motions him 'tis vain,", "And merely adds another throb to pain.", "He clasps the hand that pang which would assuage,", "And sadly smiles his thanks to that dark page,", "Who nothing fears--nor feels--nor heeds--nor sees--", "Save that damp brow which rests upon his knees;", "Save that pale aspect, where the eye, though dim,", "Held all the light that shone on earth for him.", "", "The foe arrives, who long had searched the field,", "Their triumph nought till Lara too should yield:", "They would remove him, but they see 'twere vain,", "And he regards them with a calm disdain,", "That rose to reconcile him with his fate,", "And that escape to death from living hate:", "And Otho comes, and leaping from his steed,", "Looks on the bleeding foe that made him bleed,", "And questions of his state; he answers not,", "Scarce glances on him as on one forgot,", "And turns to Kaled:--each remaining word", "They understood not, if distinctly heard;", "His dying tones are in that other tongue,", "To which some strange remembrance wildly clung.", "They spake of other scenes, but what--is known", "To Kaled, whom their meaning reached alone;", "And he replied, though faintly, to their sound,", "While gazed the rest in dumb amazement round:", "They seemed even then--that twain--unto the last", "To half forget the present in the past;", "To share between themselves some separate fate,", "Whose darkness none beside should penetrate.", "", "Their words though faint were many--from the tone", "Their import those who heard could judge alone;", "From this, you might have deemed young Kaled's death", "More near than Lara's by his voice and breath,", "So sad--so deep--and hesitating broke", "The accents his scarce-moving pale lips spoke;", "But Lara's voice, though low, at first was clear", "And calm, till murmuring Death gasped hoarsely near;", "But from his visage little could we guess,", "So unrepentant--dark--and passionless,", "Save that when struggling nearer to his last,", "Upon that page his eye was kindly cast;", "And once, as Kaled's answering accents ceased,", "Rose Lara's hand, and pointed to the East:", "Whether (as then the breaking Sun from high", "Rolled back the clouds) the morrow caught his eye,", "Or that 'twas chance--or some remembered scene,", "That raised his arm to point where such had been,", "Scarce Kaled seemed to know, but turned away,", "As if his heart abhorred that coming day,", "And shrunk his glance before that morning light,", "To look on Lara's brow--where all grew night.", "Yet sense seemed left, though better were its loss;", "For when one near displayed the absolving Cross,", "And proffered to his touch the holy bead,", "Of which his parting soul might own the need,", "He looked upon it with an eye profane,", "And smiled--Heaven pardon! if 'twere with disdain:", "And Kaled, though he spoke not, nor withdrew", "From Lara's face his fixed despairing view,", "With brow repulsive, and with gesture swift,", "Flung back the hand which held the sacred gift,", "As if such but disturbed the expiring man,", "Nor seemed to know his life but _then_ began--", "That Life of Immortality, secure", "To none, save them whose faith in Christ is sure.", "", "But gasping heaved the breath that Lara drew,", "And dull the film along his dim eye grew;", "His limbs stretched fluttering, and his head drooped o'er", "The weak yet still untiring knee that bore;", "He pressed the hand he held upon his heart--", "It beats no more, but Kaled will not part", "With the cold grasp, but feels, and feels in vain,", "For that faint throb which answers not again.", "\"It beats!\"--Away, thou dreamer! he is gone--", "It once _was_ Lara which thou look'st upon.", "", "He gazed, as if not yet had passed away", "The haughty spirit of that humbled clay;", "And those around have roused him from his trance,", "But cannot tear from thence his fixéd glance;", "And when, in raising him from where he bore", "Within his arms the form that felt no more,", "He saw the head his breast would still sustain,", "Roll down like earth to earth upon the plain;", "He did not dash himself thereby, nor tear", "The glossy tendrils of his raven hair,", "But strove to stand and gaze, but reeled and fell,", "Scarce breathing more than that he loved so well.", "Than that _he_ loved! Oh! never yet beneath", "The breast of _man_ such trusty love may breathe!", "That trying moment hath at once revealed", "The secret long and yet but half concealed;", "In baring to revive that lifeless breast,", "Its grief seemed ended, but the sex confessed;", "And life returned, and Kaled felt no shame--", "What now to her was Womanhood or Fame?", "", "And Lara sleeps not where his fathers sleep,", "But where he died his grave was dug as deep;", "Nor is his mortal slumber less profound,", "Though priest nor blessed nor marble decked the mound,", "And he was mourned by one whose quiet grief,", "Less loud, outlasts a people's for their Chief.", "Vain was all question asked her of the past,", "And vain e'en menace--silent to the last;", "She told nor whence, nor why she left behind", "Her all for one who seemed but little kind.", "Why did she love him? Curious fool!--be still--", "Is human love the growth of human will?", "To her he might be gentleness; the stern", "Have deeper thoughts than your dull eyes discern,", "And when they love, your smilers guess not how", "Beats the strong heart, though less the lips avow.", "They were not common links, that formed the chain", "That bound to Lara Kaled's heart and brain;", "But that wild tale she brooked not to unfold,", "And sealed is now each lip that could have told.", "", "They laid him in the earth, and on his breast,", "Besides the wound that sent his soul to rest,", "They found the scattered dints of many a scar,", "Which were not planted there in recent war;", "Where'er had passed his summer years of life,", "It seems they vanished in a land of strife;", "But all unknown his Glory or his Guilt,", "These only told that somewhere blood was spilt,", "And Ezzelin, who might have spoke the past,", "Returned no more--that night appeared his last.", "", "Upon that night (a peasant's is the tale)", "A Serf that crossed the intervening vale,", "When Cynthia's light almost gave way to morn,", "And nearly veiled in mist her waning horn;", "A Serf, that rose betimes to thread the wood,", "And hew the bough that bought his children's food,", "Passed by the river that divides the plain", "Of Otho's lands and Lara's broad domain:", "He heard a tramp--a horse and horseman broke", "From out the wood--before him was a cloak", "Wrapt round some burthen at his saddle-bow,", "Bent was his head, and hidden was his brow.", "Roused by the sudden sight at such a time,", "And some foreboding that it might be crime,", "Himself unheeded watched the stranger's course,", "Who reached the river, bounded from his horse,", "And lifting thence the burthen which he bore,", "Heaved up the bank, and dashed it from the shore,", "Then paused--and looked--and turned--and seemed to watch,", "And still another hurried glance would snatch,", "And follow with his step the stream that flowed,", "As if even yet too much its surface showed;", "At once he started--stooped--around him strown", "The winter floods had scattered heaps of stone:", "Of these the heaviest thence he gathered there,", "And slung them with a more than common care.", "Meantime the Serf had crept to where unseen", "Himself might safely mark what this might mean;", "He caught a glimpse, as of a floating breast,", "And something glittered starlike on the vest;", "But ere he well could mark the buoyant trunk,", "A massy fragment smote it, and it sunk:", "It rose again, but indistinct to view,", "And left the waters of a purple hue,", "Then deeply disappeared: the horseman gazed", "Till ebbed the latest eddy it had raised;", "Then turning, vaulted on his pawing steed,", "And instant spurred him into panting speed.", "His face was masked--the features of the dead,", "If dead it were, escaped the observer's dread;", "But if in sooth a Star its bosom bore,", "Such is the badge that Knighthood ever wore,", "And such 'tis known Sir Ezzelin had worn", "Upon the night that led to such a morn.", "If thus he perished, Heaven receive his soul!", "His undiscovered limbs to ocean roll;", "And charity upon the hope would dwell", "It was not Lara's hand by which he fell.", "", "And Kaled--Lara--Ezzelin, are gone,", "Alike without their monumental stone!", "The first, all efforts vainly strove to wean", "From lingering where her Chieftain's blood had been:", "Grief had so tamed a spirit once too proud,", "Her tears were few, her wailing never loud;", "But furious would you tear her from the spot", "Where yet she scarce believed that he was not,", "Her eye shot forth with all the living fire", "That haunts the tigress in her whelpless ire;", "But left to waste her weary moments there,", "She talked all idly unto shapes of air,", "Such as the busy brain of Sorrow paints,", "And woos to listen to her fond complaints:", "And she would sit beneath the very tree", "Where lay his drooping head upon her knee;", "And in that posture where she saw him fall,", "His words, his looks, his dying grasp recall;", "And she had shorn, but saved her raven hair,", "And oft would snatch it from her bosom there,", "And fold, and press it gently to the ground,", "As if she staunched anew some phantom's wound.", "Herself would question, and for him reply;", "Then rising, start, and beckon him to fly", "From some imagined Spectre in pursuit;", "Then seat her down upon some linden's root,", "And hide her visage with her meagre hand,", "Or trace strange characters along the sand--", "This could not last--she lies by him she loved;", "Her tale untold--her truth too dearly proved." ], "linecount": "1275" }, { "title": "She Walks in Beauty", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "She walks in Beauty, like the night", " Of cloudless climes and starry skies;", "And all that's best of dark and bright", " Meet in her aspect and her eyes:", "Thus mellowed to that tender light", " Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.", "", "One shade the more, one ray the less,", " Had half impaired the nameless grace", "Which waves in every raven tress,", " Or softly lightens o'er her face;", "Where thoughts serenely sweet express,", " How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.", "", "And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,", " So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,", "The smiles that win, the tints that glow,", " But tell of days in goodness spent,", "A mind at peace with all below,", " A heart whose love is innocent!" ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "Of That High World", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "If that high world, which lies beyond", " Our own, surviving Love endears;", "If there the cherished heart be fond,", " The eye the same, except in tears--", "How welcome those untrodden spheres!", " How sweet this very hour to die!", "To soar from earth and find all fears", " Lost in thy light--Eternity!", "", "It must be so: 'tis not for self", " That we so tremble on the brink;", "And striving to o'erleap the gulf,", " Yet cling to Being's severing link.", "Oh! in that future let us think", " To hold each heart the heart that shares,", "With them the immortal waters drink,", " And soul in soul grow deathless theirs!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Oh! Weep for Those", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh! weep for those that wept by Babel's stream,", "Whose shrines are desolate, whose land a dream;", "Weep for the harp of Judah's broken shell;", "Mourn--where their God hath dwelt the godless dwell!", "", "And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet?", "And when shall Zion's songs again seem sweet?", "And Judah's melody once more rejoice", "The hearts that leaped before its heavenly voice?", "", "Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast,", "How shall ye flee away and be at rest!", "The wild-dove hath her nest, the fox his cave,", "Mankind their country--Israel but the grave!" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "On Jordan's Banks", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "On Jordan's banks the Arab's camels stray,", "On Sion's hill the False One's votaries pray,", "The Baal-adorer bows on Sinai's steep--", "Yet there--even there--Oh God! thy thunders sleep:", "", "There--where thy finger scorched the tablet stone!", "There--where thy shadow to thy people shone!", "Thy glory shrouded in its garb of fire:", "Thyself--none living see and not expire!", "", "Oh! in the lightning let thy glance appear;", "Sweep from his shivered hand the oppressor's spear!", "How long by tyrants shall thy land be trod?", "How long thy temple worshipless, Oh God?" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Oh! Snatched Away in Beauty's Bloom", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Oh! snatched away in beauty's bloom,", " On thee shall press no ponderous tomb;", " But on thy turf shall roses rear", " Their leaves, the earliest of the year;", "And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom:", "", " And oft by yon blue gushing stream", " Shall Sorrow lean her drooping head,", " And feed deep thought with many a dream,", " And lingering pause and lightly tread;", "Fond wretch! as if her step disturbed the dead!", "", "Away! we know that tears are vain,", " That Death nor heeds nor hears distress:", "Will this unteach us to complain?", " Or make one mourner weep the less?", "And thou--who tell'st me to forget,", "Thy looks are wan, thine eyes are wet." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "My Soul Is Dark", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "My soul is dark--Oh! quickly string", " The harp I yet can brook to hear;", "And let thy gentle fingers fling", " Its melting murmurs o'er mine ear.", "If in this heart a hope be dear,", " That sound shall charm it forth again:", "If in these eyes there lurk a tear,", " 'Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain.", "", "But bid the strain be wild and deep,", " Nor let thy notes of joy be first:", "I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,", " Or else this heavy heart will burst;", "For it hath been by sorrow nursed,", " And ached in sleepless silence long;", "And now 'tis doomed to know the worst,", " And break at once--or yield to song." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "I Saw Thee Weep", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I saw thee weep--the big bright tear", " Came o'er that eye of blue;", "And then methought it did appear", " A violet dropping dew:", "I saw thee smile--the sapphire's blaze", " Beside thee ceased to shine;", "It could not match the living rays", " That filled that glance of thine.", "", "As clouds from yonder sun receive", " A deep and mellow dye,", "Which scarce the shade of coming eve", " Can banish from the sky,", "Those smiles unto the moodiest mind", " Their own pure joy impart;", "Their sunshine leaves a glow behind", " That lightens o'er the heart." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Thy Days Are Done", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Thy days are done, thy fame begun;", " Thy country's strains record", "The triumphs of her chosen Son,", " The slaughters of his sword!", "The deeds he did, the fields he won,", " The freedom he restored!", "", "Though thou art fall'n, while we are free", " Thou shall not taste of death!", "The generous blood that flowed from thee", " Disdained to sink beneath:", "Within our veins its currents be,", " Thy spirit on our breath!", "", "Thy name, our charging hosts along,", " Shall be the battle-word!", "Thy fall, the theme of choral song", " From virgin voices poured!", "To weep would do thy glory wrong:", " Thou shalt not be deplored." ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "Song of Saul Before His Last Battle", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Warriors and chiefs! should the shaft or the sword", "Pierce me in leading the host of the Lord,", "Heed not the corse, though a King's, in your path:", "Bury your steel in the bosoms of Gath!", "", "Thou who art bearing my buckler and bow,", "Should the soldiers of Saul look away from the foe,", "Stretch me that moment in blood at thy feet!", "Mine be the doom which they dared not to meet.", "", "Farewell to others, but never we part,", "Heir to my Royalty--Son of my heart!", "Bright is the diadem, boundless the sway,", "Or kingly the death, which awaits us to-day!" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Sun of the Sleepless!", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Sun of the sleepless! melancholy star!", "Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far,", "That show'st the darkness thou canst not dispel,", "How like art thou to Joy remembered well!", "So gleams the past, the light of other days,", "Which shines, but warms not with its powerless rays:", "A night-beam Sorrow watcheth to behold,", "Distinct, but distant--clear--but, oh how cold!" ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Were My Bosom As False As Thou Deem'st It to Be", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Were my bosom as false as thou deem'st it to be,", "I need not have wandered from far Galilee;", "It was but abjuring my creed to efface", "The curse which, thou say'st, is the crime of my race.", "", "If the bad never triumph, then God is with thee!", "If the slave only sin--thou art spotless and free!", "If the Exile on earth is an Outcast on high,", "Live on in thy faith--but in mine I will die.", "", "I have lost for that faith more than thou canst bestow,", "As the God who permits thee to prosper doth know;", "In his hand is my heart and my hope--and in thine", "The land and the life which for him I resign." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "\"By the Waters of Babylon.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In the valley of waters we wept on the day", "When the host of the Stranger made Salem his prey;", "And our heads on our bosoms all droopingly lay,", "And our hearts were so full of the land far away!", "", "The song they demanded in vain--it lay still", "In our souls as the wind that hath died on the hill--", "They called for the harp--but our blood they shall spill", "Ere our right hands shall teach them one tone of their skill.", "", "All stringlessly hung in the willow's sad tree,", "As dead as her dead-leaf, those mute harps must be:", "Our hands may be fettered--our tears still are free", "For our God--and our Glory--and Sion, Oh _Thee!_" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "A Spirit Passed Before Me. From Job", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "A spirit passed before me: I beheld", "The face of Immortality unveiled--", "Deep Sleep came down on every eye save mine--", "And there it stood,--all formless--but divine:", "Along my bones the creeping flesh did quake;", "And as my damp hair stiffened, thus it spake:", "", "\"Is man more just than God? Is man more pure", "Than he who deems even Seraphs insecure?", "Creatures of clay--vain dwellers in the dust!", "The moth survives you, and are ye more just?", "Things of a day! you wither ere the night,", "Heedless and blind to Wisdom's wasted light!\"" ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Farewell! If Ever Fondest Prayer", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Farewell! if ever fondest prayer", " For other's weal availed on high,", "Mine will not all be lost in air,", " But waft thy name beyond the sky.", "'Twere vain to speak--to weep--to sigh:", " Oh! more than tears of blood can tell,", "When wrung from Guilt's expiring eye,", " Are in that word--Farewell!--Farewell!", "", "These lips are mute, these eyes are dry;", " But in my breast and in my brain,", "Awake the pangs that pass not by,", " The thought that ne'er shall sleep again.", "My soul nor deigns nor dares complain,", " Though Grief and Passion there rebel:", "I only know we loved in vain--", " I only feel--Farewell!--Farewell!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "On the Death of the Duke of Dorset", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I heard thy fate without a tear,", " Thy loss with scarce a sigh;", "And yet thou wast surpassing dear,", " Too loved of all to die.", "I know not what hath seared my eye--", " Its tears refuse to start;", "But every drop, it bids me dry,", " Falls dreary on my heart.", "", "Yes, dull and heavy, one by one,", " They sink and turn to care,", "As caverned waters wear the stone,", " Yet dropping harden there:", "They cannot petrify more fast,", " Than feelings sunk remain,", "Which coldly fixed regard the past,", " But never melt again." ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Stanzas for Music", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Bright be the place of thy soul!", " No lovelier spirit than thine", "E'er burst from its mortal control,", " In the orbs of the blessed to shine.", "On earth thou wert all but divine,", " As thy soul shall immortally be;", "And our sorrow may cease to repine", " When we know that thy God is with thee.", "", "Light be the turf of thy tomb!", " May its verdure like emeralds be!", "There should not be the shadow of gloom", " In aught that reminds us of thee.", "Young flowers and an evergreen tree", " May spring from the spot of thy rest:", "But nor cypress nor yew let us see;", " For why should we mourn for the blest?" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "From the French", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Must thou go, my glorious Chief,", " Severed from thy faithful few?", "Who can tell thy warrior's grief,", " Maddening o'er that long adieu?", "Woman's love, and Friendship's zeal,", " Dear as both have been to me--", "What are they to all I feel,", " With a soldier's faith for thee?", "", "Idol of the soldier's soul!", " First in fight, but mightiest now;", "Many could a world control;", " Thee alone no doom can bow.", "By thy side for years I dared", " Death; and envied those who fell,", "When their dying shout was heard,", " Blessing him they served so well.", "", "Would that I were cold with those,", " Since this hour I live to see;", "When the doubts of coward foes", " Scarce dare trust a man with thee,", "Dreading each should set thee free!", " Oh! although in dungeons pent,", "All their chains were light to me,", " Gazing on thy soul unbent.", "", "Would the sycophants of him", " Now so deaf to duty's prayer,", "Were his borrowed glories dim,", " In his native darkness share?", "Were that world this hour his own,", " All thou calmly dost resign,", "Could he purchase with that throne", " Hearts like those which still are thine?", "", "My Chief, my King, my Friend, adieu!", " Never did I droop before;", "Never to my Sovereign sue,", " As his foes I now implore:", "All I ask is to divide", " Every peril he must brave;", "Sharing by the hero's side", " His fall--his exile--and his grave." ], "linecount": "40" }, { "title": "Stanzas for Music", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "There be none of Beauty's daughters", " With a magic like thee;", "And like music on the waters", " Is thy sweet voice to me:", "When, as if its sound were causing", "The charméd Ocean's pausing,", "The waves lie still and gleaming,", "And the lulled winds seem dreaming:", "", "And the midnight Moon is weaving", " Her bright chain o'er the deep;", "Whose breast is gently heaving,", " As an infant's asleep:", "So the spirit bows before thee,", "To listen and adore thee;", "With a full but soft emotion,", "Like the swell of Summer's ocean.", "", "" ], "linecount": "17" }, { "title": "On the Star of \"the Legion of Honour.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Star of the brave!--whose beam hath shed", "Such glory o'er the quick and dead--", "Thou radiant and adored deceit!", "Which millions rushed in arms to greet,--", "Wild meteor of immortal birth!", "Why rise in Heaven to set on Earth?", "", "Souls of slain heroes formed thy rays;", "Eternity flashed through thy blaze;", "The music of thy martial sphere", "Was fame on high and honour here;", "And thy light broke on human eyes,", "Like a Volcano of the skies.", "", "Like lava rolled thy stream of blood,", "And swept down empires with its flood;", "Earth rocked beneath thee to her base,", "As thou didst lighten through all space;", "And the shorn Sun grew dim in air,", "And set while thou wert dwelling there.", "", "Before thee rose, and with thee grew,", "A rainbow of the loveliest hue", "Of three bright colours, each divine,", "And fit for that celestial sign;", "For Freedom's hand had blended them,", "Like tints in an immortal gem.", "", "One tint was of the sunbeam's dyes;", "One, the blue depth of Seraph's eyes;", "One, the pure Spirit's veil of white", "Had robed in radiance of its light:", "The three so mingled did beseem", "The texture of a heavenly dream.", "", "Star of the brave! thy ray is pale,", "And darkness must again prevail!", "But, oh thou Rainbow of the free!", "Our tears and blood must flow for thee.", "When thy bright promise fades away,", "Our life is but a load of clay.", "", "And Freedom hallows with her tread", "The silent cities of the dead;", "For beautiful in death are they", "Who proudly fall in her array;", "And soon, oh, Goddess! may we be", "For evermore with them or thee!" ], "linecount": "42" }, { "title": "Stanzas for Music", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "They say that Hope is happiness;", " But genuine Love must prize the past,", "And Memory wakes the thoughts that bless:", " They rose the first--they set the last;", "", "And all that Memory loves the most", " Was once our only Hope to be,", "And all that Hope adored and lost", " Hath melted into Memory.", "", "Alas! it is delusion all:", " The future cheats us from afar,", "Nor can we be what we recall,", " Nor dare we think on what we are." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "The Siege of Corinth", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In the year since Jesus died for men,", "Eighteen hundred years and ten,", "We were a gallant company,", "Riding o'er land, and sailing o'er sea.", "Oh! but we went merrily!", "We forded the river, and clomb the high hill,", "Never our steeds for a day stood still;", "Whether we lay in the cave or the shed,", "Our sleep fell soft on the hardest bed;", "Whether we couched in our rough capote,", "On the rougher plank of our gliding boat,", "Or stretched on the beach, or our saddles spread,", "As a pillow beneath the resting head,", "Fresh we woke upon the morrow:", " All our thoughts and words had scope,", " We had health, and we had hope,", "Toil and travel, but no sorrow.", "We were of all tongues and creeds;--", "Some were those who counted beads,", "Some of mosque, and some of church,", " And some, or I mis-say, of neither;", "Yet through the wide world might ye search,", " Nor find a motlier crew nor blither.", "", "But some are dead, and some are gone,", "And some are scattered and alone,", "And some are rebels on the hills", " That look along Epirus' valleys,", " Where Freedom still at moments rallies,", "And pays in blood Oppression's ills;", " And some are in a far countree,", "And some all restlessly at home;", " But never more, oh! never, we", "Shall meet to revel and to roam.", "But those hardy days flew cheerily!", "And when they now fall drearily,", "My thoughts, like swallows, skim the main,", "And bear my spirit back again", "Over the earth, and through the air,", "A wild bird and a wanderer.", "'Tis this that ever wakes my strain,", "And oft, too oft, implores again", "The few who may endure my lay,", "To follow me so far away.", "Stranger, wilt thou follow now,", "And sit with me on Acro-Corinth's brow?", "", "Many a vanished year and age,", "And Tempest's breath, and Battle's rage,", "Have swept o'er Corinth; yet she stands,", "A fortress formed to Freedom's hands.", "The Whirlwind's wrath, the Earthquake's shock,", "Have left untouched her hoary rock,", "The keystone of a land, which still,", "Though fall'n, looks proudly on that hill,", "The landmark to the double tide", "That purpling rolls on either side,", "As if their waters chafed to meet,", "Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet.", "But could the blood before her shed", "Since first Timoleon's brother bled,", "Or baffled Persia's despot fled,", "Arise from out the Earth which drank", "The stream of Slaughter as it sank,", "That sanguine Ocean would o'erflow", "Her isthmus idly spread below:", "Or could the bones of all the slain,", "Who perished there, be piled again,", "That rival pyramid would rise", "More mountain-like, through those clear skies", "Than yon tower-capp'd Acropolis,", "Which seems the very clouds to kiss.", "", "On dun Cithæron's ridge appears", "The gleam of twice ten thousand spears;", "And downward to the Isthmian plain,", "From shore to shore of either main,", "The tent is pitched, the Crescent shines", "Along the Moslem's leaguering lines;", "And the dusk Spahi's bands advance", "Beneath each bearded Pacha's glance;", "And far and wide as eye can reach", "The turbaned cohorts throng the beach;", "And there the Arab's camel kneels,", "And there his steed the Tartar wheels;", "The Turcoman hath left his herd,", "The sabre round his loins to gird;", "And there the volleying thunders pour,", "Till waves grow smoother to the roar.", "The trench is dug, the cannon's breath", "Wings the far hissing globe of death;", "Fast whirl the fragments from the wall,", "Which crumbles with the ponderous ball;", "And from that wall the foe replies,", "O'er dusty plain and smoky skies,", "With fares that answer fast and well", "The summons of the Infidel.", "", "But near and nearest to the wall", "Of those who wish and work its fall,", "With deeper skill in War's black art,", "Than Othman's sons, and high of heart", "As any Chief that ever stood", "Triumphant in the fields of blood;", "From post to post, and deed to deed,", "Fast spurring on his reeking steed,", "Where sallying ranks the trench assail,", "And make the foremost Moslem quail;", "Or where the battery, guarded well,", "Remains as yet impregnable,", "Alighting cheerly to inspire", "The soldier slackening in his fire;", "The first and freshest of the host", "Which Stamboul's Sultan there can boast,", "To guide the follower o'er the field,", "To point the tube, the lance to wield,", "Or whirl around the bickering blade;--", "Was Alp, the Adrian renegade!", "", "From Venice--once a race of worth", "His gentle Sires--he drew his birth;", "But late an exile from her shore,", "Against his countrymen he bore", "The arms they taught to bear; and now", "The turban girt his shaven brow.", "Through many a change had Corinth passed", "With Greece to Venice' rule at last;", "And here, before her walls, with those", "To Greece and Venice equal foes,", "He stood a foe, with all the zeal", "Which young and fiery converts feel,", "Within whose heated bosom throngs", "The memory of a thousand wrongs.", "To him had Venice ceased to be", "Her ancient civic boast--\"the Free;\"", "And in the palace of St. Mark", "Unnamed accusers in the dark", "Within the \"Lion's mouth\" had placed", "A charge against him uneffaced:", "He fled in time, and saved his life,", "To waste his future years in strife,", "That taught his land how great her loss", "In him who triumphed o'er the Cross,", "'Gainst which he reared the Crescent high,", "And battled to avenge or die.", "", "Coumourgi--he whose closing scene", "Adorned the triumph of Eugene,", "When on Carlowitz' bloody plain,", "The last and mightiest of the slain,", "He sank, regretting not to die,", "But cursed the Christian's victory--", "Coumourgi--can his glory cease,", "That latest conqueror of Greece,", "Till Christian hands to Greece restore", "The freedom Venice gave of yore?", "A hundred years have rolled away", "Since he refixed the Moslem's sway;", "And now he led the Mussulman,", "And gave the guidance of the van", "To Alp, who well repaid the trust", "By cities levelled with the dust;", "And proved, by many a deed of death,", "How firm his heart in novel faith.", "", "The walls grew weak; and fast and hot", "Against them poured the ceaseless shot,", "With unabating fury sent", "From battery to battlement;", "And thunder-like the pealing din", "Rose from each heated culverin;", "And here and there some crackling dome", "Was fired before the exploding bomb;", "And as the fabric sank beneath", "The shattering shell's volcanic breath,", "In red and wreathing columns flashed", "The flame, as loud the ruin crashed,", "Or into countless meteors driven,", "Its earth-stars melted into heaven;", "Whose clouds that day grew doubly dun,", "Impervious to the hidden sun,", "With volumed smoke that slowly grew", "To one wide sky of sulphurous hue.", "", "But not for vengeance, long delayed,", "Alone, did Alp, the renegade,", "The Moslem warriors sternly teach", "His skill to pierce the promised breach:", "Within these walls a Maid was pent", "His hope would win, without consent", "Of that inexorable Sire,", "Whose heart refused him in its ire,", "When Alp, beneath his Christian name,", "Her virgin hand aspired to claim.", "In happier mood, and earlier time,", "While unimpeached for traitorous crime,", "Gayest in Gondola or Hall,", "He glittered through the Carnival;", "And tuned the softest serenade", "That e'er on Adria's waters played", "At midnight to Italian maid.", "", "And many deemed her heart was won;", "For sought by numbers, given to none,", "Had young Francesca's hand remained", "Still by the Church's bonds unchained:", "And when the Adriatic bore", "Lanciotto to the Paynim shore,", "Her wonted smiles were seen to fail,", "And pensive waxed the maid and pale;", "More constant at confessional,", "More rare at masque and festival;", "Or seen at such, with downcast eyes,", "Which conquered hearts they ceased to prize:", "With listless look she seems to gaze:", "With humbler care her form arrays;", "Her voice less lively in the song;", "Her step, though light, less fleet among", "The pairs, on whom the Morning's glance", "Breaks, yet unsated with the dance.", "", "Sent by the State to guard the land,", "(Which, wrested from the Moslem's hand,", "While Sobieski tamed his pride", "By Buda's wall and Danube's side,", "The chiefs of Venice wrung away", "From Patra to Euboea's bay,)", "Minotti held in Corinth's towers", "The Doge's delegated powers,", "While yet the pitying eye of Peace", "Smiled o'er her long forgotten Greece:", "And ere that faithless truce was broke", "Which freed her from the unchristian yoke,", "With him his gentle daughter came;", "Nor there, since Menelaus' dame", "Forsook her lord and land, to prove", "What woes await on lawless love,", "Had fairer form adorned the shore", "Than she, the matchless stranger, bore.", "", "The wall is rent, the ruins yawn;", "And, with to-morrow's earliest dawn,", "O'er the disjointed mass shall vault", "The foremost of the fierce assault.", "The bands are ranked--the chosen van", "Of Tartar and of Mussulman,", "The full of hope, misnamed \"forlorn,\"", "Who hold the thought of death in scorn,", "And win their way with falchion's force,", "Or pave the path with many a corse,", "O'er which the following brave may rise,", "Their stepping-stone--the last who dies!", "", "'Tis midnight: on the mountains brown", "The cold, round moon shines deeply down;", "Blue roll the waters, blue the sky", "Spreads like an ocean hung on high,", "Bespangled with those isles of light,", "So wildly, spiritually bright;", "Who ever gazed upon them shining", "And turned to earth without repining,", "Nor wished for wings to flee away,", "And mix with their eternal ray?", "The waves on either shore lay there", "Calm, clear, and azure as the air;", "And scarce their foam the pebbles shook,", "But murmured meekly as the brook.", "The winds were pillowed on the waves;", "The banners drooped along their staves,", "And, as they fell around them furling,", "Above them shone the crescent curling;", "And that deep silence was unbroke,", "Save where the watch his signal spoke,", "Save where the steed neighed oft and shrill,", "And echo answered from the hill,", "And the wide hum of that wild host", "Rustled like leaves from coast to coast,", "As rose the Muezzin's voice in air", "In midnight call to wonted prayer;", "It rose, that chanted mournful strain,", "Like some lone Spirit's o'er the plain:", "'Twas musical, but sadly sweet,", "Such as when winds and harp-strings meet,", "And take a long unmeasured tone,", "To mortal minstrelsy unknown.", "It seemed to those within the wall", "A cry prophetic of their fall:", "It struck even the besieger's ear", "With something ominous and drear,", "An undefined and sudden thrill,", "Which makes the heart a moment still,", "Then beat with quicker pulse, ashamed", "Of that strange sense its silence framed;", "Such as a sudden passing-bell", "Wakes, though but for a stranger's knell.", "", "The tent of Alp was on the shore;", "The sound was hushed, the prayer was o'er;", "The watch was set, the night-round made,", "All mandates issued and obeyed:", "'Tis but another anxious night,", "His pains the morrow may requite", "With all Revenge and Love can pay,", "In guerdon for their long delay.", "Few hours remain, and he hath need", "Of rest, to nerve for many a deed", "Of slaughter; but within his soul", "The thoughts like troubled waters roll.", "He stood alone among the host;", "Not his the loud fanatic boast", "To plant the Crescent o'er the Cross,", "Or risk a life with little loss,", "Secure in paradise to be", "By Houris loved immortally:", "Nor his, what burning patriots feel,", "The stern exaltedness of zeal,", "Profuse of blood, untired in toil,", "When battling on the parent soil.", "He stood alone--a renegade", "Against the country he betrayed;", "He stood alone amidst his band,", "Without a trusted heart or hand:", "They followed him, for he was brave,", "And great the spoil he got and gave;", "They crouched to him, for he had skill", "To warp and wield the vulgar will:", "But still his Christian origin", "With them was little less than sin.", "They envied even the faithless fame", "He earned beneath a Moslem name;", "Since he, their mightiest chief, had been", "In youth a bitter Nazarene.", "They did not know how Pride can stoop,", "When baffled feelings withering droop;", "They did not know how Hate can burn", "In hearts once changed from soft to stern;", "Nor all the false and fatal zeal", "The convert of Revenge can feel.", "He ruled them--man may rule the worst,", "By ever daring to be first:", "So lions o'er the jackals sway;", "The jackal points, he fells the prey,", "Then on the vulgar, yelling, press,", "To gorge the relics of success.", "", "His head grows fevered, and his pulse", "The quick successive throbs convulse;", "In vain from side to side he throws", "His form, in courtship of repose;", "Or if he dozed, a sound, a start", "Awoke him with a sunken heart.", "The turban on his hot brow pressed,", "The mail weighed lead-like on his breast,", "Though oft and long beneath its weight", "Upon his eyes had slumber sate,", "Without or couch or canopy,", "Except a rougher field and sky", "Than now might yield a warrior's bed,", "Than now along the heaven was spread.", "He could not rest, he could not stay", "Within his tent to wait for day,", "But walked him forth along the sand,", "Where thousand sleepers strewed the strand.", "What pillowed them? and why should he", "More wakeful than the humblest be,", "Since more their peril, worse their toil?", "And yet they fearless dream of spoil;", "While he alone, where thousands passed", "A night of sleep, perchance their last,", "In sickly vigil wandered on,", "And envied all he gazed upon.", "", "He felt his soul become more light", "Beneath the freshness of the night.", "Cool was the silent sky, though calm,", "And bathed his brow with airy balm:", "Behind, the camp--before him lay,", "In many a winding creek and bay,", "Lepanto's gulf; and, on the brow", "Of Delphi's hill, unshaken snow,", "High and eternal, such as shone", "Through thousand summers brightly gone,", "Along the gulf, the mount, the clime;", "It will not melt, like man, to time:", "Tyrant and slave are swept away,", "Less formed to wear before the ray;", "But that white veil, the lightest, frailest,", "Which on the mighty mount thou hailest,", "While tower and tree are torn and rent,", "Shines o'er its craggy battlement;", "In form a peak, in height a cloud,", "In texture like a hovering shroud,", "Thus high by parting Freedom spread,", "As from her fond abode she fled,", "And lingered on the spot, where long", "Her prophet spirit spake in song.", "Oh! still her step at moments falters", "O'er withered fields, and ruined altars,", "And fain would wake, in souls too broken,", "By pointing to each glorious token:", "But vain her voice, till better days", "Dawn in those yet remembered rays,", "Which shone upon the Persian flying,", "And saw the Spartan smile in dying.", "", "Not mindless of these mighty times", "Was Alp, despite his flight and crimes;", "And through this night, as on he wandered,", "And o'er the past and present pondered,", "And thought upon the glorious dead", "Who there in better cause had bled,", "He felt how faint and feebly dim", "The fame that could accrue to him,", "Who cheered the band, and waved the sword,", "A traitor in a turbaned horde;", "And led them to the lawless siege,", "Whose best success were sacrilege.", "Not so had those his fancy numbered,", "The chiefs whose dust around him slumbered;", "Their phalanx marshalled on the plain,", "Whose bulwarks were not then in vain.", "They fell devoted, but undying;", "The very gale their names seemed sighing;", "The waters murmured of their name;", "The woods were peopled with their fame;", "The silent pillar, lone and grey,", "Claimed kindred with their sacred clay;", "Their spirits wrapped the dusky mountain,", "Their memory sparkled o'er the fountain;", "The meanest rill, the mightiest river", "Rolled mingling with their fame for ever.", "Despite of every yoke she bears,", "That land is Glory's still and theirs!", "'Tis still a watch-word to the earth:", "When man would do a deed of worth", "He points to Greece, and turns to tread,", "So sanctioned, on the tyrant's head:", "He looks to her, and rushes on", "Where life is lost, or Freedom won.", "", "Still by the shore Alp mutely mused,", "And wooed the freshness Night diffused.", "There shrinks no ebb in that tideless sea,", "Which changeless rolls eternally;", "So that wildest of waves, in their angriest mood,", "Scarce break on the bounds of the land for a rood;", "And the powerless moon beholds them flow,", "Heedless if she come or go:", "Calm or high, in main or bay,", "On their course she hath no sway.", "The rock unworn its base doth bare,", "And looks o'er the surf, but it comes not there;", "And the fringe of the foam may be seen below,", "On the line that it left long ages ago:", "A smooth short space of yellow sand", "Between it and the greener land.", "", "He wandered on along the beach,", "Till within the range of a carbine's reach", "Of the leaguered wall; but they saw him not,", "Or how could he 'scape from the hostile shot?", "Did traitors lurk in the Christians' hold?", "Were their hands grown stiff, or their hearts waxed cold?", "I know not, in sooth; but from yonder wall", "There flashed no fire, and there hissed no ball,", "Though he stood beneath the bastion's frown,", "That flanked the seaward gate of the town;", "Though he heard the sound, and could almost tell", "The sullen words of the sentinel,", "As his measured step on the stone below", "Clanked, as he paced it to and fro;", "And he saw the lean dogs beneath the wall", "Hold o'er the dead their Carnival,", "Gorging and growling o'er carcass and limb;", "They were too busy to bark at him!", "From a Tartar's skull they had stripped the flesh,", "As ye peel the fig when its fruit is fresh;", "And their white tusks crunched o'er the whiter skull,", "As it slipped through their jaws, when their edge grew dull,", "As they lazily mumbled the bones of the dead,", "When they scarce could rise from the spot where they fed;", "So well had they broken a lingering fast", "With those who had fallen for that night's repast.", "And Alp knew, by the turbans that rolled on the sand,", "The foremost of these were the best of his band:", "Crimson and green were the shawls of their wear,", "And each scalp had a single long tuft of hair,", "All the rest was shaven and bare.", "The scalps were in the wild dog's maw,", "The hair was tangled round his jaw:", "But close by the shore, on the edge of the gulf,", "There sat a vulture flapping a wolf,", "Who had stolen from the hills, but kept away,", "Scared by the dogs, from the human prey;", "But he seized on his share of a steed that lay,", "Picked by the birds, on the sands of the bay.", "", "Alp turned him from the sickening sight:", "Never had shaken his nerves in fight;", "But he better could brook to behold the dying,", "Deep in the tide of their warm blood lying,", "Scorched with the death-thirst, and writhing in vain,", "Than the perishing dead who are past all pain.", "There is something of pride in the perilous hour,", "Whate'er be the shape in which Death may lower;", "For Fame is there to say who bleeds,", "And Honour's eye on daring deeds!", "But when all is past, it is humbling to tread", "O'er the weltering field of the tombless dead,", "And see worms of the earth, and fowls of the air,", "Beasts of the forest, all gathering there;", "All regarding man as their prey,", "All rejoicing in his decay.", "", "There is a temple in ruin stands,", "Fashioned by long forgotten hands;", "Two or three columns, and many a stone,", "Marble and granite, with grass o'ergrown!", "Out upon Time! it will leave no more", "Of the things to come than the things before!", "Out upon Time! who for ever will leave", "But enough of the past for the future to grieve", "O'er that which hath been, and o'er that which must be:", "What we have seen, our sons shall see;", "Remnants of things that have passed away,", "Fragments of stone, reared by creatures of clay!", "", "He sate him down at a pillar's base,", "And passed his hand athwart his face;", "Like one in dreary musing mood,", "Declining was his attitude;", "His head was drooping on his breast,", "Fevered, throbbing, and oppressed;", "And o'er his brow, so downward bent,", "Oft his beating fingers went,", "Hurriedly, as you may see", "Your own run over the ivory key,", "Ere the measured tone is taken", "By the chords you would awaken.", "There he sate all heavily,", "As he heard the night-wind sigh.", "Was it the wind through some hollow stone,", "Sent that soft and tender moan?", "He lifted his head, and he looked on the sea,", "But it was unrippled as glass may be;", "He looked on the long grass--it waved not a blade;", "How was that gentle sound conveyed?", "He looked to the banners--each flag lay still,", "So did the leaves on Cithæron's hill,", "And he felt not a breath come over his cheek;", "What did that sudden sound bespeak?", "He turned to the left--is he sure of sight?", "There sate a lady, youthful and bright!", "", "He started up with more of fear", "Than if an arméd foe were near.", "\"God of my fathers! what is here?", "Who art thou? and wherefore sent", "So near a hostile armament?\"", "His trembling hands refused to sign", "The cross he deemed no more divine:", "He had resumed it in that hour,", "But Conscience wrung away the power.", "He gazed, he saw; he knew the face", "Of beauty, and the form of grace;", "It was Francesca by his side,", "The maid who might have been his bride!", "", "The rose was yet upon her cheek,", "But mellowed with a tenderer streak:", "Where was the play of her soft lips fled?", "Gone was the smile that enlivened their red.", "The Ocean's calm within their view,", "Beside her eye had less of blue;", "But like that cold wave it stood still,", "And its glance, though clear, was chill.", "Around her form a thin robe twining,", "Nought concealed her bosom shining;", "Through the parting of her hair,", "Floating darkly downward there,", "Her rounded arm showed white and bare:", "And ere yet she made reply,", "Once she raised her hand on high;", "It was so wan, and transparent of hue,", "You might have seen the moon shine through.", "", "\"I come from my rest to him I love best,", "That I may be happy, and he may be blessed.", "I have passed the guards, the gate, the wall;", "Sought thee in safety through foes and all.", "'Tis said the lion will turn and flee", "From a maid in the pride of her purity;", "And the Power on high, that can shield the good", "Thus from the tyrant of the wood,", "Hath extended its mercy to guard me as well", "From the hands of the leaguering Infidel.", "I come--and if I come in vain,", "Never, oh never, we meet again!", "Thou hast done a fearful deed", "In falling away from thy fathers' creed:", "But dash that turban to earth, and sign", "The sign of the cross, and for ever be mine;", "Wring the black drop from thy heart,", "And to-morrow unites us no more to part.\"", "", "\"And where should our bridal couch be spread?", "In the midst of the dying and the dead?", "For to-morrow we give to the slaughter and flame", "The sons and the shrines of the Christian name.", "None, save thou and thine, I've sworn,", "Shall be left upon the morn:", "But thee will I bear to a lovely spot,", "Where our hands shall be joined, and our sorrow forgot.", "There thou yet shall be my bride,", "When once again I've quelled the pride", "Of Venice; and her hated race", "Have felt the arm they would debase", "Scourge, with a whip of scorpions, those", "Whom Vice and Envy made my foes.\"", "", "Upon his hand she laid her own--", "Light was the touch, but it thrilled to the bone,", "And shot a chillness to his heart,", "Which fixed him beyond the power to start.", "Though slight was that grasp so mortal cold,", "He could not loose him from its hold;", "But never did clasp of one so dear", "Strike on the pulse with such feeling of fear,", "As those thin fingers, long and white,", "Froze through his blood by their touch that night.", "The feverish glow of his brow was gone,", "And his heart sank so still that it felt like stone,", "As he looked on the face, and beheld its hue,", "So deeply changed from what he knew:", "Fair but faint--without the ray", "Of mind, that made each feature play", "Like sparkling waves on a sunny day;", "And her motionless lips lay still as death,", "And her words came forth without her breath,", "And there rose not a heave o'er her bosom's swell,", "And there seemed not a pulse in her veins to dwell.", "Though her eye shone out, yet the lids were fixed,", "And the glance that it gave was wild and unmixed", "With aught of change, as the eyes may seem", "Of the restless who walk in a troubled dream;", "Like the figures on arras, that gloomily glare,", "Stirred by the breath of the wintry air", "So seen by the dying lamp's fitful light,", "Lifeless, but life-like, and awful to sight;", "As they seem, through the dimness, about to come down", "From the shadowy wall where their images frown;", "Fearfully flitting to and fro,", "As the gusts on the tapestry come and go.", "", "\"If not for love of me be given", "Thus much, then, for the love of Heaven,--", "Again I say--that turban tear", "From off thy faithless brow, and swear", "Thine injured country's sons to spare,", "Or thou art lost; and never shalt see--", "Not earth--that's past--but Heaven or me.", "If this thou dost accord, albeit", "A heavy doom' tis thine to meet,", "That doom shall half absolve thy sin,", "And Mercy's gate may receive thee within:", "But pause one moment more, and take", "The curse of Him thou didst forsake;", "And look once more to Heaven, and see", "Its love for ever shut from thee.", "There is a light cloud by the moon--", "'Tis passing, and will pass full soon--", "If, by the time its vapoury sail", "Hath ceased her shaded orb to veil,", "Thy heart within thee is not changed,", "Then God and man are both avenged;", "Dark will thy doom be, darker still", "Thine immortality of ill.\"", "", "Alp looked to heaven, and saw on high", "The sign she spake of in the sky;", "But his heart was swollen, and turned aside,", "By deep interminable pride.", "This first false passion of his breast", "Rolled like a torrent o'er the rest.", "_He_ sue for mercy! _He_ dismayed", "By wild words of a timid maid!", "_He_, wronged by Venice, vow to save", "Her sons, devoted to the grave!", "No--though that cloud were thunder's worst,", "And charged to crush him--let it burst!", "", "He looked upon it earnestly,", "Without an accent of reply;", "He watched it passing; it is flown:", "Full on his eye the clear moon shone,", "And thus he spake--\"Whate'er my fate,", "I am no changeling--'tis too late:", "The reed in storms may bow and quiver,", "Then rise again; the tree must shiver.", "What Venice made me, I must be,", "Her foe in all, save love to thee:", "But thou art safe: oh, fly with me!\"", "He turned, but she is gone!", "Nothing is there but the column stone.", "Hath she sunk in the earth, or melted in air?", "He saw not--he knew not--but nothing is there.", "", "The night is past, and shines the sun", "As if that morn were a jocund one.", "Lightly and brightly breaks away", "The Morning from her mantle grey,", "And the Noon will look on a sultry day.", "Hark to the trump, and the drum,", "And the mournful sound of the barbarous horn,", "And the flap of the banners, that flit as they're borne,", "And the neigh of the steed, and the multitude's hum,", "And the clash, and the shout, \"They come! they come!\"", "The horsetails are plucked from the ground, and the sword", "From its sheath; and they form, and but wait for the word.", "Tartar, and Spahi, and Turcoman,", "Strike your tents, and throng to the van;", "Mount ye, spur ye, skirr the plain,", "That the fugitive may flee in vain,", "When he breaks from the town; and none escape,", "Agéd or young, in the Christian shape;", "While your fellows on foot, in a fiery mass,", "Bloodstain the breach through which they pass.", "The steeds are all bridled, and snort to the rein;", "Curved is each neck, and flowing each mane;", "White is the foam of their champ on the bit;", "The spears are uplifted; the matches are lit;", "The cannon are pointed, and ready to roar,", "And crush the wall they have crumbled before:", "Forms in his phalanx each Janizar;", "Alp at their head; his right arm is bare,", "So is the blade of his scimitar;", "The Khan and the Pachas are all at their post;", "The Vizier himself at the head of the host.", "When the culverin's signal is fired, then on;", "Leave not in Corinth a living one--", "A priest at her altars, a chief in her halls,", "A hearth in her mansions, a stone on her walls.", "God and the prophet--Alla Hu!", "Up to the skies with that wild halloo!", "\"There the breach lies for passage, the ladder to scale;", "And your hands on your sabres, and how should ye fail?", "He who first downs with the red cross may crave", "His heart's dearest wish; let him ask it, and have!\"", "Thus uttered Coumourgi, the dauntless Vizier;", "The reply was the brandish of sabre and spear,", "And the shout of fierce thousands in joyous ire:--", "Silence--hark to the signal--fire!", "", "As the wolves, that headlong go", "On the stately buffalo,", "Though with fiery eyes, and angry roar,", "And hoofs that stamp, and horns that gore,", "He tramples on earth, or tosses on high", "The foremost, who rush on his strength but to die", "Thus against the wall they went,", "Thus the first were backward bent;", "Many a bosom, sheathed in brass,", "Strewed the earth like broken glass,", "Shivered by the shot, that tore", "The ground whereon they moved no more:", "Even as they fell, in files they lay,", "Like the mower's grass at the close of day,", "When his work is done on the levelled plain;", "Such was the fall of the foremost slain.", "", "As the spring-tides, with heavy plash,", "From the cliffs invading dash", "Huge fragments, sapped by the ceaseless flow,", "Till white and thundering down they go,", "Like the avalanche's snow", "On the Alpine vales below;", "Thus at length, outbreathed and worn,", "Corinth's sons were downward borne", "By the long and oft renewed", "Charge of the Moslem multitude.", "In firmness they stood, and in masses they fell,", "Heaped by the host of the Infidel,", "Hand to hand, and foot to foot:", "Nothing there, save Death, was mute;", "Stroke, and thrust, and flash, and cry", "For quarter, or for victory,", "Mingle there with the volleying thunder,", "Which makes the distant cities wonder", "How the sounding battle goes,", "If with them, or for their foes;", "If they must mourn, or may rejoice", "In that annihilating voice,", "Which pierces the deep hills through and through", "With an echo dread and new:", "You might have heard it, on that day,", "O'er Salamis and Megara;", "(We have heard the hearers say,)", "Even unto Piræus' bay.", "", "From the point of encountering blades to the hilt,", "Sabres and swords with blood were gilt;", "But the rampart is won, and the spoil begun,", "And all but the after carnage done.", "Shriller shrieks now mingling come", "From within the plundered dome:", "Hark to the haste of flying feet,", "That splash in the blood of the slippery street;", "But here and there, where 'vantage ground", "Against the foe may still be found,", "Desperate groups, of twelve or ten,", "Make a pause, and turn again--", "With banded backs against the wall,", "Fiercely stand, or fighting fall.", "There stood an old man--his hairs were white,", "But his veteran arm was full of might:", "So gallantly bore he the brunt of the fray,", "The dead before him, on that day,", "In a semicircle lay;", "Still he combated unwounded,", "Though retreating, unsurrounded.", "Many a scar of former fight", "Lurked beneath his corslet bright;", "But of every wound his body bore,", "Each and all had been ta'en before:", "Though agéd, he was so iron of limb,", "Few of our youth could cope with him,", "And the foes, whom he singly kept at bay,", "Outnumbered his thin hairs of silver grey.", "From right to left his sabre swept:", "Many an Othman mother wept", "Sons that were unborn, when dipped", "His weapon first in Moslem gore,", "Ere his years could count a score.", "Of all he might have been the sire", "Who fell that day beneath his ire:", "For, sonless left long years ago,", "His wrath made many a childless foe;", "And since the day, when in the strait", "His only boy had met his fate,", "His parent's iron hand did doom", "More than a human hecatomb.", "If shades by carnage be appeased,", "Patroclus' spirit less was pleased", "Than his, Minotti's son, who died", "Where Asia's bounds and ours divide.", "Buried he lay, where thousands before", "For thousands of years were inhumed on the shore;", "What of them is left, to tell", "Where they lie, and how they fell?", "Not a stone on their turf, nor a bone in their graves;", "But they live in the verse that immortally saves.", "", "Hark to the Allah shout! a band", "Of the Mussulman bravest and best is at hand;", "Their leader's nervous arm is bare,", "Swifter to smite, and never to spare--", "Unclothed to the shoulder it waves them on;", "Thus in the fight is he ever known:", "Others a gaudier garb may show,", "To tempt the spoil of the greedy foe;", "Many a hand's on a richer hilt,", "But none on a steel more ruddily gilt;", "Many a loftier turban may wear,--", "Alp is but known by the white arm bare;", "Look through the thick of the fight,'tis there!", "There is not a standard on that shore", "So well advanced the ranks before;", "There is not a banner in Moslem war", "Will lure the Delhis half so far;", "It glances like a falling star!", "Where'er that mighty arm is seen,", "The bravest be, or late have been;", "There the craven cries for quarter", "Vainly to the vengeful Tartar;", "Or the hero, silent lying,", "Scorns to yield a groan in dying;", "Mustering his last feeble blow", "'Gainst the nearest levelled foe,", "Though faint beneath the mutual wound,", "Grappling on the gory ground.", "", "Still the old man stood erect.", "And Alp's career a moment checked.", "\"Yield thee, Minotti; quarter take,", "For thine own, thy daughter's sake.\"", "", "\"Never, Renegado, never!", "Though the life of thy gift would last for ever.\"", "", "\"Francesca!--Oh, my promised bride!", "Must she too perish by thy pride!\"", "", "\"She is safe.\"--\"Where? where?\"--\"In Heaven;", "From whence thy traitor soul is driven--", "Far from thee, and undefiled.\"", "Grimly then Minotti smiled,", "As he saw Alp staggering bow", "Before his words, as with a blow.", "", "\"Oh God! when died she?\"--\"Yesternight--", "Nor weep I for her spirit's flight:", "None of my pure race shall be", "Slaves to Mahomet and thee--", "Come on!\"--That challenge is in vain--", "Alp's already with the slain!", "While Minotti's words were wreaking", "More revenge in bitter speaking", "Than his falchion's point had found,", "Had the time allowed to wound,", "From within the neighbouring porch", "Of a long defended church,", "Where the last and desperate few", "Would the failing fight renew,", "The sharp shot dashed Alp to the ground;", "Ere an eye could view the wound", "That crashed through the brain of the infidel,", "Round he spun, and down he fell;", "A flash like fire within his eyes", "Blazed, as he bent no more to rise,", "And then eternal darkness sunk", "Through all the palpitating trunk;", "Nought of life left, save a quivering", "Where his limbs were slightly shivering:", "They turned him on his back; his breast", "And brow were stained with gore and dust,", "And through his lips the life-blood oozed,", "From its deep veins lately loosed;", "But in his pulse there was no throb,", "Nor on his lips one dying sob;", "Sigh, nor word, nor struggling breath", "Heralded his way to death:", "Ere his very thought could pray,", "Unaneled he passed away,", "Without a hope from Mercy's aid,--", "To the last a Renegade.", "", "Fearfully the yell arose", "Of his followers, and his foes;", "These in joy, in fury those:", "Then again in conflict mixing,", "Clashing swords, and spears transfixing,", "Interchanged the blow and thrust,", "Hurling warriors in the dust.", "Street by street, and foot by foot,", "Still Minotti dares dispute", "The latest portion of the land", "Left beneath his high command;", "With him, aiding heart and hand,", "The remnant of his gallant band.", "Still the church is tenable,", " Whence issued late the fated ball", " That half avenged the city's fall,", "When Alp, her fierce assailant, fell:", "Thither bending sternly back,", "They leave before a bloody track;", "And, with their faces to the foe,", "Dealing wounds with every blow,", "The chief, and his retreating train,", "Join to those within the fane;", "There they yet may breathe awhile,", "Sheltered by the massy pile.", "", "Brief breathing-time! the turbaned host,", "With added ranks and raging boast,", "Press onwards with such strength and heat,", "Their numbers balk their own retreat;", "For narrow the way that led to the spot", "Where still the Christians yielded not;", "And the foremost, if fearful, may vainly try", "Through the massy column to turn and fly;", "They perforce must do or die.", "They die; but ere their eyes could close,", "Avengers o'er their bodies rose;", "Fresh and furious, fast they fill", "The ranks unthinned, though slaughtered still;", "And faint the weary Christians wax", "Before the still renewed attacks:", "And now the Othmans gain the gate;", "Still resists its iron weight,", "And still, all deadly aimed and hot,", "From every crevice comes the shot;", "From every shattered window pour", "The volleys of the sulphurous shower:", "But the portal wavering grows and weak--", "The iron yields, the hinges creak--", "It bends--it falls--and all is o'er;", "Lost Corinth may resist no more!", "", "Darkly, sternly, and all alone,", "Minotti stood o'er the altar stone:", "Madonna's face upon him shone,", "Painted in heavenly hues above,", "With eyes of light and looks of love;", "And placed upon that holy shrine", "To fix our thoughts on things divine,", "When pictured there, we kneeling see", "Her, and the boy-God on her knee,", "Smiling sweetly on each prayer", "To Heaven, as if to waft it there.", "Still she smiled; even now she smiles,", "Though slaughter streams along her aisles:", "Minotti lifted his agéd eye,", "And made the sign of a cross with a sigh,", "Then seized a torch which blazed thereby;", "And still he stood, while with steel and flame,", "Inward and onward the Mussulman came.", "", "The vaults beneath the mosaic stone", "Contained the dead of ages gone;", "Their names were on the graven floor,", "But now illegible with gore;", "The carvéd crests, and curious hues", "The varied marble's veins diffuse,", "Were smeared, and slippery--stained, and strown", "With broken swords, and helms o'erthrown:", "There were dead above, and the dead below", "Lay cold in many a coffined row;", "You might see them piled in sable state,", "By a pale light through a gloomy grate;", "But War had entered their dark caves,", "And stored along the vaulted graves", "Her sulphurous treasures, thickly spread", "In masses by the fleshless dead:", "Here, throughout the siege, had been", "The Christians' chiefest magazine;", "To these a late formed train now led,", "Minotti's last and stern resource", "Against the foe's o'erwhelming force.", "", "The foe came on, and few remain", "To strive, and those must strive in vain:", "For lack of further lives, to slake", "The thirst of vengeance now awake,", "With barbarous blows they gash the dead,", "And lop the already lifeless head,", "And fell the statues from their niche,", "And spoil the shrines of offerings rich,", "And from each other's rude hands wrest", "The silver vessels Saints had blessed.", "To the high altar on they go;", "Oh, but it made a glorious show!", "On its table still behold", "The cup of consecrated gold;", "Massy and deep, a glittering prize,", "Brightly it sparkles to plunderers' eyes:", "That morn it held the holy wine,", "Converted by Christ to his blood so divine,", "Which his worshippers drank at the break of day,", "To shrive their souls ere they joined in the fray.", "Still a few drops within it lay;", "And round the sacred table glow", "Twelve lofty lamps, in splendid row,", "From the purest metal cast;", "A spoil--the richest, and the last.", "", "So near they came, the nearest stretched", "To grasp the spoil he almost reached", " When old Minotti's hand", "Touched with the torch the train--", " 'Tis fired!", "Spire, vaults, the shrine, the spoil, the slain,", " The turbaned victors, the Christian band,", "All that of living or dead remain,", "Hurled on high with the shivered fane,", " In one wild roar expired!", "The shattered town--the walls thrown down--", "The waves a moment backward bent--", "The hills that shake, although unrent,", " As if an Earthquake passed--", "The thousand shapeless things all driven", "In cloud and flame athwart the heaven,", " By that tremendous blast--", "Proclaimed the desperate conflict o'er", "On that too long afflicted shore:", "Up to the sky like rockets go", "All that mingled there below:", "Many a tall and goodly man,", "Scorched and shrivelled to a span,", "When he fell to earth again", "Like a cinder strewed the plain:", "Down the ashes shower like rain;", "Some fell in the gulf, which received the sprinkles", "With a thousand circling wrinkles;", "Some fell on the shore, but, far away,", "Scattered o'er the isthmus lay;", "Christian or Moslem, which be they?", "Let their mothers see and say!", "When in cradled rest they lay,", "And each nursing mother smiled", "On the sweet sleep of her child,", "Little deemed she such a day", "Would rend those tender limbs away.", "Not the matrons that them bore", "Could discern their offspring more;", "That one moment left no trace", "More of human form or face", "Save a scattered scalp or bone:", "And down came blazing rafters, strown", "Around, and many a falling stone,", "Deeply dinted in the clay,", "All blackened there and reeking lay.", "All the living things that heard", "The deadly earth-shock disappeared:", "The wild birds flew; the wild dogs fled,", "And howling left the unburied dead;", "The camels from their keepers broke;", "The distant steer forsook the yoke--", "The nearer steed plunged o'er the plain,", "And burst his girth, and tore his rein;", "The bull-frog's note, from out the marsh,", "Deep-mouthed arose, and doubly harsh;", "The wolves yelled on the caverned hill", "Where Echo rolled in thunder still;", "The jackal's troop, in gathered cry,", "Bayed from afar complainingly,", "With a mixed and mournful sound,", "Like crying babe, and beaten hound:", "With sudden wing, and ruffled breast,", "The eagle left his rocky nest,", "And mounted nearer to the sun,", "The clouds beneath him seemed so dun;", "Their smoke assailed his startled beak,", "And made him higher soar and shriek--", " Thus was Corinth lost and won!" ], "linecount": "1079" }, { "title": "Parisina", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "It is the hour when from the boughs", " The nightingale's high note is heard;", "It is the hour when lovers' vows", " Seem sweet in every whispered word;", "And gentle winds, and waters near,", "Make music to the lonely ear.", "Each flower the dews have lightly wet,", "And in the sky the stars are met,", "And on the wave is deeper blue,", "And on the leaf a browner hue,", "And in the heaven that clear obscure,", "So softly dark, and darkly pure,", "Which follows the decline of day,", "As twilight melts beneath the moon away.", "", "But it is not to list to the waterfall", "That Parisina leaves her hall,", "And it is not to gaze on the heavenly light", "That the Lady walks in the shadow of night;", "And if she sits in Este's bower,", "'Tis not for the sake of its full-blown flower;", "She listens--but not for the nightingale--", "Though her ear expects as soft a tale.", "There glides a step through the foliage thick,", "And her cheek grows pale, and her heart beats quick.", "There whispers a voice through the rustling leaves,", "And her blush returns, and her bosom heaves:", "A moment more--and they shall meet--", "'Tis past--her Lover's at her feet.", "", "And what unto them is the world beside,", "With all its change of time and tide?", "Its living things--its earth and sky--", "Are nothing to their mind and eye.", "And heedless as the dead are they", " Of aught around, above, beneath;", "As if all else had passed away,", " They only for each other breathe;", "Their very sighs are full of joy", " So deep, that did it not decay,", "That happy madness would destroy", " The hearts which feel its fiery sway:", "Of guilt, of peril, do they deem", "In that tumultuous tender dream?", "Who that have felt that passion's power,", "Or paused, or feared in such an hour?", "Or thought how brief such moments last?", "But yet--they are already past!", "Alas! we must awake before", "We know such vision comes no more.", "", "With many a lingering look they leave", " The spot of guilty gladness past:", "And though they hope, and vow, they grieve,", " As if that parting were the last.", "The frequent sigh--the long embrace--", " The lip that there would cling for ever,", "While gleams on Parisina's face", " The Heaven she fears will not forgive her,", "As if each calmly conscious star", "Beheld her frailty from afar--", "The frequent sigh, the long embrace,", "Yet binds them to their trysting-place.", "But it must come, and they must part", "In fearful heaviness of heart,", "With all the deep and shuddering chill", "Which follows fast the deeds of ill.", "", "And Hugo is gone to his lonely bed,", " To covet there another's bride;", "But she must lay her conscious head", " A husband's trusting heart beside.", "But fevered in her sleep she seems,", "And red her cheek with troubled dreams,", " And mutters she in her unrest", "A name she dare not breathe by day,", " And clasps her Lord unto the breast", "Which pants for one away:", "And he to that embrace awakes,", "And, happy in the thought, mistakes", "That dreaming sigh, and warm caress,", "For such as he was wont to bless;", "And could in very fondness weep", "O'er her who loves him even in sleep.", "", "He clasped her sleeping to his heart,", " And listened to each broken word:", "He hears--Why doth Prince Azo start,", " As if the Archangel's voice he heard?", "And well he may--a deeper doom", "Could scarcely thunder o'er his tomb,", "When he shall wake to sleep no more,", "And stand the eternal throne before.", "And well he may--his earthly peace", "Upon that sound is doomed to cease.", "That sleeping whisper of a name", "Bespeaks her guilt and Azo's shame.", "And whose that name? that o'er his pillow", "Sounds fearful as the breaking billow,", "Which rolls the plank upon the shore,", " And dashes on the pointed rock", "The wretch who sinks to rise no more,--", " So came upon his soul the shock.", "And whose that name?--'tis Hugo's,--his--", "In sooth he had not deemed of this!--", "'Tis Hugo's,--he, the child of one", "He loved--his own all-evil son--", "The offspring of his wayward youth,", "When he betrayed Bianca's truth,", "The maid whose folly could confide", "In him who made her not his bride.", "", "He plucked his poniard in its sheath,", " But sheathed it ere the point was bare;", "Howe'er unworthy now to breathe,", " He could not slay a thing so fair--", " At least, not smiling--sleeping--there--", "Nay, more:--he did not wake her then,", " But gazed upon her with a glance", " Which, had she roused her from her trance,", "Had frozen her sense to sleep again;", "And o'er his brow the burning lamp", "Gleamed on the dew-drops big and damp.", "She spake no more--but still she slumbered--", "While, in his thought, her days are numbered.", "", "And with the morn he sought and found,", "In many a tale from those around,", "The proof of all he feared to know,", "Their present guilt--his future woe;", "The long-conniving damsels seek", " To save themselves, and would transfer", " The guilt--the shame--the doom--to her:", "Concealment is no more--they speak", "All circumstance which may compel", "Full credence to the tale they tell:", "And Azo's tortured heart and ear", "Have nothing more to feel or hear.", "", "He was not one who brooked delay:", " Within the chamber of his state,", "The Chief of Este's ancient sway", " Upon his throne of judgement sate;", "His nobles and his guards are there,--", "Before him is the sinful pair;", "Both young,--and _one_ how passing fair!", "With swordless belt, and fettered hand,", "Oh, Christ! that thus a son should stand", " Before a father's face!", "Yet thus must Hugo meet his sire,", "And hear the sentence of his ire,", " The tale of his disgrace!", "And yet he seems not overcome,", "Although, as yet, his voice be dumb.", "", "And still,--and pale--and silently", " Did Parisina wait her doom;", "How changed since last her speaking eye", " Glanced gladness round the glittering room,", "Where high-born men were proud to wait--", "Where Beauty watched to imitate", " Her gentle voice--her lovely mien--", "And gather from her air and gait", " The graces of its Queen:", "Then,--had her eye in sorrow wept,", "A thousand warriors forth had leapt,", "A thousand swords had sheathless shone,", "And made her quarrel all their own.", "Now,--what is she? and what are they?", "Can she command, or these obey?", "All silent and unheeding now,", "With downcast eyes and knitting brow,", "And folded arms, and freezing air,", "And lips that scarce their scorn forbear,", "Her knights, her dames, her court--is there:", "And he--the chosen one, whose lance", "Had yet been couched before her glance,", "Who--were his arm a moment free--", "Had died or gained her liberty;", "The minion of his father's bride,--", "He, too, is fettered by her side;", "Nor sees her swoln and full eye swim", "Less for her own despair than him:", "Those lids--o'er which the violet vein", "Wandering, leaves a tender stain,", "Shining through the smoothest white", "That e'er did softest kiss invite--", "Now seemed with hot and livid glow", "To press, not shade, the orbs below;", "Which glance so heavily, and fill,", "As tear on tear grows gathering still", "", "And he for her had also wept,", " But for the eyes that on him gazed:", "His sorrow, if he felt it, slept;", " Stern and erect his brow was raised.", "Whate'er the grief his soul avowed,", "He would not shrink before the crowd;", "But yet he dared not look on her;", "Remembrance of the hours that were--", "His guilt--his love--his present state--", "His father's wrath, all good men's hate--", "His earthly, his eternal fate--", "And hers,--oh, hers! he dared not throw", "One look upon that death-like brow!", "Else had his rising heart betrayed", "Remorse for all the wreck it made.", "", "And Azo spake:--\"But yesterday", " I gloried in a wife and son;", "That dream this morning passed away;", " Ere day declines, I shall have none.", "My life must linger on alone;", "Well,--let that pass,--there breathes not one", "Who would not do as I have done:", "Those ties are broken--not by me;", " Let that too pass;--the doom's prepared!", "Hugo, the priest awaits on thee,", " And then--thy crime's reward!", "Away! address thy prayers to Heaven.", " Before its evening stars are met,", "Learn if thou there canst be forgiven:", " Its mercy may absolve thee yet.", "But here, upon the earth beneath,", " There is no spot where thou and I", "Together for an hour could breathe:", " Farewell! I will not see thee die--", "But thou, frail thing! shall view his head--", " Away! I cannot speak the rest:", " Go! woman of the wanton breast;", "Not I, but thou his blood dost shed:", "Go! if that sight thou canst outlive,", "And joy thee in the life I give.\"", "", "And here stern Azo hid his face--", " For on his brow the swelling vein", " Throbbed as if back upon his brain", " The hot blood ebbed and flowed again;", "And therefore bowed he for a space,", " And passed his shaking hand along", " His eye, to veil it from the throng;", "While Hugo raised his chainéd hands,", "And for a brief delay demands", "His father's ear: the silent sire", "Forbids not what his words require.", " \"It is not that I dread the death--", "For thou hast seen me by thy side", "All redly through the battle ride,", "And that--not once a useless brand--", "Thy slaves have wrested from my hand", "Hath shed more blood in cause of thine,", "Than e'er can stain the axe of mine:", " Thou gav'st, and may'st resume my breath,", "A gift for which I thank thee not;", "Nor are my mother's wrongs forgot,", "Her slighted love and ruined name,", "Her offspring's heritage of shame;", "But she is in the grave, where he,", "Her son--thy rival--soon shall be.", "Her broken heart--my severed head--", "Shall witness for thee from the dead", "How trusty and how tender were", "Thy youthful love--paternal care.", "'Tis true that I have done thee wrong--", " But wrong for wrong:--this,--deemed thy bride,", " The other victim of thy pride,--", "Thou know'st for me was destined long;", "Thou saw'st, and coveted'st her charms;", " And with thy very crime--my birth,--", " Thou taunted'st me--as little worth;", "A match ignoble for her arms;", "Because, forsooth, I could not claim", "The lawful heirship of thy name,", "Nor sit on Este's lineal throne;", " Yet, were a few short summers mine,", " My name should more than Este's shine", "With honours all my own.", "I had a sword--and have a breast", "That should have won as haught a crest", "As ever waved along the line", "Of all these sovereign sires of thine.", "Not always knightly spurs are worn", "The brightest by the better born;", "And mine have lanced my courser's flank", "Before proud chiefs of princely rank,", "When charging to the cheering cry", "Of 'Este and of Victory!'", "I will not plead the cause of crime,", "Nor sue thee to redeem from time", "A few brief hours or days that must", "At length roll o'er my reckless dust;--", "Such maddening moments as my past,", "They could not, and they did not, last;--", "Albeit my birth and name be base,", "And thy nobility of race", "Disdained to deck a thing like me--", " Yet in my lineaments they trace", " Some features of my father's face,", "And in my spirit--all of thee.", "From thee this tamelessness of heart--", "From thee--nay, wherefore dost thou start?---", "From thee in all their vigour came", "My arm of strength, my soul of flame--", "Thou didst not give me life alone,", "But all that made me more thine own.", "See what thy guilty love hath done!", "Repaid thee with too like a son!", "I am no bastard in my soul,", "For that, like thine, abhorred control;", "And for my breath, that hasty boon", "Thou gav'st and wilt resume so soon,", "I valued it no more than thou,", "When rose thy casque above thy brow,", "And we, all side by side, have striven,", "And o'er the dead our coursers driven:", "The past is nothing--and at last", "The future can but be the past;", "Yet would I that I then had died:", " For though thou work'dst my mother's ill,", "And made thy own my destined bride,", " I feel thou art my father still:", "And harsh as sounds thy hard decree,", "'Tis not unjust, although from thee.", "Begot in sin, to die in shame,", "My life begun and ends the same:", "As erred the sire, so erred the son,", "And thou must punish both in one.", "My crime seems worst to human view,", "But God must judge between us too!\"", "", "He ceased--and stood with folded arms,", " On which the circling fetters sounded;", " And not an ear but felt as wounded,", " Of all the chiefs that there were ranked,", " When those dull chains in meeting clanked:", "Till Parisina's fatal charms", "Again attracted every eye--", "Would she thus hear him doomed to die!", "She stood, I said, all pale and still,", "The living cause of Hugo's ill:", "Her eyes unmoved, but full and wide,", "Not once had turned to either side--", "Nor once did those sweet eyelids close,", "Or shade the glance o'er which they rose,", "But round their orbs of deepest blue", "The circling white dilated grew--", "And there with glassy gaze she stood", "As ice were in her curdled blood;", "But every now and then a tear", " So large and slowly gathered slid", " From the long dark fringe of that fair lid,", "It was a thing to see, not hear!", "And those who saw, it did surprise,", "Such drops could fall from human eyes.", "To speak she thought--the imperfect note", "Was choked within her swelling throat,", "Yet seemed in that low hollow groan", "Her whole heart gushing in the tone.", "It ceased--again she thought to speak,", "Then burst her voice in one long shriek,", "And to the earth she fell like stone", "Or statue from its base o'erthrown,", "More like a thing that ne'er had life,--", "A monument of Azo's wife,--", "Than her, that living guilty thing,", "Whose every passion was a sting,", "Which urged to guilt, but could not bear", "That guilt's detection and despair.", "But yet she lived--and all too soon", "Recovered from that death-like swoon--", "But scarce to reason--every sense", "Had been o'erstrung by pangs intense;", "And each frail fibre of her brain", "(As bowstrings, when relaxed by rain,", "The erring arrow launch aside)", "Sent forth her thoughts all wild and wide--", "The past a blank, the future black,", "With glimpses of a dreary track,", "Like lightning on the desert path,", "When midnight storms are mustering wrath.", "She feared--she felt that something ill", "Lay on her soul, so deep and chill;", "That there was sin and shame she knew,", "That some one was to die--but who?", "She had forgotten:--did she breathe?", "Could this be still the earth beneath,", "The sky above, and men around;", "Or were they fiends who now so frowned", "On one, before whose eyes each eye", "Till then had smiled in sympathy?", "All was confused and undefined", "To her all-jarred and wandering mind;", "A chaos of wild hopes and fears:", "And now in laughter, now in tears,", "But madly still in each extreme,", "She strove with that convulsive dream;", "For so it seemed on her to break:", "Oh! vainly must she strive to wake!", "", "The Convent bells are ringing,", " But mournfully and slow;", "In the grey square turret swinging,", " With a deep sound, to and fro.", " Heavily to the heart they go!", "Hark! the hymn is singing--", " The song for the dead below,", " Or the living who shortly shall be so!", "For a departed being's soul", "The death-hymn peals and the hollow bells knoll:", "He is near his mortal goal;", "Kneeling at the Friar's knee,", "Sad to hear, and piteous to see--", "Kneeling on the bare cold ground.", "With the block before and the guards around;", "And the headsman with his bare arm ready,", "That the blow may be both swift and steady,", "Feels if the axe be sharp and true", "Since he set its edge anew:", "While the crowd in a speechless circle gather", "To see the Son fall by the doom of the Father!", "", "It is a lovely hour as yet", "Before the summer sun shall set,", "Which rose upon that heavy day,", "And mock'd it with his steadiest ray;", "And his evening beams are shed", "Full on Hugo's fated head,", "As his last confession pouring", "To the monk, his doom deploring", "In penitential holiness,", "He bends to hear his accents bless", "With absolution such as may", "Wipe our mortal stains away.", "That high sun on his head did glisten", "As he there did bow and listen,", "And the rings of chestnut hair", "Curled half down his neck so bare;", "But brighter still the beam was thrown", "Upon the axe which near him shone", "With a clear and ghastly glitter----", "Oh! that parting hour was bitter!", "Even the stern stood chilled with awe:", "Dark the crime, and just the law--", "Yet they shuddered as they saw.", "", "The parting prayers are said and over", "Of that false son, and daring lover!", "His beads and sins are all recounted,", "His hours to their last minute mounted;", "His mantling cloak before was stripped,", "His bright brown locks must now be clipped;", "'Tis done--all closely are they shorn;", "The vest which till this moment worn--", "The scarf which Parisina gave--", "Must not adorn him to the grave.", "Even that must now be thrown aside,", "And o'er his eyes the kerchief tied;", "But no--that last indignity", "Shall ne'er approach his haughty eye.", "All feelings seemingly subdued,", "In deep disdain were half renewed,", "When headsman's hands prepared to bind", "Those eyes which would not brook such blind,", "As if they dared not look on death.", "\"No--yours my forfeit blood and breath;", "These hands are chained, but let me die", "At least with an unshackled eye--", "Strike:\"--and as the word he said,", "Upon the block he bowed his head;", "These the last accents Hugo spoke:", "\"Strike\"--and flashing fell the stroke--", "Rolled the head--and, gushing, sunk", "Back the stained and heaving trunk,", "In the dust, which each deep vein", "Slaked with its ensanguined rain;", "His eyes and lips a moment quiver,", "Convulsed and quick--then fix for ever.", "", "He died, as erring man should die,", " Without display, without parade;", " Meekly had he bowed and prayed,", " As not disdaining priestly aid,", "Nor desperate of all hope on high.", "And while before the Prior kneeling,", "His heart was weaned from earthly feeling;", "His wrathful Sire--his Paramour--", "What were they in such an hour?", "No more reproach,--no more despair,--", "No thought but Heaven,--no word but prayer--", "Save the few which from him broke,", "When, bared to meet the headsman's stroke,", "He claimed to die with eyes unbound,", "His sole adieu to those around.", "", "Still as the lips that closed in death,", "Each gazer's bosom held his breath:", "But yet, afar, from man to man,", "A cold electric shiver ran,", "As down the deadly blow descended", "On him whose life and love thus ended;", "And, with a hushing sound compressed,", "A sigh shrunk back on every breast;", "But no more thrilling noise rose there,", " Beyond the blow that to the block", " Pierced through with forced and sullen shock,", "Save one:--what cleaves the silent air", "So madly shrill, so passing wild?", "That, as a mother's o'er her child,", "Done to death by sudden blow,", "To the sky these accents go,", "Like a soul's in endless woe.", "Through Azo's palace-lattice driven,", "That horrid voice ascends to heaven,", "And every eye is turned thereon;", "But sound and sight alike are gone!", "It was a woman's shriek--and ne'er", "In madlier accents rose despair;", "And those who heard it, as it past,", "In mercy wished it were the last.", "", "Hugo is fallen; and, from that hour,", "No more in palace, hall, or bower,", "Was Parisina heard or seen:", "Her name--as if she ne'er had been--", "Was banished from each lip and ear,", "Like words of wantonness or fear;", "And from Prince Azo's voice, by none", "Was mention heard of wife or son;", "No tomb--no memory had they;", "Theirs was unconsecrated clay--", "At least the Knight's who died that day.", "But Parisina's fate lies hid", "Like dust beneath the coffin lid:", "Whether in convent she abode,", "And won to heaven her dreary road,", "By blighted and remorseful years", "Of scourge, and fast, and sleepless tears;", "Or if she fell by bowl or steel,", "For that dark love she dared to feel:", "Or if, upon the moment smote,", "She died by tortures less remote,", "Like him she saw upon the block", "With heart that shared the headsman's shock,", "In quickened brokenness that came,", "In pity o'er her shattered frame,", "None knew--and none can ever know:", "But whatsoe'er its end below,", "Her life began and closed in woe!", "", "And Azo found another bride,", "And goodly sons grew by his side;", "But none so lovely and so brave", "As him who withered in the grave;", "Or if they were--on his cold eye", "Their growth but glanced unheeded by,", "Or noticed with a smothered sigh.", "But never tear his cheek descended,", "And never smile his brow unbended;", "And o'er that fair broad brow were wrought", "The intersected lines of thought;", "Those furrows which the burning share", "Of Sorrow ploughs untimely there;", "Scars of the lacerating mind", "Which the Soul's war doth leave behind.", "He was past all mirth or woe:", "Nothing more remained below", "But sleepless nights and heavy days,", "A mind all dead to scorn or praise,", "A heart which shunned itself--and yet", "That would not yield, nor could forget,", "Which, when it least appeared to melt,", "Intensely thought--intensely felt:", "The deepest ice which ever froze", "Can only o'er the surface close;", "The living stream lies quick below,", "And flows, and cannot cease to flow.", "Still was his sealed-up bosom haunted", "By thoughts which Nature hath implanted;", "Too deeply rooted thence to vanish,", "Howe'er our stifled tears we banish;", "When struggling as they rise to start,", "We check those waters of the heart,", "They are not dried--those tears unshed", "But flow back to the fountain head,", "And resting in their spring more pure,", "For ever in its depth endure,", "Unseen--unwept--but uncongealed,", "And cherished most where least revealed.", "With inward starts of feeling left,", "To throb o'er those of life bereft,", "Without the power to fill again", "The desert gap which made his pain;", "Without the hope to meet them where", "United souls shall gladness share;", "With all the consciousness that he", "Had only passed a just decree;", "That they had wrought their doom of ill;", "Yet Azo's age was wretched still.", "The tainted branches of the tree,", " If lopped with care, a strength may give,", " By which the rest shall bloom and live", "All greenly fresh and wildly free:", "But if the lightning, in its wrath,", "The waving boughs with fury scathe,", "The massy trunk the ruin feels,", "And never more a leaf reveals." ], "linecount": "586" }, { "title": "Sonnet on Chillon", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Eternal Spirit of the chainless Mind!", " Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art:", " For there thy habitation is the heart--", "The heart which love of thee alone can bind;", "And when thy sons to fetters are consigned--", " To fetters, and the damp vault's dayless gloom,", " Their country conquers with their martyrdom,", "And Freedom's fame finds wings on every wind.", "Chillon! thy prison is a holy place,", " And thy sad floor an altar--for 'twas trod,", "Until his very steps have left a trace", " Worn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod,", "By Bonnivard!--May none those marks efface!", " For they appeal from tyranny to God." ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "The Dream", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Our life is twofold: Sleep hath its own world,", "A boundary between the things misnamed", "Death and existence: Sleep hath its own world,", "And a wide realm of wild reality,", "And dreams in their developement have breath,", "And tears, and tortures, and the touch of Joy;", "They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts,", "They take a weight from off our waking toils,", "They do divide our being; they become", "A portion of ourselves as of our time,", "And look like heralds of Eternity;", "They pass like spirits of the past,--they speak", "Like Sibyls of the future; they have power--", "The tyranny of pleasure and of pain;", "They make us what we were not--what they will,", "And shake us with the vision that's gone by,", "The dread of vanished shadows--Are they so?", "Is not the past all shadow?--What are they?", "Creations of the mind?--The mind can make", "Substance, and people planets of its own", "With beings brighter than have been, and give", "A breath to forms which can outlive all flesh.", "I would recall a vision which I dreamed", "Perchance in sleep--for in itself a thought,", "A slumbering thought, is capable of years,", "And curdles a long life into one hour.", "", "I saw two beings in the hues of youth", "Standing upon a hill, a gentle hill,", "Green and of mild declivity, the last", "As 'twere the cape of a long ridge of such,", "Save that there was no sea to lave its base,", "But a most living landscape, and the wave", "Of woods and cornfields, and the abodes of men", "Scattered at intervals, and wreathing smoke", "Arising from such rustic roofs;--the hill", "Was crowned with a peculiar diadem", "Of trees, in circular array, so fixed,", "Not by the sport of nature, but of man:", "These two, a maiden and a youth, were there", "Gazing--the one on all that was beneath", "Fair as herself--but the Boy gazed on her;", "And both were young, and one was beautiful:", "And both were young--yet not alike in youth.", "As the sweet moon on the horizon's verge,", "The Maid was on the eve of Womanhood;", "The Boy had fewer summers, but his heart", "Had far outgrown his years, and to his eye", "There was but one belovéd face on earth,", "And that was shining on him: he had looked", "Upon it till it could not pass away;", "He had no breath, no being, but in hers;", "She was his voice; he did not speak to her,", "But trembled on her words; she was his sight,", "For his eye followed hers, and saw with hers,", "Which coloured all his objects:--he had ceased", "To live within himself; she was his life,", "The ocean to the river of his thoughts,", "Which terminated all: upon a tone,", "A touch of hers, his blood would ebb and flow,", "And his cheek change tempestuously--his heart", "Unknowing of its cause of agony.", "But she in these fond feelings had no share:", "Her sighs were not for him; to her he was", "Even as a brother--but no more; 'twas much,", "For brotherless she was, save in the name", "Her infant friendship had bestowed on him;", "Herself the solitary scion left", "Of a time-honoured race.--It was a name", "Which pleased him, and yet pleased him not--and why?", "Time taught him a deep answer--when she loved", "Another: even _now_ she loved another,", "And on the summit of that hill she stood", "Looking afar if yet her lover's steed", "Kept pace with her expectancy, and flew.", "", "A change came o'er the spirit of my dream.", "There was an ancient mansion, and before", "Its walls there was a steed caparisoned:", "Within an antique Oratory stood", "The Boy of whom I spake;--he was alone,", "And pale, and pacing to and fro: anon", "He sate him down, and seized a pen, and traced", "Words which I could not guess of; then he leaned", "His bowed head on his hands, and shook as 'twere", "With a convulsion--then arose again,", "And with his teeth and quivering hands did tear", "What he had written, but he shed no tears.", "And he did calm himself, and fix his brow", "Into a kind of quiet: as he paused,", "The Lady of his love re-entered there;", "She was serene and smiling then, and yet", "She knew she was by him beloved--she knew,", "For quickly comes such knowledge, that his heart", "Was darkened with her shadow, and she saw", "That he was wretched, but she saw not all.", "He rose, and with a cold and gentle grasp", "He took her hand; a moment o'er his face", "A tablet of unutterable thoughts", "Was traced, and then it faded, as it came;", "He dropped the hand he held, and with slow steps", "Retired, but not as bidding her adieu,", "For they did part with mutual smiles; he passed", "From out the massy gate of that old Hall,", "And mounting on his steed he went his way;", "And ne'er repassed that hoary threshold more.", "", "A change came o'er the spirit of my dream.", "The Boy was sprung to manhood: in the wilds", "Of fiery climes he made himself a home,", "And his Soul drank their sunbeams: he was girt", "With strange and dusky aspects; he was not", "Himself like what he had been; on the sea", "And on the shore he was a wanderer;", "There was a mass of many images", "Crowded like waves upon me, but he was", "A part of all; and in the last he lay", "Reposing from the noontide sultriness,", "Couched among fallen columns, in the shade", "Of ruined walls that had survived the names", "Of those who reared them; by his sleeping side", "Stood camels grazing, and some goodly steeds", "Were fastened near a fountain; and a man", "Clad in a flowing garb did watch the while,", "While many of his tribe slumbered around:", "And they were canopied by the blue sky,", "So cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful,", "That God alone was to be seen in Heaven.", "", "A change came o'er the spirit of my dream.", "The Lady of his love was wed with One", "Who did not love her better:--in her home,", "A thousand leagues from his,--her native home,", "She dwelt, begirt with growing Infancy,", "Daughters and sons of Beauty,--but behold!", "Upon her face there was the tint of grief,", "The settled shadow of an inward strife,", "And an unquiet drooping of the eye,", "As if its lid were charged with unshed tears.", "What could her grief be?--she had all she loved,", "And he who had so loved her was not there", "To trouble with bad hopes, or evil wish,", "Or ill-repressed affliction, her pure thoughts.", "What could her grief be?--she had loved him not,", "Nor given him cause to deem himself beloved,", "Nor could he be a part of that which preyed", "Upon her mind--a spectre of the past.", "", "A change came o'er the spirit of my dream.", "The Wanderer was returned.--I saw him stand", "Before an Altar--with a gentle bride;", "Her face was fair, but was not that which made", "The Starlight of his Boyhood;--as he stood", "Even at the altar, o'er his brow there came", "The self-same aspect, and the quivering shock", "That in the antique Oratory shook", "His bosom in its solitude; and then--", "As in that hour--a moment o'er his face", "The tablet of unutterable thoughts", "Was traced,--and then it faded as it came,", "And he stood calm and quiet, and he spoke", "The fitting vows, but heard not his own words,", "And all things reeled around him; he could see", "Not that which was, nor that which should have been--", "But the old mansion, and the accustomed hall,", "And the remembered chambers, and the place,", "The day, the hour, the sunshine, and the shade,", "All things pertaining to that place and hour", "And her who was his destiny, came back", "And thrust themselves between him and the light:", "What business had they there at such a time?", "", "A change came o'er the spirit of my dream.", "The Lady of his love;--Oh! she was changed", "As by the sickness of the soul; her mind", "Had wandered from its dwelling, and her eyes", "They had not their own lustre, but the look", "Which is not of the earth; she was become", "The Queen of a fantastic realm; her thoughts", "Were combinations of disjointed things;", "And forms, impalpable and unperceived", "Of others' sight, familiar were to hers.", "And this the world calls frenzy; but the wise", "Have a far deeper madness--and the glance", "Of melancholy is a fearful gift;", "What is it but the telescope of truth?", "Which strips the distance of its fantasies,", "And brings life near in utter nakedness,", "Making the cold reality too real!", "", "A change came o'er the spirit of my dream.", "The Wanderer was alone as heretofore,", "The beings which surrounded him were gone,", "Or were at war with him; he was a mark", "For blight and desolation, compassed round", "With Hatred and Contention; Pain was mixed", "In all which was served up to him, until,", "Like to the Pontic monarch of old days,", "He fed on poisons, and they had no power,", "But were a kind of nutriment; he lived", "Through that which had been death to many men,", "And made him friends of mountains: with the stars", "And the quick Spirit of the Universe", "He held his dialogues; and they did teach", "To him the magic of their mysteries;", "To him the book of Night was opened wide,", "And voices from the deep abyss revealed", "A marvel and a secret--Be it so.", "", "My dream was past; it had no further change.", "It was of a strange order, that the doom", "Of these two creatures should be thus traced out", "Almost like a reality--the one", "To end in madness--both in misery." ], "linecount": "206" }, { "title": "Sonnet to Lake Leman", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Rousseau--Voltaire--our Gibbon--and De Staël--", " Leman! these names are worthy of thy shore,", " Thy shore of names like these! wert thou no more,", "Their memory thy remembrance would recall:", "To them thy banks were lovely as to all,", " But they have made them lovelier, for the lore", " Of mighty minds doth hallow in the core", "Of human hearts the ruin of a wall", " Where dwelt the wise and wondrous; but by _thee_", "How much more, Lake of Beauty! do we feel,", " In sweetly gliding o'er thy crystal sea,", "The wild glow of that not ungentle zeal,", " Which of the Heirs of Immortality", "Is proud, and makes the breath of Glory real!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Epistle to Augusta", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " My Sister! my sweet Sister! if a name", " Dearer and purer were, it should be thine.", " Mountains and seas divide us, but I claim", " No tears, but tenderness to answer mine:", " Go where I will, to me thou art the same--", " A loved regret which I would not resign.", " There yet are two things in my destiny,--", "A world to roam through, and a home with thee.", "", " The first were nothing--had I still the last,", " It were the haven of my happiness;", " But other claims and other ties thou hast,", " And mine is not the wish to make them less.", " A strange doom is thy father's son's, and past", " Recalling, as it lies beyond redress;", " Reversed for him our grandsire's fate of yore,--", "He had no rest at sea, nor I on shore.", "", " If my inheritance of storms hath been", " In other elements, and on the rocks", " Of perils, overlooked or unforeseen,", " I have sustained my share of worldly shocks,", " The fault was mine; nor do I seek to screen", " My errors with defensive paradox;", " I have been cunning in mine overthrow,", "The careful pilot of my proper woe.", "", " Mine were my faults, and mine be their reward.", " My whole life was a contest, since the day", " That gave me being, gave me that which marred", " The gift,--a fate, or will, that walked astray;", " And I at times have found the struggle hard,", " And thought of shaking off my bonds of clay:", " But now I fain would for a time survive,", "If but to see what next can well arrive.", "", " Kingdoms and Empires in my little day", " I have outlived, and yet I am not old;", " And when I look on this, the petty spray", " Of my own years of trouble, which have rolled", " Like a wild bay of breakers, melts away:", " Something--I know not what--does still uphold", " A spirit of slight patience;--not in vain,", "Even for its own sake, do we purchase Pain.", "", " Perhaps the workings of defiance stir", " Within me--or, perhaps, a cold despair", " Brought on when ills habitually recur,--", " Perhaps a kinder clime, or purer air,", " (For even to this may change of soul refer,", " And with light armour we may learn to bear,)", " Have taught me a strange quiet, which was not", "The chief companion of a calmer lot.", "", " I feel almost at times as I have felt", " In happy childhood; trees, and flowers, and brooks,", " Which do remember me of where I dwelt,", " Ere my young mind was sacrificed to books,", " Come as of yore upon me, and can melt", " My heart with recognition of their looks;", " And even at moments I could think I see", "Some living thing to love--but none like thee.", "", " Here are the Alpine landscapes which create", " A fund for contemplation;--to admire", " Is a brief feeling of a trivial date;", " But something worthier do such scenes inspire:", " Here to be lonely is not desolate,", " For much I view which I could most desire,", " And, above all, a Lake I can behold", "Lovelier, not dearer, than our own of old.", "", " Oh that thou wert but with me!--but I grow", " The fool of my own wishes, and forget", " The solitude which I have vaunted so", " Has lost its praise in this but one regret;", " There may be others which I less may show;--", " I am not of the plaintive mood, and yet", " I feel an ebb in my philosophy,", "And the tide rising in my altered eye.", "", " I did remind thee of our own dear Lake,", " By the old Hall which may be mine no more.", " _Leman's_ is fair; but think not I forsake", " The sweet remembrance of a dearer shore:", " Sad havoc Time must with my memory make,", " Ere that or thou can fade these eyes before;", " Though, like all things which I have loved, they are", "Resigned for ever, or divided far.", "", " The world is all before me; I but ask", " Of Nature that with which she will comply--", " It is but in her Summer's sun to bask,", " To mingle with the quiet of her sky,", " To see her gentle face without a mask,", " And never gaze on it with apathy.", " She was my early friend, and now shall be", "My sister--till I look again on thee.", "", " I can reduce all feelings but this one;", " And that I would not;--for at length I see", " Such scenes as those wherein my life begun--", " The earliest--even the only paths for me--", " Had I but sooner learnt the crowd to shun,", " I had been better than I now can be;", " The Passions which have torn me would have slept;", "_I_ had not suffered, and _thou_ hadst not wept.", "", " With false Ambition what had I to do?", " Little with Love, and least of all with Fame;", " And yet they came unsought, and with me grew,", " And made me all which they can make--a Name.", " Yet this was not the end I did pursue;", " Surely I once beheld a nobler aim.", " But all is over--I am one the more", "To baffled millions which have gone before.", "", " And for the future, this world's future may", " From me demand but little of my care;", " I have outlived myself by many a day;", " Having survived so many things that were;", " My years have been no slumber, but the prey", " Of ceaseless vigils; for I had the share", " Of life which might have filled a century,", "Before its fourth in time had passed me by.", "", " And for the remnant which may be to come", " I am content; and for the past I feel", " Not thankless,--for within the crowded sum", " Of struggles, Happiness at times would steal,", " And for the present, I would not benumb", " My feelings farther.--Nor shall I conceal", " That with all this I still can look around,", "And worship Nature with a thought profound.", "", " For thee, my own sweet sister, in thy heart", " I know myself secure, as thou in mine;", " We were and are--I am, even as thou art--", " Beings who ne'er each other can resign;", " It is the same, together or apart,", " From Life's commencement to its slow decline", " We are entwined--let Death come slow or fast,", "The tie which bound the first endures the last!" ], "linecount": "128" }, { "title": "Monody on the Death of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "When the last sunshine of expiring Day", "In Summer's twilight weeps itself away,", "Who hath not felt the softness of the hour", "Sink on the heart, as dew along the flower?", "With a pure feeling which absorbs and awes", "While Nature makes that melancholy pause--", "Her breathing moment on the bridge where Time", "Of light and darkness forms an arch sublime--", "Who hath not shared that calm, so still and deep,", "The voiceless thought which would not speak but weep,", "A holy concord, and a bright regret,", "A glorious sympathy with suns that set?", "'Tis not harsh sorrow, but a tenderer woe,", "Nameless, but dear to gentle hearts below,", "Felt without bitterness--but full and clear,", "A sweet dejection--a transparent tear,", "Unmixed with worldly grief or selfish stain--", "Shed without shame, and secret without pain.", "Even as the tenderness that hour instils", "When Summer's day declines along the hills,", "So feels the fulness of our heart and eyes", "When all of Genius which can perish dies.", "A mighty Spirit is eclipsed--a Power", "Hath passed from day to darkness--to whose hour", "Of light no likeness is bequeathed--no name,", "Focus at once of all the rays of Fame!", "The flash of Wit--the bright Intelligence,", "The beam of Song--the blaze of Eloquence,", "Set with their Sun, but still have left behind", "The enduring produce of immortal Mind;", "Fruits of a genial morn, and glorious noon,", "A deathless part of him who died too soon.", "But small that portion of the wondrous whole,", "These sparkling segments of that circling Soul,", "Which all embraced, and lightened over all,", "To cheer--to pierce--to please--or to appal.", "From the charmed council to the festive board,", "Of human feelings the unbounded lord;", "In whose acclaim the loftiest voices vied,", "The praised--the proud--who made his praise their pride.", "When the loud cry of trampled Hindostan", "Arose to Heaven in her appeal from Man,", "His was the thunder--his the avenging rod,", "The wrath--the delegated voice of God!", "Which shook the nations through his lips, and blazed", "Till vanquished senates trembled as they praised.", "", "And here, oh! here, where yet all young and warm,", "The gay creations of his spirit charm,", "The matchless dialogue--the deathless wit,", "Which knew not what it was to intermit;", "The glowing portraits, fresh from life, that bring", "Home to our hearts the truth from which they spring;", "These wondrous beings of his fancy, wrought", "To fulness by the fiat of his thought,", "Here in their first abode you still may meet,", "Bright with the hues of his Promethean heat;", "A Halo of the light of other days,", "Which still the splendour of its orb betrays.", "But should there be to whom the fatal blight", "Of failing Wisdom yields a base delight,", "Men who exult when minds of heavenly tone", "Jar in the music which was born their own,", "Still let them pause--ah! little do they know", "That what to them seemed Vice might be but Woe.", "Hard is his fate on whom the public gaze", "Is fixed for ever to detract or praise;", "Repose denies her requiem to his name,", "And Folly loves the martyrdom of Fame.", "The secret Enemy whose sleepless eye", "Stands sentinel--accuser--judge--and spy.", "The foe, the fool, the jealous, and the vain,", "The envious who but breathe in other's pain--", "Behold the host! delighting to deprave,", "Who track the steps of Glory to the grave,", "Watch every fault that daring Genius owes", "Half to the ardour which its birth bestows,", "Distort the truth, accumulate the lie,", "And pile the Pyramid of Calumny!", "These are his portion--but if joined to these", "Gaunt Poverty should league with deep Disease,", "If the high Spirit must forget to soar,", "And stoop to strive with Misery at the door,", "To soothe Indignity--and face to face", "Meet sordid Rage, and wrestle with Disgrace,", "To find in Hope but the renewed caress,", "The serpent-fold of further Faithlessness:--", "If such may be the Ills which men assail,", "What marvel if at last the mightiest fail?", "Breasts to whom all the strength of feeling given", "Bear hearts electric-charged with fire from Heaven,", "Black with the rude collision, inly torn,", "By clouds surrounded, and on whirlwinds borne,", "Driven o'er the lowering atmosphere that nurst", "Thoughts which have turned to thunder--scorch, and burst.", "", "But far from us and from our mimic scene", "Such things should be--if such have ever been;", "Ours be the gentler wish, the kinder task,", "To give the tribute Glory need not ask,", "To mourn the vanished beam, and add our mite", "Of praise in payment of a long delight.", "Ye Orators! whom yet our councils yield,", "Mourn for the veteran Hero of your field!", "The worthy rival of the wondrous _Three!_", "Whose words were sparks of Immortality!", "Ye Bards! to whom the Drama's Muse is dear,", "He was your Master--emulate him _here_!", "Ye men of wit and social eloquence!", "He was your brother--bear his ashes hence!", "While Powers of mind almost of boundless range,", "Complete in kind, as various in their change,", "While Eloquence--Wit--Poesy--and Mirth,", "That humbler Harmonist of care on Earth,", "Survive within our souls--while lives our sense", "Of pride in Merit's proud pre-eminence,", "Long shall we seek his likeness--long in vain,", "And turn to all of him which may remain,", "Sighing that Nature formed but one such man,", "And broke the die--in moulding Sheridan!" ], "linecount": "118" }, { "title": "Manfred: A Dramatic Poem", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,", " Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.\"", " [_Hamlet,_ Act i. Scene 5, Lines 166, 167.", "", "_The Scene of the Drama is amongst the Higher Alps--partly in the", " Castle of Manfred, and partly in the Mountains._", "", "ACT 1.", "", "SCENE 1.--Manfred _alone_.--_Scene, a Gothic Gallery._--", " _Time, Midnight._", "", "_Man_. The lamp must be replenished, but even then", "It will not burn so long as I must watch:", "My slumbers--if I slumber--are not sleep,", "But a continuance, of enduring thought,", "Which then I can resist not: in my heart", "There is a vigil, and these eyes but close", "To look within; and yet I live, and bear", "The aspect and the form of breathing men.", "But Grief should be the Instructor of the wise;", "Sorrow is Knowledge: they who know the most", "Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth,", "The Tree of Knowledge is not that of Life.", "Philosophy and science, and the springs", "Of Wonder, and the wisdom of the World,", "I have essayed, and in my mind there is", "A power to make these subject to itself--", "But they avail not: I have done men good,", "And I have met with good even among men--", "But this availed not: I have had my foes,", "And none have baffled, many fallen before me--", "But this availed not:--Good--or evil--life--", "Powers, passions--all I see in other beings,", "Have been to me as rain unto the sands,", "Since that all-nameless hour. I have no dread,", "And feel the curse to have no natural fear,", "Nor fluttering throb, that beats with hopes or wishes,", "Or lurking love of something on the earth.", "Now to my task.--", " Mysterious Agency!", "Ye Spirits of the unbounded Universe!", "Whom I have sought in darkness and in light--", "Ye, who do compass earth about, and dwell", "In subtler essence--ye, to whom the tops", "Of mountains inaccessible are haunts,", "And Earth's and Ocean's caves familiar things--", "I call upon ye by the written charm", "Which gives me power upon you--Rise! Appear!", " [A pause.", "They come not yet.--Now by the voice of him", "Who is the first among you--by this sign,", "Which makes you tremble--by the claims of him", "Who is undying,--Rise! Appear!----Appear!", " [A pause.", "If it be so.--Spirits of Earth and Air,", "Ye shall not so elude me! By a power,", "Deeper than all yet urged, a tyrant-spell,", "Which had its birthplace in a star condemned,", "The burning wreck of a demolished world,", "A wandering hell in the eternal Space;", "By the strong curse which is upon my Soul,", "The thought which is within me and around me,", "I do compel ye to my will.--Appear!", "", " First Spirit.", "", " Mortal! to thy bidding bowed,", " From my mansion in the cloud,", " Which the breath of Twilight builds,", " And the Summer's sunset gilds", " With the azure and vermilion,", " Which is mixed for my pavilion;", " Though thy quest may be forbidden,", " On a star-beam I have ridden,", " To thine adjuration bowed:", " Mortal--be thy wish avowed!", "", " _Voice of the_ Second Spirit.", "", "Mont Blanc is the Monarch of mountains;", " They crowned him long ago", "On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds,", " With a Diadem of snow.", "Around his waist are forests braced,", " The Avalanche in his hand;", "But ere it fall, that thundering ball", " Must pause for my command.", "The Glacier's cold and restless mass", " Moves onward day by day;", "But I am he who bids it pass,", " Or with its ice delay.", "I am the Spirit of the place,", " Could make the mountain bow", "And quiver to his caverned base--", " And what with me would'st _Thou?_", "", " _Voice of the_ Third Spirit.", "", "In the blue depth of the waters,", " Where the wave hath no strife,", "Where the Wind is a stranger,", " And the Sea-snake hath life,", "Where the Mermaid is decking", " Her green hair with shells,", "Like the storm on the surface", " Came the sound of thy spells;", "O'er my calm Hall of Coral", " The deep Echo rolled--", "To the Spirit of Ocean", " Thy wishes unfold!", "", " FOURTH SPIRIT.", "", "Where the slumbering Earthquake", " Lies pillowed on fire,", "And the lakes of bitumen", " Rise boilingly higher;", "Where the roots of the Andes", " Strike deep in the earth,", "As their summits to heaven", " Shoot soaringly forth;", "I have quitted my birthplace,", " Thy bidding to bide--", "Thy spell hath subdued me,", " Thy will be my guide!", "", " FIFTH SPIRIT.", "", "I am the Rider of the wind,", " The Stirrer of the storm;", "The hurricane I left behind", " Is yet with lightning warm;", "To speed to thee, o'er shore and sea", " I swept upon the blast:", "The fleet I met sailed well--and yet", " 'Twill sink ere night be past.", "", " SIXTH SPIRIT.", "", "My dwelling is the shadow of the Night,", "Why doth thy magic torture me with light?", "", " SEVENTH SPIRIT.", "", "The Star which rules thy destiny no", "Was ruled, ere earth began, by me:", "It was a World as fresh and fair", "As e'er revolved round Sun in air;", "Its course was free and regular,", "Space bosomed not a lovelier star.", "The Hour arrived--and it became", "A wandering mass of shapeless flame,", "A pathless Comet, and a curse,", "The menace of the Universe;", "Still rolling on with innate force,", "Without a sphere, without a course,", "A bright deformity on high,", "The monster of the upper sky!", "And Thou! beneath its influence born--", "Thou worm! whom I obey and scorn--", "Forced by a Power (which is not thine,", "And lent thee but to make thee mine)", "For this brief moment to descend,", "Where these weak Spirits round thee bend", "And parley with a thing like thee--", "What would'st thou, Child of Clay! with me?", "", " _The_ SEVEN SPIRITS.", "", "Earth--ocean--air--night--mountains--winds--thy Star,", " Are at thy beck and bidding, Child of Clay!", "Before thee at thy quest their Spirits are--", " What would'st thou with us, Son of mortals--say?", "", "_Man_. Forgetfulness----", "", "_First Spirit_. Of what--of whom--and why?", "", "_Man_. Of that which is within me; read it there--", "Ye know it--and I cannot utter it.", "", "_Spirit_. We can but give thee that which we possess:", "Ask of us subjects, sovereignty, the power", "O'er earth--the whole, or portion--or a sign", "Which shall control the elements, whereof", "We are the dominators,--each and all,", "These shall be thine.", "", "_Man_. Oblivion--self-oblivion!", "Can ye not wring from out the hidden realms", "Ye offer so profusely--what I ask?", "", "_Spirit_. It is not in our essence, in our skill;", "But--thou may'st die.", "", "_Man_. Will Death bestow it on me?", "", "_Spirit_. We are immortal, and do not forget;", "We are eternal; and to us the past", "Is, as the future, present. Art thou answered?", "", "_Man_. Ye mock me--but the Power which brought ye here", "Hath made you mine. Slaves, scoff not at my will!", "The Mind--the Spirit--the Promethean spark,", "The lightning of my being, is as bright,", "Pervading, and far darting as your own,", "And shall not yield to yours, though cooped in clay!", "Answer, or I will teach you what I am.", "", "_Spirit_. We answer--as we answered; our reply", "Is even in thine own words.", "", "_Man_. Why say ye so?", "", "_Spirit_. If, as thou say'st, thine essence be as ours,", "We have replied in telling thee, the thing", "Mortals call death hath nought to do with us.", "", "_Man_. I then have called ye from your realms in vain;", "Ye cannot, or ye will not, aid me.", "", "_Spirit_. Say--", "What we possess we offer; it is thine:", "Bethink ere thou dismiss us; ask again;", "Kingdom, and sway, and strength, and length of days--", "", "_Man_. Accurséd! what have I to do with days?", "They are too long already.--Hence--begone!", "", "_Spirit_. Yet pause: being here, our will would do thee service;", "Bethink thee, is there then no other gift", "Which we can make not worthless in thine eyes?", "", "_Man._ No, none: yet stay--one moment, ere we part,", "I would behold ye face to face. I hear", "Your voices, sweet and melancholy sounds,", "As Music on the waters; and I see", "The steady aspect of a clear large Star;", "But nothing more. Approach me as ye are,", "Or one--or all--in your accustomed forms.", "", "_Spirit_. We have no forms, beyond the elements", "Of which we are the mind and principle:", "But choose a form--in that we will appear.", "", "_Man_. I have no choice; there is no form on earth", "Hideous or beautiful to me. Let him,", "Who is most powerful of ye, take such aspect", "As unto him may seem most fitting--Come!", "", "_Seventh Spirit (appearing in the shape of a beautiful", "female figure)_. Behold!", "", "_Man_. Oh God! if it be thus, and _thou_", "Art not a madness and a mockery,", "I yet might be most happy. I will clasp thee,", "And we again will be----", " [_The figure vanishes._", " My heart is crushed!", " [MANFRED _falls senseless_.", "", " (_A voice is heard in the Incantation which follows._)", "", " When the Moon is on the wave,", " And the glow-worm in the grass,", " And the meteor on the grave,", " And the wisp on the morass;", " When the falling stars are shooting,", " And the answered owls are hooting,", " And the silent leaves are still", " In the shadow of the hill,", " Shall my soul be upon thine,", " With a power and with a sign.", "", " Though thy slumber may be deep,", " Yet thy Spirit shall not sleep;", " There are shades which will not vanish,", " There are thoughts thou canst not banish;", " By a Power to thee unknown,", " Thou canst never be alone;", " Thou art wrapt as with a shroud,", " Thou art gathered in a cloud;", " And for ever shalt thou dwell", " In the spirit of this spell.", "", " Though thou seest me not pass by,", " Thou shalt feel me with thine eye", " As a thing that, though unseen,", " Must be near thee, and hath been;", " And when in that secret dread", " Thou hast turned around thy head,", " Thou shalt marvel I am not", " As thy shadow on the spot,", " And the power which thou dost feel", " Shall be what thou must conceal.", "", " And a magic voice and verse", " Hath baptized thee with a curse;", " And a Spirit of the air", " Hath begirt thee with a snare;", " In the wind there is a voice", " Shall forbid thee to rejoice;", " And to thee shall Night deny", " All the quiet of her sky;", " And the day shall have a sun,", " Which shall make thee wish it done.", "", " From thy false tears I did distil", " An essence which hath strength to kill;", " From thy own heart I then did wring", " The black blood in its blackest spring;", " From thy own smile I snatched the snake,", " For there it coiled as in a brake;", " From thy own lip I drew the charm", " Which gave all these their chiefest harm;", " In proving every poison known,", " I found the strongest was thine own.", "", " By the cold breast and serpent smile,", " By thy unfathomed gulfs of guile,", " By that most seeming virtuous eye,", " By thy shut soul's hypocrisy;", " By the perfection of thine art", " Which passed for human thine own heart;", " By thy delight in others' pain,", " And by thy brotherhood of Cain,", " I call upon thee! and compel", " Thyself to be thy proper Hell!", "", " And on thy head I pour the vial", " Which doth devote thee to this trial;", " Nor to slumber, nor to die,", " Shall be in thy destiny;", " Though thy death shall still seem near", " To thy wish, but as a fear;", " Lo! the spell now works around thee,", " And the clankless chain hath bound thee;", " O'er thy heart and brain together", " Hath the word been passed--now wither!", "", "SCENE II.--_The Mountain of the Jungfrau_.--", " _Time, Morning_.--MANFRED _alone upon the cliffs._", "", "_Man_. The spirits I have raised abandon me,", "The spells which I have studied baffle me,", "The remedy I recked of tortured me", "I lean no more on superhuman aid;", "It hath no power upon the past, and for", "The future, till the past be gulfed in darkness,", "It is not of my search.--My Mother Earth!", "And thou fresh-breaking Day, and you, ye Mountains,", "Why are ye beautiful? I cannot love ye.", "And thou, the bright Eye of the Universe,", "That openest over all, and unto all", "Art a delight--thou shin'st not on my heart.", "And you, ye crags, upon whose extreme edge", "I stand, and on the torrent's brink beneath", "Behold the tall pines dwindled as to shrubs", "In dizziness of distance; when a leap,", "A stir, a motion, even a breath, would bring", "My breast upon its rocky bosom's bed", "To rest for ever--wherefore do I pause?", "I feel the impulse--yet I do not plunge;", "I see the peril--yet do not recede;", "And my brain reels--and yet my foot is firm:", "There is a power upon me which withholds,", "And makes it my fatality to live,--", "If it be life to wear within myself", "This barrenness of Spirit, and to be", "My own Soul's sepulchre, for I have ceased", "To justify my deeds unto myself--", "The last infirmity of evil. Aye,", "Thou winged and cloud-cleaving minister,", " [_An Eagle passes._", "Whose happy flight is highest into heaven,", "Well may'st thou swoop so near me--I should be", "Thy prey, and gorge thine eaglets; thou art gone", "Where the eye cannot follow thee; but thine", "Yet pierces downward, onward, or above,", "With a pervading vision.--Beautiful!", "How beautiful is all this visible world!", "How glorious in its action and itself!", "But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we,", "Half dust, half deity, alike unfit", "To sink or soar, with our mixed essence make", "A conflict of its elements, and breathe", "The breath of degradation and of pride,", "Contending with low wants and lofty will,", "Till our Mortality predominates,", "And men are--what they name not to themselves,", "And trust not to each other. Hark! the note,", " [_The Shepherd's pipe in the distance is heard._", "The natural music of the mountain reed--", "For here the patriarchal days are not", "A pastoral fable--pipes in the liberal air,", "Mixed with the sweet bells of the sauntering herd;", "My soul would drink those echoes. Oh, that I were", "The viewless spirit of a lovely sound,", "A living voice, a breathing harmony,", "A bodiless enjoyment--born and dying", "With the blest tone which made me!", "", " _Enter from below a_ CHAMOIS HUNTER.", "", "_Chamois Hunter_. Even so", "This way the Chamois leapt: her nimble feet", "Have baffled me; my gains to-day will scarce", "Repay my break-neck travail.--What is here?", "Who seems not of my trade, and yet hath reached", "A height which none even of our mountaineers,", "Save our best hunters, may attain: his garb", "Is goodly, his mien manly, and his air", "Proud as a free-born peasant's, at this distance:", "I will approach him nearer.", "", "_Man_. (_not perceiving the other_). To be thus--", "Grey-haired with anguish, like these blasted pines,", "Wrecks of a single winter, barkless, branchless,", "A blighted trunk upon a curséd root,", "Which but supplies a feeling to Decay--", "And to be thus, eternally but thus,", "Having been otherwise! Now furrowed o'er", "With wrinkles, ploughed by moments, not by years", "And hours, all tortured into ages--hours", "Which I outlive!--Ye toppling crags of ice!", "Ye Avalanches, whom a breath draws down", "In mountainous o'erwhelming, come and crush me!", "I hear ye momently above, beneath,", "Crash with a frequent conflict; but ye pass,", "And only fall on things that still would live;", "On the young flourishing forest, or the hut", "And hamlet of the harmless villager.", "", "_C. Hun_. The mists begin to rise from up the valley;", "I'll warn him to descend, or he may chance", "To lose at once his way and life together.", "", "_Man_. The mists boil up around the glaciers; clouds", "Rise curling fast beneath me, white and sulphury,", "Like foam from the roused ocean of deep Hell,", "Whose every wave breaks on a living shore,", "Heaped with the damned like pebbles.--I am giddy.", "", "_C. Hun_. I must approach him cautiously; if near,", "A sudden step will startle him, and he", "Seems tottering already.", "", "_Man_. Mountains have fallen,", "Leaving a gap in the clouds, and with the shock", "Rocking their Alpine brethren; filling up", "The ripe green valleys with Destruction's splinters;", "Damming the rivers with a sudden dash,", "Which crushed the waters into mist, and made", "Their fountains find another channel--thus,", "Thus, in its old age, did Mount Rosenberg--", "Why stood I not beneath it?", "", "_C. Hun_. Friend! have a care,", "Your next step may be fatal!--for the love", "Of Him who made you, stand not on that brink!", "", "_Man_. (_not hearing him_).", "Such would have been for me a fitting tomb;", "My bones had then been quiet in their depth;", "They had not then been strewn upon the rocks", "For the wind's pastime--as thus--thus they shall be--", "In this one plunge.--Farewell, ye opening Heavens!", "Look not upon me thus reproachfully--", "You were not meant for me--Earth! take these atoms!", "", " [_As_ MANFRED _is in act to spring from the cliff, the_", " CHAMOIS HUNTER _seizes and retains him with a sudden grasp._", "", "_C. Hun_. Hold, madman!--though aweary of thy life,", "Stain not our pure vales with thy guilty blood:", "Away with me----I will not quit my hold.", "", "_Man_. I am most sick at heart--nay, grasp me not--", "I am all feebleness--the mountains whirl", "Spinning around me----I grow blind----What art thou?", "", "_C. Hun_. I'll answer that anon.--Away with me----", "The clouds grow thicker----there--now lean on me--", "Place your foot here--here, take this staff, and cling", "A moment to that shrub--now give me your hand,", "And hold fast by my girdle--softly--well--", "The Chalet will be gained within an hour:", "Come on, we'll quickly find a surer footing,", "And something like a pathway, which the torrent", "Hath washed since winter.--Come,'tis bravely done--", "You should have been a hunter.--Follow me.", "", " [_As they descend the rocks with difficulty, the scene closes._", "", "ACT II.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Cottage among the Bernese Alps_.--", " MANFRED _and the_ CHAMOIS HUNTER.", "", "_C. Hun_. No--no--yet pause--thou must not yet go forth;", "Thy mind and body are alike unfit", "To trust each other, for some hours, at least;", "When thou art better, I will be thy guide--", "But whither?", "", "_Man_. It imports not: I do know", "My route full well, and need no further guidance.", "", "_C. Hun_. Thy garb and gait bespeak thee of high lineage--", "One of the many chiefs, whose castled crags", "Look o'er the lower valleys--which of these", "May call thee lord? I only know their portals;", "My way of life leads me but rarely down", "To bask by the huge hearths of those old halls,", "Carousing with the vassals; but the paths,", "Which step from out our mountains to their doors,", "I know from childhood--which of these is thine?", "", "_Man_. No matter.", "", "_C. Hun_. Well, Sir, pardon me the question,", "And be of better cheer. Come, taste my wine;", "'Tis of an ancient vintage; many a day", "'T has thawed my veins among our glaciers, now", "Let it do thus for thine--Come, pledge me fairly!", "", "_Man_. Away, away! there's blood upon the brim!", "Will it then never--never sink in the earth?", "", "_C. Hun_. What dost thou mean? thy senses wander from thee.", "", "_Man_. I say 'tis blood--my blood! the pure warm stream", "Which ran in the veins of my fathers, and in ours", "When we were in our youth, and had one heart,", "And loved each other as we should not love,", "And this was shed: but still it rises up,", "Colouring the clouds, that shut me out from Heaven,", "Where thou art not--and I shall never be.", "", "_C. Hun_. Man of strange words, and some half-maddening sin,", "Which makes thee people vacancy, whate'er", "Thy dread and sufferance be, there's comfort yet--", "The aid of holy men, and heavenly patience----", "", "_Man_. Patience--and patience! Hence--that word was made", "For brutes of burthen, not for birds of prey!", "Preach it to mortals of a dust like thine,--", "I am not of thine order.", "", "_C. Hun_. Thanks to Heaven!", "I would not be of thine for the free fame", "Of William Tell; but whatsoe'er thine ill,", "It must be borne, and these wild starts are useless.", "", "_Man_. Do I not bear it?--Look on me--I live.", "", "_C. Hun._ This is convulsion, and no healthful life.", "", "_Man_. I tell thee, man! I have lived many years,", "Many long years, but they are nothing now", "To those which I must number: ages--ages--", "Space and eternity--and consciousness,", "With the fierce thirst of death--and still unslaked!", "", "_C. Hun_. Why on thy brow the seal of middle age", "Hath scarce been set; I am thine elder far.", "", "_Man_. Think'st thou existence doth depend on time?", "It doth; but actions are our epochs: mine", "Have made my days and nights imperishable,", "Endless, and all alike, as sands on the shore,", "Innumerable atoms; and one desert,", "Barren and cold, on which the wild waves break,", "But nothing rests, save carcasses and wrecks,", "Rocks, and the salt-surf weeds of bitterness.", "", "_C. Hun_. Alas! he's mad--but yet I must not leave him.", "", "_Man_. I would I were--for then the things I see", "Would be but a distempered dream.", "", "_C. Hun_. What is it", "That thou dost see, or think thou look'st upon?", "", "_Man_. Myself, and thee--a peasant of the Alps--", "Thy humble virtues, hospitable home,", "And spirit patient, pious, proud, and free;", "Thy self-respect, grafted on innocent thoughts;", "Thy days of health, and nights of sleep; thy toils,", "By danger dignified, yet guiltless; hopes", "Of cheerful old age and a quiet grave,", "With cross and garland over its green turf,", "And thy grandchildren's love for epitaph!", "This do I see--and then I look within--", "It matters not--my Soul was scorched already!", "", "_C. Hun_. And would'st thou then exchange thy lot for mine?", "", "_Man_. No, friend! I would not wrong thee, nor exchange", "My lot with living being: I can bear--", "However wretchedly, 'tis still to bear--", "In life what others could not brook to dream,", "But perish in their slumber.", "", "_C. Hun_. And with this--", "This cautious feeling for another's pain,", "Canst thou be black with evil?--say not so.", "Can one of gentle thoughts have wreaked revenge", "Upon his enemies?", "", "_Man_. Oh! no, no, no!", "My injuries came down on those who loved me--", "On those whom I best loved: I never quelled", "An enemy, save in my just defence--", "But my embrace was fatal.", "", "_C. Hun_. Heaven give thee rest!", "And Penitence restore thee to thyself;", "My prayers shall be for thee.", "", "_Man_. I need them not,", "But can endure thy pity. I depart--", "'Tis time--farewell!--Here's gold, and thanks for thee--", "No words--it is thy due.--Follow me not--", "I know my path--the mountain peril's past:", "And once again I charge thee, follow not!", " [_Exit_ MANFRED.", "", "SCENE II.--_A lower Valley in the Alps.--A Cataract_.", "", " _Enter_ MANFRED.", "", "It is not noon--the Sunbow's rays still arch", "The torrent with the many hues of heaven,", "And roll the sheeted silver's waving column", "O'er the crag's headlong perpendicular,", "And fling its lines of foaming light along,", "And to and fro, like the pale courser's tail,", "The Giant steed, to be bestrode by Death,", "As told in the Apocalypse. No eyes", "But mine now drink this sight of loveliness;", "I should be sole in this sweet solitude,", "And with the Spirit of the place divide", "The homage of these waters.--I will call her.", "", " [MANFRED _takes some of the water into the palm of his", " hand and flings it into the air, muttering the ajuration.", " After a pause, the_ WITCH OF THE ALPS _rises beneath", " the arch of the sunbow of the torrent._", "", "Beautiful Spirit! with thy hair of light,", "And dazzling eyes of glory, in whose form", "The charms of Earth's least mortal daughters grow", "To an unearthly stature, in an essence", "Of purer elements; while the hues of youth,--", "Carnationed like a sleeping Infant's cheek,", "Rocked by the beating of her mother's heart,", "Or the rose tints, which Summer's twilight leaves", "Upon the lofty Glacier's virgin snow,", "The blush of earth embracing with her Heaven,--", "Tinge thy celestial aspect, and make tame", "The beauties of the Sunbow which bends o'er thee.", "Beautiful Spirit! in thy calm clear brow,", "Wherein is glassed serenity of Soul,", "Which of itself shows immortality,", "I read that thou wilt pardon to a Son", "Of Earth, whom the abstruser powers permit", "At times to commune with them--if that he", "Avail him of his spells--to call thee thus,", "And gaze on thee a moment.", "", "_Witch_. Son of Earth!", "I know thee, and the Powers which give thee power!", "I know thee for a man of many thoughts,", "And deeds of good and ill, extreme in both,", "Fatal and fated in thy sufferings.", "I have expected this--what would'st thou with me?", "", "_Man_. To look upon thy beauty--nothing further.", "The face of the earth hath maddened me, and I", "Take refuge in her mysteries, and pierce", "To the abodes of those who govern her--", "But they can nothing aid me. I have sought", "From them what they could not bestow, and now", "I search no further.", "", "_Witch_. What could be the quest", "Which is not in the power of the most powerful,", "The rulers of the invisible?", "", "_Man_. A boon;--", "But why should I repeat it? 'twere in vain.", "", "_Witch_. I know not that; let thy lips utter it.", "", "_Man_. Well, though it torture me, 'tis but the same;", "My pang shall find a voice. From my youth upwards", "My Spirit walked not with the souls of men,", "Nor looked upon the earth with human eyes;", "The thirst of their ambition was not mine,", "The aim of their existence was not mine;", "My joys--my griefs--my passions--and my powers,", "Made me a stranger; though I wore the form,", "I had no sympathy with breathing flesh,", "Nor midst the Creatures of Clay that girded me", "Was there but One who--but of her anon.", "I said with men, and with the thoughts of men,", "I held but slight communion; but instead,", "My joy was in the wilderness,--to breathe", "The difficult air of the iced mountain's top,", "Where the birds dare not build--nor insect's wing", "Flit o'er the herbless granite; or to plunge", "Into the torrent, and to roll along", "On the swift whirl of the new-breaking wave", "Of river-stream, or Ocean, in their flow.", "In these my early strength exulted; or", "To follow through the night the moving moon,", "The stars and their development; or catch", "The dazzling lightnings till my eyes grew dim;", "Or to look, list'ning, on the scattered leaves,", "While Autumn winds were at their evening song.", "These were my pastimes, and to be alone;", "For if the beings, of whom I was one,--", "Hating to be so,--crossed me in my path,", "I felt myself degraded back to them,", "And was all clay again. And then I dived,", "In my lone wanderings, to the caves of Death,", "Searching its cause in its effect; and drew", "From withered bones, and skulls, and heaped up dust", "Conclusions most forbidden. Then I passed--", "The nights of years in sciences untaught,", "Save in the old-time; and with time and toil,", "And terrible ordeal, and such penance", "As in itself hath power upon the air,", "And spirits that do compass air and earth,", "Space, and the peopled Infinite, I made", "Mine eyes familiar with Eternity,", "Such as, before me, did the Magi, and", "He who from out their fountain-dwellings raised", "Eros and Anteros, at Gadara,", "As I do thee;--and with my knowledge grew", "The thirst of knowledge, and the power and joy", "Of this most bright intelligence, until----", "", "_Witch_. Proceed.", "", "_Man_. Oh! I but thus prolonged my words,", "Boasting these idle attributes, because", "As I approach the core of my heart's grief--", "But--to my task. I have not named to thee", "Father or mother, mistress, friend, or being,", "With whom I wore the chain of human ties;", "If I had such, they seemed not such to me--", "Yet there was One----", "", "_Witch_. Spare not thyself--proceed.", "", "_Man_. She was like me in lineaments--her eyes--", "Her hair--her features--all, to the very tone", "Even of her voice, they said were like to mine;", "But softened all, and tempered into beauty:", "She had the same lone thoughts and wanderings,", "The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind", "To comprehend the Universe: nor these", "Alone, but with them gentler powers than mine,", "Pity, and smiles, and tears--which I had not;", "And tenderness--but that I had for her;", "Humility--and that I never had.", "Her faults were mine--her virtues were her own--", "I loved her, and destroyed her!", "", "_Witch_. With thy hand?", "", "_Man_. Not with my hand, but heart, which broke her heart;", "It gazed on mine, and withered. I have shed", "Blood, but not hers--and yet her blood was shed;", "I saw--and could not stanch it.", "", "_Witch_. And for this--", "A being of the race thou dost despise--", "The order, which thine own would rise above,", "Mingling with us and ours,--thou dost forego", "The gifts of our great knowledge, and shrink'st back", "To recreant mortality----Away!", "", "_Man_. Daughter of Air! I tell thee, since that hour--", "But words are breath--look on me in my sleep,", "Or watch my watchings--Come and sit by me!", "My solitude is solitude no more,", "But peopled with the Furies;--I have gnashed", "My teeth in darkness till returning morn,", "Then cursed myself till sunset;--I have prayed", "For madness as a blessing--'tis denied me.", "I have affronted Death--but in the war", "Of elements the waters shrunk from me,", "And fatal things passed harmless; the cold hand", "Of an all-pitiless Demon held me back,", "Back by a single hair, which would not break.", "In Fantasy, Imagination, all", "The affluence of my soul--which one day was", "A Croesus in creation--I plunged deep,", "But, like an ebbing wave, it dashed me back", "Into the gulf of my unfathomed thought.", "I plunged amidst Mankind--Forgetfulness", "I sought in all, save where 'tis to be found--", "And that I have to learn--my Sciences,", "My long pursued and superhuman art,", "Is mortal here: I dwell in my despair--", "And live--and live for ever.", "", "_Witch_. It may be", "That I can aid thee.", "", "_Man_. To do this thy power", "Must wake the dead, or lay me low with them.", "Do so--in any shape--in any hour--", "With any torture--so it be the last.", "", "_Witch_. That is not in my province; but if thou", "Wilt swear obedience to my will, and do", "My bidding, it may help thee to thy wishes.", "", "_Man_. I will not swear--Obey! and whom? the Spirits", "Whose presence I command, and be the slave", "Of those who served me--Never!", "", "_Witch_. Is this all?", "Hast thou no gentler answer?--Yet bethink thee,", "And pause ere thou rejectest.", "", "_Man_. I have said it.", "", "_Witch_. Enough! I may retire then--say!", "", "_Man_. Retire!", "", " [_The_ WITCH _disappears._", "", "_Man_. (_alone_). We are the fools of Time and Terror: Days", "Steal on us, and steal from us; yet we live,", "Loathing our life, and dreading still to die.", "In all the days of this detested yoke--", "This vital weight upon the struggling heart,", "Which sinks with sorrow, or beats quick with pain,", "Or joy that ends in agony or faintness--", "In all the days of past and future--for", "In life there is no present--we can number", "How few--how less than few--wherein the soul", "Forbears to pant for death, and yet draws back", "As from a stream in winter, though the chill", "Be but a moment's. I have one resource", "Still in my science--I can call the dead,", "And ask them what it is we dread to be:", "The sternest answer can but be the Grave,", "And that is nothing: if they answer not--", "The buried Prophet answered to the Hag", "Of Endor; and the Spartan Monarch drew", "From the Byzantine maid's unsleeping spirit", "An answer and his destiny--he slew", "That which he loved, unknowing what he slew,", "And died unpardoned--though he called in aid", "The Phyxian Jove, and in Phigalia roused", "The Arcadian Evocators to compel", "The indignant shadow to depose her wrath,", "Or fix her term of vengeance--she replied", "In words of dubious import, but fulfilled.", "If I had never lived, that which I love", "Had still been living; had I never loved,", "That which I love would still be beautiful,", "Happy and giving happiness. What is she?", "What is she now?--a sufferer for my sins--", "A thing I dare not think upon--or nothing.", "Within few hours I shall not call in vain--", "Yet in this hour I dread the thing I dare:", "Until this hour I never shrunk to gaze", "On spirit, good or evil--now I tremble,", "And feel a strange cold thaw upon my heart.", "But I can act even what I most abhor,", "And champion human fears.--The night approaches.", " [_Exit._", "", "SCENE III.--_The summit of the Jungfrau Mountain._", "", " _Enter_ FIRST DESTINY.", "", "The Moon is rising broad, and round, and bright;", "And here on snows, where never human foot", "Of common mortal trod, we nightly tread,", "And leave no traces: o'er the savage sea,", "The glassy ocean of the mountain ice,", "We skim its rugged breakers, which put on", "The aspect of a tumbling tempest's foam,", "Frozen in a moment--a dead Whirlpool's image:", "And this most steep fantastic pinnacle,", "The fretwork of some earthquake--where the clouds", "Pause to repose themselves in passing by--", "Is sacred to our revels, or our vigils;", "Here do I wait my sisters, on our way", "To the Hall of Arimanes--for to-night", "Is our great festival--'tis strange they come not.", "", " _A Voice without, singing._", "", " The Captive Usurper,", " Hurled down from the throne,", " Lay buried in torpor,", " Forgotten and lone;", " I broke through his slumbers,", " I shivered his chain,", " I leagued him with numbers--", " He's Tyrant again!", "With the blood of a million he'll answer my care,", "With a Nation's destruction--his flight and despair!", "", " _Second Voice, without._", "", "The Ship sailed on, the Ship sailed fast,", "But I left not a sail, and I left not a mast;", "There is not a plank of the hull or the deck,", "And there is not a wretch to lament o'er his wreck;", "Save one, whom I held, as he swam, by the hair,", "And he was a subject well worthy my care;", "A traitor on land, and a pirate at sea--", "But I saved him to wreak further havoc for me!", "", " FIRST DESTINY, _answering._", "", " The City lies sleeping;", " The morn, to deplore it,", " May dawn on it weeping:", " Sullenly, slowly,", " The black plague flew o'er it--", " Thousands lie lowly;", " Tens of thousands shall perish;", " The living shall fly from", " The sick they should cherish;", " But nothing can vanquish", " The touch that they die from.", " Sorrow and anguish,", " And evil and dread,", " Envelope a nation;", " The blest are the dead,", " Who see not the sight", " Of their own desolation;", " This work of a night--", "This wreck of a realm--this deed of my doing--", "For ages I've done, and shall still be renewing!", "", " _Enter the_ SECOND _and_ THIRD DESTINIES.", "", " _The Three._", "", "Our hands contain the hearts of men,", " Our footsteps are their graves;", "We only give to take again", " The Spirits of our slaves!", "", "_First Des_. Welcome!--Where's Nemesis?", "", "_Second Des_. At some great work;", "But what I know not, for my hands were full.", "", "_Third Des_. Behold she cometh.", "", " _Enter_ NEMESIS.", "", "_First Des_. Say, where hast thou been?", "My Sisters and thyself are slow to-night.", "", "_Nem_. I was detained repairing shattered thrones--", "Marrying fools, restoring dynasties--", "Avenging men upon their enemies,", "And making them repent their own revenge;", "Goading the wise to madness; from the dull", "Shaping out oracles to rule the world", "Afresh--for they were waxing out of date,", "And mortals dared to ponder for themselves,", "To weigh kings in the balance--and to speak", "Of Freedom, the forbidden fruit.--Away!", "We have outstayed the hour--mount we our clouds!", " [_Exeunt._", "", "SCENE IV.--_The Hall of Arimanes._--_Arimanes on his Throne,", " a Globe of Fire, surrounded by the Spirits._", "", " _Hymn of the_ SPIRITS.", "", "Hail to our Master!--Prince of Earth and Air!", " Who walks the clouds and waters--in his hand", "The sceptre of the Elements, which tear", " Themselves to chaos at his high command!", "He breatheth--and a tempest shakes the sea;", " He speaketh--and the clouds reply in thunder;", "He gazeth--from his glance the sunbeams flee;", " He moveth--Earthquakes rend the world asunder.", "Beneath his footsteps the Volcanoes rise;", " His shadow is the Pestilence: his path", "The comets herald through the crackling skies;", " And Planets turn to ashes at his wrath.", "To him War offers daily sacrifice;", " To him Death pays his tribute; Life is his,", "With all its Infinite of agonies--", " And his the Spirit of whatever is!", "", " _Enter the_ DESTINIES _and_ NEMESIS.", "", "_First Des_. Glory to Arimanes! on the earth", "His power increaseth--both my sisters did", "His bidding, nor did I neglect my duty!", "", "_Second Des_. Glory to Arimanes! we who bow", "The necks of men, bow down before his throne!", "", "_Third Des_. Glory to Arimanes! we await", "His nod!", "", "_Nem_. Sovereign of Sovereigns! we are thine,", "And all that liveth, more or less, is ours,", "And most things wholly so; still to increase", "Our power, increasing thine, demands our care,", "And we are vigilant. Thy late commands", "Have been fulfilled to the utmost.", "", " _Enter_ MANFRED.", "", "_A Spirit_. What is here?", "A mortal!--Thou most rash and fatal wretch,", "Bow down and worship!", "", "_Second Spirit_. I do know the man--", "A Magian of great power, and fearful skill!", "", "_Third Spirit_. Bow down and worship, slave!--What, know'st thou not", "Thine and our Sovereign?--Tremble, and obey!", "", "_All the Spirits_. Prostrate thyself, and thy condemnéd clay,", "Child of the Earth! or dread the worst.", "", "_Man_. I know it;", "And yet ye see I kneel not.", "", "_Fourth Spirit_. 'Twill be taught thee.", "", "_Man_. 'Tis taught already;--many a night on the earth,", "On the bare ground, have I bowed down my face,", "And strewed my head with ashes; I have known", "The fulness of humiliation--for", "I sunk before my vain despair, and knelt", "To my own desolation.", "", "_Fifth Spirit_. Dost thou dare", "Refuse to Arimanes on his throne", "What the whole earth accords, beholding not", "The terror of his Glory?--Crouch! I say.", "", "_Man_. Bid _him_ bow down to that which is above him,", "The overruling Infinite--the Maker", "Who made him not for worship--let him kneel,", "And we will kneel together.", "", "_The Spirits_. Crush the worm!", "Tear him in pieces!--", "", "_First Des_. Hence! Avaunt!--he's mine.", "Prince of the Powers invisible! This man", "Is of no common order, as his port", "And presence here denote: his sufferings", "Have been of an immortal nature--like", "Our own; his knowledge, and his powers and will,", "As far as is compatible with clay,", "Which clogs the ethereal essence, have been such", "As clay hath seldom borne; his aspirations", "Have been beyond the dwellers of the earth,", "And they have only taught him what we know--", "That knowledge is not happiness, and science", "But an exchange of ignorance for that", "Which is another kind of ignorance.", "This is not all--the passions, attributes", "Of Earth and Heaven, from which no power, nor being,", "Nor breath from the worm upwards is exempt,", "Have pierced his heart; and in their consequence", "Made him a thing--which--I who pity not,", "Yet pardon those who pity. He is mine--", "And thine it may be; be it so, or not--", "No other Spirit in this region hath", "A soul like his--or power upon his soul.", "", "_Nem_. What doth he here then?", "", "_First Des_. Let _him_ answer that.", "", "_Man_. Ye know what I have known; and without power", "I could not be amongst ye: but there are", "Powers deeper still beyond--I come in quest", "Of such, to answer unto what I seek.", "", "_Nem_. What would'st thou?", "", "_Man_. _Thou_ canst not reply to me.", "Call up the dead--my question is for them.", "", "_Nem_. Great Arimanes, doth thy will avouch", "The wishes of this mortal?", "", "_Ari_. Yea.", "", "_Nem_. Whom wouldst thou", "Uncharnel?", "", "_Man_. One without a tomb--call up", "Astarte.", "", " NEMESIS.", "", " Shadow! or Spirit!", " Whatever thou art,", " Which still doth inherit", " The whole or a part", " Of the form of thy birth,", " Of the mould of thy clay,", " Which returned to the earth,", " Re-appear to the day!", " Bear what thou borest,", " The heart and the form,", " And the aspect thou worest", " Redeem from the worm.", " Appear!--Appear!--Appear!", " Who sent thee there requires thee here!", "", " [_The Phantom of_ ASTARTE _rises and stands in the midst_.", "", "_Man_. Can this be death? there's bloom upon her cheek;", "But now I see it is no living hue,", "But a strange hectic--like the unnatural red", "Which Autumn plants upon the perished leaf.", "It is the same! Oh, God! that I should dread", "To look upon the same--Astarte!--No,", "I cannot speak to her--but bid her speak--", "Forgive me or condemn me.", "", " NEMESIS.", "", " By the Power which hath broken", " The grave which enthralled thee,", " Speak to him who hath spoken.", " Or those who have called thee!", "", "_Man_. She is silent,", "And in that silence I am more than answered.", "", "_Nem_. My power extends no further. Prince of Air!", "It rests with thee alone--command her voice.", "", "_Ari_. Spirit--obey this sceptre!", "", "_Nem_. Silent still!", "She is not of our order, but belongs", "To the other powers. Mortal! thy quest is vain,", "And we are baffled also.", "", "_Man_. Hear me, hear me--", "Astarte! my belovéd! speak to me:", "I have so much endured--so much endure--", "Look on me! the grave hath not changed thee more", "Than I am changed for thee. Thou lovedst me", "Too much, as I loved thee: we were not made", "To torture thus each other--though it were", "The deadliest sin to love as we have loved.", "Say that thou loath'st me not--that I do bear", "This punishment for both--that thou wilt be", "One of the blesséd--and that I shall die;", "For hitherto all hateful things conspire", "To bind me in existence--in a life", "Which makes me shrink from Immortality--", "A future like the past. I cannot rest.", "I know not what I ask, nor what I seek:", "I feel but what thou art, and what I am;", "And I would hear yet once before I perish", "The voice which was my music--Speak to me!", "For I have called on thee in the still night,", "Startled the slumbering birds from the hushed boughs,", "And woke the mountain wolves, and made the caves", "Acquainted with thy vainly echoed name,", "Which answered me--many things answered me--", "Spirits and men--but thou wert silent all.", "Yet speak to me! I have outwatched the stars,", "And gazed o'er heaven in vain in search of thee.", "Speak to me! I have wandered o'er the earth,", "And never found thy likeness--Speak to me!", "Look on the fiends around--they feel for me:", "I fear them not, and feel for thee alone.", "Speak to me! though it be in wrath;--but say--", "I reck not what--but let me hear thee once--", "This once--once more!", "", "_Phantom of Astarte_. Manfred!", "", "_Man_. Say on, say on--", "I live but in the sound--it is thy voice!", "", "_Phan_. Manfred! To-morrow ends thine earthly ills.", "Farewell!", "", "_Man_. Yet one word more--am I forgiven?", "", "_Phan_. Farewell!", "", "_Man_. Say, shall we meet again?", "", "_Phan_. Farewell!", "", "_Man_. One word for mercy! Say thou lovest me.", "", "_Phan_. Manfred!", "", " [_The Spirit of_ ASTARTE _disappears_.", "", "_Nem_. She's gone, and will not be recalled:", "Her words will be fulfilled. Return to the earth.", "", "_A Spirit_. He is convulsed--This is to be a mortal,", "And seek the things beyond mortality.", "", "_Another Spirit_. Yet, see, he mastereth himself, and makes", "His torture tributary to his will.", "Had he been one of us, he would have made", "An awful Spirit.", "", "_Nem_. Hast thou further question", "Of our great Sovereign, or his worshippers?", "", "_Man_. None.", "", "_Nem_. Then for a time farewell.", "", "_Man_. We meet then! Where? On the earth?--", "Even as thou wilt: and for the grace accorded", "I now depart a debtor. Fare ye well!", " [_Exit_ MANFRED.", "", " (_Scene closes_.)", "", "ACT III.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Hall in the Castle of Manfred_.", "", " MANFRED _and_ HERMAN.", "", "_Man_. What is the hour?", "", "_Her_. It wants but one till sunset,", "And promises a lovely twilight.", "", "_Man_. Say,", "Are all things so disposed of in the tower", "As I directed?", "", "_Her_. All, my Lord, are ready:", "Here is the key and casket.", "", "_Man_. It is well:", "Thou mayst retire. [_Exit_ HERMAN.", "", "_Man_. (_alone_). There is a calm upon me--", "Inexplicable stillness! which till now", "Did not belong to what I knew of life.", "If that I did not know Philosophy", "To be of all our vanities the motliest,", "The merest word that ever fooled the ear", "From out the schoolman's jargon, I should deem", "The golden secret, the sought \"Kalon,\" found,", "And seated in my soul. It will not last,", "But it is well to have known it, though but once:", "It hath enlarged my thoughts with a new sense,", "And I within my tablets would note down", "That there is such a feeling. Who is there?", "", " _Re-enter_ HERMAN.", "", "_Her_. My Lord, the Abbot of St. Maurice craves", "To greet your presence.", "", " _Enter the_ ABBOT OF ST. MAURICE.", "", "_Abbot_. Peace be with Count Manfred!", "", "_Man_. Thanks, holy father! welcome to these walls;", "Thy presence honours them, and blesseth those", "Who dwell within them.", "", "_Abbot_. Would it were so, Count!--", "But I would fain confer with thee alone.", "", "_Man_. Herman, retire.--What would my reverend guest?", "", "_Abbot_. Thus, without prelude:--Age and zeal--my office--", "And good intent must plead my privilege;", "Our near, though not acquainted neighbourhood,", "May also be my herald. Rumours strange,", "And of unholy nature, are abroad,", "And busy with thy name--a noble name", "For centuries: may he who bears it now", "Transmit it unimpaired!", "", "_Man_. Proceed,--I listen.", "", "_Abbot_. 'Tis said thou holdest converse with the things", "Which are forbidden to the search of man;", "That with the dwellers of the dark abodes,", "The many evil and unheavenly spirits", "Which walk the valley of the Shade of Death,", "Thou communest. I know that with mankind,", "Thy fellows in creation, thou dost rarely", "Exchange thy thoughts, and that thy solitude", "Is as an Anchorite's--were it but holy.", "", "_Man_. And what are they who do avouch these things?", "", "_Abbot_. My pious brethren--the scaréd peasantry--", "Even thy own vassals--who do look on thee", "With most unquiet eyes. Thy life's in peril!", "", "_Man_. Take it.", "", "_Abbot_. I come to save, and not destroy:", "I would not pry into thy secret soul;", "But if these things be sooth, there still is time", "For penitence and pity: reconcile thee", "With the true church, and through the church to Heaven.", "", "_Man_. I hear thee. This is my reply--whate'er", "I may have been, or am, doth rest between", "Heaven and myself--I shall not choose a mortal", "To be my mediator--Have I sinned", "Against your ordinances? prove and punish!", "", "_Abbot_. My son! I did not speak of punishment,", "But penitence and pardon;--with thyself", "The choice of such remains--and for the last,", "Our institutions and our strong belief", "Have given me power to smooth the path from sin", "To higher hope and better thoughts; the first", "I leave to Heaven,--\"Vengeance is mine alone!\"", "So saith the Lord, and with all humbleness", "His servant echoes back the awful word.", "", "_Man_. Old man! there is no power in holy men,", "Nor charm in prayer, nor purifying form", "Of penitence, nor outward look, nor fast,", "Nor agony--nor, greater than all these,", "The innate tortures of that deep Despair,", "Which is Remorse without the fear of Hell,", "But all in all sufficient to itself", "Would make a hell of Heaven--can exorcise", "From out the unbounded spirit the quick sense", "Of its own sins--wrongs--sufferance--and revenge", "Upon itself; there is no future pang", "Can deal that justice on the self--condemned", "He deals on his own soul.", "", "_Abbot_. All this is well;", "For this will pass away, and be succeeded", "By an auspicious hope, which shall look up", "With calm assurafice to that blessed place,", "Which all who seek may win, whatever be", "Their earthly errors, so they be atoned:", "And the commencement of atonement is", "The sense of its necessity. Say on--", "And all our church can teach thee shall be taught;", "And all we can absolve thee shall be pardoned.", "", "_Man_. When Rome's sixth Emperor was near his last,", "The victim of a self-inflicted wound,", "To shun the torments of a public death", "From senates once his slaves, a certain soldier,", "With show of loyal pity, would have stanched", "The gushing throat with his officious robe;", "The dying Roman thrust him back, and said--", "Some empire still in his expiring glance--", "\"It is too late--is this fidelity?\"", "", "_Abbot_. And what of this?", "", "_Man_. I answer with the Roman--", "\"It is too late!\"", "", "_Abbot_. It never can be so,", "To reconcile thyself with thy own soul,", "And thy own soul with Heaven. Hast thou no hope?", "'Tis strange--even those who do despair above,", "Yet shape themselves some fantasy on earth,", "To which frail twig they cling, like drowning men.", "", "_Man_. Aye--father! I have had those early visions,", "And noble aspirations in my youth,", "To make my own the mind of other men,", "The enlightener of nations; and to rise", "I knew not whither--it might be to fall;", "But fall, even as the mountain-cataract,", "Which having leapt from its more dazzling height,", "Even in the foaming strength of its abyss,", "(Which casts up misty columns that become", "Clouds raining from the re-ascended skies,)", "Lies low but mighty still.--But this is past,", "My thoughts mistook themselves.", "", "_Abbot_. And wherefore so?", "", "_Man_.I could not tame my nature down; for he", "Must serve who fain would sway; and soothe, and sue,", "And watch all time, and pry into all place,", "And be a living Lie, who would become", "A mighty thing amongst the mean--and such", "The mass are; I disdained to mingle with", "A herd, though to be leader--and of wolves,", "The lion is alone, and so am I.", "", "_Abbot_. And why not live and act with other men?", "", "_Man_. Because my nature was averse from life;", "And yet not cruel; for I would not make,", "But find a desolation. Like the Wind,", "The red-hot breath of the most lone Simoom,", "Which dwells but in the desert, and sweeps o'er", "The barren sands which bear no shrubs to blast,", "And revels o'er their wild and arid waves,", "And seeketh not, so that it is not sought,", "But being met is deadly,--such hath been", "The course of my existence; but there came", "Things in my path which are no more.", "", "_Abbot_. Alas!", "I 'gin to fear that thou art past all aid", "From me and from my calling; yet so young,", "I still would----", "", "_Man_. Look on me! there is an order", "Of mortals on the earth, who do become", "Old in their youth, and die ere middle age,", "Without the violence of warlike death;", "Some perishing of pleasure--some of study--", "Some worn with toil, some of mere weariness,--", "Some of disease--and some insanity--", "And some of withered, or of broken hearts;", "For this last is a malady which slays", "More than are numbered in the lists of Fate,", "Taking all shapes, and bearing many names.", "Look upon me! for even of all these things", "Have I partaken; and of all these things,", "One were enough; then wonder not that I", "Am what I am, but that I ever was,", "Or having been, that I am still on earth.", "", "_Abbot_. Yet, hear me still--", "", "_Man_. Old man! I do respect", "Thine order, and revere thine years; I deem", "Thy purpose pious, but it is in vain:", "Think me not churlish; I would spare thyself,", "Far more than me, in shunning at this time", "All further colloquy--and so--farewell.", " [Exit MANFRED.", "", "_Abbot_. This should have been a noble creature: he", "Hath all the energy which would have made", "A goodly frame of glorious elements,", "Had they been wisely mingled; as it is,", "It is an awful chaos--Light and Darkness--", "And mind and dust--and passions and pure thoughts", "Mixed, and contending without end or order,--", "All dormant or destructive. He will perish--", "And yet he must not--I will try once more,", "For such are worth redemption; and my duty", "Is to dare all things for a righteous end.", "I'll follow him--but cautiously, though surely.", " [Exit ABBOT.", "", "SCENE II.--_Another Chamber_.", "", " MANFRED _and_ HERMAN.", "", "_Her_. My lord, you bade me wait on you at sunset:", "He sinks behind the mountain.", "", "_Man_. Doth he so?", "I will look on him.", " [MANFRED _advances to the Window of the Hall_.", " Glorious Orb! the idol", "Of early nature, and the vigorous race", "Of undiseased mankind, the giant sons", "Of the embrace of Angels, with a sex", "More beautiful than they, which did draw down", "The erring Spirits who can ne'er return.--", "Most glorious Orb! that wert a worship, ere", "The mystery of thy making was revealed!", "Thou earliest minister of the Almighty,", "Which gladdened, on their mountain tops, the hearts", "Of the Chaldean shepherds, till they poured", "Themselves in orisons! Thou material God!", "And representative of the Unknown--", "Who chose thee for his shadow! Thou chief Star!", "Centre of many stars! which mak'st our earth", "Endurable and temperest the hues", "And hearts of all who walk within thy rays!", "Sire of the seasons! Monarch of the climes,", "And those who dwell in them! for near or far,", "Our inborn spirits have a tint of thee", "Even as our outward aspects;--thou dost rise,", "And shine, and set in glory. Fare thee well!", "I ne'er shall see thee more. As my first glance", "Of love and wonder was for thee, then take", "My latest look: thou wilt not beam on one", "To whom the gifts of life and warmth have been", "Of a more fatal nature. He is gone--", "I follow. [_Exit_ MANFRED.", "", "SCENE III.--_The Mountains_--_The Castle of Manfred at some", " distance_--_A Terrace before a Tower_.--_Time, Twilight_.", "", " HERMAN, MANUEL, _and other dependants of_ MANFRED.", "", "_Her_. 'Tis strange enough! night after night, for years,", "He hath pursued long vigils in this tower,", "Without a witness. I have been within it,--", "So have we all been oft-times; but from it,", "Or its contents, it were impossible", "To draw conclusions absolute, of aught", "His studies tend to. To be sure, there is", "One chamber where none enter: I would give", "The fee of what I have to come these three years,", "To pore upon its mysteries.", "", "_Manuel_. 'Twere dangerous;", "Content thyself with what thou know'st already.", "", "_Her_. Ah! Manuel! thou art elderly and wise,", "And couldst say much; thou hast dwelt within the castle--", "How many years is't?", "", "_Manuel_. Ere Count Manfred's birth,", "I served his father, whom he nought resembles.", "", "_Her_. There be more sons in like predicament!", "But wherein do they differ?", "", "_Manuel_. I speak not", "Of features or of form, but mind and habits;", "Count Sigismund was proud, but gay and free,--", "A warrior and a reveller; he dwelt not", "With books and solitude, nor made the night", "A gloomy vigil, but a festal time,", "Merrier than day; he did not walk the rocks", "And forests like a wolf, nor turn aside", "From men and their delights.", "", "_Her_. Beshrew the hour,", "But those were jocund times! I would that such", "Would visit the old walls again; they look", "As if they had forgotten them.", "", "_Manuel_. These walls", "Must change their chieftain first. Oh! I have seen", "Some strange things in them, Herman.", "", "_Her_. Come, be friendly;", "Relate me some to while away our watch:", "I've heard thee darkly speak of an event", "Which happened hereabouts, by this same tower.", "", "_Manuel_. That was a night indeed! I do remember", "'Twas twilight, as it may be now, and such", "Another evening:--yon red cloud, which rests", "On Eigher's pinnacle, so rested then,--", "So like that it might be the same; the wind", "Was faint and gusty, and the mountain snows", "Began to glitter with the climbing moon;", "Count Manfred was, as now, within his tower,--", "How occupied, we knew not, but with him", "The sole companion of his wanderings", "And watchings--her, whom of all earthly things", "That lived, the only thing he seemed to love,--", "As he, indeed, by blood was bound to do,", "The Lady Astarte, his----", " Hush! who comes here?", "", " _Enter the_ ABBOT.", "", "_Abbot_. Where is your master?", "", "_Her_. Yonder in the tower.", "", "_Abbot_. I must speak with him.", "", "_Manuel_. 'Tis impossible;", "He is most private, and must not be thus", "Intruded on.", "", "_Abbot_. Upon myself I take", "The forfeit of my fault, if fault there be--", "But I must see him.", "", "_Her_. Thou hast seen him once", "his eve already.", "", "_Abbot_. Herman! I command thee,", "Knock, and apprize the Count of my approach.", "", "_Her_. We dare not.", "", "_Abbot_. Then it seems I must be herald", "Of my own purpose.", "", "_Manuel_. Reverend father, stop--", "I pray you pause.", "", "_Abbot_. Why so?", "", "_Manuel_. But step this way,", "And I will tell you further. [_Exeunt_.", "", "SCENE IV.--_Interior of the Tower_.", "", " MANFRED _alone_.", "", "The stars are forth, the moon above the tops", "Of the snow-shining mountains.--Beautiful!", "I linger yet with Nature, for the Night", "Hath been to me a more familiar face", "Than that of man; and in her starry shade", "Of dim and solitary loveliness,", "I learned the language of another world.", "I do remember me, that in my youth,", "When I was wandering,--upon such a night", "I stood within the Coliseum's wall,", "'Midst the chief relics of almighty Rome;", "The trees which grew along the broken arches", "Waved dark in the blue midnight, and the stars", "Shone through the rents of ruin; from afar", "The watch-dog bayed beyond the Tiber; and", "More near from out the Cæsars' palace came", "The owl's long cry, and, interruptedly,", "Of distant sentinels the fitful song", "Begun and died upon the gentle wind.", "Some cypresses beyond the time-worn breach", "Appeared to skirt the horizon, yet they stood", "Within a bowshot. Where the Cæsars dwelt,", "And dwell the tuneless birds of night, amidst", "A grove which springs through levelled battlements,", "And twines its roots with the imperial hearths,", "Ivy usurps the laurel's place of growth;", "But the gladiators' bloody Circus stands,", "A noble wreck in ruinous perfection,", "While Cæsar's chambers, and the Augustan halls,", "Grovel on earth in indistinct decay.--", "And thou didst shine, thou rolling Moon, upon", "All this, and cast a wide and tender light,", "Which softened down the hoar austerity", "Of rugged desolation, and filled up,", "As 'twere anew, the gaps of centuries;", "Leaving that beautiful which still was so,", "And making that which was not--till the place", "Became religion, and the heart ran o'er", "With silent worship of the Great of old,--", "The dead, but sceptred, Sovereigns, who still rule", "Our spirits from their urns.", " 'Twas such a night!", "'Tis strange that I recall it at this time;", "But I have found our thoughts take wildest flight", "Even at the moment when they should array", "Themselves in pensive order.", "", " _Enter the_ ABBOT.", "", "_Abbot_. My good Lord!", "I crave a second grace for this approach;", "But yet let not my humble zeal offend", "By its abruptness--all it hath of ill", "Recoils on me; its good in the effect", "May light upon your head--could I say _heart_--", "Could I touch _that_, with words or prayers, I should", "Recall a noble spirit which hath wandered,", "But is not yet all lost.", "", "_Man_. Thou know'st me not;", "My days are numbered, and my deeds recorded:", "Retire, or 'twill be dangerous--Away!", "", "_Abbot_. Thou dost not mean to menace me?", "", "_Man_. Not I!", "I simply tell thee peril is at hand,", "And would preserve thee.", "", "_Abbot_. What dost thou mean?", "", "_Man_. Look there!", "What dost thou see?", "", "_Abbot_. Nothing.", "", "_Man_. Look there, I say,", "And steadfastly;--now tell me what thou seest?", "", "_Abbot_. That which should shake me,--but I fear it not:", "I see a dusk and awful figure rise,", "Like an infernal god, from out the earth;", "His face wrapt in a mantle, and his form", "Robed as with angry clouds: he stands between", "Thyself and me--but I do fear him not.", "", "_Man_. Thou hast no cause--he shall not harm thee--but", "His sight may shock thine old limbs into palsy.", "I say to thee--Retire!", "", "_Abbot_. And I reply--", "Never--till I have battled with this fiend:--", "What doth he here?", "", "_Man_. Why--aye--what doth he here?", "I did not send for him,--he is unbidden.", "", "_Abbot_. Alas! lost Mortal! what with guests like these", "Hast thou to do? I tremble for thy sake:", "Why doth he gaze on thee, and thou on him?", "Ah! he unveils his aspect: on his brow", "The thunder-scars are graven; from his eye", "Glares forth the immortality of Hell--", "Avaunt!--", "", "_Man_. Pronounce--what is thy mission?", "", "_Spirit_. Come!", "", "_Abbot_. What art thou, unknown being? answer!--speak!", "", "_Spirit_. The genius of this mortal.--Come!'tis time.", "", "_Man_. I am prepared for all things, but deny", "The Power which summons me. Who sent thee here?", "", "_Spirit_. Thou'lt know anon--Come! come!", "", "_Man_. I have commanded", "Things of an essence greater far than thine,", "And striven with thy masters. Get thee hence!", "", "_Spirit_. Mortal! thine hour is come--Away! I say.", "", "_Man_. I knew, and know my hour is come, but not", "To render up my soul to such as thee:", "Away! I'll die as I have lived--alone.", "", "_Spirit_. Then I must summon up my brethren.--Rise!", " [_Other Spirits rise._", "", "_Abbot_. Avaunt! ye evil ones!--Avaunt! I say,--", "Ye have no power where Piety hath power,", "And I do charge ye in the name--", "", "_Spirit_. Old man!", "We know ourselves, our mission, and thine order;", "Waste not thy holy words on idle uses,", "It were in vain: this man is forfeited.", "Once more--I summon him--Away! Away!", "", "_Man_. I do defy ye,--though I feel my soul", "Is ebbing from me, yet I do defy ye;", "Nor will I hence, while I have earthly breath", "To breathe my scorn upon ye--earthly strength", "To wrestle, though with spirits; what ye take", "Shall be ta'en limb by limb.", "", "_Spirit_. Reluctant mortal!", "Is this the Magian who would so pervade", "The world invisible, and make himself", "Almost our equal? Can it be that thou", "Art thus in love with life? the very life", "Which made thee wretched?", "", "_Man_. Thou false fiend, thou liest!", "My life is in its last hour,--_that_ I know,", "Nor would redeem a moment of that hour;", "I do not combat against Death, but thee", "And thy surrounding angels; my past power", "Was purchased by no compact with thy crew,", "But by superior science--penance, daring,", "And length of watching, strength of mind, and skill", "In knowledge of our Fathers--when the earth", "Saw men and spirits walking side by side,", "And gave ye no supremacy: I stand", "Upon my strength--I do defy--deny--", "Spurn back, and scorn ye!--", "", "_Spirit_. But thy many crimes", "Have made thee--", "", "_Man_. What are they to such as thee?", "Must crimes be punished but by other crimes,", "And greater criminals?--Back to thy hell!", "Thou hast no power upon me, _that_ I feel;", "Thou never shalt possess me, _that_ I know:", "What I have done is done; I bear within", "A torture which could nothing gain from thine:", "The Mind which is immortal makes itself", "Requital for its good or evil thoughts,--", "Is its own origin of ill and end--", "And its own place and time: its innate sense,", "When stripped of this mortality, derives", "No colour from the fleeting things without,", "But is absorbed in sufferance or in joy,", "Born from the knowledge of its own desert.", "_Thou_ didst not tempt me, and thou couldst not tempt me;", "I have not been thy dupe, nor am thy prey--", "But was my own destroyer, and will be", "My own hereafter.--Back, ye baffled fiends!", "The hand of Death is on me--but not yours!", " [_The Demons disappear._", "", "_Abbot_. Alas! how pale thou art--thy lips are white--", "And thy breast heaves--and in thy gasping throat", "The accents rattle: Give thy prayers to Heaven--", "Pray--albeit but in thought,--but die not thus.", "", "_Man_. 'Tis over--my dull eyes can fix thee not;", "But all things swim around me, and the earth", "Heaves as it were beneath me. Fare thee well--", "Give me thy hand.", "", "_Abbot_. Cold--cold--even to the heart--", "But yet one prayer--Alas! how fares it with thee?", "", "_Man_. Old man! 'tis not so difficult to die.", " [MANFRED _expires._", "", "_Abbot_. He's gone--his soul hath ta'en its earthless flight;", "Whither? I dread to think--but he is gone." ], "linecount": "1530" }, { "title": "Beppo: A Venetian Story", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "_Rosalind_. Farewell, Monsieur Traveller; Look, you lisp,", "and wear strange suits: disable all the benefits of your own", "country; be out of love with your Nativity, and almost chide", "God for making you that countenance you are; or I will", "scarce think you have swam in a _Gondola_.", "", " _As You Like It_, act iv, sc. I, lines 33-35.", "", " _Annotation of the Commentators_.", " That is, _been at Venice_, which was much visited by the young English", " gentlemen of those times, and was _then_ what _Paris_ is _now_--the seat", " of all dissoluteness.--S. A.", "", "'Tis known, at least it should be, that throughout", " All countries of the Catholic persuasion,", "Some weeks before Shrove Tuesday comes about,", " The People take their fill of recreation,", "And buy repentance, ere they grow devout,", " However high their rank, or low their station,", "With fiddling, feasting, dancing, drinking, masquing,", "And other things which may be had for asking.", "", "The moment night with dusky mantle covers", " The skies (and the more duskily the better),", "The Time less liked by husbands than by lovers", " Begins, and Prudery flings aside her fetter;", "And Gaiety on restless tiptoe hovers,", " Giggling with all the gallants who beset her;", "And there are songs and quavers, roaring, humming,", "Guitars, and every other sort of strumming.", "", "And there are dresses splendid, but fantastical,", " Masks of all times and nations, Turks and Jews,", "And harlequins and clowns, with feats gymnastical,", " Greeks, Romans, Yankee-doodles, and Hindoos;", "All kinds of dress, except the ecclesiastical,", " All people, as their fancies hit, may choose,", "But no one in these parts may quiz the Clergy,--", "Therefore take heed, ye Freethinkers! I charge ye.", "", "You'd better walk about begirt with briars,", " Instead of coat and smallclothes, than put on", "A single stitch reflecting upon friars,", " Although you swore it only was in fun;", "They'd haul you o'er the coals, and stir the fires", " Of Phlegethon with every mother's son,", "Nor say one mass to cool the cauldron's bubble", "That boiled your bones, unless you paid them double.", "", "But saving this, you may put on whate'er", " You like by way of doublet, cape, or cloak,", "Such as in Monmouth-street, or in Rag Fair,", " Would rig you out in seriousness or joke;", "And even in Italy such places are,", " With prettier name in softer accents spoke,", "For, bating Covent Garden, I can hit on", "No place that's called \"Piazza\" in Great Britain.", "", "This feast is named the Carnival, which being", " Interpreted, implies \"farewell to flesh:\"", "So called, because the name and thing agreeing,", " Through Lent they live on fish both salt and fresh.", "But why they usher Lent with so much glee in,", " Is more than I can tell, although I guess", "'Tis as we take a glass with friends at parting,", "In the Stage-Coach or Packet, just at starting.", "", "And thus they bid farewell to carnal dishes,", " And solid meats, and highly spiced ragouts,", "To live for forty days on ill-dressed fishes,", " Because they have no sauces to their stews;", "A thing which causes many \"poohs\" and \"pishes,\"", " And several oaths (which would not suit the Muse),", "From travellers accustomed from a boy", "To eat their salmon, at the least, with soy;", "", "And therefore humbly I would recommend", " \"The curious in fish-sauce,\" before they cross", "The sea, to bid their cook, or wife, or friend,", " Walk or ride to the Strand, and buy in gross", "(Or if set out beforehand, these may send", " By any means least liable to loss),", "Ketchup, Soy, Chili-vinegar, and Harvey,", "Or, by the Lord! a Lent will well nigh starve ye;", "", "That is to say, if your religion's Roman,", " And you at Rome would do as Romans do,", "According to the proverb,--although no man,", " If foreign, is obliged to fast; and you,", "If Protestant, or sickly, or a woman,", " Would rather dine in sin on a ragout--", "Dine and be d--d! I don't mean to be coarse,", "But that's the penalty, to say no worse.", "", "Of all the places where the Carnival", " Was most facetious in the days of yore,", "For dance, and song, and serenade, and ball,", " And Masque, and Mime, and Mystery, and more", "Than I have time to tell now, or at all,", " Venice the bell from every city bore,--", "And at the moment when I fix my story,", "That sea-born city was in all her glory.", "", "They've pretty faces yet, those same Venetians,", " Black eyes, arched brows, and sweet expressions still;", "Such as of old were copied from the Grecians,", " In ancient arts by moderns mimicked ill;", "And like so many Venuses of Titian's", " (The best's at Florence--see it, if ye will,)", "They look when leaning over the balcony,", "Or stepped from out a picture by Giorgione,", "", "Whose tints are Truth and Beauty at their best;", " And when you to Manfrini's palace go,", "That picture (howsoever fine the rest)", " Is loveliest to my mind of all the show;", "It may perhaps be also to _your_ zest,", " And that's the cause I rhyme upon it so:", "Tis but a portrait of his Son, and Wife,", "And self; but _such_ a Woman! Love in life!", "", "Love in full life and length, not love ideal,", " No, nor ideal beauty, that fine name,", "But something better still, so very real,", " That the sweet Model must have been the same;", "A thing that you would purchase, beg, or steal,", " Wer't not impossible, besides a shame:", "The face recalls some face, as 'twere with pain,", "You once have seen, but ne'er will see again;", "", "One of those forms which flit by us, when we", " Are young, and fix our eyes on every face;", "And, oh! the Loveliness at times we see", " In momentary gliding, the soft grace,", "The Youth, the Bloom, the Beauty which agree,", " In many a nameless being we retrace,", "Whose course and home we knew not, nor shall know,", "Like the lost Pleiad seen no more below.", "", "I said that like a picture by Giorgione", " Venetian women were, and so they _are_,", "Particularly seen from a balcony,", " (For beauty's sometimes best set off afar)", "And there, just like a heroine of Goldoni,", " They peep from out the blind, or o'er the bar;", "And truth to say, they're mostly very pretty,", "And rather like to show it, more's the pity!", "", "For glances beget ogles, ogles sighs,", " Sighs wishes, wishes words, and words a letter,", "Which flies on wings of light-heeled Mercuries,", " Who do such things because they know no better;", "And then, God knows what mischief may arise,", " When Love links two young people in one fetter,", "Vile assignations, and adulterous beds,", "Elopements, broken vows, and hearts, and heads.", "", "Shakspeare described the sex in Desdemona", " As very fair, but yet suspect in fame,", "And to this day from Venice to Verona", " Such matters may be probably the same,", "Except that since those times was never known a", " Husband whom mere suspicion could inflame", "To suffocate a wife no more than twenty,", "Because she had a \"Cavalier Servente.\"", "", "Their jealousy (if they are ever jealous)", " Is of a fair complexion altogether,", "Not like that sooty devil of Othello's,", " Which smothers women in a bed of feather,", "But worthier of these much more jolly fellows,", " When weary of the matrimonial tether", "His head for such a wife no mortal bothers,", "But takes at once another, or _another's_.", "", "Didst ever see a Gondola? For fear", " You should not, I'll describe it you exactly:", "'Tis a long covered boat that's common here,", " Carved at the prow, built lightly, but compactly,", "Rowed by two rowers, each call'd \"Gondolier,\"", " It glides along the water looking blackly,", "Just like a coffin clapt in a canoe,", "Where none can make out what you say or do.", "", "And up and down the long canals they go,", " And under the Rialto shoot along,", "By night and day, all paces, swift or slow,", " And round the theatres, a sable throng,", "They wait in their dusk livery of woe,--", " But not to them do woeful things belong,", "For sometimes they contain a deal of fun,", "Like mourning coaches when the funeral's done.", "", "But to my story.--'Twas some years ago,", " It may be thirty, forty, more or less,", "The Carnival was at its height, and so", " Were all kinds of buffoonery and dress;", "A certain lady went to see the show,", " Her real name I know not, nor can guess,", "And so we'll call her Laura, if you please,", "Because it slips into my verse with ease.", "", "She was not old, nor young, nor at the years", " Which certain people call a \"_certain age_,\"", "Which yet the most uncertain age appears,", " Because I never heard, nor could engage", "A person yet by prayers, or bribes, or tears,", " To name, define by speech, or write on page,", "The period meant precisely by that word,--", "Which surely is exceedingly absurd.", "", "Laura was blooming still, had made the best", " Of Time, and Time returned the compliment,", "And treated her genteelly, so that, dressed,", " She looked extremely well where'er she went;", "A pretty woman is a welcome guest,", " And Laura's brow a frown had rarely bent;", "Indeed, she shone all smiles, and seemed to flatter", "Mankind with her black eyes for looking at her.", "", "She was a married woman; 'tis convenient,", " Because in Christian countries 'tis a rule", "To view their little slips with eyes more lenient;", " Whereas if single ladies play the fool,", "(Unless within the period intervenient", " A well-timed wedding makes the scandal cool)", "I don't know how they ever can get over it,", "Except they manage never to discover it.", "", "Her husband sailed upon the Adriatic,", " And made some voyages, too, in other seas,", "And when he lay in Quarantine for pratique", " (A forty days' precaution 'gainst disease),", "His wife would mount, at times, her highest attic,", " For thence she could discern the ship with ease:", "He was a merchant trading to Aleppo,", "His name Giuseppe, called more briefly, Beppo.", "", "He was a man as dusky as a Spaniard,", " Sunburnt with travel, yet a portly figure;", "Though coloured, as it were, within a tanyard,", " He was a person both of sense and vigour--", "A better seaman never yet did man yard;", " And she, although her manners showed no rigour,", "Was deemed a woman of the strictest principle,", "So much as to be thought almost invincible.", "", "But several years elapsed since they had met;", " Some people thought the ship was lost, and some", "That he had somehow blundered into debt,", " And did not like the thought of steering home;", "And there were several offered any bet,", " Or that he would, or that he would not come;", "For most men (till by losing rendered sager)", "Will back their own opinions with a wager.", "", "'Tis said that their last parting was pathetic,", " As partings often are, or ought to be,", "And their presentiment was quite prophetic,", " That they should never more each other see,", "(A sort of morbid feeling, half poetic,", " Which I have known occur in two or three,)", "When kneeling on the shore upon her sad knee", "He left this Adriatic Ariadne.", "", "And Laura waited long, and wept a little,", " And thought of wearing weeds, as well she might;", "She almost lost all appetite for victual,", " And could not sleep with ease alone at night;", "She deemed the window-frames and shutters brittle", " Against a daring housebreaker or sprite,", "And so she thought it prudent to connect her", "With a vice-husband, _chiefly_ to _protect her_.", "", "She chose, (and what is there they will not choose,", " If only you will but oppose their choice?)", "Till Beppo should return from his long cruise,", " And bid once more her faithful heart rejoice,", "A man some women like, and yet abuse--", " A Coxcomb was he by the public voice;", "A Count of wealth, they said as well as quality,", "And in his pleasures of great liberality.", "", "And then he was a Count, and then he knew", " Music, and dancing, fiddling, French and Tuscan;", "The last not easy, be it known to you,", " For few Italians speak the right Etruscan.", "He was a critic upon operas, too,", " And knew all niceties of sock and buskin;", "And no Venetian audience could endure a", "Song, scene, or air, when he cried \"seccatura!\"", "", "His \"bravo\" was decisive, for that sound", " Hushed \"Academie\" sighed in silent awe;", "The fiddlers trembled as he looked around,", " For fear of some false note's detected flaw;", "The \"Prima Donna's\" tuneful heart would bound,", " Dreading the deep damnation of his \"Bah!\"", "Soprano, Basso, even the Contra-Alto,", "Wished him five fathom under the Rialto.", "", "He patronised the Improvisatori,", " Nay, could himself extemporise some stanzas,", "Wrote rhymes, sang songs, could also tell a story,", " Sold pictures, and was skilful in the dance as", "Italians can be, though in this their glory", " Must surely yield the palm to that which France has;", "In short, he was a perfect Cavaliero,", "And to his very valet seemed a hero.", "", "Then he was faithful too, as well as amorous;", " So that no sort of female could complain,", "Although they're now and then a little clamorous,", " He never put the pretty souls in pain;", "His heart was one of those which most enamour us,", " Wax to receive, and marble to retain:", "He was a lover of the good old school,", "Who still become more constant as they cool.", "", "No wonder such accomplishments should turn", " A female head, however sage and steady--", "With scarce a hope that Beppo could return,", " In law he was almost as good as dead, he", "Nor sent, nor wrote, nor showed the least concern,", " And she had waited several years already:", "And really if a man won't let us know", "That he's alive, he's _dead_--or should be so.", "", "Besides, within the Alps, to every woman,", " (Although, God knows, it is a grievous sin,)", "'Tis, I may say, permitted to have _two_ men;", " I can't tell who first brought the custom in,", "But \"Cavalier Serventes\" are quite common,", " And no one notices or cares a pin;", "An we may call this (not to say the worst)", "A _second_ marriage which corrupts the _first_.", "", "The word was formerly a \"Cicisbeo,\"", " But _that_ is now grown vulgar and indecent;", "The Spaniards call the person a \"_Cortejo_,\"", " For the same mode subsists in Spain, though recent;", "In short it reaches from the Po to Teio,", " And may perhaps at last be o'er the sea sent:", "But Heaven preserve Old England from such courses!", "Or what becomes of damage and divorces?", "", "However, I still think, with all due deference", " To the fair _single_ part of the creation,", "That married ladies should preserve the preference", " In _tête à tête_ or general conversation--", "And this I say without peculiar reference", " To England, France, or any other nation--", "Because they know the world, and are at ease,", "And being natural, naturally please.", "", "'Tis true, your budding Miss is very charming,", " But shy and awkward at first coming out,", "So much alarmed, that she is quite alarming,", " All Giggle, Blush; half Pertness, and half Pout;", "And glancing at _Mamma_, for fear there's harm in", " What you, she, it, or they, may be about:", "The Nursery still lisps out in all they utter--", "Besides, they always smell of bread and butter.", "", "But \"Cavalier Servente\" is the phrase", " Used in politest circles to express", "This supernumerary slave, who stays", " Close to the lady as a part of dress,", "Her word the only law which he obeys.", " His is no sinecure, as you may guess;", "Coach, servants, gondola, he goes to call,", "And carries fan and tippet, gloves and shawl.", "", "With all its sinful doings, I must say,", " That Italy's a pleasant place to me,", "Who love to see the Sun shine every day,", " And vines (not nailed to walls) from tree to tree", "Festooned, much like the back scene of a play,", " Or melodrame, which people flock to see,", "When the first act is ended by a dance", "In vineyards copied from the South of France.", "", "I like on Autumn evenings to ride out,", " Without being forced to bid my groom be sure", "My cloak is round his middle strapped about,", " Because the skies are not the most secure;", "I know too that, if stopped upon my route,", " Where the green alleys windingly allure,", "Reeling with _grapes_ red wagons choke the way,--", "In England 'twould be dung, dust, or a dray.", "", "I also like to dine on becaficas,", " To see the Sun set, sure he'll rise to-morrow,", "Not through a misty morning twinkling weak as", " A drunken man's dead eye in maudlin sorrow,", "But with all Heaven t'himself; the day will break as", " Beauteous as cloudless, nor be forced to borrow", "That sort of farthing candlelight which glimmers", "Where reeking London's smoky cauldron simmers.", "", "I love the language, that soft bastard Latin,", " Which melts like kisses from a female mouth,", "And sounds as if it should be writ on satin,", " With syllables which breathe of the sweet South,", "And gentle liquids gliding all so pat in,", " That not a single accent seems uncouth,", "Like our harsh northern whistling, grunting guttural,", "Which we're obliged to hiss, and spit, and sputter all.", "", "I like the women too (forgive my folly!),", " From the rich peasant cheek of ruddy bronze,", "And large black eyes that flash on you a volley", " Of rays that say a thousand things at once,", "To the high Dama's brow, more melancholy,", " But clear, and with a wild and liquid glance,", "Heart on her lips, and soul within her eyes,", "Soft as her clime, and sunny as her skies.", "", "Eve of the land which still is Paradise!", " Italian Beauty didst thou not inspire", "Raphael, who died in thy embrace, and vies", " With all we know of Heaven, or can desire,", "In what he hath bequeathed us?--in what guise,", " Though flashing from the fervour of the Lyre,", "Would _words_ describe thy past and present glow,", "While yet Canova can create below?", "", "\"England! with all thy faults I love thee still,\"", " I said at Calais, and have not forgot it;", "I like to speak and lucubrate my fill;", " I like the government (but that is not it);", "I like the freedom of the press and quill;", " I like the Habeas Corpus (when we've got it);", "I like a Parliamentary debate,", "Particularly when 'tis not too late;", "", "I like the taxes, when they're not too many;", " I like a seacoal fire, when not too dear;", "I like a beef-steak, too, as well as any;", " Have no objection to a pot of beer;", "I like the weather,--when it is not rainy,", " That is, I like two months of every year.", "And so God save the Regent, Church, and King!", "Which means that I like all and every thing.", "", "Our standing army, and disbanded seamen,", " Poor's rate, Reform, my own, the nation's debt,", "Our little riots just to show we're free men,", " Our trifling bankruptcies in the Gazette,", "Our cloudy climate, and our chilly women,", " All these I can forgive, and those forget,", "And greatly venerate our recent glories,", "And wish they were not owing to the Tories.", "", "But to my tale of Laura,--for I find", " Digression is a sin, that by degrees", "Becomes exceeding tedious to my mind,", " And, therefore, may the reader too displease--", "The gentle reader, who may wax unkind,", " And caring little for the Author's ease,", "Insist on knowing what he means--a hard", "And hapless situation for a Bard.", "", "Oh! that I had the art of easy writing", " What should be easy reading! could I scale", "Parnassus, where the Muses sit inditing", " Those pretty poems never known to fail,", "How quickly would I print (the world delighting)", " A Grecian, Syrian, or _Ass_yrian tale;", "And sell you, mixed with western Sentimentalism,", "Some samples of the _finest Orientalism._", "", "But I am but a nameless sort of person,", " (A broken Dandy lately on my travels)", "And take for rhyme, to hook my rambling verse on,", " The first that Walker's Lexicon unravels,", "And when I can't find that, I put a worse on,", " Not caring as I ought for critics' cavils;", "I've half a mind to tumble down to prose,", "But verse is more in fashion--so here goes!", "", "The Count and Laura made their new arrangement,", " Which lasted, as arrangements sometimes do,", "For half a dozen years without estrangement;", " They had their little differences, too;", "Those jealous whiffs, which never any change meant;", " In such affairs there probably are few", "Who have not had this pouting sort of squabble,", "From sinners of high station to the rabble.", "", "But, on the whole, they were a happy pair,", " As happy as unlawful love could make them;", "The gentleman was fond, the lady fair,", " Their chains so slight, 'twas not worth while to break them:", "The World beheld them with indulgent air;", " The pious only wished \"the Devil take them!\"", "He took them not; he very often waits,", "And leaves old sinners to be young ones' baits.", "", "But they were young: Oh! what without our Youth", " Would Love be! What would Youth be without Love!", "Youth lends its joy, and sweetness, vigour, truth,", " Heart, soul, and all that seems as from above;", "But, languishing with years, it grows uncouth--", " One of few things Experience don't improve;", "Which is, perhaps, the reason why old fellows", "Are always so preposterously jealous.", "", "It was the Carnival, as I have said", " Some six and thirty stanzas back, and so", "Laura the usual preparations made,", " Which you do when your mind's made up to go", "To-night to Mrs. Boehm's masquerade,", " Spectator, or Partaker in the show;", "The only difference known between the cases", "Is--_here_, we have six weeks of \"varnished faces.\"", "", "Laura, when dressed, was (as I sang before)", " A pretty woman as was ever seen,", "Fresh as the Angel o'er a new inn door,", " Or frontispiece of a new Magazine,", "With all the fashions which the last month wore,", " Coloured, and silver paper leaved between", "That and the title-page, for fear the Press", "Should soil with parts of speech the parts of dress.", "", "They went to the Ridotto; 'tis a hall", " Where People dance, and sup, and dance again;", "Its proper name, perhaps, were a masqued ball,", " But that's of no importance to my strain;", "'Tis (on a smaller scale) like our Vauxhall,", " Excepting that it can't be spoilt by rain;", "The company is \"mixed\" (the phrase I quote is", "As much as saying, they're below your notice);", "", "For a \"mixed company\" implies that, save", " Yourself and friends, and half a hundred more,", "Whom you may bow to without looking grave,", " The rest are but a vulgar set, the Bore", "Of public places, where they basely brave", " The fashionable stare of twenty score", "Of well-bred persons, called \"_The World_;\" but I,", "Although I know them, really don't know why.", "", "This is the case in England; at least was", " During the dynasty of Dandies, now", "Perchance succeeded by some other class", " Of imitated Imitators:--how", "Irreparably soon decline, alas!", " The Demagogues of fashion: all below", "Is frail; how easily the world is lost", "By Love, or War, and, now and then,--by Frost!", "", "Crushed was Napoleon by the northern Thor,", " Who knocked his army down with icy hammer,", "Stopped by the _Elements_--like a Whaler--or", " A blundering novice in his new French grammar;", "Good cause had he to doubt the chance of war,", " And as for Fortune--but I dare not d--n her,", "Because, were I to ponder to Infinity,", "The more I should believe in her Divinity.", "", "She rules the present, past, and all to be yet,", " She gives us luck in lotteries, love, and marriage;", "I cannot say that she's done much for me yet;", " Not that I mean her bounties to disparage,", "We've not yet closed accounts, and we shall see yet", " How much she'll make amends for past miscarriage;", "Meantime the Goddess I'll no more importune,", "Unless to thank her when she's made my fortune.", "", "To turn,--and to return;--the Devil take it!", " This story slips for ever through my fingers,", "Because, just as the stanza likes to make it,", " It needs must be--and so it rather lingers;", "This form of verse began, I can't well break it,", " But must keep time and tune like public singers;", "But if I once get through my present measure,", "I'll take another when I'm next at leisure.", "", "They went to the Ridotto ('tis a place", " To which I mean to go myself to-morrow,", "Just to divert my thoughts a little space", " Because I'm rather hippish, and may borrow", "Some spirits, guessing at what kind of face", " May lurk beneath each mask; and as my sorrow", "Slackens its pace sometimes, I'll make, or find,", "Something shall leave it half an hour behind.)", "", "Now Laura moves along the joyous crowd,", " Smiles in her eyes, and simpers on her lips;", "To some she whispers, others speaks aloud;", " To some she curtsies, and to some she dips,", "Complains of warmth, and this complaint avowed,", " Her lover brings the lemonade, she sips;", "She then surveys, condemns, but pities still", "Her dearest friends for being dressed so ill.", "", "One has false curls, another too much paint,", " A third--where did she buy that frightful turban?", "A fourth's so pale she fears she's going to faint,", " A fifth's look's vulgar, dowdyish, and suburban,", "A sixth's white silk has got a yellow taint,", " A seventh's thin muslin surely will be her bane,", "And lo! an eighth appears,--\"I'll see no more!\"", "For fear, like Banquo's kings, they reach a score.", "", "Meantime, while she was thus at others gazing,", " Others were levelling their looks at her;", "She heard the men's half-whispered mode of praising", " And, till 'twas done, determined not to stir;", "The women only thought it quite amazing", " That, at her time of life, so many were", "Admirers still,--but \"Men are so debased,", "Those brazen Creatures always suit their taste.\"", "", "For my part, now, I ne'er could understand", " Why naughty women--but I won't discuss", "A thing which is a scandal to the land,", " I only don't see why it should be thus;", "And if I were but in a gown and band,", " Just to entitle me to make a fuss,", "I'd preach on this till Wilberforce and Romilly", "Should quote in their next speeches from my homily.", "", "While Laura thus was seen, and seeing, smiling,", " Talking, she knew not why, and cared not what,", "So that her female friends, with envy broiling,", " Beheld her airs, and triumph, and all that;", "And well-dressed males still kept before her filing,", " And passing bowed and mingled with her chat;", "More than the rest one person seemed to stare", "With pertinacity that's rather rare.", "", "He was a Turk, the colour of mahogany;", " And Laura saw him, and at first was glad,", "Because the Turks so much admire philogyny,", " Although their usage of their wives is sad;", "'Tis said they use no better than a dog any", " Poor woman, whom they purchase like a pad:", "They have a number, though they ne'er exhibit 'em,", "Four wives by law, and concubines \"ad libitum.\"", "", "They lock them up, and veil, and guard them daily,", " They scarcely can behold their male relations,", "So that their moments do not pass so gaily", " As is supposed the case with northern nations;", "Confinement, too, must make them look quite palely;", " And as the Turks abhor long conversations,", "Their days are either passed in doing nothing,", "Or bathing, nursing, making love, and clothing.", "", "They cannot read, and so don't lisp in criticism;", " Nor write, and so they don't affect the Muse;", "Were never caught in epigram or witticism,", " Have no romances, sermons, plays, reviews,--", "In Harams learning soon would make a pretty schism,", " But luckily these Beauties are no \"Blues;\"", "No bustling _Botherby_ have they to show 'em", "\"That charming passage in the last new poem:\"", "", "No solemn, antique gentleman of rhyme,", " Who having angled all his life for Fame,", "And getting but a nibble at a time,", " Still fussily keeps fishing on, the same", "Small \"Triton of the minnows,\" the sublime", " Of Mediocrity, the furious tame,", "The Echo's echo, usher of the school", "Of female wits, boy bards--in short, a fool!", "", "A stalking oracle of awful phrase,", " The approving _\"Good!\"_ (by no means good in law)", "Humming like flies around the newest blaze,", " The bluest of bluebottles you e'er saw,", "Teasing with blame, excruciating with praise,", " Gorging the little fame he gets all raw,", "Translating tongues he knows not even by letter,", "And sweating plays so middling, bad were better.", "", "One hates an author that's _all author_--fellows", " In foolscap uniforms turned up with ink,", "So very anxious, clever, fine, and jealous,", " One don't know what to say to them, or think,", "Unless to puff them with a pair of bellows;", " Of Coxcombry's worst coxcombs e'en the pink", "Are preferable to these shreds of paper,", "These unquenched snuffings of the midnight taper.", "", "Of these same we see several, and of others.", " Men of the world, who know the World like Men,", "Scott, Rogers, Moore, and all the better brothers,", " Who think of something else besides the pen;", "But for the children of the \"Mighty Mother's,\"", " The would-be wits, and can't-be gentlemen,", "I leave them to their daily \"tea is ready,\"", "Smug coterie, and literary lady.", "", "The poor dear Mussul_women_ whom I mention", " Have none of these instructive pleasant people,", "And _one_ would seem to them a new invention,", " Unknown as bells within a Turkish steeple;", "I think 'twould almost be worth while to pension", " (Though best-sown projects very often reap ill)", "A missionary author--just to preach", "Our Christian usage of the parts of speech.", "", "No Chemistry for them unfolds her gases,", " No Metaphysics are let loose in lectures,", "No Circulating Library amasses", " Religious novels, moral tales, and strictures", "Upon the living manners, as they pass us;", " No Exhibition glares with annual pictures;", "They stare not on the stars from out their attics,", "Nor deal (thank God for that!) in Mathematics.", "", "Why I thank God for that is no great matter,", " I have my reasons, you no doubt suppose,", "And as, perhaps, they would not highly flatter,", " I'll keep them for my life (to come) in prose;", "I fear I have a little turn for Satire,", " And yet methinks the older that one grows", "Inclines us more to laugh than scold, though Laughter", "Leaves us so doubly serious shortly after.", "", "Oh, Mirth and Innocence! Oh, Milk and Water!", " Ye happy mixtures of more happy days!", "In these sad centuries of sin and slaughter,", " Abominable Man no more allays", "His thirst with such pure beverage. No matter,", " I love you both, and both shall have my praise:", "Oh, for old Saturn's reign of sugar-candy!---", "Meantime I drink to your return in brandy.", "", "Our Laura's Turk still kept his eyes upon her,", " Less in the Mussulman than Christian way,", "Which seems to say, \"Madam, I do you honour,", " And while I please to stare, you'll please to stay.\"", "Could staring win a woman, this had won her,", " But Laura could not thus be led astray;", "She had stood fire too long and well, to boggle", "Even at this Stranger's most outlandish ogle.", "", "The morning now was on the point of breaking,", " A turn of time at which I would advise", "Ladies who have been dancing, or partaking", " In any other kind of exercise,", "To make their preparations for forsaking", " The ball-room ere the Sun begins to rise,", "Because when once the lamps and candles fail,", "His blushes make them look a little pale.", "", "I've seen some balls and revels in my time,", " And stayed them over for some silly reason,", "And then I looked (I hope it was no crime)", " To see what lady best stood out the season;", "And though I've seen some thousands in their prime", " Lovely and pleasing, and who still may please on,", "I never saw but one (the stars withdrawn)", "Whose bloom could after dancing dare the Dawn.", "", "The name of this Aurora I'll not mention,", " Although I might, for she was nought to me", "More than that patent work of God's invention,", " A charming woman, whom we like to see;", "But writing names would merit reprehension,", " Yet if you like to find out this fair _She,_", "At the next London or Parisian ball", "You still may mark her cheek, out-blooming all.", "", "Laura, who knew it would not do at all", " To meet the daylight after seven hours' sitting", "Among three thousand people at a ball,", " To make her curtsey thought it right and fitting;", "The Count was at her elbow with her shawl,", " And they the room were on the point of quitting,", "When lo! those curséd Gondoliers had got", "Just in the very place where they _should not._", "", "In this they're like our coachmen, and the cause", " Is much the same--the crowd, and pulling, hauling,", "With blasphemies enough to break their jaws,", " They make a never intermitted bawling.", "At home, our Bow-street gem'men keep the laws,", " And here a sentry stands within your calling;", "But for all that, there is a deal of swearing,", "And nauseous words past mentioning or bearing.", "", "The Count and Laura found their boat at last,", " And homeward floated o'er the silent tide,", "Discussing all the dances gone and past;", " The dancers and their dresses, too, beside;", "Some little scandals eke; but all aghast", " (As to their palace-stairs the rowers glide)", "Sate Laura by the side of her adorer,", "When lo! the Mussulman was there before her!", "", "\"Sir,\" said the Count, with brow exceeding grave,", " \"Your unexpected presence here will make", "It necessary for myself to crave", " Its import? But perhaps 'tis a mistake;", "I hope it is so; and, at once to waive", " All compliment, I hope so for _your_ sake;", "You understand my meaning, or you _shall._\"", "\"Sir,\" (quoth the Turk) \"'tis no mistake at all:", "", "\"That Lady is _my wife!_\" Much wonder paints", " The lady's changing cheek, as well it might;", "But where an Englishwoman sometimes faints,", " Italian females don't do so outright;", "They only call a little on their Saints,", " And then come to themselves, almost, or quite;", "Which saves much hartshorn, salts, and sprinkling faces,", "And cutting stays, as usual in such cases.", "", "She said,--what could she say? Why, not a word;", " But the Count courteously invited in", "The Stranger, much appeased by what he heard:", " \"Such things, perhaps, we'd best discuss within,\"", "Said he; \"don't let us make ourselves absurd", " In public, by a scene, nor raise a din,", "For then the chief and only satisfaction", "Will be much quizzing on the whole transaction.\"", "", "They entered, and for Coffee called--it came,", " A beverage for Turks and Christians both,", "Although the way they make it's not the same.", " Now Laura, much recovered, or less loth", "To speak, cries \"Beppo! what's your pagan name?", " Bless me! your beard is of amazing growth!", "And how came you to keep away so long?", "Are you not sensible 'twas very wrong?", "", "\"And are you _really, truly,_ now a Turk?", " With any other women did you wive?", "Is't true they use their fingers for a fork?", " Well, that's the prettiest Shawl--as I'm alive!", "You'll give it me? They say you eat no pork.", " And how so many years did you contrive", "To--Bless me! did I ever? No, I never", "Saw a man grown so yellow! How's your liver?", "", "\"Beppo! that beard of yours becomes you not;", " It shall be shaved before you're a day older:", "Why do you wear it? Oh! I had forgot--", " Pray don't you think the weather here is colder?", "How do I look? You shan't stir from this spot", " In that queer dress, for fear that some beholder", "Should find you out, and make the story known.", "How short your hair is! Lord! how grey it's grown!\"", "", "What answer Beppo made to these demands", " Is more than I know. He was cast away", "About where Troy stood once, and nothing stands;", " Became a slave of course, and for his pay", "Had bread and bastinadoes, till some bands", " Of pirates landing in a neighbouring bay,", "He joined the rogues and prospered, and became", "A renegade of indifferent fame.", "", "But he grew rich, and with his riches grew so", " Keen the desire to see his home again,", "He thought himself in duty bound to do so,", " And not be always thieving on the main;", "Lonely he felt, at times, as Robin Crusoe,", " And so he hired a vessel come from Spain,", "Bound for Corfu: she was a fine polacca,", "Manned with twelve hands, and laden with tobacco.", "", "Himself, and much (heaven knows how gotten!) cash,", " He then embarked, with risk of life and limb,", "And got clear off, although the attempt was rash;", " _He_ said that _Providence_ protected him--", "For my part, I say nothing--lest we clash", " In our opinions:--well--the ship was trim,", "Set sail, and kept her reckoning fairly on,", "Except three days of calm when off Cape Bonn.", "", "They reached the Island, he transferred his lading,", " And self and live stock to another bottom,", "And passed for a true Turkey-merchant, trading", " With goods of various names--but I've forgot 'em.", "However, he got off by this evading,", " Or else the people would perhaps have shot him;", "And thus at Venice landed to reclaim", "His wife, religion, house, and Christian name.", "", "His wife received, the Patriarch re-baptised him,", " (He made the Church a present, by the way;)", "He then threw off the garments which disguised him,", " And borrowed the Count's smallclothes for a day:", "His friends the more for his long absence prized him,", " Finding he'd wherewithal to make them gay,", "With dinners, where he oft became the laugh of them,", "For stories--but _I_ don't believe the half of them.", "", "Whate'er his youth had suffered, his old age", " With wealth and talking made him some amends;", "Though Laura sometimes put him in a rage,", " I've heard the Count and he were always friends.", "My pen is at the bottom of a page,", " Which being finished, here the story ends:", "'Tis to be wished it had been sooner done,", "But stories somehow lengthen when begun." ], "linecount": "802" }, { "title": "Ode on Venice", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Oh Venice! Venice! when thy marble walls", " Are level with the waters, there shall be", "A cry of nations o'er thy sunken halls,", " A loud lament along the sweeping sea!", "If I, a northern wanderer, weep for thee,", "What should thy sons do?--anything but weep:", "And yet they only murmur in their sleep.", "In contrast with their fathers--as the slime,", "The dull green ooze of the receding deep,", "Is with the dashing of the spring-tide foam,", "That drives the sailor shipless to his home,", "Are they to those that were; and thus they creep,", "Crouching and crab-like, through their sapping streets.", "Oh! agony--that centuries should reap", "No mellower harvest! Thirteen hundred years", "Of wealth and glory turned to dust and tears;", "And every monument the stranger meets,", "Church, palace, pillar, as a mourner greets;", "And even the Lion all subdued appears,", "And the harsh sound of the barbarian drum,", "With dull and daily dissonance, repeats", "The echo of thy Tyrant's voice along", "The soft waves, once all musical to song,", "That heaved beneath the moonlight with the throng", "Of gondolas--and to the busy hum", "Of cheerful creatures, whose most sinful deeds", "Were but the overbeating of the heart,", "And flow of too much happiness, which needs", "The aid of age to turn its course apart", "From the luxuriant and voluptuous flood", "Of sweet sensations, battling with the blood.", "But these are better than the gloomy errors,", "The weeds of nations in their last decay,", "When Vice walks forth with her unsoftened terrors,", "And Mirth is madness, and but smiles to slay;", "And Hope is nothing but a false delay,", "The sick man's lightning half an hour ere Death,", "When Faintness, the last mortal birth of Pain,", "And apathy of limb, the dull beginning", "Of the cold staggering race which Death is winning,", "Steals vein by vein and pulse by pulse away;", "Yet so relieving the o'er-tortured clay,", "To him appears renewal of his breath,", "And freedom the mere numbness of his chain;", "And then he talks of Life, and how again", "He feels his spirit soaring--albeit weak,", "And of the fresher air, which he would seek;", "And as he whispers knows not that he gasps,", "That his thin finger feels not what it clasps,", "And so the film comes o'er him--and the dizzy", "Chamber swims round and round--and shadows busy,", "At which he vainly catches, flit and gleam,", "Till the last rattle chokes the strangled scream,", "And all is ice and blackness,--and the earth", "That which it was the moment ere our birth.", "", "There is no hope for nations!--Search the page", " Of many thousand years--the daily scene,", "The flow and ebb of each recurring age,", " The everlasting _to be_ which _hath been_,", " Hath taught us nought or little: still we lean", "On things that rot beneath our weight, and wear", "Our strength away in wrestling with the air;", "For't is our nature strikes us down: the beasts", "Slaughtered in hourly hecatombs for feasts", "Are of as high an order--they must go", "Even where their driver goads them, though to slaughter.", "Ye men, who pour your blood for kings as water,", "What have they given your children in return?", "A heritage of servitude and woes,", "A blindfold bondage, where your hire is blows.", "What! do not yet the red-hot ploughshares burn,", "O'er which you stumble in a false ordeal,", "And deem this proof of loyalty the _real_;", "Kissing the hand that guides you to your scars,", "And glorying as you tread the glowing bars?", "All that your Sires have left you, all that Time", "Bequeaths of free, and History of sublime,", "Spring from a different theme!--Ye see and read,", "Admire and sigh, and then succumb and bleed!", "Save the few spirits who, despite of all,", "And worse than all, the sudden crimes engendered", "By the down-thundering of the prison-wall,", "And thirst to swallow the sweet waters tendered,", "Gushing from Freedom's fountains--when the crowd,", "Maddened with centuries of drought, are loud,", "And trample on each other to obtain", "The cup which brings oblivion of a chain", "Heavy and sore,--in which long yoked they ploughed", "The sand,--or if there sprung the yellow grain,", "'Twas not for them, their necks were too much bowed,", "And their dead palates chewed the cud of pain:--", "Yes! the few spirits--who, despite of deeds", "Which they abhor, confound not with the cause", "Those momentary starts from Nature's laws,", "Which, like the pestilence and earthquake, smite", "But for a term, then pass, and leave the earth", "With all her seasons to repair the blight", "With a few summers, and again put forth", "Cities and generations--fair, when free--", "For, Tyranny, there blooms no bud for thee!", "", "Glory and Empire! once upon these towers", " With Freedom--godlike Triad! how you sate!", "The league of mightiest nations, in those hours", " When Venice was an envy, might abate,", " But did not quench, her spirit--in her fate", "All were enwrapped: the feasted monarchs knew", " And loved their hostess, nor could learn to hate,", "Although they humbled--with the kingly few", "The many felt, for from all days and climes", "She was the voyager's worship;--even her crimes", "Were of the softer order, born of Love--", "She drank no blood, nor fattened on the dead,", "But gladdened where her harmless conquests spread;", "For these restored the Cross, that from above", "Hallowed her sheltering banners, which incessant", "Flew between earth and the unholy Crescent,", "Which, if it waned and dwindled, Earth may thank", "The city it has clothed in chains, which clank", "Now, creaking in the ears of those who owe", "The name of Freedom to her glorious struggles;", "Yet she but shares with them a common woe,", "And called the \"kingdom\" of a conquering foe,--", "But knows what all--and, most of all, _we_ know--", "With what set gilded terms a tyrant juggles!", "", "The name of Commonwealth is past and gone", " O'er the three fractions of the groaning globe;", "Venice is crushed, and Holland deigns to own", " A sceptre, and endures the purple robe;", "If the free Switzer yet bestrides alone", "His chainless mountains, 't is but for a time,", "For Tyranny of late is cunning grown,", "And in its own good season tramples down", "The sparkles of our ashes. One great clime,", "Whose vigorous offspring by dividing ocean", "Are kept apart and nursed in the devotion", "Of Freedom, which their fathers fought for, and", "Bequeathed--a heritage of heart and hand,", "And proud distinction from each other land,", "Whose sons must bow them at a Monarch's motion,", "As if his senseless sceptre were a wand", "Full of the magic of exploded science--", "Still one great clime, in full and free defiance,", "Yet rears her crest, unconquered and sublime,", "Above the far Atlantic!--She has taught", "Her Esau-brethren that the haughty flag,", "The floating fence of Albion's feebler crag,", "May strike to those whose red right hands have bought", "Rights cheaply earned with blood.--Still, still, for ever", "Better, though each man's life-blood were a river,", "That it should flow, and overflow, than creep", "Through thousand lazy channels in our veins,", "Dammed like the dull canal with locks and chains,", "And moving, as a sick man in his sleep,", "Three paces, and then faltering:--better be", "Where the extinguished Spartans still are free,", "In their proud charnel of Thermopylæ,", "Than stagnate in our marsh,--or o'er the deep", "Fly, and one current to the ocean add,", "One spirit to the souls our fathers had,", "One freeman more, America, to thee!" ], "linecount": "160" }, { "title": "Mazeppa", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "'Twas after dread Pultowa's day,", " When Fortune left the royal Swede--", "Around a slaughtered army lay,", " No more to combat and to bleed.", "The power and glory of the war,", " Faithless as their vain votaries, men,", "Had passed to the triumphant Czar,", " And Moscow's walls were safe again--", "Until a day more dark and drear,", "And a more memorable year,", "Should give to slaughter and to shame", "A mightier host and haughtier name;", "A greater wreck, a deeper fall,", "A shock to one--a thunderbolt to all.", "", "Such was the hazard of the die;", "The wounded Charles was taught to fly", "By day and night through field and flood,", "Stained with his own and subjects' blood;", "For thousands fell that flight to aid:", "And not a voice was heard to upbraid", "Ambition in his humbled hour,", "When Truth had nought to dread from Power.", "His horse was slain, and Gieta gave", "His own--and died the Russians' slave.", "This, too, sinks after many a league", "Of well-sustained, but vain fatigue;", "And in the depth of forests darkling,", "The watch-fires in the distance sparkling--", " The beacons of surrounding foes--", "A King must lay his limbs at length.", " Are these the laurels and repose", "For which the nations strain their strength?", "They laid him by a savage tree,", "In outworn Nature's agony;", "His wounds were stiff, his limbs were stark;", "The heavy hour was chill and dark;", "The fever in his blood forbade", "A transient slumber's fitful aid:", "And thus it was; but yet through all,", "Kinglike the monarch bore his fall,", "And made, in this extreme of ill,", "His pangs the vassals of his will:", "All silent and subdued were they.", "As once the nations round him lay.", "", "A band of chiefs!--alas! how few,", " Since but the fleeting of a day", "Had thinned it; but this wreck was true", " And chivalrous: upon the clay", "Each sate him down, all sad and mute,", " Beside his monarch and his steed;", "For danger levels man and brute,", " And all are fellows in their need.", "Among the rest, Mazeppa made", "His pillow in an old oak's shade--", "Himself as rough, and scarce less old,", "The Ukraine's Hetman, calm and bold;", "But first, outspent with this long course,", "The Cossack prince rubbed down his horse,", "And made for him a leafy bed,", " And smoothed his fetlocks and his mane,", " And slacked his girth, and stripped his rein,", "And joyed to see how well he fed;", "For until now he had the dread", "His wearied courser might refuse", "To browse beneath the midnight dews:", "But he was hardy as his lord,", "And little cared for bed and board;", "But spirited and docile too,", "Whate'er was to be done, would do.", "Shaggy and swift, and strong of limb,", "All Tartar-like he carried him;", "Obeyed his voice, and came to call,", "And knew him in the midst of all:", "Though thousands were around,--and Night,", "Without a star, pursued her flight,--", "That steed from sunset until dawn", "His chief would follow like a fawn.", "", "This done, Mazeppa spread his cloak,", "And laid his lance beneath his oak,", "Felt if his arms in order good", "The long day's march had well withstood--", "If still the powder filled the pan,", " And flints unloosened kept their lock--", "His sabre's hilt and scabbard felt,", "And whether they had chafed his belt;", "And next the venerable man,", "From out his havresack and can,", " Prepared and spread his slender stock;", "And to the Monarch and his men", "The whole or portion offered then", "With far less of inquietude", "Than courtiers at a banquet would.", "And Charles of this his slender share", "With smiles partook a moment there,", "To force of cheer a greater show,", "And seem above both wounds and woe;--", "And then he said--\"Of all our band,", "Though firm of heart and strong of hand,", "In skirmish, march, or forage, none", "Can less have said or more have done", "Than thee, Mazeppa! On the earth", "So fit a pair had never birth,", "Since Alexander's days till now,", "As thy Bucephalus and thou:", "All Scythia's fame to thine should yield", "For pricking on o'er flood and field.\"", "Mazeppa answered--\"Ill betide", "The school wherein I learned to ride!\"", "Quoth Charles--\"Old Hetman, wherefore so,", "Since thou hast learned the art so well?\"", "Mazeppa said--\"'Twere long to tell;", "And we have many a league to go,", "With every now and then a blow,", "And ten to one at least the foe,", "Before our steeds may graze at ease,", "Beyond the swift Borysthenes:", "And, Sire, your limbs have need of rest,", "And I will be the sentinel", "Of this your troop.\"--\"But I request,\"", "Said Sweden's monarch, \"thou wilt tell", "This tale of thine, and I may reap,", "Perchance, from this the boon of sleep;", "For at this moment from my eyes", "The hope of present slumber flies.\"", "", "\"Well, Sire, with such a hope, I'll track", "My seventy years of memory back:", "I think 'twas in my twentieth spring,--", "Aye 'twas,--when Casimir was king--", "John Casimir,--I was his page", "Six summers, in my earlier age:", "A learnéd monarch, faith! was he,", "And most unlike your Majesty;", "He made no wars, and did not gain", "New realms to lose them back again;", "And (save debates in Warsaw's diet)", "He reigned in most unseemly quiet;", "Not that he had no cares to vex;", "He loved the Muses and the Sex;", "And sometimes these so froward are,", "They made him wish himself at war;", "But soon his wrath being o'er, he took", "Another mistress--or new book:", "And then he gave prodigious fetes--", "All Warsaw gathered round his gates", "To gaze upon his splendid court,", "And dames, and chiefs, of princely port.", "He was the Polish Solomon,", "So sung his poets, all but one,", "Who, being unpensioned, made a satire,", "And boasted that he could not flatter.", "It was a court of jousts and mimes,", "Where every courtier tried at rhymes;", "Even I for once produced some verses,", "And signed my odes 'Despairing Thyrsis.'", "There was a certain Palatine,", " A Count of far and high descent,", "Rich as a salt or silver mine;", "And he was proud, ye may divine,", " As if from Heaven he had been sent;", "He had such wealth in blood and ore", " As few could match beneath the throne;", "And he would gaze upon his store,", "And o'er his pedigree would pore,", "Until by some confusion led,", "Which almost looked like want of head,", " He thought their merits were his own.", "His wife was not of this opinion;", " His junior she by thirty years,", "Grew daily tired of his dominion;", " And, after wishes, hopes, and fears,", " To Virtue a few farewell tears,", "A restless dream or two--some glances", "At Warsaw's youth--some songs, and dances,", "Awaited but the usual chances,", "Those happy accidents which render", "The coldest dames so very tender,", "To deck her Count with titles given,", "'Tis said, as passports into Heaven;", "But, strange to say, they rarely boast", "Of these, who have deserved them most.", "", "\"I was a goodly stripling then;", " At seventy years I so may say,", "That there were few, or boys or men,", " Who, in my dawning time of day,", "Of vassal or of knight's degree,", "Could vie in vanities with me;", "For I had strength--youth--gaiety,", "A port, not like to this ye see,", "But smooth, as all is rugged now;", " For Time, and Care, and War, have ploughed", "My very soul from out my brow;", " And thus I should be disavowed", "By all my kind and kin, could they", "Compare my day and yesterday;", "This change was wrought, too, long ere age", "Had ta'en my features for his page:", "With years, ye know, have not declined", "My strength--my courage--or my mind,", "Or at this hour I should not be", "Telling old tales beneath a tree,", "With starless skies my canopy.", " But let me on: Theresa's form--", "Methinks it glides before me now,", "Between me and yon chestnut's bough,", " The memory is so quick and warm;", "And yet I find no words to tell", "The shape of her I loved so well:", "She had the Asiatic eye,", " Such as our Turkish neighbourhood", " Hath mingled with our Polish blood,", "Dark as above us is the sky;", "But through it stole a tender light,", "Like the first moonrise of midnight;", "Large, dark, and swimming in the stream,", "Which seemed to melt to its own beam;", "All love, half languor, and half fire,", "Like saints that at the stake expire,", "And lift their raptured looks on high,", "As though it were a joy to die.", "A brow like a midsummer lake,", " Transparent with the sun therein,", "When waves no murmur dare to make,", " And heaven beholds her face within.", "A cheek and lip--but why proceed?", " I loved her then, I love her still;", "And such as I am, love indeed", " In fierce extremes--in good and ill.", "But still we love even in our rage,", "And haunted to our very age", "With the vain shadow of the past,--", "As is Mazeppa to the last.", "", "\"We met--we gazed--I saw, and sighed;", "She did not speak, and yet replied;", "There are ten thousand tones and signs", "We hear and see, but none defines--", "Involuntary sparks of thought,", "Which strike from out the heart o'erwrought,", "And form a strange intelligence,", "Alike mysterious and intense,", "Which link the burning chain that binds,", "Without their will, young hearts and minds;", "Conveying, as the electric wire,", "We know not how, the absorbing fire.", "I saw, and sighed--in silence wept,", "And still reluctant distance kept,", "Until I was made known to her,", "And we might then and there confer", "Without suspicion--then, even then,", " I longed, and was resolved to speak;", "But on my lips they died again,", " The accents tremulous and weak,", "Until one hour.--There is a game,", " A frivolous and foolish play,", " Wherewith we while away the day;", "It is--I have forgot the name--", "And we to this, it seems, were set,", "By some strange chance, which I forget:", "I recked not if I won or lost,", " It was enough for me to be", " So near to hear, and oh! to see", "The being whom I loved the most.", "I watched her as a sentinel,", "(May ours this dark night watch as well!)", " Until I saw, and thus it was,", "That she was pensive, nor perceived", "Her occupation, nor was grieved", "Nor glad to lose or gain; but still", "Played on for hours, as if her will", "Yet bound her to the place, though not", "That hers might be the winning lot.", " Then through my brain the thought did pass,", "Even as a flash of lightning there,", "That there was something in her air", "Which would not doom me to despair;", "And on the thought my words broke forth,", " All incoherent as they were;", "Their eloquence was little worth,", "But yet she listened--'tis enough--", " Who listens once will listen twice;", " Her heart, be sure, is not of ice--", "And one refusal no rebuff.", "", "\"I loved, and was beloved again--", " They tell me, Sire, you never knew", " Those gentle frailties; if 'tis true,", "I shorten all my joy or pain;", "To you 'twould seem absurd as vain;", "But all men are not born to reign,", "Or o'er their passions, or as you", "Thus o'er themselves and nations too.", "I am--or rather _was_--a Prince,", " A chief of thousands, and could lead", " Them on where each would foremost bleed;", "But could not o'er myself evince", "The like control--But to resume:", " I loved, and was beloved again;", "In sooth, it is a happy doom,", " But yet where happiest ends in pain.--", "We met in secret, and the hour", "Which led me to that lady's bower", "Was fiery Expectation's dower.", "My days and nights were nothing--all", "Except that hour which doth recall,", "In the long lapse from youth to age,", " No other like itself: I'd give", " The Ukraine back again to live", "It o'er once more, and be a page,", "The happy page, who was the lord", "Of one soft heart, and his own sword,", "And had no other gem nor wealth,", "Save Nature's gift of Youth and Health.", "We met in secret--doubly sweet,", "Some say, they find it so to meet;", "I know not that--I would have given", " My life but to have called her mine", "In the full view of Earth and Heaven;", " For I did oft and long repine", "That we could only meet by stealth.", "", "\"For lovers there are many eyes,", " And such there were on us; the Devil", " On such occasions should be civil--", "The Devil!--I'm loth to do him wrong,", " It might be some untoward saint,", "Who would not be at rest too long,", " But to his pious bile gave vent--", "But one fair night, some lurking spies", "Surprised and seized us both.", "The Count was something more than wroth--", "I was unarmed; but if in steel,", "All cap-à-pie from head to heel,", "What 'gainst their numbers could I do?", "'Twas near his castle, far away", " From city or from succour near,", "And almost on the break of day;", "I did not think to see another,", " My moments seemed reduced to few;", "And with one prayer to Mary Mother,", " And, it may be, a saint or two,", "As I resigned me to my fate,", "They led me to the castle gate:", " Theresa's doom I never knew,", "Our lot was henceforth separate.", "An angry man, ye may opine,", "Was he, the proud Count Palatine;", "And he had reason good to be,", " But he was most enraged lest such", " An accident should chance to touch", "Upon his future pedigree;", "Nor less amazed, that such a blot", "His noble 'scutcheon should have got,", "While he was highest of his line;", " Because unto himself he seemed", " The first of men, nor less he deemed", "In others' eyes, and most in mine.", "'Sdeath! with a _page_--perchance a king", "Had reconciled him to the thing;", "But with a stripling of a page--", "I felt--but cannot paint his rage.", "", "\"'Bring forth the horse!'--the horse was brought!", "In truth, he was a noble steed,", " A Tartar of the Ukraine breed,", "Who looked as though the speed of thought", "Were in his limbs; but he was wild,", " Wild as the wild deer, and untaught,", "With spur and bridle undefiled--", " 'Twas but a day he had been caught;", "And snorting, with erected mane,", "And struggling fiercely, but in vain,", "In the full foam of wrath and dread", "To me the desert-born was led:", "They bound me on, that menial throng,", "Upon his back with many a thong;", "They loosed him with a sudden lash--", "Away!--away!--and on we dash!--", "Torrents less rapid and less rash.", "", "\"Away!--away!--My breath was gone,", "I saw not where he hurried on:", "'Twas scarcely yet the break of day,", "And on he foamed--away!--away!", "The last of human sounds which rose,", "As I was darted from my foes,", "Was the wild shout of savage laughter,", "Which on the wind came roaring after", "A moment from that rabble rout:", "With sudden wrath I wrenched my head,", " And snapped the cord, which to the mane", " Had bound my neck in lieu of rein,", "And, writhing half my form about,", "Howled back my curse; but 'midst the tread,", "The thunder of my courser's speed,", "Perchance they did not hear nor heed:", "It vexes me--for I would fain", "Have paid their insult back again.", "I paid it well in after days:", "There is not of that castle gate,", "Its drawbridge and portcullis' weight,", "Stone--bar--moat--bridge--or barrier left;", "Nor of its fields a blade of grass,", " Save what grows on a ridge of wall,", " Where stood the hearth-stone of the hall;", "And many a time ye there might pass,", "Nor dream that e'er the fortress was.", "I saw its turrets in a blaze,", "Their crackling battlements all cleft,", " And the hot lead pour down like rain", "From off the scorched and blackening roof,", "Whose thickness was not vengeance-proof.", " They little thought that day of pain,", "When launched, as on the lightning's flash,", "They bade me to destruction dash,", " That one day I should come again,", "With twice five thousand horse, to thank", " The Count for his uncourteous ride.", "They played me then a bitter prank,", " When, with the wild horse for my guide,", "They bound me to his foaming flank:", "At length I played them one as frank--", "For Time at last sets all things even--", " And if we do but watch the hour,", " There never yet was human power", "Which could evade, if unforgiven,", "The patient search and vigil long", "Of him who treasures up a wrong.", "", "\"Away!--away!--my steed and I,", " Upon the pinions of the wind!", " All human dwellings left behind,", "We sped like meteors through the sky,", "When with its crackling sound the night", "Is chequered with the Northern light.", "Town--village--none were on our track,", " But a wild plain of far extent,", "And bounded by a forest black;", " And, save the scarce seen battlement", "On distant heights of some strong hold,", "Against the Tartars built of old,", "No trace of man. The year before", "A Turkish army had marched o'er;", "And where the Spahi's hoof hath trod,", "The verdure flies the bloody sod:", "The sky was dull, and dim, and gray,", " And a low breeze crept moaning by--", " I could have answered with a sigh--", "But fast we fled,--away!--away!--", "And I could neither sigh nor pray;", "And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain", "Upon the courser's bristling mane;", "But, snorting still with rage and fear,", "He flew upon his far career:", "At times I almost thought, indeed,", "He must have slackened in his speed;", "But no--my bound and slender frame", " Was nothing to his angry might,", "And merely like a spur became:", "Each motion which I made to free", "My swoln limbs from their agony", " Increased his fury and affright:", "I tried my voice,--'twas faint and low--", "But yet he swerved as from a blow;", "And, starting to each accent, sprang", "As from a sudden trumpet's clang:", "Meantime my cords were wet with gore,", "Which, oozing through my limbs, ran o'er;", "And in my tongue the thirst became", "A something fierier far than flame.", "", "\"We neared the wild wood--'twas so wide,", "I saw no bounds on either side:", "'Twas studded with old sturdy trees,", "That bent not to the roughest breeze", "Which howls down from Siberia's waste,", "And strips the forest in its haste,--", "But these were few and far between,", "Set thick with shrubs more young and green,", "Luxuriant with their annual leaves,", "Ere strown by those autumnal eyes", "That nip the forest's foliage dead,", "Discoloured with a lifeless red,", "Which stands thereon like stiffened gore", "Upon the slain when battle's o'er;", "And some long winter's night hath shed", "Its frost o'er every tombless head--", "So cold and stark--the raven's beak", "May peck unpierced each frozen cheek:", "'Twas a wild waste of underwood,", "And here and there a chestnut stood,", "The strong oak, and the hardy pine;", " But far apart--and well it were,", "Or else a different lot were mine--", " The boughs gave way, and did not tear", "My limbs; and I found strength to bear", "My wounds, already scarred with cold;", "My bonds forbade to loose my hold.", "We rustled through the leaves like wind,--", "Left shrubs, and trees, and wolves behind;", "By night I heard them on the track,", "Their troop came hard upon our back,", "With their long gallop, which can tire", "The hound's deep hate, and hunter's fire:", "Where'er we flew they followed on,", "Nor left us with the morning sun;", "Behind I saw them, scarce a rood,", "At day-break winding through the wood,", "And through the night had heard their feet", "Their stealing, rustling step repeat.", "Oh! how I wished for spear or sword,", "At least to die amidst the horde,", "And perish--if it must be so--", "At bay, destroying many a foe!", "When first my courser's race begun,", "I wished the goal already won;", "But now I doubted strength and speed:", "Vain doubt! his swift and savage breed", "Had nerved him like the mountain-roe--", "Nor faster falls the blinding snow", "Which whelms the peasant near the door", "Whose threshold he shall cross no more,", "Bewildered with the dazzling blast,", "Than through the forest-paths he passed--", "Untired, untamed, and worse than wild--", "All furious as a favoured child", "Balked of its wish; or--fiercer still--", "A woman piqued--who has her will!", "", "\"The wood was passed; 'twas more than noon,", "But chill the air, although in June;", "Or it might be my veins ran cold--", "Prolonged endurance tames the bold;", "And I was then not what I seem,", "But headlong as a wintry stream,", "And wore my feelings out before", "I well could count their causes o'er:", "And what with fury, fear, and wrath,", "The tortures which beset my path--", "Cold--hunger--sorrow--shame--distress--", "Thus bound in Nature's nakedness;", "Sprung from a race whose rising blood", "When stirred beyond its calmer mood,", "And trodden hard upon, is like", "The rattle-snake's, in act to strike--", "What marvel if this worn-out trunk", "Beneath its woes a moment sunk?", "The earth gave way, the skies rolled round,", "I seemed to sink upon the ground;", "But erred--for I was fastly bound.", "My heart turned sick, my brain grew sore,", "And throbbed awhile, then beat no more:", "The skies spun like a mighty wheel;", "I saw the trees like drunkards reel,", "And a slight flash sprang o'er my eyes,", "Which saw no farther. He who dies", "Can die no more than then I died,", "O'ertortured by that ghastly ride.", "I felt the blackness come and go,", " And strove to wake; but could not make", "My senses climb up from below:", "I felt as on a plank at sea,", "When all the waves that dash o'er thee,", "At the same time upheave and whelm,", "And hurl thee towards a desert realm.", "My undulating life was as", "The fancied lights that flitting pass", "Our shut eyes in deep midnight, when", "Fever begins upon the brain;", "But soon it passed, with little pain,", " But a confusion worse than such:", " I own that I should deem it much,", "Dying, to feel the same again;", "And yet I do suppose we must", "Feel far more ere we turn to dust!", "No matter! I have bared my brow", "Full in Death's face--before--and now.", "", "\"My thoughts came back. Where was I? Cold,", " And numb, and giddy: pulse by pulse", "Life reassumed its lingering hold,", "And throb by throb,--till grown a pang", " Which for a moment would convulse,", " My blood reflowed, though thick and chill;", "My ear with uncouth noises rang,", " My heart began once more to thrill;", "My sight returned, though dim; alas!", "And thickened, as it were, with glass.", "Methought the dash of waves was nigh;", "There was a gleam too of the sky,", "Studded with stars;--it is no dream;", "The wild horse swims the wilder stream!", "The bright broad river's gushing tide", "Sweeps, winding onward, far and wide,", "And we are half-way, struggling o'er", "To yon unknown and silent shore.", "The waters broke my hollow trance,", "And with a temporary strength", " My stiffened limbs were rebaptized.", "My courser's broad breast proudly braves,", "And dashes off the ascending waves,", "And onward we advance!", "We reach the slippery shore at length,", " A haven I but little prized,", "For all behind was dark and drear,", "And all before was night and fear.", "How many hours of night or day", "In those suspended pangs I lay,", "I could not tell; I scarcely knew", "If this were human breath I drew.", "", "\"With glossy skin, and dripping mane,", " And reeling limbs, and reeking flank,", "The wild steed's sinewy nerves still strain", " Up the repelling bank.", "We gain the top: a boundless plain", "Spreads through the shadow of the night,", " And onward, onward, onward--seems,", " Like precipices in our dreams,", "To stretch beyond the sight;", "And here and there a speck of white,", " Or scattered spot of dusky green,", "In masses broke into the light,", "As rose the moon upon my right:", " But nought distinctly seen", "In the dim waste would indicate", "The omen of a cottage gate;", "No twinkling taper from afar", "Stood like a hospitable star;", "Not even an ignis-fatuus rose", "To make him merry with my woes:", " That very cheat had cheered me then!", "Although detected, welcome still,", "Reminding me, through every ill,", " Of the abodes of men.", "", "\"Onward we went--but slack and slow;", " His savage force at length o'erspent,", "The drooping courser, faint and low,", " All feebly foaming went:", "A sickly infant had had power", "To guide him forward in that hour!", " But, useless all to me,", "His new-born tameness nought availed--", "My limbs were bound; my force had failed,", " Perchance, had they been free.", "With feeble effort still I tried", "To rend the bonds so starkly tied,", " But still it was in vain;", "My limbs were only wrung the more,", "And soon the idle strife gave o'er,", " Which but prolonged their pain.", "The dizzy race seemed almost done,", "Although no goal was nearly won:", "Some streaks announced the coming sun--", " How slow, alas! he came!", "Methought that mist of dawning gray", "Would never dapple into day,", "How heavily it rolled away!", " Before the eastern flame", "Rose crimson, and deposed the stars,", "And called the radiance from their cars,", "And filled the earth, from his deep throne,", "With lonely lustre, all his own.", "", "\"Uprose the sun; the mists were curled", "Back from the solitary world", "Which lay around--behind--before.", "What booted it to traverse o'er", "Plain--forest--river? Man nor brute,", "Nor dint of hoof, nor print of foot,", "Lay in the wild luxuriant soil--", "No sign of travel, none of toil--", "The very air was mute:", "And not an insect's shrill small horn,", "Nor matin bird's new voice was borne", "From herb nor thicket. Many a _werst,_", "Panting as if his heart would burst,", "The weary brute still staggered on;", "And still we were--or seemed--alone:", "At length, while reeling on our way,", "Methought I heard a courser neigh,", "From out yon tuft of blackening firs.", "Is it the wind those branches stirs?", "No, no! from out the forest prance", " A trampling troop; I see them come!", "In one vast squadron they advance!", " I strove to cry--my lips were dumb!", "The steeds rush on in plunging pride;", "But where are they the reins to guide?", "A thousand horse, and none to ride!", "With flowing tail, and flying mane,", "Wide nostrils never stretched by pain,", "Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein,", "And feet that iron never shod,", "And flanks unscarred by spur or rod,", "A thousand horse, the wild, the free,", "Like waves that follow o'er the sea,", " Came thickly thundering on,", "As if our faint approach to meet!", "The sight re-nerved my courser's feet,", "A moment staggering, feebly fleet,", "A moment, with a faint low neigh,", " He answered, and then fell!", "With gasps and glazing eyes he lay,", " And reeking limbs immoveable,", " His first and last career is done!", "On came the troop--they saw him stoop,", " They saw me strangely bound along", " His back with many a bloody thong.", "They stop--they start--they snuff the air,", "Gallop a moment here and there,", "Approach, retire, wheel round and round,", "Then plunging back with sudden bound,", "Headed by one black mighty steed,", "Who seemed the Patriarch of his breed,", " Without a single speck or hair", "Of white upon his shaggy hide;", "They snort--they foam--neigh--swerve aside,", "And backward to the forest fly,", "By instinct, from a human eye.", " They left me there to my despair,", "Linked to the dead and stiffening wretch,", "Whose lifeless limbs beneath me stretch,", "Relieved from that unwonted weight,", "From whence I could not extricate", "Nor him nor me--and there we lay,", " The dying on the dead!", "I little deemed another day", " Would see my houseless, helpless head.", "", "\"And there from morn to twilight bound,", "I felt the heavy hours toil round,", "With just enough of life to see", "My last of suns go down on me,", "In hopeless certainty of, mind,", "That makes us feel at length resigned", "To that which our foreboding years", "Present the worst and last of fears:", "Inevitable--even a boon,", "Nor more unkind for coming soon,", "Yet shunned and dreaded with such care,", "As if it only were a snare", " That Prudence might escape:", "At times both wished for and implored,", "At times sought with self-pointed sword,", "Yet still a dark and hideous close", "To even intolerable woes,", " And welcome in no shape.", "And, strange to say, the sons of pleasure,", "They who have revelled beyond measure", "In beauty, wassail, wine, and treasure,", "Die calm, or calmer, oft than he", "Whose heritage was Misery.", "For he who hath in turn run through", "All that was beautiful and new,", " Hath nought to hope, and nought to leave;", "And, save the future, (which is viewed", "Not quite as men are base or good,", "But as their nerves may be endued,)", " With nought perhaps to grieve:", "The wretch still hopes his woes must end,", "And Death, whom he should deem his friend,", "Appears, to his distempered eyes,", "Arrived to rob him of his prize,", "The tree of his new Paradise.", "To-morrow would have given him all,", "Repaid his pangs, repaired his fall;", "To-morrow would have been the first", "Of days no more deplored or curst,", "But bright, and long, and beckoning years,", "Seen dazzling through the mist of tears,", "Guerdon of many a painful hour;", "To-morrow would have given him power", "To rule--to shine--to smite--to save--", "And must it dawn upon his grave?", "", "\"The sun was sinking--still I lay", " Chained to the chill and stiffening steed!", "I thought to mingle there our clay;", " And my dim eyes of death had need,", " No hope arose of being freed.", "I cast my last looks up the sky,", " And there between me and the sun", "I saw the expecting raven fly,", "Who scarce would wait till both should die,", " Ere his repast begun;", "He flew, and perched, then flew once more,", "And each time nearer than before;", "I saw his wing through twilight flit,", "And once so near me he alit", " I could have smote, but lacked the strength;", "But the slight motion of my hand,", "And feeble scratching of the sand,", "The exerted throat's faint struggling noise,", "Which scarcely could be called a voice,", " Together scared him off at length.", "I know no more--my latest dream", " Is something of a lovely star", " Which fixed my dull eyes from afar,", "And went and came with wandering beam,", "And of the cold--dull--swimming--dense", "Sensation of recurring sense,", "And then subsiding back to death,", "And then again a little breath,", "A little thrill--a short suspense,", " An icy sickness curdling o'er", "My heart, and sparks that crossed my brain--", "A gasp--a throb--a start of pain,", " A sigh--and nothing more.", "", "\"I woke--where was I?--Do I see", "A human face look down on me?", "And doth a roof above me close?", "Do these limbs on a couch repose?", "Is this a chamber where I lie?", "And is it mortal yon bright eye,", "That watches me with gentle glance?", " I closed my own again once more,", "As doubtful that my former trance", " Could not as yet be o'er.", "A slender girl, long-haired, and tall,", "Sate watching by the cottage wall.", "The sparkle of her eye I caught,", "Even with my first return of thought;", "For ever and anon she threw", " A prying, pitying glance on me", " With her black eyes so wild and free:", "I gazed, and gazed, until I knew", " No vision it could be,--", "But that I lived, and was released", "From adding to the vulture's feast:", "And when the Cossack maid beheld", "My heavy eyes at length unsealed,", "She smiled--and I essayed to speak,", " But failed--and she approached, and made", " With lip and finger signs that said,", "I must not strive as yet to break", "The silence, till my strength should be", "Enough to leave my accents free;", "And then her hand on mine she laid,", "And smoothed the pillow for my head,", "And stole along on tiptoe tread,", " And gently oped the door, and spake", "In whispers--ne'er was voice so sweet!", "Even music followed her light feet.", " But those she called were not awake,", "And she went forth; but, ere she passed,", "Another look on me she cast,", " Another sign she made, to say,", "That I had nought to fear, that all", "Were near, at my command or call,", " And she would not delay", "Her due return:--while she was gone,", "Methought I felt too much alone.", "", "\"She came with mother and with sire--", "What need of more?--I will not tire", "With long recital of the rest,", "Since I became the Cossack's guest.", "They found me senseless on the plain,", " They bore me to the nearest hut,", "They brought me into life again--", "Me--one day o'er their realm to reign!", " Thus the vain fool who strove to glut", "His rage, refining on my pain,", " Sent me forth to the wilderness,", "Bound--naked--bleeding--and alone,", "To pass the desert to a throne,--", " What mortal his own doom may guess?", " Let none despond, let none despair!", "To-morrow the Borysthenes", "May see our coursers graze at ease", "Upon his Turkish bank,--and never", "Had I such welcome for a river", " As I shall yield when safely there.", "Comrades, good night!\"--The Hetman threw", " His length beneath the oak-tree shade,", " With leafy couch already made--", "A bed nor comfortless nor new", "To him, who took his rest whene'er", "The hour arrived, no matter where:", " His eyes the hastening slumbers steep.", "And if ye marvel Charles forgot", "To thank his tale, _he_ wondered not,--", " The King had been an hour asleep!" ], "linecount": "869" }, { "title": "The Prophecy of Dante", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore,", " And coming events cast their shadows before.\"", "", " Campbell, .", "", "DEDICATION.", "", "Lady! if for the cold and cloudy clime", " Where I was born, but where I would not die,", " Of the great Poet-Sire of Italy", "I dare to build the imitative rhyme,", "Harsh Runic copy of the South's sublime,", " Thou art the cause; and howsoever I", " Fall short of his immortal harmony,", "Thy gentle heart will pardon me the crime.", "Thou, in the pride of Beauty and of Youth,", " Spakest; and for thee to speak and be obeyed", "Are one; but only in the sunny South", " Such sounds are uttered, and such charms displayed,", "So sweet a language from so fair a mouth--", " Ah! to what effort would it not persuade?", "", "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "Once more in Man's frail world! which I had left", " So long that 'twas forgotten; and I feel", " The weight of clay again,--too soon bereft", "Of the Immortal Vision which could heal", " My earthly sorrows, and to God's own skies", " Lift me from that deep Gulf without repeal,", "Where late my ears rung with the damned cries", " Of Souls in hopeless bale; and from that place", " Of lesser torment, whence men may arise", "Pure from the fire to join the Angelic race;", " Midst whom my own bright Beatricē blessed", " My spirit with her light; and to the base", "Of the Eternal Triad! first, last, best,", " Mysterious, three, sole, infinite, great God!", " Soul universal! led the mortal guest,", "Unblasted by the Glory, though he trod", " From star to star to reach the almighty throne.", " Oh Beatrice! whose sweet limbs the sod", "So long hath pressed, and the cold marble stone,", " Thou sole pure Seraph of my earliest love,", " Love so ineffable, and so alone,", "That nought on earth could more my bosom move,", " And meeting thee in Heaven was but to meet", " That without which my Soul, like the arkless dove,", "Had wandered still in search of, nor her feet", " Relieved her wing till found; without thy light", " My Paradise had still been incomplete.", "Since my tenth sun gave summer to my sight", " Thou wert my Life, the Essence of my thought,", " Loved ere I knew the name of Love, and bright", "Still in these dim old eyes, now overwrought", " With the World's war, and years, and banishment,", " And tears for thee, by other woes untaught;", "For mine is not a nature to be bent", " By tyrannous faction, and the brawling crowd,", " And though the long, long conflict hath been spent", "In vain,--and never more, save when the cloud", " Which overhangs the Apennine my mind's eye", " Pierces to fancy Florence, once so proud", "Of me, can I return, though but to die,", " Unto my native soil,--they have not yet", " Quenched the old exile's spirit, stern and high.", "But the Sun, though not overcast, must set", " And the night cometh; I am old in days,", " And deeds, and contemplation, and have met", "Destruction face to face in all his ways.", " The World hath left me, what it found me, pure,", " And if I have not gathered yet its praise,", "I sought it not by any baser lure;", " Man wrongs, and Time avenges, and my name", " May form a monument not all obscure,", "Though such was not my Ambition's end or aim,", " To add to the vain-glorious list of those", " Who dabble in the pettiness of fame,", "And make men's fickle breath the wind that blows", " Their sail, and deem it glory to be classed", " With conquerors, and Virtue's other foes,", "In bloody chronicles of ages past.", " I would have had my Florence great and free;", " Oh Florence! Florence! unto me thou wast", "Like that Jerusalem which the Almighty He", " Wept over, \"but thou wouldst not;\" as the bird", " Gathers its young, I would have gathered thee", "Beneath a parent pinion, hadst thou heard", " My voice; but as the adder, deaf and fierce,", " Against the breast that cherished thee was stirred", "Thy venom, and my state thou didst amerce,", " And doom this body forfeit to the fire.", " Alas! how bitter is his country's curse", "To him who _for_ that country would expire,", " But did not merit to expire _by_ her,", " And loves her, loves her even in her ire.", "The day may come when she will cease to err,", " The day may come she would be proud to have", " The dust she dooms to scatter, and transfer", "Of him, whom she denied a home, the grave.", " But this shall not be granted; let my dust", " Lie where it falls; nor shall the soil which gave", "Me breath, but in her sudden fury thrust", " Me forth to breathe elsewhere, so reassume", " My indignant bones, because her angry gust", "Forsooth is over, and repealed her doom;", " No,--she denied me what was mine--my roof,", " And shall not have what is not hers--my tomb.", "Too long her arméd wrath hath kept aloof", " The breast which would have bled for her, the heart", " That beat, the mind that was temptation proof,", "The man who fought, toiled, travelled, and each part", " Of a true citizen fulfilled, and saw", " For his reward the Guelf's ascendant art", "Pass his destruction even into a law.", " These things are not made for forgetfulness,", " Florence shall be forgotten first; too raw", "The wound, too deep the wrong, and the distress", " Of such endurance too prolonged to make", " My pardon greater, her injustice less,", "Though late repented; yet--yet for her sake", " I feel some fonder yearnings, and for thine,", " My own Beatricē, I would hardly take", "Vengeance upon the land which once was mine,", " And still is hallowed by thy dust's return,", " Which would protect the murderess like a shrine,", "And save ten thousand foes by thy sole urn.", " Though, like old Marius from Minturnæ's marsh", " And Carthage ruins, my lone breast may burn", "At times with evil feelings hot and harsh,", " And sometimes the last pangs of a vile foe", " Writhe in a dream before me, and o'erarch", "My brow with hopes of triumph,--let them go!", " Such are the last infirmities of those", " Who long have suffered more than mortal woe,", "And yet being mortal still, have no repose", " But on the pillow of Revenge--Revenge,", " Who sleeps to dream of blood, and waking glows", "With the oft-baffled, slakeless thirst of change,", " When we shall mount again, and they that trod", " Be trampled on, while Death and Até range", "O'er humbled heads and severed necks----Great God!", " Take these thoughts from me--to thy hands I yield", " My many wrongs, and thine Almighty rod", "Will fall on those who smote me,--be my Shield!", " As thou hast been in peril, and in pain,", " In turbulent cities, and the tented field--", "In toil, and many troubles borne in vain", " For Florence,--I appeal from her to Thee!", " Thee, whom I late saw in thy loftiest reign,", "Even in that glorious Vision, which to see", " And live was never granted until now,", " And yet thou hast permitted this to me.", "Alas! with what a weight upon my brow", " The sense of earth and earthly things come back,", " Corrosive passions, feelings dull and low,", "The heart's quick throb upon the mental rack,", " Long day, and dreary night; the retrospect", " Of half a century bloody and black,", "And the frail few years I may yet expect", " Hoary and hopeless, but less hard to bear,", " For I have been too long and deeply wrecked", "On the lone rock of desolate Despair,", " To lift my eyes more to the passing sail", " Which shuns that reef so horrible and bare;", "Nor raise my voice--for who would heed my wail?", " I am not of this people, nor this age,", " And yet my harpings will unfold a tale", "Which shall preserve these times when not a page", " Of their perturbéd annals could attract", " An eye to gaze upon their civil rage,", "Did not my verse embalm full many an act", " Worthless as they who wrought it: 'tis the doom", " Of spirits of my order to be racked", "In life, to wear their hearts out, and consume", " Their days in endless strife, and die alone;", " Then future thousands crowd around their tomb,", "And pilgrims come from climes where they have known", " The name of him--who now is but a name,", " And wasting homage o'er the sullen stone,", "Spread his--by him unheard, unheeded--fame;", " And mine at least hath cost me dear: to die", " Is nothing; but to wither thus--to tame", "My mind down from its own infinity--", " To live in narrow ways with little men,", " A common sight to every common eye,", "A wanderer, while even wolves can find a den,", " Ripped from all kindred, from all home, all things", " That make communion sweet, and soften pain--", "To feel me in the solitude of kings", " Without the power that makes them bear a crown--", " To envy every dove his nest and wings", "Which waft him where the Apennine looks down", " On Arno, till he perches, it may be,", " Within my all inexorable town,", "Where yet my boys are, and that fatal She,", " Their mother, the cold partner who hath brought", " Destruction for a dowry--this to see", "And feel, and know without repair, hath taught", " A bitter lesson; but it leaves me free:", " I have not vilely found, nor basely sought,", "They made an Exile--not a Slave of me.", "", "CANTO THE SECOND.", "", "The Spirit of the fervent days of Old,", " When words were things that came to pass, and Thought", " Flashed o'er the future, bidding men behold", "Their children's children's doom already brought", " Forth from the abyss of Time which is to be,", " The Chaos of events, where lie half-wrought", "Shapes that must undergo mortality;", " What the great Seers of Israel wore within,", " That Spirit was on them, and is on me,", "And if, Cassandra-like, amidst the din", " Of conflict none will hear, or hearing heed", " This voice from out the Wilderness, the sin", "Be theirs, and my own feelings be my meed,", " The only guerdon I have ever known.", " Hast thou not bled? and hast thou still to bleed,", "Italia? Ah! to me such things, foreshown", " With dim sepulchral light, bid me forget", " In thine irreparable wrongs my own;", "We can have but one Country, and even yet", " Thou'rt mine--my bones shall be within thy breast,", " My Soul within thy language, which once set", "With our old Roman sway in the wide West;", " But I will make another tongue arise", " As lofty and more sweet, in which expressed", "The hero's ardour, or the lover's sighs,", " Shall find alike such sounds for every theme", " That every word, as brilliant as thy skies,", "Shall realise a Poet's proudest dream,", " And make thee Europe's Nightingale of Song;", " So that all present speech to thine shall seem", "The note of meaner birds, and every tongue", " Confess its barbarism when compared with thine.", " This shalt thou owe to him thou didst so wrong,", "Thy Tuscan bard, the banished Ghibelline.", " Woe! woe! the veil of coming centuries", " Is rent,--a thousand years which yet supine", "Lie like the ocean waves ere winds arise,", " Heaving in dark and sullen undulation,", " Float from Eternity into these eyes;", "The storms yet sleep, the clouds still keep their station,", " The unborn Earthquake yet is in the womb,", " The bloody Chaos yet expects Creation,", "But all things are disposing for thy doom;", " The Elements await but for the Word,", " \"Let there be darkness!\" and thou grow'st a tomb!", "Yes! thou, so beautiful, shalt feel the sword,", " Thou, Italy! so fair that Paradise,", " Revived in thee, blooms forth to man restored:", "Ah! must the sons of Adam lose it twice?", " Thou, Italy! whose ever golden fields,", " Ploughed by the sunbeams solely, would suffice", "For the world's granary; thou, whose sky Heaven gilds", " With brighter stars, and robes with deeper blue;", " Thou, in whose pleasant places Summer builds", "Her palace, in whose cradle Empire grew,", " And formed the Eternal City's ornaments", " From spoils of Kings whom freemen overthrew;", "Birthplace of heroes, sanctuary of Saints,", " Where earthly first, then heavenly glory made", " Her home; thou, all which fondest Fancy paints,", "And finds her prior vision but portrayed", " In feeble colours, when the eye--from the Alp", " Of horrid snow, and rock, and shaggy shade", "Of desert-loving pine, whose emerald scalp", " Nods to the storm--dilates and dotes o'er thee,", " And wistfully implores, as 'twere, for help", "To see thy sunny fields, my Italy,", " Nearer and nearer yet, and dearer still", " The more approached, and dearest were they free,", "Thou--Thou must wither to each tyrant's will:", " The Goth hath been,--the German, Frank, and Hun", " Are yet to come,--and on the imperial hill", "Ruin, already proud of the deeds done", " By the old barbarians, there awaits the new,", " Throned on the Palatine, while lost and won", "Rome at her feet lies bleeding; and the hue", " Of human sacrifice and Roman slaughter", " Troubles the clotted air, of late so blue,", "And deepens into red the saffron water", " Of Tiber, thick with dead; the helpless priest,", " And still more helpless nor less holy daughter,", "Vowed to their God, have shrieking fled, and ceased", " Their ministry: the nations take their prey,", " Iberian, Almain, Lombard, and the beast", "And bird, wolf, vulture, more humane than they", " Are; these but gorge the flesh, and lap the gore", " Of the departed, and then go their way;", "But those, the human savages, explore", " All paths of torture, and insatiate yet,", " With Ugolino hunger prowl for more.", "Nine moons shall rise o'er scenes like this and set;", " The chiefless army of the dead, which late", " Beneath the traitor Prince's banner met,", "Hath left its leader's ashes at the gate;", " Had but the royal Rebel lived, perchance", " Thou hadst been spared, but his involved thy fate.", "Oh! Rome, the Spoiler or the spoil of France,", " From Brennus to the Bourbon, never, never", " Shall foreign standard to thy walls advance,", "But Tiber shall become a mournful river.", " Oh! when the strangers pass the Alps and Po,", " Crush them, ye Rocks! Floods whelm them, and for ever!", "Why sleep the idle Avalanches so,", " To topple on the lonely pilgrim's head?", " Why doth Eridanus but overflow", "The peasant's harvest from his turbid bed?", " Were not each barbarous horde a nobler prey?", " Over Cambyses' host the desert spread", "Her sandy ocean, and the Sea-waves' sway", " Rolled over Pharaoh and his thousands,--why,", " Mountains and waters, do ye not as they?", "And you, ye Men! Romans, who dare not die,", " Sons of the conquerors who overthrew", " Those who overthrew proud Xerxes, where yet lie", "The dead whose tomb Oblivion never knew,", " Are the Alps weaker than Thermopylæ?", " Their passes more alluring to the view", "Of an invader? is it they, or ye,", " That to each host the mountain-gate unbar,", " And leave the march in peace, the passage free?", "Why, Nature's self detains the Victor's car,", " And makes your land impregnable, if earth", " Could be so; but alone she will not war,", "Yet aids the warrior worthy of his birth", " In a soil where the mothers bring forth men:", " Not so with those whose souls are little worth;", "For them no fortress can avail,--the den", " Of the poor reptile which preserves its sting", " Is more secure than walls of adamant, when", "The hearts of those within are quivering.", " Are ye not brave? Yes, yet the Ausonian soil", " Hath hearts, and hands, and arms, and hosts to bring", "Against Oppression; but how vain the toil,", " While still Division sows the seeds of woe", " And weakness, till the Stranger reaps the spoil.", "Oh! my own beauteous land! so long laid low,", " So long the grave of thy own children's hopes,", " When there is but required a single blow", "To break the chain, yet--yet the Avenger stops,", " And Doubt and Discord step 'twixt thine and thee,", " And join their strength to that which with thee copes;", "What is there wanting then to set thee free,", " And show thy beauty in its fullest light?", " To make the Alps impassable; and we,", "Her Sons, may do this with one deed--Unite.", "", "CANTO THE THIRD.", "", "From out the mass of never-dying ill,", " The Plague, the Prince, the Stranger, and the Sword,", " Vials of wrath but emptied to refill", "And flow again, I cannot all record", " That crowds on my prophetic eye: the Earth", " And Ocean written o'er would not afford", "Space for the annal, yet it shall go forth;", " Yes, all, though not by human pen, is graven,", " There where the farthest suns and stars have birth,", "Spread like a banner at the gate of Heaven,", " The bloody scroll of our millennial wrongs", " Waves, and the echo of our groans is driven", "Athwart the sound of archangelic songs,", " And Italy, the martyred nation's gore,", " Will not in vain arise to where belongs", "Omnipotence and Mercy evermore:", " Like to a harpstring stricken by the wind,", " The sound of her lament shall, rising o'er", "The Seraph voices, touch the Almighty Mind.", " Meantime I, humblest of thy sons, and of", " Earth's dust by immortality refined", "To Sense and Suffering, though the vain may scoff,", " And tyrants threat, and meeker victims bow", " Before the storm because its breath is rough,", "To thee, my Country! whom before, as now,", " I loved and love, devote the mournful lyre", " And melancholy gift high Powers allow", "To read the future: and if now my fire", " Is not as once it shone o'er thee, forgive!", " I but foretell thy fortunes--then expire;", "Think not that I would look on them and live.", " A Spirit forces me to see and speak,", " And for my guerdon grants _not_ to survive;", "My Heart shall be poured over thee and break:", " Yet for a moment, ere I must resume", " Thy sable web of Sorrow, let me take", "Over the gleams that flash athwart thy gloom", " A softer glimpse; some stars shine through thy night,", " And many meteors, and above thy tomb", "Leans sculptured Beauty, which Death cannot blight:", " And from thine ashes boundless Spirits rise", " To give thee honour, and the earth delight;", "Thy soil shall still be pregnant with the wise,", " The gay, the learned, the generous, and the brave,", " Native to thee as Summer to thy skies,", "Conquerors on foreign shores, and the far wave,", " Discoverers of new worlds, which take their name;", " For _thee_ alone they have no arm to save,", "And all thy recompense is in their fame,", " A noble one to them, but not to thee--", " Shall they be glorious, and thou still the same?", "Oh! more than these illustrious far shall be", " The Being--and even yet he may be born--", " The mortal Saviour who shall set thee free,", "And see thy diadem, so changed and worn", " By fresh barbarians, on thy brow replaced;", " And the sweet Sun replenishing thy morn,", "Thy moral morn, too long with clouds defaced,", " And noxious vapours from Avernus risen,", " Such as all they must breathe who are debased", "By Servitude, and have the mind in prison.", " Yet through this centuried eclipse of woe", " Some voices shall be heard, and Earth shall listen;", "Poets shall follow in the path I show,", " And make it broader: the same brilliant sky", " Which cheers the birds to song shall bid them glow,", "And raise their notes as natural and high;", " Tuneful shall be their numbers; they shall sing", " Many of Love, and some of Liberty,", "But few shall soar upon that Eagle's wing,", " And look in the Sun's face, with Eagle's gaze,", " All free and fearless as the feathered King,", "But fly more near the earth; how many a phrase", " Sublime shall lavished be on some small prince", " In all the prodigality of Praise!", "And language, eloquently false, evince", " The harlotry of Genius, which, like Beauty,", " Too oft forgets its own self-reverence,", "And looks on prostitution as a duty.", " He who once enters in a Tyrant's hall", " As guest is slave--his thoughts become a booty,", "And the first day which sees the chain enthral", " A captive, sees his half of Manhood gone--", " The Soul's emasculation saddens all", "His spirit; thus the Bard too near the throne", " Quails from his inspiration, bound to _please_,--", " How servile is the task to please alone!", "To smooth the verse to suit his Sovereign's ease", " And royal leisure, nor too much prolong", " Aught save his eulogy, and find, and seize,", "Or force, or forge fit argument of Song!", " Thus trammelled, thus condemned to Flattery's trebles,", " He toils through all, still trembling to be wrong:", "For fear some noble thoughts, like heavenly rebels,", " Should rise up in high treason to his brain,", " He sings, as the Athenian spoke, with pebbles", "In's mouth, lest Truth should stammer through his strain.", " But out of the long file of sonneteers", " There shall be some who will not sing in vain,", "And he, their Prince, shall rank among my peers,", " And Love shall be his torment; but his grief", " Shall make an immortality of tears,", "And Italy shall hail him as the Chief", " Of Poet-lovers, and his higher song", " Of Freedom wreathe him with as green a leaf.", "But in a farther age shall rise along", " The banks of Po two greater still than he;", " The World which smiled on him shall do them wrong", "Till they are ashes, and repose with me.", " The first will make an epoch with his lyre,", " And fill the earth with feats of Chivalry:", "His Fancy like a rainbow, and his Fire,", " Like that of Heaven, immortal, and his Thought", " Borne onward with a wing that cannot tire;", "Pleasure shall, like a butterfly new caught,", " Flutter her lovely pinions o'er his theme,", " And Art itself seem into Nature wrought", "By the transparency of his bright dream.--", " The second, of a tenderer, sadder mood,", " Shall pour his soul out o'er Jerusalem;", "He, too, shall sing of Arms, and Christian blood", " Shed where Christ bled for man; and his high harp", " Shall, by the willow over Jordan's flood,", "Revive a song of Sion, and the sharp", " Conflict, and final triumph of the brave", " And pious, and the strife of Hell to warp", "Their hearts from their great purpose, until wave", " The red-cross banners where the first red Cross", " Was crimsoned from His veins who died to save,", "Shall be his sacred argument; the loss", " Of years, of favour, freedom, even of fame", " Contested for a time, while the smooth gloss", "Of Courts would slide o'er his forgotten name", " And call Captivity a kindness--meant", " To shield him from insanity or shame--", "Such shall be his meek guerdon! who was sent", " To be Christ's Laureate--they reward him well!", " Florence dooms me but death or banishment,", "Ferrara him a pittance and a cell,", " Harder to bear and less deserved, for I", " Had stung the factions which I strove to quell;", "But this meek man who with a lover's eye", " Will look on Earth and Heaven, and who will deign", " To embalm with his celestial flattery,", "As poor a thing as e'er was spawned to reign,", " What will _he_ do to merit such a doom?", " Perhaps he'll _love_,--and is not Love in vain", "Torture enough without a living tomb?", " Yet it will be so--he and his compeer,", " The Bard of Chivalry, will both consume", "In penury and pain too many a year,", " And, dying in despondency, bequeath", " To the kind World, which scarce will yield a tear,", "A heritage enriching all who breathe", " With the wealth of a genuine Poet's soul,", " And to their country a redoubled wreath,", "Unmatched by time; not Hellas can unroll", " Through her Olympiads two such names, though one", " Of hers be mighty;--and is this the whole", "Of such men's destiny beneath the Sun?", " Must all the finer thoughts, the thrilling sense,", " The electric blood with which their arteries run,", "Their body's self turned soul with the intense", " Feeling of that which is, and fancy of", " That which should be, to such a recompense", "Conduct? shall their bright plumage on the rough", " Storm be still scattered? Yes, and it must be;", " For, formed of far too penetrable stuff,", "These birds of Paradise but long to flee", " Back to their native mansion, soon they find", " Earth's mist with their pure pinions not agree,", "And die or are degraded; for the mind", " Succumbs to long infection, and despair,", " And vulture Passions flying close behind,", "Await the moment to assail and tear;", " And when, at length, the wingéd wanderers stoop,", " Then is the Prey-birds' triumph, then they share", "The spoil, o'erpowered at length by one fell swoop.", " Yet some have been untouched who learned to bear,", " Some whom no Power could ever force to droop,", "Who could resist themselves even, hardest care!", " And task most hopeless; but some such have been,", " And if my name amongst the number were,", "That Destiny austere, and yet serene,", " Were prouder than more dazzling fame unblessed;", " The Alp's snow summit nearer heaven is seen", "Than the Volcano's fierce eruptive crest,", " Whose splendour from the black abyss is flung,", " While the scorched mountain, from whose burning breast", "A temporary torturing flame is wrung,", " Shines for a night of terror, then repels", " Its fire back to the Hell from whence it sprung,", "The Hell which in its entrails ever dwells.", "", "CANTO THE FOURTH.", "", "Many are Poets who have never penned", " Their inspiration, and perchance the best:", " They felt, and loved, and died, but would not lend", "Their thoughts to meaner beings; they compressed", " The God within them, and rejoined the stars", " Unlaurelled upon earth, but far more blessed", "Than those who are degraded by the jars", " Of Passion, and their frailties linked to fame,", " Conquerors of high renown, but full of scars.", "Many are Poets but without the name;", " For what is Poesy but to create", " From overfeeling Good or Ill; and aim", "At an external life beyond our fate,", " And be the new Prometheus of new men,", " Bestowing fire from Heaven, and then, too late,", "Finding the pleasure given repaid with pain,", " And vultures to the heart of the bestower,", " Who, having lavished his high gift in vain,", "Lies to his lone rock by the sea-shore?", " So be it: we can bear.--But thus all they", " Whose Intellect is an o'ermastering Power", "Which still recoils from its encumbering clay", " Or lightens it to spirit, whatsoe'er", " The form which their creations may essay,", "Are bards; the kindled Marble's bust may wear", " More poesy upon its speaking brow", " Than aught less than the Homeric page may bear;", "One noble stroke with a whole life may glow,", " Or deify the canvass till it shine", " With beauty so surpassing all below,", "That they who kneel to Idols so divine", " Break no commandment, for high Heaven is there", " Transfused, transfigurated: and the line", "Of Poesy, which peoples but the air", " With Thought and Beings of our thought reflected,", " Can do no more: then let the artist share", "The palm, he shares the peril, and dejected", " Faints o'er the labour unapproved--Alas!", " Despair and Genius are too oft connected.", "Within the ages which before me pass", " Art shall resume and equal even the sway", " Which with Apelles and old Phidias", "She held in Hellas' unforgotten day.", " Ye shall be taught by Ruin to revive", " The Grecian forms at least from their decay,", "And Roman souls at last again shall live", " In Roman works wrought by Italian hands,", " And temples, loftier than the old temples, give", "New wonders to the World; and while still stands", " The austere Pantheon, into heaven shall soar", " A Dome, its image, while the base expands", "Into a fane surpassing all before,", " Such as all flesh shall flock to kneel in: ne'er", " Such sight hath been unfolded by a door", "As this, to which all nations shall repair,", " And lay their sins at this huge gate of Heaven.", " And the bold Architect unto whose care", "The daring charge to raise it shall be given,", " Whom all Arts shall acknowledge as their Lord,", " Whether into the marble chaos driven", "His chisel bid the Hebrew, at whose word", " Israel left Egypt, stop the waves in stone,", " Or hues of Hell be by his pencil poured", "Over the damned before the Judgement-throne,", " Such as I saw them, such as all shall see,", " Or fanes be built of grandeur yet unknown--", "The Stream of his great thoughts shall spring from me", " The Ghibelline, who traversed the three realms", " Which form the Empire of Eternity.", "Amidst the clash of swords, and clang of helms,", " The age which I anticipate, no less", " Shall be the Age of Beauty, and while whelms", "Calamity the nations with distress,", " The Genius of my Country shall arise,", " A Cedar towering o'er the Wilderness,", "Lovely in all its branches to all eyes,", " Fragrant as fair, and recognised afar,", " Wafting its native incense through the skies.", "Sovereigns shall pause amidst their sport of war,", " Weaned for an hour from blood, to turn and gaze", " On canvass or on stone; and they who mar", "All beauty upon earth, compelled to praise,", " Shall feel the power of that which they destroy;", " And Art's mistaken gratitude shall raise", "To tyrants, who but take her for a toy,", " Emblems and monuments, and prostitute", " Her charms to Pontiffs proud, who but employ", "The man of Genius as the meanest brute", " To bear a burthen, and to serve a need,", " To sell his labours, and his soul to boot.", "Who toils for nations may be poor indeed,", " But free; who sweats for Monarchs is no more", " Than the gilt Chamberlain, who, clothed and feed,", "Stands sleek and slavish, bowing at his door.", " Oh, Power that rulest and inspirest! how", " Is it that they on earth, whose earthly power", "Is likest thine in heaven in outward show,", " Least like to thee in attributes divine,", " Tread on the universal necks that bow,", "And then assure us that their rights are thine?", " And how is it that they, the Sons of Fame,", " Whose inspiration seems to them to shine", "From high, they whom the nations oftest name,", " Must pass their days in penury or pain,", " Or step to grandeur through the paths of shame,", "And wear a deeper brand and gaudier chain?", " Or if their Destiny be born aloof", " From lowliness, or tempted thence in vain,", "In their own souls sustain a harder proof,", " The inner war of Passions deep and fierce?", " Florence! when thy harsh sentence razed my roof,", "I loved thee; but the vengeance of my verse,", " The hate of injuries which every year", " Makes greater, and accumulates my curse,", "Shall live, outliving all thou holdest dear--", " Thy pride, thy wealth, thy freedom, and even _that_,", " The most infernal of all evils here,", "The sway of petty tyrants in a state;", " For such sway is not limited to Kings,", " And Demagogues yield to them but in date,", "As swept off sooner; in all deadly things,", " Which make men hate themselves, and one another,", " In discord, cowardice, cruelty, all that springs", "From Death the Sin-born's incest with his mother,", " In rank oppression in its rudest shape,", " The faction Chief is but the Sultan's brother,", "And the worst Despot's far less human ape.", " Florence! when this lone spirit, which so long", " Yearned, as the captive toiling at escape,", "To fly back to thee in despite of wrong,", " An exile, saddest of all prisoners,", " Who has the whole world for a dungeon strong,", "Seas, mountains, and the horizon's verge for bars,", " Which shut him from the sole small spot of earth", " Where--whatsoe'er his fate--he still were hers,", "His Country's, and might die where he had birth--", " Florence! when this lone Spirit shall return", " To kindred Spirits, thou wilt feel my worth,", "And seek to honour with an empty urn", " The ashes thou shalt ne'er obtain--Alas!", " \"What have I done to thee, my People?\" Stern", "Are all thy dealings, but in this they pass", " The limits of Man's common malice, for", " All that a citizen could be I was--", "Raised by thy will, all thine in peace or war--", " And for this thou hast warred with me.--'Tis done:", " I may not overleap the eternal bar", "Built up between us, and will die alone,", " Beholding with the dark eye of a Seer", " The evil days to gifted souls foreshown,", "Foretelling them to those who will not hear;", " As in the old time, till the hour be come", " When Truth shall strike their eyes through many a tear,", "And make them own the Prophet in his tomb." ], "linecount": "692" }, { "title": "The Morgante Maggiore of Pulci", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "In the beginning was the Word next God;", " God was the Word, the Word no less was He:", "This was in the beginning, to my mode", " Of thinking, and without Him nought could be:", "Therefore, just Lord! from out thy high abode,", " Benign and pious, bid an angel flee,", "One only, to be my companion, who", "Shall help my famous, worthy, old song through.", "", "And thou, oh Virgin! daughter, mother, bride,", " Of the same Lord, who gave to you each key", "Of Heaven, and Hell, and every thing beside,", " The day thy Gabriel said \"All hail!\" to thee,", "Since to thy servants Pity's ne'er denied,", " With flowing rhymes, a pleasant style and free,", "Be to my verses then benignly kind,", "And to the end illuminate my mind.", "", "'Twas in the season when sad Philomel", " Weeps with her sister, who remembers and", "Deplores the ancient woes which both befel,", " And makes the nymphs enamoured, to the hand", "Of Phaëton, by Phoebus loved so well,", " His car (but tempered by his sire's command)", "Was given, and on the horizon's verge just now", "Appeared, so that Tithonus scratched his brow:", "", "When I prepared my bark first to obey,", " As it should still obey, the helm, my mind,", "And carry prose or rhyme, and this my lay", " Of Charles the Emperor, whom you will find", "By several pens already praised; but they", " Who to diffuse his glory were inclined,", "For all that I can see in prose or verse,", "Have understood Charles badly, and wrote worse.", "", "Leonardo Aretino said already,", " That if, like Pepin, Charles had had a writer", "Of genius quick, and diligently steady,", " No hero would in history look brighter;", "He in the cabinet being always ready,", " And in the field a most victorious fighter,", "Who for the church and Christian faith had wrought,", "Certes, far more than yet is said or thought.", "", "You still may see at Saint Liberatore,", " The abbey, no great way from Manopell,", "Erected in the Abruzzi to his glory,", " Because of the great battle in which fell", "A pagan king, according to the story,", " And felon people whom Charles sent to Hell:", "And there are bones so many, and so many,", "Near them Giusaffa's would seem few, if any.", "", "But the world, blind and ignorant, don't prize", " His virtues as I wish to see them: thou,", "Florence, by his great bounty don't arise,", " And hast, and may have, if thou wilt allow,", "All proper customs and true courtesies:", " Whate'er thou hast acquired from then till now,", "With knightly courage, treasure, or the lance,", "Is sprung from out the noble blood of France.", "", "Twelve Paladins had Charles in court, of whom", " The wisest and most famous was Orlando;", "Him traitor Gan conducted to the tomb", " In Roncesvalles, as the villain planned too,", "While the horn rang so loud, and knelled the doom", " Of their sad rout, though he did all knight can do:", "And Dante in his comedy has given", "To him a happy seat with Charles in Heaven.", "", "'Twas Christmas-day; in Paris all his court", " Charles held; the Chief, I say, Orlando was,", "The Dane; Astolfo there too did resort,", " Also Ansuigi, the gay time to pass", "In festival and in triumphal sport,", " The much-renowned St. Dennis being the cause;", "Angiolin of Bayonne, and Oliver,", "And gentle Belinghieri too came there:", "", "Avolio, and Arino, and Othone", " Of Normandy, and Richard Paladin,", "Wise Hamo, and the ancient Salamone,", " Walter of Lion's Mount, and Baldovin,", "Who was the son of the sad Ganellone,", " Were there, exciting too much gladness in", "The son of Pepin:--when his knights came hither,", "He groaned with joy to see them altogether.", "", "But watchful Fortune, lurking, takes good heed", " Ever some bar 'gainst our intents to bring.", "While Charles reposed him thus, in word and deed,", " Orlando ruled court, Charles, and every thing;", "Curst Gan, with envy bursting, had such need", " To vent his spite, that thus with Charles the king", "One day he openly began to say,", "\"Orlando must we always then obey?", "", "\"A thousand times I've been about to say,", " Orlando too presumptuously goes on;", "Here are we, counts, kings, dukes, to own thy sway,", " Hamo, and Otho, Ogier, Solomon,", "Each have to honour thee and to obey;", " But he has too much credit near the throne,", "Which we won't suffer, but are quite decided", "By such a boy to be no longer guided.", "", "\"And even at Aspramont thou didst begin", " To let him know he was a gallant knight,", "And by the fount did much the day to win;", " But I know _who_ that day had won the fight", "If it had not for good Gherardo been;", " The victory was Almonte's else; his sight", "He kept upon the standard--and the laurels,", "In fact and fairness, are his earning, Charles!", "", "\"If thou rememberest being in Gascony,", " When there advanced the nations out of Spain", "The Christian cause had suffered shamefully,", " Had not his valour driven them back again.", "Best speak the truth when there's a reason why:", " Know then, oh Emperor! that all complain:", "As for myself, I shall repass the mounts", "O'er which I crossed with two and sixty counts.", "", "\"'Tis fit thy grandeur should dispense relief,", " So that each here may have his proper part,", "For the whole court is more or less in grief:", " Perhaps thou deem'st this lad a Mars in heart?\"", "Orlando one day heard this speech in brief,", " As by himself it chanced he sate apart:", "Displeased he was with Gan because he said it,", "But much more still that Charles should give him credit.", "", "And with the sword he would have murdered Gan,", " But Oliver thrust in between the pair,", "And from his hand extracted Durlindan,", " And thus at length they separated were.", "Orlando angry too with Carloman,", " Wanted but little to have slain him there;", "Then forth alone from Paris went the Chief,", "And burst and maddened with disdain and grief.", "", "From Ermellina, consort of the Dane,", " He took Cortana, and then took Rondell,", "And on towards Brara pricked him o'er the plain;", " And when she saw him coming, Aldabelle", "Stretched forth her arms to clasp her lord again:", " Orlando, in whose brain all was not well,", "As \"Welcome, my Orlando, home,\" she said,", "Raised up his sword to smite her on the head.", "", "Like him a Fury counsels, his revenge", " On Gan in that rash act he seemed to take,", "Which Aldabella thought extremely strange;", " But soon Orlando found himself awake;", "And his spouse took his bridle on this change,", " And he dismounted from his horse, and spake", "Of every thing which passed without demur,", "And then reposed himself some days with her.", "", "Then full of wrath departed from the place,", " As far as pagan countries roamed astray,", "And while he rode, yet still at every pace", " The traitor Gan remembered by the way;", "And wandering on in error a long space,", " An abbey which in a lone desert lay,", "'Midst glens obscure, and distant lands, he found,", "Which formed the Christian's and the Pagan's bound.", "", "The Abbot was called Clermont, and by blood", " Descended from Angrante: under cover", "Of a great mountain's brow the abbey stood,", " But certain savage giants looked him over;", "One Passamont was foremost of the brood,", " And Alabaster and Morgante hover", "Second and third, with certain slings, and throw", "In daily jeopardy the place below.", "", "The monks could pass the convent gate no more,", " Nor leave their cells for water or for wood;", "Orlando knocked, but none would ope, before", " Unto the Prior it at length seemed good;", "Entered, he said that he was taught to adore", " Him who was born of Mary's holiest blood,", "And was baptized a Christian; and then showed", "How to the abbey he had found his road.", "", "Said the Abbot, \"You are welcome; what is mine", " We give you freely, since that you believe", "With us in Mary Mother's Son divine;", " And that you may not, Cavalier, conceive", "The cause of our delay to let you in", " To be rusticity, you shall receive", "The reason why our gate was barred to you:", "Thus those who in suspicion live must do.", "", "\"When hither to inhabit first we came", " These mountains, albeit that they are obscure,", "As you perceive, yet without fear or blame", " They seemed to promise an asylum sure:", "From savage brutes alone, too fierce to tame,", " 'Twas fit our quiet dwelling to secure;", "But now, if here we'd stay, we needs must guard", "Against domestic beasts with watch and ward.", "", "\"These make us stand, in fact, upon the watch;", " For late there have appeared three giants rough,", "What nation or what kingdom bore the batch", " I know not, but they are all of savage stuff;", "When Force and Malice with some genius match,", " You know, they can do all--_we_ are not enough:", "And these so much our orisons derange,", "I know not what to do, till matters change.", "", "\"Our ancient fathers, living the desert in,", " For just and holy works were duly fed;", "Think not they lived on locusts sole, 'tis certain", " That manna was rained down from heaven instead;", "But here 'tis fit we keep on the alert in", " Our bounds, or taste the stones showered down for bread,", "From off yon mountain daily raining faster,", "And flung by Passamont and Alabaster.", "", "\"The third, Morgante, 's savagest by far; he", " Plucks up pines, beeches, poplar-trees, and oaks,", "And flings them, our community to bury;", " And all that I can do but more provokes.\"", "While thus they parley in the cemetery,", " A stone from one of their gigantic strokes,", "Which nearly crushed Rondell, came tumbling over,", "So that he took a long leap under cover.", "", "\"For God-sake, Cavalier, come in with speed;", " The manna's falling now,\" the Abbot cried.", "\"This fellow does not wish my horse should feed,", " Dear Abbot,\" Roland unto him replied,", "\"Of restiveness he'd cure him had he need;", " That stone seems with good will and aim applied.\"", "The holy father said, \"I don't deceive;", "They'll one day fling the mountain, I believe.\"", "", "Orlando bade them take care of Rondello,", " And also made a breakfast of his own;", "\"Abbot,\" he said, \"I want to find that fellow", " Who flung at my good horse yon corner-stone.\"", "Said the abbot, \"Let not my advice seem shallow;", " As to a brother dear I speak alone;", "I would dissuade you, Baron, from this strife,", "As knowing sure that you will lose your life.", "", "\"That Passamont has in his hand three darts--", " Such slings, clubs, ballast-stones, that yield you must:", "You know that giants have much stouter hearts", " Than us, with reason, in proportion just:", "If go you will, guard well against their arts,", " For these are very barbarous and robust.\"", "Orlando answered,\" This I'll see, be sure,", "And walk the wild on foot to be secure.\"", "", "The Abbot signed the great cross on his front,", " \"Then go you with God's benison and mine.\"", "Orlando, after he had scaled the mount,", " As the Abbot had directed, kept the line", "Right to the usual haunt of Passamont;", " Who, seeing him alone in this design,", "Surveyed him fore and aft with eyes observant,", "Then asked him, \"If he wished to stay as servant?\"", "", "And promised him an office of great ease.", " But, said Orlando, \"Saracen insane!", "I come to kill you, if it shall so please", " God, not to serve as footboy in your train;", "You with his monks so oft have broke the peace--", " Vile dog! 'tis past his patience to sustain.\"", "The Giant ran to fetch his arms, quite furious,", "When he received an answer so injurious.", "", "And being returned to where Orlando stood,", " Who had not moved him from the spot, and swinging", "The cord, he hurled a stone with strength so rude,", " As showed a sample of his skill in slinging;", "It rolled on Count Orlando's helmet good", " And head, and set both head and helmet ringing,", "So that he swooned with pain as if he died,", "But more than dead, he seemed so stupified.", "", "Then Passamont, who thought him slain outright,", " Said, \"I will go, and while he lies along,", "Disarm me: why such craven did I fight?\"", " But Christ his servants ne'er abandons long,", "Especially Orlando, such a knight,", " As to desert would almost be a wrong.", "While the giant goes to put off his defences,", "Orlando has recalled his force and senses:", "", "And loud he shouted, \"Giant, where dost go?", " Thou thought'st me doubtless for the bier outlaid;", "To the right about--without wings thou'rt too slow", " To fly my vengeance--currish renegade!", "'Twas but by treachery thou laid'st me low.\"", " The giant his astonishment betrayed,", "And turned about, and stopped his journey on,", "And then he stooped to pick up a great stone.", "", "Orlando had Cortana bare in hand;", " To split the head in twain was what he schemed:", "Cortana clave the skull like a true brand,", " And pagan Passamont died unredeemed;", "Yet harsh and haughty, as he lay he banned,", " And most devoutly Macon still blasphemed;", "But while his crude, rude blasphemies he heard,", "Orlando thanked the Father and the Word,--", "", "Saying, \"What grace to me thou'st this day given!", " And I to thee, O Lord! am ever bound;", "I know my life was saved by thee from Heaven,", " Since by the Giant I was fairly downed.", "All things by thee are measured just and even;", " Our power without thine aid would nought be found:", "I pray thee take heed of me, till I can", "At least return once more to Carloman.\"", "", "And having said thus much, he went his way;", " And Alabaster he found out below,", "Doing the very best that in him lay", " To root from out a bank a rock or two.", "Orlando, when he reached him, loud 'gan say,", " \"How think'st thou, glutton, such a stone to throw?\"", "When Alabaster heard his deep voice ring,", "He suddenly betook him to his sling,", "", "And hurled a fragment of a size so large", " That if it had in fact fulfilled its mission,", "And Roland not availed him of his targe,", " There would have been no need of a physician.", "Orlando set himself in turn to charge,", " And in his bulky bosom made incision", "With all his sword. The lout fell; but o'erthrown, he", "However by no means forgot Macone.", "", "Morgante had a palace in his mode,", " Composed of branches, logs of wood, and earth,", "And stretched himself at ease in this abode,", " And shut himself at night within his berth.", "Orlando knocked, and knocked again, to goad", " The giant from his sleep; and he came forth,", "The door to open, like a crazy thing,", "For a rough dream had shook him slumbering.", "", "He thought that a fierce serpent had attacked him,", " And Mahomet he called; but Mahomet", "Is nothing worth, and, not an instant backed him;", " But praying blessed Jesu, he was set", "At liberty from all the fears which racked him;", " And to the gate he came with great regret--", "\"Who knocks here?\" grumbling all the while, said he.", "\"That,\" said Orlando, \"you will quickly see:", "", "\"I come to preach to you, as to your brothers,--", " Sent by the miserable monks--repentance;", "For Providence divine, in you and others,", " Condemns the evil done, my new acquaintance!", "'Tis writ on high--your wrong must pay another's:", " From Heaven itself is issued out this sentence.", "Know then, that colder now than a pilaster", "I left your Passamont and Alabaster.\"", "", "Morgante said, \"Oh gentle Cavalier!", " Now by thy God say me no villany;", "The favour of your name I fain would hear,", " And if a Christian, speak for courtesy.\"", "Replied Orlando, \"So much to your ear", " I by my faith disclose contentedly;", "Christ I adore, who is the genuine Lord,", "And, if you please, by you may be adored.\"", "", "The Saracen rejoined in humble tone,", " \"I have had an extraordinary vision;", "A savage serpent fell on me alone,", " And Macon would not pity my condition;", "Hence to thy God, who for ye did atone", " Upon the cross, preferred I my petition;", "His timely succour set me safe and free,", "And I a Christian am disposed to be.\"", "", "Orlando answered, \"Baron just and pious,", " If this good wish your heart can really move", "To the true God, who will not then deny us", " Eternal honour, you will go above,", "And, if you please, as friends we will ally us,", " And I will love you with a perfect love.", "Your idols are vain liars, full of fraud:", "The only true God is the Christian's God.", "", "\"The Lord descended to the virgin breast", " Of Mary Mother, sinless and divine;", "If you acknowledge the Redeemer blest,", " Without whom neither sun nor star can shine,", "Abjure bad Macon's false and felon test,", " Your renegado god, and worship mine,", "Baptize yourself with zeal, since you repent.\"", "To which Morgante answered, \"I'm content.\"", "", "And then Orlando to embrace him flew,", " And made much of his convert, as he cried,", "\"To the abbey I will gladly marshal you.\"", " To whom Morgante, \"Let us go,\" replied:", "\"I to the friars have for peace to sue.\"", " Which thing Orlando heard with inward pride,", "Saying, \"My brother, so devout and good,", "Ask the Abbot pardon, as I wish you would:", "", "\"Since God has granted your illumination,", " Accepting you in mercy for his own,", "Humility should be your first oblation.\"", " Morgante said, \"For goodness' sake, make known,--", "Since that your God is to be mine--your station,", " And let your name in verity be shown;", "Then will I everything at your command do.\"", "On which the other said, he was Orlando.", "", "\"Then,\" quoth the Giant, \"blessed be Jesu", " A thousand times with gratitude and praise!", "Oft, perfect Baron! have I heard of you", " Through all the different periods of my days:", "And, as I said, to be your vassal too", " I wish, for your great gallantry always.\"", "Thus reasoning, they continued much to say,", "And onwards to the abbey went their way.", "", "And by the way about the giants dead", " Orlando with Morgante reasoned: \"Be,", "For their decease, I pray you, comforted,", " And, since it is God's pleasure, pardon me;", "A thousand wrongs unto the monks they bred;", " And our true Scripture soundeth openly,", "Good is rewarded, and chastised the ill,", "Which the Lord never faileth to fulfil:", "", "\"Because His love of justice unto all", " Is such, He wills His judgment should devour", "All who have sin, however great or small;", " But good He well remembers to restore.", "Nor without justice holy could we call", " Him, whom I now require you to adore.", "All men must make His will their wishes sway,", "And quickly and spontaneously obey.", "", "\"And here our doctors are of one accord,", " Coming on this point to the same conclusion,--", "That in their thoughts, who praise in Heaven the Lord,", " If Pity e'er was guilty of intrusion", "For their unfortunate relations stored", " In Hell below, and damned in great confusion,", "Their happiness would be reduced to nought,--", "And thus unjust the Almighty's self be thought.", "", "\"But they in Christ have firmest hope, and all", " Which seems to Him, to them too must appear", "Well done; nor could it otherwise befall;", " He never can in any purpose err.", "If sire or mother suffer endless thrall,", " They don't disturb themselves for him or her:", "What pleases God to them must joy inspire;--", "Such is the observance of the eternal choir.\"", "", "\"A word unto the wise,\" Morgante said,", " \"Is wont to be enough, and you shall see", "How much I grieve about my brethren dead;", " And if the will of God seem good to me,", "Just, as you tell me, 'tis in Heaven obeyed--", " Ashes to ashes,--merry let us be!", "I will cut off the hands from both their trunks,", "And carry them unto the holy monks.", "", "\"So that all persons may be sure and certain", " That they are dead, and have no further fear", "To wander solitary this desert in,", " And that they may perceive my spirit clear", "By the Lord's grace, who hath withdrawn the curtain", " Of darkness, making His bright realm appear.\"", "He cut his brethren's hands off at these words,", "And left them to the savage beasts and birds.", "", "Then to the abbey they went on together,", " Where waited them the Abbot in great doubt.", "The monks, who knew not yet the fact, ran thither", " To their superior, all in breathless rout,", "Saying with tremor, \"Please to tell us whether", " You wish to have this person in or out?\"", "The Abbot, looking through upon the Giant,", "Too greatly feared, at first, to be compliant.", "", "Orlando seeing him thus agitated,", " Said quickly, \"Abbot, be thou of good cheer;", "He Christ believes, as Christian must be rated,", " And hath renounced his Macon false;\" which here", "Morgante with the hands corroborated,", " A proof of both the giants' fate quite clear:", "Thence, with due thanks, the Abbot God adored,", "Saying, \"Thou hast contented me, O Lord!\"", "", "He gazed; Morgante's height he calculated,", " And more than once contemplated his size;", "And then he said, \"O Giant celebrated!", " Know, that no more my wonder will arise,", "How you could tear and fling the trees you late did,", " When I behold your form with my own eyes.", "You now a true and perfect friend will show", "Yourself to Christ, as once you were a foe.", "", "\"And one of our apostles, Saul once named,", " Long persecuted sore the faith of Christ,", "Till, one day, by the Spirit being inflamed,", " 'Why dost thou persecute me thus?' said Christ;", "And then from his offence he was reclaimed,", " And went for ever after preaching Christ,", "And of the faith became a trump, whose sounding", "O'er the whole earth is echoing and rebounding.", "", "\"So, my Morgante, you may do likewise:", " He who repents--thus writes the Evangelist--", "Occasions more rejoicing in the skies", " Than ninety-nine of the celestial list.", "You may be sure, should each desire arise", " With just zeal for the Lord, that you'll exist", "Among the happy saints for evermore;", "But you were lost and damned to Hell before!\"", "", "And thus great honour to Morgante paid", " The Abbot: many days they did repose.", "One day, as with Orlando they both strayed,", " And sauntered here and there, where'er they chose,", "The Abbot showed a chamber, where arrayed", " Much armour was, and hung up certain bows;", "And one of these Morgante for a whim", "Girt on, though useless, he believed, to him.", "", "There being a want of water in the place,", " Orlando, like a worthy brother, said,", "\"Morgante, I could wish you in this case", " To go for water.\" \"You shall be obeyed", "In all commands,\" was the reply, \"straight ways.\"", " Upon his shoulder a great tub he laid,", "And went out on his way unto a fountain,", "Where he was wont to drink, below the mountain.", "", "Arrived there, a prodigious noise he hears,", " Which suddenly along the forest spread;", "Whereat from out his quiver he prepares", " An arrow for his bow, and lifts his head;", "And lo! a monstrous herd of swine appears,", " And onward rushes with tempestuous tread,", "And to the fountain's brink precisely pours;", "So that the Giant's joined by all the boars.", "", "Morgante at a venture shot an arrow,", " Which pierced a pig precisely in the ear,", "And passed unto the other side quite through;", " So that the boar, defunct, lay tripped up near.", "Another, to revenge his fellow farrow,", " Against the Giant rushed in fierce career,", "And reached the passage with so swift a foot,", "Morgante was not now in time to shoot.", "", "Perceiving that the pig was on him close,", " He gave him such a punch upon the head,", "As floored him so that he no more arose,", " Smashing the very bone; and he fell dead", "Next to the other. Having seen such blows,", " The other pigs along the valley fled;", "Morgante on his neck the bucket took,", "Full from the spring, which neither swerved nor shook.", "", "The tub was on one shoulder, and there were", " The hogs on t'other, and he brushed apace", "On to the abbey, though by no means near,", " Nor spilt one drop of water in his race.", "Orlando, seeing him so soon appear", " With the dead boars, and with that brimful vase,", "Marvelled to see his strength so very great;", "So did the Abbot, and set wide the gate.", "", "The monks, who saw the water fresh and good,", " Rejoiced, but much more to perceive the pork;", "All animals are glad at sight of food:", " They lay their breviaries to sleep, and work", "With greedy pleasure, and in such a mood,", " That the flesh needs no salt beneath their fork.", "Of rankness and of rot there is no fear,", "For all the fasts are now left in arrear.", "", "As though they wished to burst at once, they ate;", " And gorged so that, as if the bones had been", "In water, sorely grieved the dog and cat,", " Perceiving that they all were picked too clean.", "The Abbot, who to all did honour great,", " A few days after this convivial scene,", "Gave to Morgante a fine horse, well trained,", "Which he long time had for himself maintained.", "", "The horse Morgante to a meadow led,", " To gallop, and to put him to the proof,", "Thinking that he a back of iron had,", " Or to skim eggs unbroke was light enough;", "But the horse, sinking with the pain, fell dead,", " And burst, while cold on earth lay head and hoof.", "Morgante said, \"Get up, thou sulky cur!\"", "And still continued pricking with the spur.", "", "But finally he thought fit to dismount,", " And said, \"I am as light as any feather,", "And he has burst;--to this what say you, Count?\"", " Orlando answered, \"Like a ship's mast rather", "You seem to me, and with the truck for front:", " Let him go! Fortune wills that we together", "Should march, but you on foot Morgante still.\"", "To which the Giant answered,\" So I will.", "", "\"When there shall be occasion, you will see", " How I approve my courage in the fight.\"", "Orlando said, \"I really think you'll be,", " If it should prove God's will, a goodly knight;", "Nor will you napping there discover me.", " But never mind your horse, though out of sight", "'Twere best to carry him into some wood,", "If but the means or way I understood.\"", "", "The Giant said, \"Then carry him I will,", " Since that to carry me he was so slack--", "To render, as the gods do, good for ill;", " But lend a hand to place him on my back.\"", "Orlando answered, \"If my counsel still", " May weigh, Morgante, do not undertake", "To lift or carry this dead courser, who,", "As you have done to him, will do to you.", "", "\"Take care he don't revenge himself, though dead,", " As Nessus did of old beyond all cure.", "I don't know if the fact you've heard or read;", " But he will make you burst, you may be sure.\"", "\"But help him on my back,\" Morgante said,", " \"And you shall see what weight I can endure.", "In place, my gentle Roland, of this palfrey,", "With all the bells, I'd carry yonder belfry.\"", "", "The Abbot said, \"The steeple may do well,", " But for the bells, you've broken them, I wot.\"", "Morgante answered, \"Let them pay in Hell", " The penalty who lie dead in yon grot;\"", "And hoisting up the horse from where he fell,", " He said, \"Now look if I the gout have got,", "Orlando, in the legs,--or if I have force;\"--", "And then he made two gambols with the horse.", "", "Morgante was like any mountain framed;", " So if he did this 'tis no prodigy;", "But secretly himself Orlando blamed,", " Because he was one of his family;", "And fearing that he might be hurt or maimed,", " Once more he bade him lay his burden by:", "\"Put down, nor bear him further the desert in.\"", "Morgante said, \"I'll carry him for certain.\"", "", "He did; and stowed him in some nook away,", " And to the abbey then returned with speed.", "Orlando said, \"Why longer do we stay?", " Morgante, here is nought to do indeed.\"", "The Abbot by the hand he took one day,", " And said, with great respect, he had agreed", "To leave his reverence; but for this decision", "He wished to have his pardon and permission.", "", "The honours they continued to receive", " Perhaps exceeded what his merits claimed:", "He said, \"I mean, and quickly, to retrieve", " The lost days of time past, which may be blamed;", "Some days ago I should have asked your leave,", " Kind father, but I really was ashamed,", "And know not how to show my sentiment,", "So much I see you with our stay content.", "", "\"But in my heart I bear through every clime", " The Abbot, abbey, and this solitude--", "So much I love you in so short a time;", " For me, from Heaven reward you with all good", "The God so true, the eternal Lord sublime!", " Whose kingdom at the last hath open stood.", "Meantime we stand expectant of your blessing.", "And recommend us to your prayers with pressing.\"", "", "Now when the Abbot Count Orlando heard,", " His heart grew soft with inner tenderness,", "Such fervour in his bosom bred each word;", " And, \"Cavalier,\" he said, \"if I have less", "Courteous and kind to your great worth appeared,", " Than fits me for such gentle blood to express,", "I know I have done too little in this case;", "But blame our ignorance, and this poor place.", "", "\"We can indeed but honour you with masses,", " And sermons, thanksgivings, and pater-nosters,", "Hot suppers, dinners (fitting other places", " In verity much rather than the cloisters);", "But such a love for you my heart embraces,", " For thousand virtues which your bosom fosters,", "That wheresoe'er you go I too shall be,", "And, on the other part, you rest with me.", "", "\"This may involve a seeming contradiction;", " But you I know are sage, and feel, and taste,", "And understand my speech with full conviction.", " For your just pious deeds may you be graced", "With the Lord's great reward and benediction,", " By whom you were directed to this waste:", "To His high mercy is our freedom due,", "For which we render thanks to Him and you.", "", "\"You saved at once our life and soul: such fear", " The Giants caused us, that the way was lost", "By which we could pursue a fit career", " In search of Jesus and the saintly Host;", "And your departure breeds such sorrow here,", " That comfortless we all are to our cost;", "But months and years you would not stay in sloth,", "Nor are you formed to wear our sober cloth,", "", "\"But to bear arms, and wield the lance; indeed,", " With these as much is done as with this cowl;", "In proof of which the Scripture you may read,", " This Giant up to Heaven may bear his soul", "By your compassion: now in peace proceed.", " Your state and name I seek not to unroll;", "But, if I'm asked, this answer shall be given,", "That here an angel was sent down from Heaven.", "", "\"If you want armour or aught else, go in,", " Look o'er the wardrobe, and take what you choose,", "And cover with it o'er this Giant's skin.\"", " Orlando answered, \"If there should lie loose", "Some armour, ere our journey we begin,", " Which might be turned to my companion's use,", "The gift would be acceptable to me.\"", "The Abbot said to him, \"Come in and see.\"", "", "And in a certain closet, where the wall", " Was covered with old armour like a crust,", "The Abbot said to them, \"I give you all.\"", " Morgante rummaged piecemeal from the dust", "The whole, which, save one cuirass, was too small,", " And that too had the mail inlaid with rust.", "They wondered how it fitted him exactly,", "Which ne'er had suited others so compactly.", "", "'Twas an immeasurable Giant's, who", " By the great Milo of Agrante fell", "Before the abbey many years ago.", " The story on the wall was figured well;", "In the last moment of the abbey's foe,", " Who long had waged a war implacable:", "Precisely as the war occurred they drew him,", "And there was Milo as he overthrew him.", "", "Seeing this history, Count Orlando said", " In his own heart, \"O God who in the sky", "Know'st all things! how was Milo hither led?", " Who caused the Giant in this place to die?\"", "And certain letters, weeping, then he read,", " So that he could not keep his visage dry,--", "As I will tell in the ensuing story:", "From evil keep you the high King of Glory!" ], "linecount": "689" }, { "title": "Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice; an Historical Tragedy, in Five Acts", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " \"_Dux_ inquieti turbidus Adria.\"", " Horace,", "", "\"The young man's wrath is like straw on fire,", "_But like red hot steel is the old man's ire._\"", "", "\"Young men soon give and soon forget affronts,", "Old age is slow at both.\"", "", " Scene Venice--in the year 1355.", "", "ACT I.", "", "SCENE I.--_An Antechamber in the Ducal Palace_.", "", " PIETRO _speaks, in entering, to_ BATTISTA.", "", "_Pie_. Is not the messenger returned?", "", "_Bat_. Not yet;", "I have sent frequently, as you commanded,", "But still the Signory is deep in council,", "And long debate on Steno's accusation.", "", "_Pie_. Too long--at least so thinks the Doge.", "", "_Bat_. How bears he", "These moments of suspense?", "", "_Pie_. With struggling patience.", "Placed at the Ducal table, covered o'er", "With all the apparel of the state--petitions,", "Despatches, judgments, acts, reprieves, reports,--", "He sits as rapt in duty; but whene'er", "He hears the jarring of a distant door,", "Or aught that intimates a coming step,", "Or murmur of a voice, his quick eye wanders,", "And he will start up from his chair, then pause,", "And seat himself again, and fix his gaze", "Upon some edict; but I have observed", "For the last hour he has not turned a leaf.", "", "_Bat_. 'Tis said he is much moved,--and doubtless 'twas", "Foul scorn in Steno to offend so grossly.", "", "_Pie_. Aye, if a poor man: Steno's a patrician,", "Young, galliard, gay, and haughty.", "", "_Bat_. Then you think", "He will not be judged hardly?", "", "_Pie_. 'Twere enough", "He be judged justly; but 'tis not for us", "To anticipate the sentence of the Forty.", "", "_Bat_. And here it comes.--What news, Vincenzo?", "", " _Enter_ VINCENZO.", "", "_Vin_. 'Tis", "Decided; but as yet his doom's unknown:", "I saw the President in act to seal", "The parchment which will bear the Forty's judgment", "Unto the Doge, and hasten to inform him.", "[_Exeunt_.", "", "SCENE II.--The Ducal Chamber.", "", " MARINO FALIERO, _Doge; and his Nephew_, BERTUCCIO FALIERO.", "", "_Ber. F._ It cannot be but they will do you justice.", "", "_Doge_. Aye, such as the Avogadori did,", "Who sent up my appeal unto the Forty", "To try him by his peers, his own tribunal.", "", "_Ber. F._ His peers will scarce protect him; such an act", "Would bring contempt on all authority.", "", "_Doge_. Know you not Venice? Know you not the Forty?", "But we shall see anon.", "", "_Ber. F._ (_addressing_ VINCENZO, _then entering_.)", " How now--what tidings?", "", "_Vin_. I am charged to tell his Highness that the court", "Has passed its resolution, and that, soon", "As the due forms of judgment are gone through,", "The sentence will be sent up to the Doge;", "In the mean time the Forty doth salute", "The Prince of the Republic, and entreat", "His acceptation of their duty.", "", "_Doge_. Yes--", "They are wond'rous dutiful, and ever humble.", "Sentence is passed, you say?", "", "_Vin_. It is, your Highness:", "The President was sealing it, when I", "Was called in, that no moment might be lost", "In forwarding the intimation due", "Not only to the Chief of the Republic,", "But the complainant, both in one united.", "", "_Ber. F._ Are you aware, from aught you have perceived,", "Of their decision?", "", "_Vin_. No, my Lord; you know", "The secret custom of the courts in Venice.", "", "_Ber. F._ True; but there still is something given to guess,", "Which a shrewd gleaner and quick eye would catch at;", "A whisper, or a murmur, or an air", "More or less solemn spread o'er the tribunal.", "The Forty are but men--most worthy men,", "And wise, and just, and cautious--this I grant--", "And secret as the grave to which they doom", "The guilty: but with all this, in their aspects--", "At least in some, the juniors of the number--", "A searching eye, an eye like yours, Vincenzo,", "Would read the sentence ere it was pronounced.", "", "_Vin_. My Lord, I came away upon the moment,", "And had no leisure to take note of that", "Which passed among the judges, even in seeming;", "My station near the accused too, Michel Steno,", "Made me--", "", "_Doge_ (_abruptly_). And how looked _he_? deliver that.", "", "_Vin_. Calm, but not overcast, he stood resigned", "To the decree, whate'er it were;--but lo!", "It comes, for the perusal of his Highness.", "", " _Enter the_ SECRETARY _of the Forty_.", "", "_Sec_. The high tribunal of the Forty sends", "Health and respect to the Doge Faliero,", "Chief magistrate of Venice, and requests", "His Highness to peruse and to approve", "The sentence passed on Michel Steno, born", "Patrician, and arraigned upon the charge", "Contained, together with its penalty,", "Within the rescript which I now present.", "", "_Doge_. Retire, and wait without.", "", " Take thou this paper:", "The misty letters vanish from my eyes;", "I cannot fix them.", "", "_Ber. F._ Patience, my dear Uncle:", "Why do you tremble thus?--nay, doubt not, all", "Will be as could be wished.", "", "_Doge_. Say on.", "", "_Ber. F._ (_reading_). \"Decreed", "In council, without one dissenting voice,", "That Michel Steno, by his own confession,", "Guilty on the last night of Carnival", "Of having graven on the ducal throne", "The following words--\"", "", "_Doge_. Would'st thou repeat them?", "Would'st _thou_ repeat them--_thou_, a Faliero,", "Harp on the deep dishonour of our house,", "Dishonoured in its Chief--that Chief the Prince", "Of Venice, first of cities?--To the sentence.", "", "_Ber. F._ Forgive me, my good Lord; I will obey--", "(_Reads_) \"That Michel Steno be detained a month", "In close arrest.\"", "", "_Doge_. Proceed.", "", "_Ber. F._ My Lord, 'tis finished.", "", "_Doge_. How say you?--finished! Do I dream?--'tis false--", "Give me the paper--(_snatches the paper and reads_)--", " \"'Tis decreed in council", "That Michel Steno\"--Nephew, thine arm!", "", "_Ber. F._ Nay,", "Cheer up, be calm; this transport is uncalled for--", "Let me seek some assistance.", "", "_Doge_. Stop, sir--Stir not--", "'Tis past.", "", "_Ber. F._ I cannot but agree with you", "The sentence is too slight for the offence;", "It is not honourable in the Forty", "To affix so slight a penalty to that", "Which was a foul affront to you, and even", "To them, as being your subjects; but 'tis not", "Yet without remedy: you can appeal", "To them once more, or to the Avogadori,", "Who, seeing that true justice is withheld,", "Will now take up the cause they once declined,", "And do you right upon the bold delinquent.", "Think you not thus, good Uncle? why do you stand", "So fixed? You heed me not:--I pray you, hear me!", "", "_Doge_ (_dashing down the ducal bonnet, and offering to", "trample upon it, exclaims, as he is withheld by his nephew_).", "Oh! that the Saracen were in St. Mark's!", "Thus would I do him homage.", "", "_Ber. F._ For the sake", "Of Heaven and all its saints, my Lord--", "", "_Doge_. Away!", "Oh, that the Genoese were in the port!", "Oh, that the Huns whom I o'erthrew at Zara", "Were ranged around the palace!", "", "_Ber. F._ 'Tis not well", "In Venice' Duke to say so.", "", "_Doge_. Venice' Duke!", "Who now is Duke in Venice? let me see him,", "That he may do me right.", "", "_Ber. F._ If you forget", "Your office, and its dignity and duty.", "Remember that of man, and curb this passion.", "The Duke of Venice----", "", "_Doge_ (_interrupting him_). There is no such thing--", "It is a word--nay, worse--a worthless by-word:", "The most despised, wronged, outraged, helpless wretch,", "Who begs his bread, if 'tis refused by one,", "May win it from another kinder heart;", "But he, who is denied his right by those", "Whose place it is to do no wrong, is poorer", "Than the rejected beggar--he's a slave--", "And that am I--and thou--and all our house,", "Even from this hour; the meanest artisan", "Will point the finger, and the haughty noble", "May spit upon us:--where is our redress?", "", "_Ber. F._ The law, my Prince--", "", "_Doge_ (_interrupting him_). You see what it has done;", "I asked no remedy but from the law--", "I sought no vengeance but redress by law--", "I called no judges but those named by law--", "As Sovereign, I appealed unto my subjects,", "The very subjects who had made me Sovereign,", "And gave me thus a double right to be so.", "The rights of place and choice, of birth and service,", "Honours and years, these scars, these hoary hairs,", "The travel--toil--the perils--the fatigues--", "The blood and sweat of almost eighty years,", "Were weighed i' the balance, 'gainst the foulest stain,", "The grossest insult, most contemptuous crime", "Of a rank, rash patrician--and found wanting!", "And this is to be borne!", "", "_Ber. F._ I say not that:--", "In case your fresh appeal should be rejected,", "We will find other means to make all even.", "", "_Doge_. Appeal again! art thou my brother's son?", "A scion of the house of Faliero?", "The nephew of a Doge? and of that blood", "Which hath already given three dukes to Venice?", "But thou say'st well--we must be humble now.", "", "_Ber. F._ My princely Uncle! you are too much moved;--", "I grant it was a gross offence, and grossly", "Left without fitting punishment: but still", "This fury doth exceed the provocation,", "Or any provocation: if we are wronged,", "We will ask justice; if it be denied,", "We'll take it; but may do all this in calmness--", "Deep Vengeance is the daughter of deep Silence.", "I have yet scarce a third part of your years,", "I love our house, I honour you, its Chief,", "The guardian of my youth, and its instructor--", "But though I understand your grief, and enter", "In part of your disdain, it doth appal me", "To see your anger, like our Adrian waves,", "O'ersweep all bounds, and foam itself to air.", "", "_Doge_. I tell thee--_must_ I tell thee--what thy father", "Would have required no words to comprehend?", "Hast thou no feeling save the external sense", "Of torture from the touch? hast thou no soul--", "No pride--no passion--no deep sense of honour?", "", "_Ber. F._ 'Tis the first time that honour has been doubted,", "And were the last, from any other sceptic.", "", "_Doge_. You know the full offence of this born villain,", "This creeping, coward, rank, acquitted felon,", "Who threw his sting into a poisonous libel,", "And on the honour of--Oh God! my wife,", "The nearest, dearest part of all men's honour,", "Left a base slur to pass from mouth to mouth", "Of loose mechanics, with all coarse foul comments,", "And villainous jests, and blasphemies obscene;", "While sneering nobles, in more polished guise,", "Whispered the tale, and smiled upon the lie", "Which made me look like them--a courteous wittol,", "Patient--aye--proud, it may be, of dishonour.", "", "_Ber. F._ But still it was a lie--you knew it false,", "And so did all men.", "", "_Doge_. Nephew, the high Roman", "Said, \"Cæsar's wife must not even be suspected,\"", "And put her from him.", "", "_Ber. F._ True--but in those days----", "", "_Doge_. What is it that a Roman would not suffer,", "That a Venetian Prince must bear? old Dandolo", "Refused the diadem of all the Cæsars,", "And wore the ducal cap _I_ trample on--", "Because 'tis now degraded.", "", "_Ber. F._ 'Tis even so.", "", "_Doge_. It is--it is;--I did not visit on", "The innocent creature thus most vilely slandered", "Because she took an old man for her lord,", "For that he had been long her father's friend", "And patron of her house, as if there were", "No love in woman's heart but lust of youth", "And beardless faces;--I did not for this", "Visit the villain's infamy on her,", "But craved my country's justice on his head,", "The justice due unto the humblest being", "Who hath a wife whose faith is sweet to him,", "Who hath a home whose hearth is dear to him--", "Who hath a name whose honour's all to him,", "When these are tainted by the accursing breath", "Of Calumny and Scorn.", "", "_Ber. F._ And what redress", "Did you expect as his fit punishment?", "", "_Doge_. Death! Was I not the Sovereign of the state--", "Insulted on his very throne, and made", "A mockery to the men who should obey me?", "Was I not injured as a husband? scorned", "As man? reviled, degraded, as a Prince?", "Was not offence like his a complication", "Of insult and of treason?--and he lives!", "Had he instead of on the Doge's throne", "Stamped the same brand upon a peasant's stool,", "His blood had gilt the threshold; for the carle", "Had stabbed him on the instant.", "", "_Ber. F._ Do not doubt it,", "He shall not live till sunset--leave to me", "The means, and calm yourself.", "", "_Doge_. Hold, nephew: this", "Would have sufficed but yesterday; at present", "I have no further wrath against this man.", "", "_Ber. F._ What mean you? is not the offence redoubled", "By this most rank--I will not say--acquittal;", "For it is worse, being full acknowledgment", "Of the offence, and leaving it unpunished?", "", "_Doge_. It is _redoubled_, but not now by him:", "The Forty hath decreed a month's arrest--", "We must obey the Forty.", "", "_Ber. F._ Obey _them_!", "Who have forgot their duty to the Sovereign?", "", "_Doge_. Why, yes;--boy, you perceive it then at last;", "Whether as fellow citizen who sues", "For justice, or as Sovereign who commands it,", "They have defrauded me of both my rights", "(For here the Sovereign is a citizen);", "But, notwithstanding, harm not thou a hair", "Of Steno's head--he shall not wear it long.", "", "_Ber. F._ Not twelve hours longer, had you left to me", "The mode and means; if you had calmly heard me,", "I never meant this miscreant should escape,", "But wished you to suppress such gusts of passion,", "That we more surely might devise together", "His taking off.", "", "_Doge_. No, nephew, he must live;", "At least, just now--a life so vile as his", "Were nothing at this hour; in th' olden time", "Some sacrifices asked a single victim,", "Great expiations had a hecatomb.", "", "_Ber. F._ Your wishes are my law: and yet I fain", "Would prove to you how near unto my heart", "The honour of our house must ever be.", "", "_Doge_. Fear not; you shall have time and place of proof:", "But be not thou too rash, as I have been.", "I am ashamed of my own anger now;", "I pray you, pardon me.", "", "_Ber. F._ Why, that's my uncle!", "The leader, and the statesman, and the chief", "Of commonwealths, and sovereign of himself!", "I wondered to perceive you so forget", "All prudence in your fury at these years,", "Although the cause--", "", "_Doge_. Aye--think upon the cause--", "Forget it not:--When you lie down to rest,", "Let it be black among your dreams; and when", "The morn returns, so let it stand between", "The Sun and you, as an ill-omened cloud", "Upon a summer-day of festival:", "So will it stand to me;--but speak not, stir not,--", "Leave all to me; we shall have much to do,", "And you shall have a part.--But now retire,", "'Tis fit I were alone.", "", "_Ber. F._ (_taking up and placing the ducal bonnet on the table_).", " Ere I depart,", "I pray you to resume what you have spurned,", "Till you can change it--haply, for a crown!", "And now I take my leave, imploring you", "In all things to rely upon my duty,", "As doth become your near and faithful kinsman,", "And not less loyal citizen and subject.", " [Exit BERTUCCIO FALIERO.", "", "_Doge_ (_solus_). Adieu, my worthy nephew.--Hollow bauble!", " [_Taking up the ducal cap_.", "Beset with all the thorns that line a crown,", "Without investing the insulted brow", "With the all-swaying majesty of Kings;", "Thou idle, gilded, and degraded toy,", "Let me resume thee as I would a vizor. [_Puts it on_.", "How my brain aches beneath thee! and my temples", "Throb feverish under thy dishonest weight.", "Could I not turn thee to a diadem?", "Could I not shatter the Briarean sceptre", "Which in this hundred-handed Senate rules,", "Making the people nothing, and the Prince", "A pageant? In my life I have achieved", "Tasks not less difficult--achieved for them,", "Who thus repay me! Can I not requite them?", "Oh for one year! Oh! but for even a day", "Of my full youth, while yet my body served", "My soul as serves the generous steed his lord,", "I would have dashed amongst them, asking few", "In aid to overthrow these swoln patricians;", "But now I must look round for other hands", "To serve this hoary head; but it shall plan", "In such a sort as will not leave the task", "Herculean, though as yet 'tis but a chaos", "Of darkly brooding thoughts: my fancy is", "In her first work, more nearly to the light", "Holding the sleeping images of things", "For the selection of the pausing judgment.--", "The troops are few in----", "", " _Enter_ VINCENZO.", "", "_Vin_. There is one without", "Craves audience of your Highness.", "", "_Doge_. I'm unwell--", "I can see no one, not even a patrician--", "Let him refer his business to the Council.", "", "_Vin_. My Lord, I will deliver your reply;", "It cannot much import--he's a plebeian,", "The master of a galley, I believe.", "", "_Doge_. How! did you say the patron of a galley?", "That is--I mean--a servant of the state:", "Admit him, he may be on public service.", " [_Exit_ VINCENZO.", "", "_Doge_ (_solus_). This patron may be sounded; I will try him.", "I know the people to be discontented:", "They have cause, since Sapienza's adverse day,", "When Genoa conquered: they have further cause,", "Since they are nothing in the state, and in", "The city worse than nothing--mere machines,", "To serve the nobles' most patrician pleasure.", "The troops have long arrears of pay, oft promised,", "And murmur deeply--any hope of change", "Will draw them forward: they shall pay themselves", "With plunder:--but the priests--I doubt the priesthood", "Will not be with us; they have hated me", "Since that rash hour, when, maddened with the drone,", "I smote the tardy Bishop at Treviso,", "Quickening his holy march; yet, ne'ertheless,", "They may be won, at least their Chief at Rome,", "By some well-timed concessions; but, above", "All things, I must be speedy: at my hour", "Of twilight little light of life remains.", "Could I free Venice, and avenge my wrongs,", "I had lived too long, and willingly would sleep", "Next moment with my sires; and, wanting this,", "Better that sixty of my fourscore years", "Had been already where--how soon, I care not--", "The whole must be extinguished;--better that", "They ne'er had been, than drag me on to be", "The thing these arch-oppressors fain would make me.", "Let me consider--of efficient troops", "There are three thousand posted at----", "", " _Enter_ VINCENZO _and_ ISRAEL BERTUCCIO.", "", "_Vin_. May it please", "Your Highness, the same patron whom I spake of", "Is here to crave your patience.", "", "_Doge_. Leave the chamber,", "Vincenzo.--", " [_Exit_ VINCENZO.", " Sir, you may advance--what would you?", "", "_I. Ber_. Redress.", "", "_Doge_. Of whom?", "", "_I. Ber_. Of God and of the Doge.", "", "_Doge_. Alas! my friend, you seek it of the twain", "Of least respect and interest in Venice.", "You must address the Council.", "", "_I. Ber_. 'Twere in vain;", "For he who injured me is one of them.", "", "_Doge_. There's blood upon thy face--how came it there?", "", "_I. Ber_. 'Tis mine, and not the first I've shed for Venice,", "But the first shed by a Venetian hand:", "A noble smote me.", "", "_Doge_. Doth he live?", "", "_I. Ber_. Not long--", "But for the hope I had and have, that you,", "My Prince, yourself a soldier, will redress", "Him, whom the laws of discipline and Venice", "Permit not to protect himself:--if not--", "I say no more.", "", "_Doge_. But something you would do--", "Is it not so?", "", "_I. Ber_. I am a man, my Lord.", "", "_Doge_. Why so is he who smote you.", "", "_I. Ber_. He is called so;", "Nay, more, a noble one--at least, in Venice:", "But since he hath forgotten that I am one,", "And treats me like a brute, the brute may turn--", "'Tis said the worm will.", "", "_Doge_. Say--his name and lineage?", "", "_I. Ber_. Barbaro.", "", "_Doge_. What was the cause? or the pretext?", "", "_I. Ber_. I am the chief of the arsenal, employed", "At present in repairing certain galleys", "But roughly used by the Genoese last year.", "This morning comes the noble Barbaro", "Full of reproof, because our artisans", "Had left some frivolous order of his house,", "To execute the state's decree: I dared", "To justify the men--he raised his hand;--", "Behold my blood! the first time it e'er flowed", "Dishonourably.", "", "_Doge_. Have you long time served?", "", "_I. Ber_. So long as to remember Zara's siege,", "And fight beneath the Chief who beat the Huns there,", "Sometime my general, now the Doge Faliero.--", "", "_Doge_. How! are we comrades?--the State's ducal robes", "Sit newly on me, and you were appointed", "Chief of the arsenal ere I came from Rome;", "So that I recognised you not. Who placed you?", "", "_I. Ber_. The late Doge; keeping still my old command", "As patron of a galley: my new office", "Was given as the reward of certain scars", "(So was your predecessor pleased to say):", "I little thought his bounty would conduct me", "To his successor as a helpless plaintiff;", "At least, in such a cause.", "", "_Doge_. Are you much hurt?", "", "_I. Ber_. Irreparably in my self-esteem.", "", "_Doge_. Speak out; fear nothing: being stung at heart,", "What would you do to be revenged on this man?", "", "_I. Ber_. That which I dare not name, and yet will do.", "", "_Doge_. Then wherefore came you here?", "", "_I. Ber_. I come for justice,", "Because my general is Doge, and will not", "See his old soldier trampled on. Had any,", "Save Faliero, filled the ducal throne,", "This blood had been washed out in other blood.", "", "_Doge_. You come to me for justice--unto _me!_", "The Doge of Venice, and I cannot give it;", "I cannot even obtain it--'twas denied", "To me most solemnly an hour ago!", "", "_I. Ber_. How says your Highness?", "", "_Doge_. Steno is condemned", "To a month's confinement.", "", "_I. Ber_. What! the same who dared", "To stain the ducal throne with those foul words,", "That have cried shame to every ear in Venice?", "", "_Doge_. Aye, doubtless they have echoed o'er the arsenal,", "Keeping due time with every hammer's clink,", "As a good jest to jolly artisans;", "Or making chorus to the creaking oar,", "In the vile tune of every galley-slave,", "Who, as he sung the merry stave, exulted", "_He_ was not a shamed dotard like the Doge.", "", "_I. Ber_. Is't possible? a month's imprisonment!", "No more for Steno?", "", "_Doge_. You have heard the offence,", "And now you know his punishment; and then", "You ask redress of _me_! Go to the Forty,", "Who passed the sentence upon Michel Steno;", "They'll do as much by Barbaro, no doubt.", "", "_I. Ber_. Ah! dared I speak my feelings!", "", "_Doge_. Give them breath.", "Mine have no further outrage to endure.", "", "_I. Ber_. Then, in a word, it rests but on your word", "To punish and avenge--I will not say", "_My_ petty wrong, for what is a mere blow,", "However vile, to such a thing as I am?--", "But the base insult done your state and person.", "", "_Doge_. You overrate my power, which is a pageant.", "This Cap is not the Monarch's crown; these robes", "Might move compassion, like a beggar's rags;", "Nay, more, a beggar's are his own, and these", "But lent to the poor puppet, who must play", "Its part with all its empire in this ermine.", "", "_I. Ber_. Wouldst thou be King?", "", "_Doge_. Yes--of a happy people.", "", "_I. Ber_. Wouldst thou be sovereign lord of Venice?", "", "_Doge_. Aye,", "If that the people shared that sovereignty,", "So that nor they nor I were further slaves", "To this o'ergrown aristocratic Hydra,", "The poisonous heads of whose envenomed body", "Have breathed a pestilence upon us all.", "", "_I. Ber_. Yet, thou wast born, and still hast lived, patrician.", "", "_Doge_. In evil hour was I so born; my birth", "Hath made me Doge to be insulted: but", "I lived and toiled a soldier and a servant", "Of Venice and her people, not the Senate;", "Their good and my own honour were my guerdon.", "I have fought and bled; commanded, aye, and conquered;", "Have made and marred peace oft in embassies,", "As it might chance to be our country's 'vantage;", "Have traversed land and sea in constant duty,", "Through almost sixty years, and still for Venice,", "My fathers' and my birthplace, whose dear spires,", "Rising at distance o'er the blue Lagoon,", "It was reward enough for me to view", "Once more; but not for any knot of men,", "Nor sect, nor faction, did I bleed or sweat!", "But would you know why I have done all this?", "Ask of the bleeding pelican why she", "Hath ripped her bosom? Had the bird a voice,", "She'd tell thee 'twas for _all_ her little ones.", "", "_I. Ber_. And yet they made thee Duke.", "", "_Doge_. _They made_ me so;", "I sought it not, the flattering fetters met me", "Returning from my Roman embassy,", "And never having hitherto refused", "Toil, charge, or duty for the state, I did not,", "At these late years, decline what was the highest", "Of all in seeming, but of all most base", "In what we have to do and to endure:", "Bear witness for me thou, my injured subject,", "When I can neither right myself nor thee.", "", "_I. Ber_. You shall do both, if you possess the will;", "And many thousands more not less oppressed,", "Who wait but for a signal--will you give it?", "", "_Doge_. You speak in riddles.", "", "_I. Ber_. Which shall soon be read", "At peril of my life--if you disdain not", "To lend a patient ear.", "", "_Doge_. Say on.", "", "_I. Ber_. Not thou,", "Nor I alone, are injured and abused,", "Contemned and trampled on; but the whole people", "Groan with the strong conception of their wrongs:", "The foreign soldiers in the Senate's pay", "Are discontented for their long arrears;", "The native mariners, and civic troops,", "Feel with their friends; for who is he amongst them", "Whose brethren, parents, children, wives, or sisters,", "Have not partook oppression, or pollution,", "From the patricians? And the hopeless war", "Against the Genoese, which is still maintained", "With the plebeian blood, and treasure wrung", "From their hard earnings, has inflamed them further:", "Even now--but, I forget that speaking thus,", "Perhaps I pass the sentence of my death!", "", "_Doge_. And suffering what thou hast done--fear'st thou death?", "Be silent then, and live on, to be beaten", "By those for whom thou hast bled.", "", "_I. Ber_. No, I will speak", "At every hazard; and if Venice' Doge", "Should turn delator, be the shame on him,", "And sorrow too; for he will lose far more", "Than I.", "", "_Doge_. From me fear nothing; out with it!", "", "_I. Ber_. Know then, that there are met and sworn in secret", "A band of brethren, valiant hearts and true;", "Men who have proved all fortunes, and have long", "Grieved over that of Venice, and have right", "To do so; having served her in all climes,", "And having rescued her from foreign foes,", "Would do the same from those within her walls.", "They are not numerous, nor yet too few", "For their great purpose; they have arms, and means,", "And hearts, and hopes, and faith, and patient courage.", "", "_Doge_. For what then do they pause?", "", "_I. Ber_. An hour to strike.", "", "_Doge_ (_aside_). Saint Mark's shall strike that hour!", "", "_I. Ber_. I now have placed", "My life, my honour, all my earthly hopes", "Within thy power, but in the firm belief", "That injuries like ours, sprung from one cause,", "Will generate one vengeance: should it be so,", "Be our Chief now--our Sovereign hereafter.", "", "_Doge_. How many are ye?", "", "_I. Ber_. I'll not answer that", "Till I am answered.", "", "_Doge_. How, sir! do you menace?", "", "_I. Ber_. No; I affirm. I have betrayed myself;", "But there's no torture in the mystic wells", "Which undermine your palace, nor in those", "Not less appalling cells, the \"leaden roofs,\"", "To force a single name from me of others.", "The Pozzi and the Piombi were in vain;", "They might wring blood from me, but treachery never.", "And I would pass the fearful \"Bridge of Sighs,\"", "Joyous that mine must be the last that e'er", "Would echo o'er the Stygian wave which flows", "Between the murderers and the murdered, washing", "The prison and the palace walls: there are", "Those who would live to think on't, and avenge me.", "", "_Doge_. If such your power and purpose, why come here", "To sue for justice, being in the course", "To do yourself due right?", "", "_I. Ber_. Because the man,", "Who claims protection from authority,", "Showing his confidence and his submission", "To that authority, can hardly be", "Suspected of combining to destroy it.", "Had I sate down too humbly with this blow,", "A moody brow and muttered threats had made me", "A marked man to the Forty's inquisition;", "But loud complaint, however angrily", "It shapes its phrase, is little to be feared,", "And less distrusted. But, besides all this,", "I had another reason.", "", "_Doge_. What was that?", "", "_I. Ber_. Some rumours that the Doge was greatly moved", "By the reference of the Avogadori", "Of Michel Steno's sentence to the Forty", "Had reached me. I had served you, honoured you,", "And felt that you were dangerously insulted,", "Being of an order of such spirits, as", "Requite tenfold both good and evil: 'twas", "My wish to prove and urge you to redress.", "Now you know all; and that I speak the truth,", "My peril be the proof.", "", "_Doge_. You have deeply ventured;", "But all must do so who would greatly win:", "Thus far I'll answer you--your secret's safe.", "", "_I. Ber_. And is this all?", "", "_Doge_. Unless with all intrusted,", "What would you have me answer?", "", "_I. Ber_. I would have you", "Trust him who leaves his life in trust with you.", "", "_Doge_. But I must know your plan, your names, and numbers;", "The last may then be doubled, and the former", "Matured and strengthened.", "", "_I. Ber_. We're enough already;", "You are the sole ally we covet now.", "", "_Doge_. But bring me to the knowledge of your chiefs.", "", "_I. Ber_. That shall be done upon your formal pledge", "To keep the faith that we will pledge to you.", "", "_Doge_. When? where?", "", "_I. Ber_. This night I'll bring to your apartment", "Two of the principals: a greater number", "Were hazardous.", "", "_Doge_. Stay, I must think of this.--", "What if I were to trust myself amongst you,", "And leave the palace?", "", "_I. Ber_. You must come alone.", "", "_Doge_. With but my nephew.", "", "_I. Ber_. Not were he your son!", "", "_Doge_. Wretch! darest thou name my son? He died in arms", "At Sapienza for this faithless state.", "Oh! that he were alive, and I in ashes!", "Or that he were alive ere I be ashes!", "I should not need the dubious aid of strangers.", "", "_I. Ber_. Not one of all those strangers whom thou doubtest,", "But will regard thee with a filial feeling,", "So that thou keep'st a father's faith with them.", "", "_Doge_. The die is cast. Where is the place of meeting?", "", "_I. Ber_. At midnight I will be alone and masked", "Where'er your Highness pleases to direct me,", "To wait your coming, and conduct you where", "You shall receive our homage, and pronounce", "Upon our project.", "", "_Doge_. At what hour arises", "The moon?", "", "_I. Ber_. Late, but the atmosphere is thick and dusky,", "'Tis a sirocco.", "", "_Doge_. At the midnight hour, then,", "Near to the church where sleep my sires; the same,", "Twin-named from the apostles John and Paul;", "A gondola, with one oar only, will", "Lurk in the narrow channel which glides by.", "Be there.", "", "_I. Ber_. I will not fail.", "", "_Doge_. And now retire----", "", "_I. Ber_. In the full hope your Highness will not falter", "In your great purpose. Prince, I take my leave.", " [_Exit_ Isreal Bertuccio.", "", "_Doge_ (_solus_). At midnight, by the church Saints John and Paul,", "Where sleep my noble fathers, I repair--", "To what? to hold a council in the dark", "With common ruffians leagued to ruin states!", "And will not my great sires leap from the vault,", "Where lie two Doges who preceded me,", "And pluck me down amongst them? Would they could!", "For I should rest in honour with the honoured.", "Alas! I must not think of them, but those", "Who have made me thus unworthy of a name", "Noble and brave as aught of consular", "On Roman marbles; but I will redeem it", "Back to its antique lustre in our annals,", "By sweet revenge on all that's base in Venice,", "And freedom to the rest, or leave it black", "To all the growing calumnies of Time,", "Which never spare the fame of him who fails,", "But try the Cæsar, or the Catiline,", "By the true touchstone of desert--Success.", "", "ACT II.", "", "SCENE I.--_An Apartment in the Ducal Palace_.", "", " ANGIOLINA (_wife of the_ DOGE) _and_ MARIANNA.", "", "_Ang_. What was the Doge's answer?", "", "_Mar_. That he was", "That moment summoned to a conference;", "But 'tis by this time ended. I perceived", "Not long ago the Senators embarking;", "And the last gondola may now be seen", "Gliding into the throng of barks which stud", "The glittering waters.", "", "_Ang_. Would he were returned!", "He has been much disquieted of late;", "And Time, which has not tamed his fiery spirit,", "Nor yet enfeebled even his mortal frame,", "Which seems to be more nourished by a soul", "So quick and restless that it would consume", "Less hardy clay--Time has but little power", "On his resentments or his griefs. Unlike", "To other spirits of his order, who,", "In the first burst of passion, pour away", "Their wrath or sorrow, all things wear in him", "An aspect of Eternity: his thoughts,", "His feelings, passions, good or evil, all", "Have nothing of old age; and his bold brow", "Bears but the scars of mind, the thoughts of years,", "Not their decrepitude: and he of late", "Has been more agitated than his wont.", "Would he were come! for I alone have power", "Upon his troubled spirit.", "", "_Mar_. It is true,", "His Highness has of late been greatly moved", "By the affront of Steno, and with cause:", "But the offender doubtless even now", "Is doomed to expiate his rash insult with", "Such chastisement as will enforce respect", "To female virtue, and to noble blood.", "", "_Ang_. 'Twas a gross insult; but I heed it not", "For the rash scorner's falsehood in itself,", "But for the effect, the deadly deep impression", "Which it has made upon Faliero's soul,", "The proud, the fiery, the austere--austere", "To all save me: I tremble when I think", "To what it may conduct.", "", "_Mar_. Assuredly", "The Doge can not suspect you?", "", "_Ang_. Suspect _me!_", "Why Steno dared not: when he scrawled his lie,", "Grovelling by stealth in the moon's glimmering light,", "His own still conscience smote him for the act,", "And every shadow on the walls frowned shame", "Upon his coward calumny.", "", "_Mar_. 'Twere fit", "He should be punished grievously.", "", "_Ang_. He is so.", "", "_Mar_. What! is the sentence passed? is he condemned?", "", "_Ang_. I know not that, but he has been detected.", "", "_Mar_. And deem you this enough for such foul scorn?", "", "_Ang_. I would not be a judge in my own cause,", "Nor do I know what sense of punishment", "May reach the soul of ribalds such as Steno;", "But if his insults sink no deeper in", "The minds of the inquisitors than they", "Have ruffled mine, he will, for all acquittance,", "Be left to his own shamelessness or shame.", "", "_Mar_. Some sacrifice is due to slandered virtue.", "", "_Ang_. Why, what is virtue if it needs a victim?", "Or if it must depend upon men's words?", "The dying Roman said, \"'twas but a name:\"", "It were indeed no more, if human breath", "Could make or mar it.", "", "_Mar_. Yet full many a dame,", "Stainless and faithful, would feel all the wrong", "Of such a slander; and less rigid ladies,", "Such as abound in Venice, would be loud", "And all-inexorable in their cry", "For justice.", "", "_Ang_. This but proves it is the name", "And not the quality they prize: the first", "Have found it a hard task to hold their honour,", "If they require it to be blazoned forth;", "And those who have not kept it, seek its seeming", "As they would look out for an ornament", "Of which they feel the want, but not because", "They think it so; they live in others' thoughts,", "And would seem honest as they must seem fair.", "", "_Mar_. You have strange thoughts for a patrician dame.", "", "_Ang_. And yet they were my father's; with his name,", "The sole inheritance he left.", "", "_Mar_. You want none;", "Wife to a Prince, the Chief of the Republic.", "", "_Ang_. I should have sought none though a peasant's bride,", "But feel not less the love and gratitude", "Due to my father, who bestowed my hand", "Upon his early, tried, and trusted friend,", "The Count Val di Marino, now our Doge.", "", "_Mar_. And with that hand did he bestow your heart?", "", "_Ang_. He did so, or it had not been bestowed.", "", "_Mar_. Yet this strange disproportion in your years,", "And, let me add, disparity of tempers,", "Might make the world doubt whether such an union", "Could make you wisely, permanently happy.", "", "_Ang_. The world will think with worldlings; but my heart", "Has still been in my duties, which are many,", "But never difficult.", "", "_Mar_. And do you love him?", "", "_Ang_. I love all noble qualities which merit", "Love, and I loved my father, who first taught me", "To single out what we should love in others,", "And to subdue all tendency to lend", "The best and purest feelings of our nature", "To baser passions. He bestowed my hand", "Upon Faliero: he had known him noble,", "Brave, generous; rich in all the qualities", "Of soldier, citizen, and friend; in all", "Such have I found him as my father said.", "His faults are those that dwell in the high bosoms", "Of men who have commanded; too much pride,", "And the deep passions fiercely fostered by", "The uses of patricians, and a life", "Spent in the storms of state and war; and also", "From the quick sense of honour, which becomes", "A duty to a certain sign, a vice", "When overstrained, and this I fear in him.", "And then he has been rash from his youth upwards,", "Yet tempered by redeeming nobleness", "In such sort, that the wariest of republics", "Has lavished all its chief employs upon him,", "From his first fight to his last embassy,", "From which on his return the Dukedom met him.", "", "_Mar_. But previous to this marriage, had your heart", "Ne'er beat for any of the noble youth,", "Such as in years had been more meet to match", "Beauty like yours? or, since, have you ne'er seen", "One, who, if your fair hand were still to give,", "Might now pretend to Loredano's daughter?", "", "_Ang_. I answered your first question when I said", "I married.", "", "_Mar_. And the second?", "", "_Ang_. Needs no answer.", "", "_Mar_. I pray you pardon, if I have offended.", "", "_Ang_. I feel no wrath, but some surprise: I knew not", "That wedded bosoms could permit themselves", "To ponder upon what they _now_ might choose,", "Or aught save their past choice.", "", "_Mar_. 'Tis their past choice", "That far too often makes them deem they would", "Now choose more wisely, could they cancel it.", "", "_Ang_. It may be so. I knew not of such thoughts.", "", "_Mar_. Here comes the Doge--shall I retire?", "", "_Ang_. It may", "Be better you should quit me; he seems rapt", "In thought.--How pensively he takes his way!", " [_Exit_ MARIANNA.", "", " _Enter the_ DOGE _and_ PIETRO.", "", "_Doge_ (_musing_). There is a certain Philip Calendaro", "Now in the Arsenal, who holds command", "Of eighty men, and has great influence", "Besides on all the spirits of his comrades:", "This man, I hear, is bold and popular,", "Sudden and daring, and yet secret; 'twould", "Be well that he were won: I needs must hope", "That Israel Bertuccio has secured him,", "But fain would be----", "", "_Pie_. My Lord, pray pardon me", "For breaking in upon your meditation;", "The Senator Bertuccio, your kinsman,", "Charged me to follow and enquire your pleasure", "To fix an hour when he may speak with you.", "", "_Doge_. At sunset.--Stay a moment--let me see--", "Say in the second hour of night. [_Exit_ PIETRO.", "", "_Ang_. My Lord!", "", "_Doge_. My dearest child, forgive me--why delay", "So long approaching me?--I saw you not.", "", "_Ang_. You were absorbed in thought, and he who now", "Has parted from you might have words of weight", "To bear you from the Senate.", "", "_Doge_. From the Senate?", "", "_Ang_. I would not interrupt him in his duty", "And theirs.", "", "_Doge_. The Senate's duty! you mistake;", "'Tis we who owe all service to the Senate.", "", "_Ang_. I thought the Duke had held command in Venice.", "", "_Doge_. He shall.--But let that pass.--We will be jocund.", "How fares it with you? have you been abroad?", "The day is overcast, but the calm wave", "Favours the gondolier's light skimming oar;", "Or have you held a levee of your friends?", "Or has your music made you solitary?", "Say--is there aught that you would will within", "The little sway now left the Duke? or aught", "Of fitting splendour, or of honest pleasure,", "Social or lonely, that would glad your heart,", "To compensate for many a dull hour, wasted", "On an old man oft moved with many cares?", "Speak, and 'tis done.", "", "_Ang_. You're ever kind to me.", "I have nothing to desire, or to request,", "Except to see you oftener and calmer.", "", "_Doge_. Calmer?", "", "_Ang_. Aye, calmer, my good Lord.--Ah, why", "Do you still keep apart, and walk alone,", "And let such strong emotions stamp your brow,", "As not betraying their full import, yet", "Disclose too much?", "", "_Doge_. Disclose too much!--of what?", "What is there to disclose?", "", "_Ang_. A heart so ill", "At ease.", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis nothing, child.--But in the state", "You know what daily cares oppress all those", "Who govern this precarious commonwealth;", "Now suffering from the Genoese without,", "And malcontents within--'tis this which makes me", "More pensive and less tranquil than my wont.", "", "_Ang_. Yet this existed long before, and never", "Till in these late days did I see you thus.", "Forgive me; there is something at your heart", "More than the mere discharge of public duties,", "Which long use and a talent like to yours", "Have rendered light, nay, a necessity,", "To keep your mind from stagnating. 'Tis not", "In hostile states, nor perils, thus to shake you,--", "You, who have stood all storms and never sunk,", "And climbed up to the pinnacle of power", "And never fainted by the way, and stand", "Upon it, and can look down steadily", "Along the depth beneath, and ne'er feel dizzy.", "Were Genoa's galleys riding in the port,", "Were civil fury raging in Saint Mark's,", "You are not to be wrought on, but would fall,", "As you have risen, with an unaltered brow:", "Your feelings now are of a different kind;", "Something has stung your pride, not patriotism.", "", "_Doge_. Pride! Angiolina? Alas! none is left me.", "", "_Ang_. Yes--the same sin that overthrew the angels,", "And of all sins most easily besets", "Mortals the nearest to the angelic nature:", "The vile are only vain; the great are proud.", "", "_Doge_. I _had_ the pride of honour, of _your_ honour,", "Deep at my heart--But let us change the theme.", "", "_Ang_. Ah no!--As I have ever shared your kindness", "In all things else, let me not be shut out", "From your distress: were it of public import,", "You know I never sought, would never seek", "To win a word from you; but feeling now", "Your grief is private, it belongs to me", "To lighten or divide it. Since the day", "When foolish Steno's ribaldry detected", "Unfixed your quiet, you are greatly changed,", "And I would soothe you back to what you were.", "", "_Doge_. To what I was!--have you heard Steno's sentence?", "", "_Ang_. No.", "", "_Doge_. A month's arrest.", "", "_Ang_. Is it not enough?", "", "_Doge_. Enough!--yes, for a drunken galley slave,", "Who, stung by stripes, may murmur at his master;", "But not for a deliberate, false, cool villain,", "Who stains a Lady's and a Prince's honour", "Even on the throne of his authority.", "", "_Ang_. There seems to be enough in the conviction", "Of a patrician guilty of a falsehood:", "All other punishment were light unto", "His loss of honour.", "", "_Doge_. Such men have no honour;", "They have but their vile lives--and these are spared.", "", "_Ang_. You would not have him die for this offence?", "", "_Doge_. Not _now_:--being still alive, I'd have him live", "Long as _he_ can; he has ceased to merit death;", "The guilty saved hath damned his hundred judges,", "And he is pure, for now his crime is theirs.", "", "_Ang_. Oh! had this false and flippant libeller", "Shed his young blood for his absurd lampoon,", "Ne'er from that moment could this breast have known", "A joyous hour, or dreamless slumber more.", "", "_Doge_. Does not the law of Heaven say blood for blood?", "And he who _taints_ kills more than he who sheds it.", "Is it the _pain_ of blows, or _shame_ of blows,", "That makes such deadly to the sense of man?", "Do not the laws of man say blood for honour,--", "And, less than honour, for a little gold?", "Say not the laws of nations blood for treason?", "Is't nothing to have filled these veins with poison", "For their once healthful current? is it nothing", "To have stained your name and mine--the noblest names?", "Is't nothing to have brought into contempt", "A Prince before his people? to have failed", "In the respect accorded by Mankind", "To youth in woman, and old age in man?", "To virtue in your sex, and dignity", "In ours?--But let them look to it who have saved him.", "", "_Ang_. Heaven bids us to forgive our enemies.", "", "_Doge_. Doth Heaven forgive her own? Is there not Hell", "For wrath eternal?", "", "_Ang_. Do not speak thus wildly--", "Heaven will alike forgive you and your foes.", "", "_Doge_. Amen! May Heaven forgive them!", "", "_Ang_. And will you?", "", "_Doge_. Yes, when they are in Heaven!", "", "_Ang_. And not till then?", "", "_Doge_. What matters my forgiveness? an old man's,", "Worn out, scorned, spurned, abused; what matters then", "My pardon more than my resentment, both", "Being weak and worthless? I have lived too long;", "But let us change the argument.--My child!", "My injured wife, the child of Loredano,", "The brave, the chivalrous, how little deemed", "Thy father, wedding thee unto his friend,", "That he was linking thee to shame!--Alas!", "Shame without sin, for thou art faultless. Hadst thou", "But had a different husband, _any_ husband", "In Venice save the Doge, this blight, this brand,", "This blasphemy had never fallen upon thee.", "So young, so beautiful, so good, so pure,", "To suffer this, and yet be unavenged!", "", "_Ang_. I am too well avenged, for you still love me,", "And trust, and honour me; and all men know", "That you are just, and I am true: what more", "Could I require, or you command?", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis well,", "And may be better; but whate'er betide,", "Be thou at least kind to my memory.", "", "_Ang_. Why speak you thus?", "", "_Doge_. It is no matter why;", "But I would still, whatever others think,", "Have your respect both now and in my grave.", "", "_Ang_. Why should you doubt it? has it ever failed?", "", "_Doge_. Come hither, child! I would a word with you.", "Your father was my friend; unequal Fortune", "Made him my debtor for some courtesies", "Which bind the good more firmly: when, oppressed", "With his last malady, he willed our union,", "It was not to repay me, long repaid", "Before by his great loyalty in friendship;", "His object was to place your orphan beauty", "In honourable safety from the perils,", "Which, in this scorpion nest of vice, assail", "A lonely and undowered maid. I did not", "Think with him, but would not oppose the thought", "Which soothed his death-bed.", "", "_Ang_. I have not forgotten", "The nobleness with which you bade me speak", "If my young heart held any preference", "Which would have made me happier; nor your offer", "To make my dowry equal to the rank", "Of aught in Venice, and forego all claim", "My father's last injunction gave you.", "", "_Doge_. Thus,", "'Twas not a foolish dotard's vile caprice,", "Nor the false edge of agéd appetite,", "Which made me covetous of girlish beauty,", "And a young bride: for in my fieriest youth", "I swayed such passions; nor was this my age", "Infected with that leprosy of lust", "Which taints the hoariest years of vicious men,", "Making them ransack to the very last", "The dregs of pleasure for their vanished joys;", "Or buy in selfish marriage some young victim,", "Too helpless to refuse a state that's honest,", "Too feeling not to know herself a wretch.", "Our wedlock was not of this sort; you had", "Freedom from me to choose, and urged in answer", "Your father's choice.", "", "_Ang_. I did so; I would do so", "In face of earth and Heaven; for I have never", "Repented for my sake; sometimes for yours,", "In pondering o'er your late disquietudes.", "", "_Doge_. I knew my heart would never treat you harshly:", "I knew my days could not disturb you long;", "And then the daughter of my earliest friend,", "His worthy daughter, free to choose again.", "Wealthier and wiser, in the ripest bloom", "Of womanhood, more skilful to select", "By passing these probationary years,", "Inheriting a Prince's name and riches,", "Secured, by the short penance of enduring", "An old man for some summers, against all", "That law's chicane or envious kinsmen might", "Have urged against her right; my best friend's child", "Would choose more fitly in respect of years,", "And not less truly in a faithful heart.", "", "_Ang_. My Lord, I looked but to my father's wishes,", "Hallowed by his last words, and to my heart", "For doing all its duties, and replying", "With faith to him with whom I was affianced.", "Ambitious hopes ne'er crossed my dreams; and should", "The hour you speak of come, it will be seen so.", "", "_Doge_. I do believe you; and I know you true:", "For Love--romantic Love--which in my youth", "I knew to be illusion, and ne'er saw", "Lasting, but often fatal, it had been", "No lure for me, in my most passionate days,", "And could not be so now, did such exist.", "But such respect, and mildly paid regard", "As a true feeling for your welfare, and", "A free compliance with all honest wishes,--", "A kindness to your virtues, watchfulness", "Not shown, but shadowing o'er such little failings", "As Youth is apt in, so as not to check", "Rashly, but win you from them ere you knew", "You had been won, but thought the change your choice;", "A pride not in your beauty, but your conduct;", "A trust in you; a patriarchal love,", "And not a doting homage; friendship, faith,--", "Such estimation in your eyes as these", "Might claim, I hoped for.", "", "_Ang_. And have ever had.", "", "_Doge_. I think so. For the difference in our years", "You knew it choosing me, and chose; I trusted", "Not to my qualities, nor would have faith", "In such, nor outward ornaments of nature,", "Were I still in my five and twentieth spring;", "I trusted to the blood of Loredano", "Pure in your veins; I trusted to the soul", "God gave you--to the truths your father taught you--", "To your belief in Heaven--to your mild virtues--", "To your own faith and honour, for my own.", "", "_Ang_. You have done well.--I thank you for that trust,", "Which I have never for one moment ceased", "To honour you the more for.", "", "_Doge_. Where is Honour,", "Innate and precept-strengthened, 'tis the rock", "Of faith connubial: where it is not--where", "Light thoughts are lurking, or the vanities", "Of worldly pleasure rankle in the heart,", "Or sensual throbs convulse it, well I know", "'Twere hopeless for humanity to dream", "Of honesty in such infected blood,", "Although 'twere wed to him it covets most:", "An incarnation of the poet's God", "In all his marble-chiselled beauty, or", "The demi-deity, Alcides, in", "His majesty of superhuman Manhood,", "Would not suffice to bind where virtue is not;", "It is consistency which forms and proves it:", "Vice cannot fix, and Virtue cannot change.", "The once fall'n woman must for ever fall;", "For Vice must have variety, while Virtue", "Stands like the Sun, and all which rolls around", "Drinks life, and light, and glory from her aspect.", "", "_Ang_. And seeing, feeling thus this truth in others,", "(I pray you pardon me;) but wherefore yield you", "To the most fierce of fatal passions, and", "Disquiet your great thoughts with restless hate", "Of such a thing as Steno?", "", "_Doge_. You mistake me.", "It is not Steno who could move me thus;", "Had it been so, he should--but let that pass.", "", "_Ang_. What is't you feel so deeply, then, even now?", "", "_Doge_. The violated majesty of Venice,", "At once insulted in her Lord and laws.", "", "_Ang_. Alas! why will you thus consider it?", "", "_Doge_. I have thought on't till--but let me lead you back", "To what I urged; all these things being noted,", "I wedded you; the world then did me justice", "Upon the motive, and my conduct proved", "They did me right, while yours was all to praise:", "You had all freedom--all respect--all trust", "From me and mine; and, born of those who made", "Princes at home, and swept Kings from their thrones", "On foreign shores, in all things you appeared", "Worthy to be our first of native dames.", "", "_Ang_. To what does this conduct?", "", "_Doge_. To thus much--that", "A miscreant's angry breath may blast it all--", "A villain, whom for his unbridled bearing,", "Even in the midst of our great festival,", "I caused to be conducted forth, and taught", "How to demean himself in ducal chambers;", "A wretch like this may leave upon the wall", "The blighting venom of his sweltering heart,", "And this shall spread itself in general poison;", "And woman's innocence, man's honour, pass", "Into a by-word; and the doubly felon", "(Who first insulted virgin modesty", "By a gross affront to your attendant damsels", "Amidst the noblest of our dames in public)", "Requite himself for his most just expulsion", "By blackening publicly his Sovereign's consort,", "And be absolved by his upright compeers.", "", "_Ang_. But he has been condemned into captivity.", "", "_Doge_. For such as him a dungeon were acquittal;", "And his brief term of mock-arrest will pass", "Within a palace. But I've done with him;", "The rest must be with you.", "", "_Ang_. With me, my Lord?", "", "_Doge_. Yes, Angiolina. Do not marvel; I", "Have let this prey upon me till I feel", "My life cannot be long; and fain would have you", "Regard the injunctions you will find within", "This scroll (_giving her a paper_)", " ----Fear not; they are for your advantage:", "Read them hereafter at the fitting hour.", "", "_Ang_. My Lord, in life, and after life, you shall", "Be honoured still by me: but may your days", "Be many yet--and happier than the present!", "This passion will give way, and you will be", "Serene, and what you should be--what you were.", "", "_Doge_. I will be what I should be, or be nothing;", "But never more--oh! never, never more,", "O'er the few days or hours which yet await", "The blighted old age of Faliero, shall", "Sweet Quiet shed her sunset! Never more", "Those summer shadows rising from the past", "Of a not ill-spent nor inglorious life,", "Mellowing the last hours as the night approaches,", "Shall soothe me to my moment of long rest.", "I had but little more to ask, or hope,", "Save the regards due to the blood and sweat,", "And the soul's labour through which I had toiled", "To make my country honoured. As her servant--", "Her servant, though her chief--I would have gone", "Down to my fathers with a name serene", "And pure as theirs; but this has been denied me.", "Would I had died at Zara!", "", "_Ang_. There you saved", "The state; then live to save her still. A day,", "Another day like that would be the best", "Reproof to them, and sole revenge for you.", "", "_Doge_. But one such day occurs within an age;", "My life is little less than one, and 'tis", "Enough for Fortune to have granted _once_,", "That which scarce one more favoured citizen", "May win in many states and years. But why", "Thus speak I? Venice has forgot that day--", "Then why should I remember it?--Farewell,", "Sweet Angiolina! I must to my cabinet;", "There's much for me to do--and the hour hastens.", "", "_Ang_. Remember what you were.", "", "_Doge_. It were in vain!", "Joy's recollection is no longer joy,", "While Sorrow's memory is a sorrow still.", "", "_Ang_. At least, whate'er may urge, let me implore", "That you will take some little pause of rest:", "Your sleep for many nights has been so turbid,", "That it had been relief to have awaked you,", "Had I not hoped that Nature would o'erpower", "At length the thoughts which shook your slumbers thus.", "An hour of rest will give you to your toils", "With fitter thoughts and freshened strength.", "", "_Doge_. I cannot--", "I must not, if I could; for never was", "Such reason to be watchful: yet a few--", "Yet a few days and dream-perturbéd nights,", "And I shall slumber well--but where?--no matter.", "Adieu, my Angiolina.", "", "_Ang_. Let me be", "An instant--yet an instant your companion!", "I cannot bear to leave you thus.", "", "_Doge_. Come then,", "My gentle child--forgive me: thou wert made", "For better fortunes than to share in mine,", "Now darkling in their close toward the deep vale", "Where Death sits robed in his all-sweeping shadow.", "When I am gone--it may be sooner than", "Even these years warrant, for there is that stirring", "Within--above--around, that in this city", "Will make the cemeteries populous", "As e'er they were by pestilence or war,--", "When I _am_ nothing, let that which I _was_", "Be still sometimes a name on thy sweet lips,", "A shadow in thy fancy, of a thing", "Which would not have thee mourn it, but remember.", "Let us begone, my child--the time is pressing.", "", "SCENE II.--_A retired spot near the Arsenal_.", "", " ISRAEL BERTUCCIO _and_ PHILIP CALENDARO.", "", "_Cal_. How sped you, Israel, in your late complaint?", "", "_I. Ber_. Why, well.", "", "_Cal_. Is't possible! will he be punished?", "", "_I. Ber_. Yes.", "", "_Cal_. With what? a mulct or an arrest?", "", "_I. Ber_. With death!", "", "_Cal_. Now you rave, or must intend revenge,", "Such as I counselled you, with your own hand.", "", "_I. Ber_. Yes; and for one sole draught of hate, forego", "The great redress we meditate for Venice,", "And change a life of hope for one of exile;", "Leaving one scorpion crushed, and thousands stinging", "My friends, my family, my countrymen!", "No, Calendaro; these same drops of blood,", "Shed shamefully, shall have the whole of his", "For their requital----But not only his;", "We will not strike for private wrongs alone:", "Such are for selfish passions and rash men,", "But are unworthy a Tyrannicide.", "", "_Cal_. You have more patience than I care to boast.", "Had I been present when you bore this insult,", "I must have slain him, or expired myself", "In the vain effort to repress my wrath.", "", "_I. Ber_. Thank Heaven you were not--all had else been marred:", "As 'tis, our cause looks prosperous still.", "", "_Cal_. You saw", "The Doge--what answer gave he?", "", "_I. Ber_. That there was", "No punishment for such as Barbaro.", "", "_Cal_. I told you so before, and that 'twas idle", "To think of justice from such hands.", "", "_I. Ber_. At least,", "It lulled suspicion, showing confidence.", "Had I been silent, not a Sbirro but", "Had kept me in his eye, as meditating", "A silent, solitary, deep revenge.", "", "_Cal_. But wherefore not address you to the Council?", "The Doge is a mere puppet, who can scarce", "Obtain right for himself. Why speak to _him_?", "", "_I. Ber_. You shall know that hereafter.", "", "_Cal_. Why not now?", "", "_I. Ber_. Be patient but till midnight. Get your musters,", "And bid our friends prepare their companies:", "Set all in readiness to strike the blow,", "Perhaps in a few hours: we have long waited", "For a fit time--that hour is on the dial,", "It may be, of to-morrow's sun: delay", "Beyond may breed us double danger. See", "That all be punctual at our place of meeting,", "And armed, excepting those of the Sixteen,", "Who will remain among the troops to wait", "The signal.", "", "_Cal_. These brave words have breathed new life", "Into my veins; I am sick of these protracted", "And hesitating councils: day on day", "Crawled on, and added but another link", "To our long fetters, and some fresher wrong", "Inflicted on our brethren or ourselves,", "Helping to swell our tyrants' bloated strength.", "Let us but deal upon them, and I care not", "For the result, which must be Death or Freedom!", "I'm weary to the heart of finding neither.", "", "_I. Ber_. We will be free in Life or Death! the grave", "Is chainless. Have you all the musters ready?", "And are the sixteen companies completed", "To sixty?", "", "_Cal_. All save two, in which there are", "Twenty-five wanting to make up the number.", "", "_I. Ber_. No matter; we can do without. Whose are they?", "", "_Cal_. Bertram's and old Soranzo's, both of whom", "Appear less forward in the cause than we are.", "", "_I. Ber_. Your fiery nature makes you deem all those", "Who are not restless cold; but there exists", "Oft in concentred spirits not less daring", "Than in more loud avengers. Do not doubt them.", "", "_Cat_. I do not doubt the elder; but in Bertram", "There is a hesitating softness, fatal", "To enterprise like ours: I've seen that man", "Weep like an infant o'er the misery", "Of others, heedless of his own, though greater;", "And in a recent quarrel I beheld him", "Turn sick at sight of blood, although a villain's.", "", "_I. Ber_. The truly brave are soft of heart and eyes,", "And feel for what their duty bids them do.", "I have known Bertram long; there doth not breathe", "A soul more full of honour.", "", "_Cal_. It may be so:", "I apprehend less treachery than weakness;", "Yet as he has no mistress, and no wife", "To work upon his milkiness of spirit,", "He may go through the ordeal; it is well", "He is an orphan, friendless save in us:", "A woman or a child had made him less", "Than either in resolve.", "", "_I. Ber_. Such ties are not", "For those who are called to the high destinies", "Which purify corrupted commonwealths;", "We must forget all feelings save the _one_,", "We must resign all passions save our purpose,", "We must behold no object save our country,", "And only look on Death as beautiful,", "So that the sacrifice ascend to Heaven,", "And draw down Freedom on her evermore.", "", "_Cal_. But if we fail----", "", "_I. Ber_. They never fail who die", "In a great cause: the block may soak their gore:", "Their heads may sodden in the sun; their limbs", "Be strung to city gates and castle walls--", "But still their Spirit walks abroad. Though years", "Elapse, and others share as dark a doom,", "They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts", "Which overpower all others, and conduct", "The world at last to Freedom. What were we,", "If Brutus had not lived? He died in giving", "Rome liberty, but left a deathless lesson--", "A name which is a virtue, and a Soul", "Which multiplies itself throughout all time,", "When wicked men wax mighty, and a state", "Turns servile. He and his high friend were styled", "\"The last of Romans!\" Let us be the first", "Of true Venetians, sprung from Roman sires.", "", "_Cal_. Our fathers did not fly from Attila", "Into these isles, where palaces have sprung", "On banks redeemed from the rude ocean's ooze,", "To own a thousand despots in his place.", "Better bow down before the Hun, and call", "A Tartar lord, than these swoln silkworms masters!", "The first at least was man, and used his sword", "As sceptre: these unmanly creeping things", "Command our swords, and rule us with a word", "As with a spell.", "", "_I. Ber_. It shall be broken soon.", "You say that all things are in readiness;", "To-day I have not been the usual round,", "And why thou knowest; but thy vigilance", "Will better have supplied my care: these orders", "In recent council to redouble now", "Our efforts to repair the galleys, have", "Lent a fair colour to the introduction", "Of many of our cause into the arsenal,", "As new artificers for their equipment,", "Or fresh recruits obtained in haste to man", "The hoped-for fleet.--Are all supplied with arms?", "", "_Cal_. All who were deemed trust-worthy: there are some", "Whom it were well to keep in ignorance", "Till it be time to strike, and then supply them;", "When in the heat and hurry of the hour", "They have no opportunity to pause,", "But needs must on with those who will surround them.", "", "_I. Ber_. You have said well. Have you remarked all such?", "", "_Cal_. I've noted most; and caused the other chiefs", "To use like caution in their companies.", "As far as I have seen, we are enough", "To make the enterprise secure, if 'tis", "Commenced to-morrow; but, till 'tis begun,", "Each hour is pregnant with a thousand perils.", "", "_I. Ber_. Let the Sixteen meet at the wonted hour,", "Except Soranzo, Nicoletto Blondo,", "And Marco Giuda, who will keep their watch", "Within the arsenal, and hold all ready,", "Expectant of the signal we will fix on.", "", "_Cal_. We will not fail.", "", "_I. Ber_. Let all the rest be there;", "I have a stranger to present to them.", "", "_Cal_. A stranger! doth he know the secret?", "", "_I. Ber_. Yes.", "", "_Cal_. And have you dared to peril your friends' lives", "On a rash confidence in one we know not?", "", "_I. Ber_. I have risked no man's life except my own--", "Of that be certain: he is one who may", "Make our assurance doubly sure, according", "His aid; and if reluctant, he no less", "Is in our power: he comes alone with me,", "And cannot 'scape us; but he will not swerve.", "", "_Cal_. I cannot judge of this until I know him:", "Is he one of our order?", "", "_I. Ber_. Aye, in spirit,", "Although a child of Greatness; he is one", "Who would become a throne, or overthrow one--", "One who has done great deeds, and seen great changes;", "No tyrant, though bred up to tyranny;", "Valiant in war, and sage in council; noble", "In nature, although haughty; quick, yet wary:", "Yet for all this, so full of certain passions,", "That if once stirred and baffled, as he has been", "Upon the tenderest points, there is no Fury", "In Grecian story like to that which wrings", "His vitals with her burning hands, till he", "Grows capable of all things for revenge;", "And add too, that his mind is liberal,", "He sees and feels the people are oppressed,", "And shares their sufferings. Take him all in all,", "We have need of such, and such have need of us.", "", "_Cal_. And what part would you have him take with us?", "", "_I. Ber_. It may be, that of Chief.", "", "_Cal_. What! and resign", "Your own command as leader?", "", "_I. Ber_. Even so.", "My object is to make your cause end well,", "And not to push myself to power. Experience,", "Some skill, and your own choice, had marked me out", "To act in trust as your commander, till", "Some worthier should appear: if I have found such", "As you yourselves shall own more worthy, think you", "That I would hesitate from selfishness,", "And, covetous of brief authority,", "Stake our deep interest on my single thoughts,", "Rather than yield to one above me in", "All leading qualities? No, Calendaro,", "Know your friend better; but you all shall judge.", "Away! and let us meet at the fixed hour.", "Be vigilant, and all will yet go well.", "", "_Cal_. Worthy Bertuccio, I have known you ever", "Trusty and brave, with head and heart to plan", "What I have still been prompt to execute.", "For my own part, I seek no other Chief;", "What the rest will decide, I know not, but", "I am with YOU, as I have ever been,", "In all our undertakings. Now farewell,", "Until the hour of midnight sees us meet. [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT III.", "", "SCENE I.--_Scene, the Space between the Canal and the", " Church of San Giovanni e San Paolo. An equestrian Statue", " before it.--A Gondola lies in the Canal at some distance._", "", " _Enter the_ DOGE _alone, disguised_.", "", "_Doge_ (_solus_). I am before the hour, the hour whose voice,", "Pealing into the arch of night, might strike", "These palaces with ominous tottering,", "And rock their marbles to the corner-stone,", "Waking the sleepers from some hideous dream", "Of indistinct but awful augury", "Of that which will befall them. Yes, proud city!", "Thou must be cleansed of the black blood which makes thee", "A lazar-house of tyranny: the task", "Is forced upon me, I have sought it not;", "And therefore was I punished, seeing this", "Patrician pestilence spread on and on,", "Until at length it smote me in my slumbers,", "And I am tainted, and must wash away", "The plague spots in the healing wave. Tall fane!", "Where sleep my fathers, whose dim statues shadow", "The floor which doth divide us from the dead,", "Where all the pregnant hearts of our bold blood,", "Mouldered into a mite of ashes, hold", "In one shrunk heap what once made many heroes,", "When what is now a handful shook the earth--", "Fane of the tutelar saints who guard our house!", "Vault where two Doges rest--my sires! who died", "The one of toil, the other in the field,", "With a long race of other lineal chiefs", "And sages, whose great labours, wounds, and state", "I have inherited,--let the graves gape,", "Till all thine aisles be peopled with the dead,", "And pour them from thy portals to gaze on me!", "I call them up, and them and thee to witness", "What it hath been which put me to this task--", "Their pure high blood, their blazon-roll of glories,", "Their mighty name dishonoured all _in_ me,", "Not _by_ me, but by the ungrateful nobles", "We fought to make our equals, not our lords:", "And chiefly thou, Ordelafo the brave,", "Who perished in the field, where I since conquered,", "Battling at Zara, did the hecatombs", "Of thine and Venice' foes, there offered up", "By thy descendant, merit such acquittance?", "Spirits! smile down upon me! for my cause", "Is yours, in all life now can be of yours,--", "Your fame, your name, all mingled up in mine,", "And in the future fortunes of our race!", "Let me but prosper, and I make this city", "Free and immortal, and our House's name", "Worthier of what you were--now and hereafter!", "", " _Enter_ ISRAEL BERTUCCIO.", "", "_I. Ber_. Who goes there?", "", "_Doge_. A friend to Venice.", "", "_I. Ber_. 'Tis he.", "Welcome, my Lord,--you are before the time.", "", "_Doge_. I am ready to proceed to your assembly.", "", "_I. Ber_. Have with you.--I am proud and pleased to see", "Such confident alacrity. Your doubts", "Since our last meeting, then, are all dispelled?", "", "_Doge_. Not so--but I have set my little left", "Of life upon this cast: the die was thrown", "When I first listened to your treason.--Start not!", "_That_ is the word; I cannot shape my tongue", "To syllable black deeds into smooth names,", "Though I be wrought on to commit them. When", "I heard you tempt your Sovereign, and forbore", "To have you dragged to prison, I became", "Your guiltiest accomplice: now you may,", "If it so please you, do as much by me.", "", "_I. Ber_. Strange words, my Lord, and most unmerited;", "I am no spy, and neither are we traitors.", "", "_Doge_. _We--We!_--no matter--you have earned the right", "To talk of _us_.--But to the point.--If this", "Attempt succeeds, and Venice, rendered free", "And flourishing, when we are in our graves,", "Conducts her generations to our tombs,", "And makes her children with their little hands", "Strew flowers o'er her deliverers' ashes, then", "The consequence will sanctify the deed,", "And we shall be like the two Bruti in", "The annals of hereafter; but if not,", "If we should fail, employing bloody means", "And secret plot, although to a good end,", "Still we are traitors, honest Israel;--thou", "No less than he who was thy Sovereign", "Six hours ago, and now thy brother rebel.", "", "_I. Ber_. 'Tis not the moment to consider thus,", "Else I could answer.--Let us to the meeting,", "Or we may be observed in lingering here.", "", "_Doge_. We _are_ observed, and have been.", "", "_I. Ber_. We observed!", "Let me discover--and this steel-----", "", "_Doge_. Put up;", "Here are no human witnesses: look there--", "What see you?", "", "_I. Ber_. Only a tall warrior's statue", "Bestriding a proud steed, in the dim light", "Of the dull moon.", "", "_Doge_. That Warrior was the sire", "Of my sire's fathers, and that statue was", "Decreed to him by the twice rescued city:--", "Think you that he looks down on us or no?", "", "_I. Ber_. My Lord, these are mere fantasies; there are", "No eyes in marble.", "", "_Doge_. But there are in Death.", "I tell thee, man, there is a spirit in", "Such things that acts and sees, unseen, though felt;", "And, if there be a spell to stir the dead,", "'Tis in such deeds as we are now upon.", "Deem'st thou the souls of such a race as mine", "Can rest, when he, their last descendant Chief,", "Stands plotting on the brink of their pure graves", "With stung plebeians?", "", "_I. Ber_. It had been as well", "To have pondered this before,--ere you embarked", "In our great enterprise.--Do you repent?", "", "_Doge_. No--but I _feel_, and shall do to the last.", "I cannot quench a glorious life at once,", "Nor dwindle to the thing I now must be,", "And take men's lives by stealth, without some pause:", "Yet doubt me not; it is this very feeling,", "And knowing _what_ has wrung me to be thus,", "Which is your best security. There's not", "A roused mechanic in your busy plot", "So wronged as I, so fall'n, so loudly called", "To his redress: the very means I am forced", "By these fell tyrants to adopt is such,", "That I abhor them doubly for the deeds", "Which I must do to pay them back for theirs.", "", "_I. Ber_. Let us away--hark--the Hour strikes.", "", "_Doge_. On--on--", "It is our knell, or that of Venice.--On.", "", "_I. Ber_. Say rather, 'tis her Freedom's rising peal", "Of Triumph. This way--we are near the place.", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "SCENE II.--_The House where the Conspirators meet._", "", " DAGOLINO, DORO, BERTRAM, FEDELE TREVISANO, CALENDARO,", " ANTONIO DELLE BENDE, ETC., ETC.", "", "_Cal_. (_entering_). Are all here?", "", "_Dag_. All with you; except the three", "On duty, and our leader Israel,", "Who is expected momently.", "", "_Cal_. Where's Bertram?", "", "_Ber_. Here!", "", "_Cal_. Have you not been able to complete", "The number wanting in your company?", "", "_Ber_. I had marked out some: but I have not dared", "To trust them with the secret, till assured", "That they were worthy faith.", "", "_Cal_. There is no need", "Of trusting to their faith; _who_, save ourselves", "And our more chosen comrades, is aware", "Fully of our intent? they think themselves", "Engaged in secret to the Signory,", "To punish some more dissolute young nobles", "Who have defied the law in their excesses;", "But once drawn up, and their new swords well fleshed", "In the rank hearts of the more odious Senators,", "They will not hesitate to follow up", "Their blow upon the others, when they see", "The example of their chiefs, and I for one", "Will set them such, that they for very shame", "And safety will not pause till all have perished.", "", "_Ber_. How say you? _all!_", "", "_Cal_. Whom wouldst thou spare?", "", "_Ber_. _I spare?_", "I have no power to spare. I only questioned,", "Thinking that even amongst these wicked men", "There might be some, whose age and qualities", "Might mark them out for pity.", "", "_Cal_. Yes, such pity", "As when the viper hath been cut to pieces,", "The separate fragments quivering in the sun,", "In the last energy of venomous life,", "Deserve and have. Why, I should think as soon", "Of pitying some particular fang which made", "One in the jaw of the swoln serpent, as", "Of saving one of these: they form but links", "Of one long chain; one mass, one breath, one body;", "They eat, and drink, and live, and breed together,", "Revel, and lie, oppress, and kill in concert,--", "So let them die as _one!_", "", "_Dag_. Should _one_ survive,", "He would be dangerous as the whole; it is not", "Their number, be it tens or thousands, but", "The spirit of this Aristocracy", "Which must be rooted out; and if there were", "A single shoot of the old tree in life,", "'Twould fasten in the soil, and spring again", "To gloomy verdure and to bitter fruit.", "Bertram, we must be firm!", "", "_Cal_. Look to it well", "Bertram! I have an eye upon thee.", "", "_Ber_. Who", "Distrusts me?", "", "_Cal_. Not I; for if I did so,", "Thou wouldst not now be there to talk of trust:", "It is thy softness, not thy want of faith,", "Which makes thee to be doubted.", "", "_Ber_. You should know", "Who hear me, who and what I am; a man", "Roused like yourselves to overthrow oppression;", "A kind man, I am apt to think, as some", "Of you have found me; and if brave or no,", "You, Calendaro, can pronounce, who have seen me", "Put to the proof; or, if you should have doubts,", "I'll clear them on your person!", "", "_Cal_. You are welcome,", "When once our enterprise is o'er, which must not", "Be interrupted by a private brawl.", "", "_Ber_. I am no brawler; but can bear myself", "As far among the foe as any he", "Who hears me; else why have I been selected", "To be of your chief comrades? but no less", "I own my natural weakness; I have not", "Yet learned to think of indiscriminate murder", "Without some sense of shuddering; and the sight", "Of blood which spouts through hoary scalps is not", "To me a thing of triumph, nor the death", "Of man surprised a glory. Well--too well", "I know that we must do such things on those", "Whose acts have raised up such avengers; but", "If there were some of these who could be saved", "From out this sweeping fate, for our own sakes", "And for our honour, to take off some stain", "Of massacre, which else pollutes it wholly,", "I had been glad; and see no cause in this", "For sneer, nor for suspicion!", "", "_Dag_. Calm thee, Bertram,", "For we suspect thee not, and take good heart.", "It is the cause, and not our will, which asks", "Such actions from our hands: we'll wash away", "All stains in Freedom's fountain!", "", " _Enter_ ISRAEL BERTUCCIO, _and the_ DOGE, _disguised_.", "", "_Dag_. Welcome, Israel.", "", "_Consp_. Most welcome.--Brave Bertuccio, thou art late--", "Who is this stranger?", "", "_Cal_. It is time to name him.", "Our comrades are even now prepared to greet him", "In brotherhood, as I have made it known", "That thou wouldst add a brother to our cause,", "Approved by thee, and thus approved by all,", "Such is our trust in all thine actions. Now", "Let him unfold himself.", "", "_I. Ber_. Stranger, step forth!", " [_The Doge discovers himself_.", "", "_Consp_. To arms!--we are betrayed--it is the Doge!", "Down with them both! our traitorous captain, and", "The tyrant he hath sold us to.", "", "_Cal_. (_drawing his sword_). Hold! hold!", "Who moves a step against them dies. Hold! hear", "Bertuccio--What! are you appalled to see", "A lone, unguarded, weaponless old man", "Amongst you?--Israel, speak! what means this mystery?", "", "_I. Ber_. Let them advance and strike at their own bosoms,", "Ungrateful suicides! for on our lives", "Depend their own, their fortunes, and their hopes.", "", "_Doge_. Strike!--If I dreaded death, a death more fearful", "Than any your rash weapons can inflict,", "I should not now be here: Oh, noble Courage!", "The eldest born of Fear, which makes you brave", "Against this solitary hoary head!", "See the bold chiefs, who would reform a state", "And shake down senates, mad with wrath and dread", "At sight of one patrician! Butcher me!", "You can, I care not.--Israel, are these men", "The mighty hearts you spoke of? look upon them!", "", "_Cal_. Faith! he hath shamed us, and deservedly,", "Was this your trust in your true Chief Bertuccio,", "To turn your swords against him and his guest?", "Sheathe them, and hear him.", "", "_I. Ber_. I disdain to speak.", "They might and must have known a heart like mine", "Incapable of treachery; and the power", "They gave me to adopt all fitting means", "To further their design was ne'er abused.", "They might be certain that who e'er was brought", "By me into this Council had been led", "To take his choice--as brother, or as victim.", "", "_Doge_. And which am I to be? your actions leave", "Some cause to doubt the freedom of the choice.", "", "_I. Ber_. My Lord, we would have perished here together,", "Had these rash men proceeded; but, behold,", "They are ashamed of that mad moment's impulse,", "And droop their heads; believe me, they are such", "As I described them.--Speak to them.", "", "_Cal_. Aye, speak;", "We are all listening in wonder.", "", "_I. Ber_. (_addressing the conspirators_). You are safe,", "Nay, more, almost triumphant--listen then,", "And know my words for truth.", "", "_Doge_. You see me here,", "As one of you hath said, an old, unarmed,", "Defenceless man; and yesterday you saw me", "Presiding in the hall of ducal state,", "Apparent Sovereign of our hundred isles,", "Robed in official purple, dealing out", "The edicts of a power which is not mine,", "Nor yours, but of our masters--the patricians.", "Why I was there you know, or think you know;", "Why I am _here_, he who hath been most wronged,", "He who among you hath been most insulted,", "Outraged and trodden on, until he doubt", "If he be worm or no, may answer for me,", "Asking of his own heart what brought him here?", "You know my recent story, all men know it,", "And judge of it far differently from those", "Who sate in judgement to heap scorn on scorn.", "But spare me the recital--it is here,", "Here at my heart the outrage--but my words,", "Already spent in unavailing plaints,", "Would only show my feebleness the more,", "And I come here to strengthen even the strong,", "And urge them on to deeds, and not to war", "With woman's weapons; but I need not urge you.", "Our private wrongs have sprung from public vices,", "In this--I cannot call it commonwealth,", "Nor kingdom, which hath neither prince nor people,", "But all the sins of the old Spartan state", "Without its virtues--temperance and valour.", "The Lords of Lacedæmon were true soldiers,", "But ours are Sybarites, while we are Helots,", "Of whom I am the lowest, most enslaved;", "Although dressed out to head a pageant, as", "The Greeks of yore made drunk their slaves to form", "A pastime for their children. You are met", "To overthrow this Monster of a state,", "This mockery of a Government, this spectre,", "Which must be exorcised with blood,--and then", "We will renew the times of Truth and Justice,", "Condensing in a fair free commonwealth", "Not rash equality but equal rights,", "Proportioned like the columns to the temple,", "Giving and taking strength reciprocal,", "And making firm the whole with grace and beauty,", "So that no part could be removed without", "Infringement of the general symmetry.", "In operating this great change, I claim", "To be one of you--if you trust in me;", "If not, strike home,--my life is compromised,", "And I would rather fall by freemen's hands", "Than live another day to act the tyrant", "As delegate of tyrants: such I am not,", "And never have been--read it in our annals;", "I can appeal to my past government", "In many lands and cities; they can tell you", "If I were an oppressor, or a man", "Feeling and thinking for my fellow men.", "Haply had I been what the Senate sought,", "A thing of robes and trinkets, dizened out", "To sit in state as for a Sovereign's picture;", "A popular scourge, a ready sentence-signer,", "A stickler for the Senate and \"the Forty,\"", "A sceptic of all measures which had not", "The sanction of \"the Ten,\" a council-fawner,", "A tool--a fool--a puppet,--they had ne'er", "Fostered the wretch who stung me. What I suffer", "Has reached me through my pity for the people;", "That many know, and they who know not yet", "Will one day learn: meantime I do devote,", "Whate'er the issue, my last days of life--", "My present power such as it is, not that", "Of Doge, but of a man who has been great", "Before he was degraded to a Doge,", "And still has individual means and mind;", "I stake my fame (and I had fame)--my breath--", "(The least of all, for its last hours are nigh)", "My heart--my hope--my soul--upon this cast!", "Such as I am, I offer me to you", "And to your chiefs; accept me or reject me,--", "A Prince who fain would be a Citizen", "Or nothing, and who has left his throne to be so.", "", "_Cal_. Long live Faliero!--Venice shall be free!", "", "_Consp_. Long live Faliero!", "", "_I. Ber_. Comrades! did I well?", "Is not this man a host in such a cause?", "", "_Doge_. This is no time for eulogies, nor place", "For exultation. Am I one of you?", "", "_Cal_. Aye, and the first among us, as thou hast been", "Of Venice--be our General and Chief.", "", "_Doge_. Chief!--General!--I was General at Zara,", "And Chief in Rhodes and Cyprus, Prince in Venice:", "I cannot stoop--that is, I am not fit", "To lead a band of--patriots: when I lay", "Aside the dignities which I have borne,", "'Tis not to put on others, but to be", "Mate to my fellows--but now to the point:", "Israel has stated to me your whole plan--", "'Tis bold, but feasible if I assist it,", "And must be set in motion instantly.", "", "_Cal_. E'en when thou wilt. Is it not so, my friends?", "I have disposed all for a sudden blow;", "When shall it be then?", "", "_Doge_. At sunrise.", "", "_Ber_. So soon?", "", "_Doge_. So soon?--so late--each hour accumulates", "Peril on peril, and the more so now", "Since I have mingled with you;--know you not", "The Council, and \"the Ten?\" the spies, the eyes", "Of the patricians dubious of their slaves,", "And now more dubious of the Prince they have made one?", "I tell you, you must strike, and suddenly,", "Full to the Hydra's heart--its heads will follow.", "", "_Cal_. With all my soul and sword, I yield assent;", "Our companies are ready, sixty each,", "And all now under arms by Israel's order;", "Each at their different place of rendezvous,", "And vigilant, expectant of some blow;", "Let each repair for action to his post!", "And now, my Lord, the signal?", "", "_Doge_. When you hear", "The great bell of Saint Mark's, which may not be", "Struck without special order of the Doge", "(The last poor privilege they leave their Prince),", "March on Saint Mark's!", "", "_I. Ber_. And there?--", "", "_Doge_. By different routes", "Let your march be directed, every sixty", "Entering a separate avenue, and still", "Upon the way let your cry be of War", "And of the Genoese Fleet, by the first dawn", "Discerned before the port; form round the palace,", "Within whose court will be drawn out in arms", "My nephew and the clients of our house,", "Many and martial; while the bell tolls on,", "Shout ye, \"Saint Mark!--the foe is on our waters!\"", "", "_Cal_. I see it now--but on, my noble Lord.", "", "_Doge_. All the patricians flocking to the Council,", "(Which they dare not refuse, at the dread signal", "Pealing from out their Patron Saint's proud tower,)", "Will then be gathered in unto the harvest,", "And we will reap them with the sword for sickle.", "If some few should be tardy or absent, them,", "'Twill be but to be taken faint and single,", "When the majority are put to rest.", "", "_Cal_. Would that the hour were come! we will not scotch,", "But kill.", "", "_Ber_. Once more, sir, with your pardon, I", "Would now repeat the question which I asked", "Before Bertuccio added to our cause", "This great ally who renders it more sure,", "And therefore safer, and as such admits", "Some dawn of mercy to a portion of", "Our victims--must all perish in this slaughter?", "", "_Cal_. All who encounter me and mine--be sure,", "The mercy they have shown, I show.", "", "_Consp_. All! all!", "Is this a time to talk of pity? when", "Have they e'er shown, or felt, or feigned it?", "", "_I. Ber_. Bertram,", "This false compassion is a folly, and", "Injustice to thy comrades and thy cause!", "Dost thou not see, that if we single out", "Some for escape, they live but to avenge", "The fallen? and how distinguish now the innocent", "From out the guilty? all their acts are one--", "A single emanation from one body,", "Together knit for our oppression! 'Tis", "Much that we let their children live; I doubt", "If all of these even should be set apart:", "The hunter may reserve some single cub", "From out the tiger's litter, but who e'er", "Would seek to save the spotted sire or dam,", "Unless to perish by their fangs? however,", "I will abide by Doge Faliero's counsel:", "Let him decide if any should be saved.", "", "_Doge_. Ask me not--tempt me not with such a question--", "Decide yourselves.", "", "_I. Ber_. You know their private virtues", "Far better than we can, to whom alone", "Their public vices, and most foul oppression,", "Have made them deadly; if there be amongst them", "One who deserves to be repealed, pronounce.", "", "_Doge_. Dolfino's father was my friend, and Lando", "Fought by my side, and Marc Cornaro shared", "My Genoese embassy: I saved the life", "Of Veniero--shall I save it twice?", "Would that I could save them and Venice also!", "All these men, or their fathers, were my friends", "Till they became my subjects; then fell from me", "As faithless leaves drop from the o'erblown flower,", "And left me a lone blighted thorny stalk,", "Which, in its solitude, can shelter nothing;", "So, as they let me wither, let them perish!", "", "_Cal_. They cannot co-exist with Venice' freedom!", "", "_Doge_. Ye, though you know and feel our mutual mass", "Of many wrongs, even ye are ignorant", "What fatal poison to the springs of Life,", "To human ties, and all that's good and dear,", "Lurks in the present institutes of Venice:", "All these men were my friends; I loved them, they", "Requited honourably my regards;", "We served and fought; we smiled and wept in concert;", "We revelled or we sorrowed side by side;", "We made alliances of blood and marriage;", "We grew in years and honours fairly,--till", "Their own desire, not my ambition, made", "Them choose me for their Prince, and then farewell!", "Farewell all social memory! all thoughts", "In common! and sweet bonds which link old friendships,", "When the survivors of long years and actions,", "Which now belong to history, soothe the days", "Which yet remain by treasuring each other,", "And never meet, but each beholds the mirror", "Of half a century on his brother's brow,", "And sees a hundred beings, now in earth,", "Flit round them whispering of the days gone by,", "And seeming not all dead, as long as two", "Of the brave, joyous, reckless, glorious band,", "Which once were one and many, still retain", "A breath to sigh for them, a tongue to speak", "Of deeds that else were silent, save on marble----", "_Oimé Oimé!_--and must I do this deed?", "", "_I. Ber_. My Lord, you are much moved: it is not now", "That such things must be dwelt upon.", "", "_Doge_. Your patience", "A moment--I recede not: mark with me", "The gloomy vices of this government.", "From the hour they made me Doge, the _Doge_ they _made_ me--", "Farewell the past! I died to all that had been,", "Or rather they to me: no friends, no kindness,", "No privacy of life--all were cut off:", "They came not near me--such approach gave umbrage;", "They could not love me--such was not the law;", "They thwarted me--'twas the state's policy;", "They baffled me--'twas a patrician's duty;", "They wronged me, for such was to right the state;", "They could not right me--that would give suspicion;", "So that I was a slave to my own subjects;", "So that I was a foe to my own friends;", "Begirt with spies for guards, with robes for power,", "With pomp for freedom, gaolers for a council,", "Inquisitors for friends, and Hell for life!", "I had only one fount of quiet left,", "And _that_ they poisoned! My pure household gods", "Were shivered on my hearth, and o'er their shrine", "Sate grinning Ribaldry, and sneering Scorn.", "", "_I. Ber_. You have been deeply wronged, and now shall be", "Nobly avenged before another night.", "", "_Doge_. I had borne all--it hurt me, but I bore it--", "Till this last running over of the cup", "Of bitterness--until this last loud insult,", "Not only unredressed, but sanctioned; then,", "And thus, I cast all further feelings from me--", "The feelings which they crushed for me, long, long", "Before, even in their oath of false allegiance!", "Even in that very hour and vow, they abjured", "Their friend and made a Sovereign, as boys make", "_Playthings_, to do their pleasure--and be broken!", "I from that hour have seen but Senators", "In dark suspicious conflict with the Doge,", "Brooding with him in mutual hate and fear;", "They dreading he should snatch the tyranny", "From out their grasp, and he abhorring tyrants.", "To me, then, these men have no _private_ life,", "Nor claim to ties they have cut off from others;", "As Senators for arbitrary acts", "Amenable, I look on them--as such", "Let them be dealt upon.", "", "_Cal_. And now to action!", "Hence, brethren, to our posts, and may this be", "The last night of mere words: I'd fain be doing!", "Saint Mark's great bell at dawn shall find me wakeful!", "", "_I. Ber_. Disperse then to your posts: be firm and vigilant;", "Think on the wrongs we bear, the rights we claim.", "This day and night shall be the last of peril!", "Watch for the signal, and then march. I go", "To join my band; let each be prompt to marshal", "His separate charge: the Doge will now return", "To the palace to prepare all for the blow.", "We part to meet in Freedom and in Glory!", "", "_Cal_. Doge, when I greet you next, my homage to you", "Shall be the head of Steno on this sword!", "", "_Doge_. No; let him be reserved unto the last,", "Nor turn aside to strike at such a prey,", "Till nobler game is quarried: his offence", "Was a mere ebullition of the vice,", "The general corruption generated", "By the foul Aristocracy: he could not--", "He dared not in more honourable days", "Have risked it. I have merged all private wrath", "Against him in the thought of our great purpose.", "A slave insults me--I require his punishment", "From his proud master's hands; if he refuse it,", "The offence grows his, and let him answer it.", "", "_Cal_. Yet, as the immediate cause of the alliance", "Which consecrates our undertaking more,", "I owe him such deep gratitude, that fain", "I would repay him as he merits; may I?", "", "_Doge_. You would but lop the hand, and I the head;", "You would but smite the scholar, I the master;", "You would but punish Steno, I the Senate.", "I cannot pause on individual hate,", "In the absorbing, sweeping, whole revenge,", "Which, like the sheeted fire from Heaven, must blast", "Without distinction, as it fell of yore,", "Where the Dead Sea hath quenched two Cities' ashes.", "", "_I. Ber_. Away, then, to your posts! I but remain", "A moment to accompany the Doge", "To our late place of tryst, to see no spies", "Have been upon the scout, and thence I hasten", "To where my allotted band is under arms.", "", "_Cal_. Farewell, then,--until dawn!", "", "_I. Ber_. Success go with you!", "", "_Consp_. We will not fail--Away! My Lord, farewell!", "", " [_The Conspirators salute the_ DOGE _and_ ISRAEL BERTUCCIO,", " _and retire, headed by_ PHILIP CALENDARO. _The_ DOGE _and_", " ISRAEL BERTUCCIO _remain_.", "", "_I. Ber_. We have them in the toil--it cannot fail!", "Now thou'rt indeed a Sovereign, and wilt make", "A name immortal greater than the greatest:", "Free citizens have struck at Kings ere now;", "Cæsars have fallen, and even patrician hands", "Have crushed dictators, as the popular steel", "Has reached patricians: but, until this hour,", "What Prince has plotted for his people's freedom?", "Or risked a life to liberate his subjects?", "For ever, and for ever, they conspire", "Against the people, to abuse their hands", "To chains, but laid aside to carry weapons", "Against the fellow nations, so that yoke", "On yoke, and slavery and death may whet,", "_Not glut_, the never-gorged Leviathan!", "Now, my Lord, to our enterprise;--'tis great,", "And greater the reward; why stand you rapt?", "A moment back, and you were all impatience!", "", "_Doge_. And is it then decided! must they die?", "", "_I. Ber_. Who?", "", "_Doge_. My own friends by blood and courtesy,", "And many deeds and days--the Senators?", "", "_I. Ber_. You passed their sentence, and it is a just one.", "", "_Doge_. Aye, so it seems, and so it is to _you_;", "You are a patriot, a plebeian Gracchus--", "The rebel's oracle, the people's tribune--", "I blame you not--you act in your vocation;", "They smote you, and oppressed you, and despised you;", "So they have _me_: but _you_ ne'er spake with them;", "You never broke their bread, nor shared their salt;", "You never had their wine-cup at your lips:", "You grew not up with them, nor laughed, nor wept,", "Nor held a revel in their company;", "Ne'er smiled to see them smile, nor claimed their smile", "In social interchange for yours, nor trusted", "Nor wore them in your heart of hearts, as I have:", "These hairs of mine are grey, and so are theirs,", "The elders of the Council: I remember", "When all our locks were like the raven's wing,", "As we went forth to take our prey around", "The isles wrung from the false Mahometan;", "And can I see them dabbled o'er with blood?", "Each stab to them will seem my suicide.", "", "_I. Ber_. Doge! Doge! this vacillation is unworthy", "A child; if you are not in second childhood,", "Call back your nerves to your own purpose, nor", "Thus shame yourself and me. By Heavens! I'd rather", "Forego even now, or fail in our intent,", "Than see the man I venerate subside", "From high resolves into such shallow weakness!", "You have seen blood in battle, shed it, both", "Your own and that of others; can you shrink then", "From a few drops from veins of hoary vampires,", "Who but give back what they have drained from millions?", "", "_Doge_. Bear with me! Step by step, and blow on blow,", "I will divide with you; think not I waver:", "Ah! no; it is the _certainty_ of all", "Which I must do doth make me tremble thus.", "But let these last and lingering thoughts have way,", "To which you only and the night are conscious,", "And both regardless; when the Hour arrives,", "'Tis mine to sound the knell, and strike the blow,", "Which shall unpeople many palaces,", "And hew the highest genealogic trees", "Down to the earth, strewed with their bleeding fruit,", "And crush their blossoms into barrenness:", "_This will_ I--must I--have I sworn to do,", "Nor aught can turn me from my destiny;", "But still I quiver to behold what I", "Must be, and think what I have been! Bear with me.", "", "_I. Ber_. Re-man your breast; I feel no such remorse,", "I understand it not: why should you change?", "You acted, and you act, on your free will.", "", "_Doge_. Aye, there it is--_you_ feel not, nor do I,", "Else I should stab thee on the spot, to save", "A thousand lives--and killing, do no murder;", "You _feel_ not--you go to this butcher-work", "As if these high-born men were steers for shambles:", "When all is over, you'll be free and merry,", "And calmly wash those hands incarnadine;", "But I, outgoing thee and all thy fellows", "In this surpassing massacre, shall be,", "Shall see and feel--oh God! oh God! 'tis true,", "And thou dost well to answer that it was", "\"My own free will and act,\" and yet you err,", "For I will do this! Doubt not--fear not; I", "Will be your most unmerciful accomplice!", "And yet I act no more on my free will,", "Nor my own feelings--both compel me back;", "But there is _Hell_ within me and around,", "And like the Demon who believes and trembles", "Must I abhor and do. Away! away!", "Get thee unto thy fellows, I will hie me", "To gather the retainers of our house.", "Doubt not, St. Mark's great bell shall wake all Venice,", "Except her slaughtered Senate: ere the Sun", "Be broad upon the Adriatic there", "Shall be a voice of weeping, which shall drown", "The roar of waters in the cry of blood!", "I am resolved--come on.", "", "_I. Ber_. With all my soul!", "Keep a firm rein upon these bursts of passion;", "Remember what these men have dealt to thee,", "And that this sacrifice will be succeeded", "By ages of prosperity and freedom", "To this unshackled city: a true tyrant", "Would have depopulated empires, nor", "Have felt the strange compunction which hath wrung you", "To punish a few traitors to the people.", "Trust me, such were a pity more misplaced", "Than the late mercy of the state to Steno.", "", "_Doge_. Man, thou hast struck upon the chord which jars", "All nature from my heart. Hence to our task!", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT IV.", "", "SCENE I.--_Palazzo of the Patrician_ LIONI. LIONI _laying", " aside the mask and cloak which the Venetian Nobles wore in", " public, attended by a Domestic_.", "", "_Lioni_. I will to rest, right weary of this revel,", "The gayest we have held for many moons,", "And yet--I know not why--it cheered me not;", "There came a heaviness across my heart,", "Which, in the lightest movement of the dance,", "Though eye to eye, and hand in hand united", "Even with the Lady of my Love, oppressed me,", "And through my spirit chilled my blood, until", "A damp like Death rose o'er my brow; I strove", "To laugh the thought away, but 'twould not be;", "Through all the music ringing in my ears", "A knell was sounding as distinct and clear,", "Though low and far, as e'er the Adrian wave", "Rose o'er the City's murmur in the night,", "Dashing against the outward Lido's bulwark:", "So that I left the festival before", "It reached its zenith, and will woo my pillow", "For thoughts more tranquil, or forgetfulness.", "Antonio, take my mask and cloak, and light", "The lamp within my chamber.", "", "_Ant_. Yes, my Lord:", "Command you no refreshment?", "", "_Lioni_. Nought, save sleep,", "Which will not be commanded. Let me hope it,", " [_Exit_ ANTONIO.", "Though my breast feels too anxious; I will try", "Whether the air will calm my spirits: 'tis", "A goodly night; the cloudy wind which blew", "From the Levant hath crept into its cave,", "And the broad Moon hath brightened. What a stillness!", " [_Goes to an open lattice_.", "And what a contrast with the scene I left,", "Where the tall torches' glare, and silver lamps'", "More pallid gleam along the tapestried walls,", "Spread over the reluctant gloom which haunts", "Those vast and dimly-latticed galleries", "A dazzling mass of artificial light,", "Which showed all things, but nothing as they were.", "There Age essaying to recall the past,", "After long striving for the hues of Youth", "At the sad labour of the toilet, and", "Full many a glance at the too faithful mirror,", "Pranked forth in all the pride of ornament,", "Forgot itself, and trusting to the falsehood", "Of the indulgent beams, which show, yet hide,", "Believed itself forgotten, and was fooled.", "There Youth, which needed not, nor thought of such", "Vain adjuncts, lavished its true bloom, and health,", "And bridal beauty, in the unwholesome press", "Of flushed and crowded wassailers, and wasted", "Its hours of rest in dreaming this was pleasure,", "And so shall waste them till the sunrise streams", "On sallow cheeks and sunken eyes, which should not", "Have worn this aspect yet for many a year.", "The music, and the banquet, and the wine,", "The garlands, the rose odours, and the flowers,", "The sparkling eyes, and flashing ornaments,", "The white arms and the raven hair, the braids", "And bracelets; swanlike bosoms, and the necklace,", "An India in itself, yet dazzling not", "The eye like what it circled; the thin robes,", "Floating like light clouds 'twixt our gaze and heaven;", "The many-twinkling feet so small and sylphlike,", "Suggesting the more secret symmetry", "Of the fair forms which terminate so well--", "All the delusion of the dizzy scene,", "Its false and true enchantments--Art and Nature,", "Which swam before my giddy eyes, that drank", "The sight of beauty as the parched pilgrim's", "On Arab sands the false mirage, which offers", "A lucid lake to his eluded thirst,", "Are gone. Around me are the stars and waters--", "Worlds mirrored in the Ocean, goodlier sight", "Than torches glared back by a gaudy glass;", "And the great Element, which is to space", "What Ocean is to Earth, spreads its blue depths,", "Softened with the first breathings of the spring;", "The high Moon sails upon her beauteous way,", "Serenely smoothing o'er the lofty walls", "Of those tall piles and sea-girt palaces,", "Whose porphyry pillars, and whose costly fronts,", "Fraught with the Orient spoil of many marbles,", "Like altars ranged along the broad canal,", "Seem each a trophy of some mighty deed", "Reared up from out the waters, scarce less strangely", "Than those more massy and mysterious giants", "Of architecture, those Titanian fabrics,", "Which point in Egypt's plains to times that have", "No other record. All is gentle: nought", "Stirs rudely; but, congenial with the night,", "Whatever walks is gliding like a spirit.", "The tinklings of some vigilant guitars", "Of sleepless lovers to a wakeful mistress,", "And cautious opening of the casement, showing", "That he is not unheard; while her young hand,", "Fair as the moonlight of which it seems part,", "So delicately white, it trembles in", "The act of opening the forbidden lattice,", "To let in love through music, makes his heart", "Thrill like his lyre-strings at the sight; the dash", "Phosphoric of the oar, or rapid twinkle", "Of the far lights of skimming gondolas,", "And the responsive voices of the choir", "Of boatmen answering back with verse for verse;", "Some dusky shadow checkering the Rialto;", "Some glimmering palace roof, or tapering spire,", "Are all the sights and sounds which here pervade", "The ocean-born and earth-commanding City--", "How sweet and soothing is this hour of calm!", "I thank thee, Night! for thou hast chased away", "Those horrid bodements which, amidst the throng,", "I could not dissipate: and with the blessing", "Of thy benign and quiet influence,", "Now will I to my couch, although to rest", "Is almost wronging such a night as this,----", " [_A knocking is heard from without_.", "Hark! what is that? or who at such a moment?", "", " _Enter_ ANTONIO.", "", "_Ant_. My Lord, a man without, on urgent business,", "Implores to be admitted.", "", "_Lioni_. Is he a stranger?", "", "_Ant_. His face is muffled in his cloak, but both", "His voice and gestures seem familiar to me;", "I craved his name, but this he seemed reluctant", "To trust, save to yourself; most earnestly", "He sues to be permitted to approach you.", "", "_Lioni_. 'Tis a strange hour, and a suspicious bearing!", "And yet there is slight peril: 'tis not in", "Their houses noble men are struck at; still,", "Although I know not that I have a foe", "In Venice, 'twill be wise to use some caution.", "Admit him, and retire; but call up quickly", "Some of thy fellows, who may wait without.--", "Who can this man be?--", " [_Exit_ ANTONIO, _and returns with_ BERTRAM _muffled_.", "", "_Ber_. My good Lord Lioni,", "I have no time to lose, nor thou,--dismiss", "This menial hence; I would be private with you.", "", "_Lioni_. It seems the voice of Bertram--Go, Antonio.", " [_Exit_ ANTONIO.", "Now, stranger, what would you at such an hour?", "", "_Ber_. (_discovering himself_).", "A boon, my noble patron; you have granted", "Many to your poor client, Bertram; add", "This one, and make him happy.", "", "_Lioni_. Thou hast known me", "From boyhood, ever ready to assist thee", "In all fair objects of advancement, which", "Beseem one of thy station; I would promise", "Ere thy request was heard, but that the hour,", "Thy bearing, and this strange and hurried mode", "Of suing, gives me to suspect this visit", "Hath some mysterious import--but say on--", "What has occurred, some rash and sudden broil?--", "A cup too much, a scuffle, and a stab?", "Mere things of every day; so that thou hast not", "Spilt noble blood, I guarantee thy safety;", "But then thou must withdraw, for angry friends", "And relatives, in the first burst of vengeance,", "Are things in Venice deadlier than the laws.", "", "_Ber_. My Lord, I thank you; but----", "", "_Lioni_. But what? You have not", "Raised a rash hand against one of our order?", "If so--withdraw and fly--and own it not;", "I would not slay--but then I must not save thee!", "He who has shed patrician blood----", "", "_Ber_. I come", "To save patrician blood, and not to shed it!", "And thereunto I must be speedy, for", "Each minute lost may lose a life; since Time", "Has changed his slow scythe for the two-edged sword,", "And is about to take, instead of sand,", "The dust from sepulchres to fill his hour-glass!--", "Go not _thou_ forth to-morrow!", "", "_Lioni_. Wherefore not?--", "What means this menace?", "", "_Ber_. Do not seek its meaning,", "But do as I implore thee;--stir not forth,", "Whate'er be stirring; though the roar of crowds--", "The cry of women, and the shrieks of babes--", "The groans of men--the clash of arms--the sound", "Of rolling drum, shrill trump, and hollow bell,", "Peal in one wide alarum l--Go not forth,", "Until the Tocsin's silent, nor even then", "Till I return!", "", "_Lioni_. Again, what does this mean?", "", "_Ber_. Again, I tell thee, ask not; but by all", "Thou holdest dear on earth or Heaven--by all", "The Souls of thy great fathers, and thy hope", "To emulate them, and to leave behind", "Descendants worthy both of them and thee--", "By all thou hast of blessed in hope or memory--", "By all thou hast to fear here or hereafter--", "By all the good deeds thou hast done to me,", "Good I would now repay with greater good,", "Remain within--trust to thy household gods,", "And to my word for safety, if thou dost,", "As I now counsel--but if not, thou art lost!", "", "_Lioni_. I am indeed already lost in wonder;", "Surely thou ravest! what have _I_ to dread?", "Who are my foes? or if there be such, _why_", "Art _thou_ leagued with them?--_thou!_ or, if so leagued,", "Why comest thou to tell me at this hour,", "And not before?", "", "_Ber_. I cannot answer this.", "Wilt thou go forth despite of this true warning?", "", "_Lioni_. I was not born to shrink from idle threats,", "The cause of which I know not: at the hour", "Of council, be it soon or late, I shall not", "Be found among the absent.", "", "_Ber_. Say not so!", "Once more, art thou determined to go forth?", "", "_Lioni_. I am. Nor is there aught which shall impede me!", "", "_Ber_. Then, Heaven have mercy on thy soul!--Farewell!", " [_Going_.", "", "_Lioni_. Stay--there is more in this than my own safety", "Which makes me call thee back; we must not part thus:", "Bertram, I have known thee long.", "", "_Ber_. From childhood, Signor,", "You have been my protector: in the days", "Of reckless infancy, when rank forgets,", "Or, rather, is not yet taught to remember", "Its cold prerogative, we played together;", "Our sports, our smiles, our tears, were mingled oft;", "My father was your father's client, I", "His son's scarce less than foster-brother; years", "Saw us together--happy, heart-full hours!", "Oh God! the difference 'twixt those hours and this!", "", "_Lioni_. Bertram, 'tis thou who hast forgotten them.", "", "_Ber_. Nor now, nor ever; whatsoe'er betide,", "I would have saved you: when to Manhood's growth", "We sprung, and you, devoted to the state,", "As suits your station, the more humble Bertram", "Was left unto the labours of the humble,", "Still you forsook me not; and if my fortunes", "Have not been towering, 'twas no fault of him", "Who ofttimes rescued and supported me,", "When struggling with the tides of Circumstance,", "Which bear away the weaker: noble blood", "Ne'er mantled in a nobler heart than thine", "Has proved to me, the poor plebeian Bertram.", "Would that thy fellow Senators were like thee!", "", "_Lioni_. Why, what hast thou to say against the Senate?", "", "_Ber_. Nothing.", "", "_Lioni_. I know that there are angry spirits", "And turbulent mutterers of stifled treason,", "Who lurk in narrow places, and walk out", "Muffled to whisper curses to the night;", "Disbanded soldiers, discontented ruffians,", "And desperate libertines who brawl in taverns;", "_Thou_ herdest not with such: 'tis true, of late", "I have lost sight of thee, but thou wert wont", "To lead a temperate life, and break thy bread", "With honest mates, and bear a cheerful aspect.", "What hath come to thee? in thy hollow eye", "And hueless cheek, and thine unquiet motions,", "Sorrow and Shame and Conscience seem at war", "To waste thee.", "", "_Ber_. Rather Shame and Sorrow light", "On the accurséd tyranny which rides", "The very air in Venice, and makes men", "Madden as in the last hours of the plague", "Which sweeps the soul deliriously from life!", "", "_Lioni_. Some villains have been tampering with thee, Bertram;", "This is not thy old language, nor own thoughts;", "Some wretch has made thee drunk with disaffection:", "But thou must not be lost so; thou _wert_ good", "And kind, and art not fit for such base acts", "As Vice and Villany would put thee to:", "Confess--confide in me--thou know'st my nature.", "What is it thou and thine are bound to do,", "Which should prevent thy friend, the only son", "Of him who was a friend unto thy father,", "So that our good-will is a heritage", "We should bequeath to our posterity", "Such as ourselves received it, or augmented;", "I say, what is it thou must do, that I", "Should deem thee dangerous, and keep the house", "Like a sick girl?", "", "_Ber_. Nay, question me no further:", "I must be gone.----", "", "_Lioni_. And I be murdered!--say,", "Was it not thus thou said'st, my gentle Bertram?", "", "_Ber_. Who talks of murder? what said I of murder?", "Tis false! I did not utter such a word.", "", "_Lioni_. Thou didst not; but from out thy wolfish eye,", "So changed from what I knew it, there glares forth", "The gladiator. If _my_ life's thine object,", "Take it--I am unarmed,--and then away!", "I would not hold my breath on such a tenure", "As the capricious mercy of such things", "As thou and those who have set thee to thy task-work.", "", "_Ber_. Sooner than spill thy blood, I peril mine;", "Sooner than harm a hair of thine, I place", "In jeopardy a thousand heads, and some", "As noble, nay, even nobler than thine own.", "", "_Lioni_. Aye, is it even so? Excuse me, Bertram;", "I am not worthy to be singled out", "From such exalted hecatombs--who are they", "That _are_ in danger, and that _make_ the danger?", "", "_Ber_. Venice, and all that she inherits, are", "Divided like a house against itself,", "And so will perish ere to-morrow's twilight!", "", "_Lioni_. More mysteries, and awful ones! But now,", "Or thou, or I, or both, it may be, are", "Upon the verge of ruin; speak once out,", "And thou art safe and glorious: for 'tis more", "Glorious to save than slay, and slay i' the dark too--", "Fie, Bertram! that was not a craft for thee!", "How would it look to see upon a spear", "The head of him whose heart was open to thee!", "Borne by thy hand before the shuddering people?", "And such may be my doom; for here I swear,", "Whate'er the peril or the penalty", "Of thy denunciation, I go forth,", "Unless thou dost detail the cause, and show", "The consequence of all which led thee here!", "", "_Ber_. Is there no way to save thee? minutes fly,", "And thou art lost!--_thou_! my sole benefactor,", "The only being who was constant to me", "Through every change. Yet, make me not a traitor!", "Let me save thee--but spare my honour!", "", "_Lioni_. Where", "Can lie the honour in a league of murder?", "And who are traitors save unto the State?", "", "_Ber_. A league is still a compact, and more binding", "In honest hearts when words must stand for law;", "And in my mind, there is no traitor like", "He whose domestic treason plants the poniard", "Within the breast which trusted to his truth.", "Lioni. And who will strike the steel to mine?", "", "_Ber_. Not I;", "I could have wound my soul up to all things", "Save this. _Thou_ must not die! and think how dear", "Thy life is, when I risk so many lives,", "Nay, more, the Life of lives, the liberty", "Of future generations, _not_ to be", "The assassin thou miscall'st me:--once, once more", "I do adjure thee, pass not o'er thy threshold!", "", "_Lioni_. It is in vain--this moment I go forth.", "", "_Ber_. Then perish Venice rather than my friend!", "I will disclose--ensnare--betray--destroy--", "Oh, what a villain I become for thee!", "", "_Lioni_. Say, rather thy friend's saviour and the State's!--", "Speak--pause not--all rewards, all pledges for", "Thy safety and thy welfare; wealth such as", "The State accords her worthiest servants; nay,", "Nobility itself I guarantee thee,", "So that thou art sincere and penitent.", "", "_Ber_. I have thought again: it must not be--I love thee--", "Thou knowest it--that I stand here is the proof,", "Not least though last; but having done my duty", "By thee, I now must do it by my country!", "Farewell--we meet no more in life!--farewell!", "", "_Lioni_. What, ho!--Antonio--Pedro--to the door!", "See that none pass--arrest this man!----", "", " _Enter_ ANTONIO _and other armed Domestics, who seize_ BERTRAM.", "", "_Lioni_ (_continues_). Take care", "He hath no harm; bring me my sword and cloak,", "And man the gondola with four oars--quick--", " [_Exit_ ANTONIO.", "We will unto Giovanni Gradenigo's,", "And send for Marc Cornaro:--fear not, Bertram;", "This needful violence is for thy safety,", "No less than for the general weal.", "", "_Ber_. Where wouldst thou", "Bear me a prisoner?", "", "_Lioni_. Firstly to \"the Ten;\"", "Next to the Doge.", "", "_Ber_. To the Doge?", "", "_Lioni_. Assuredly:", "Is he not Chief of the State?", "", "_Ber_. Perhaps at sunrise--", "", "_Lioni_. What mean you?--but we'll know anon.", "", "_Ber_. Art sure?", "", "_Lioni_. Sure as all gentle means can make; and if", "They fail, you know \"the Ten\" and their tribunal,", "And that St. Mark's has dungeons, and the dungeons", "A rack.", "", "_Ber_. Apply it then before the dawn", "Now hastening into heaven.--One more such word,", "And you shall perish piecemeal, by the death", "You think to doom to me.", "", " _Re-enter_ ANTONIO.", "", "_Ant_. The bark is ready,", "My Lord, and all prepared.", "", "_Lioni_. Look to the prisoner.", "Bertram, I'll reason with thee as we go", "To the Magnifico's, sage Gradenigo. [_Exeunt_.", "", "SCENE II.--_The Ducal Palace_--_The Doge's Apartment_.", "", " _The_ DOGE _and his Nephew_ BERTUCCIO FALIERO.", "", "_Doge_. Are all the people of our house in muster?", "", "_Ber. F._ They are arrayed, and eager for the signal,", "Within our palace precincts at San Polo:", "I come for your last orders.", "", "_Doge_. It had been", "As well had there been time to have got together,", "From my own fief, Val di Marino, more", "Of our retainers--but it is too late.", "", "_Ber. F._ Methinks, my Lord,'tis better as it is:", "A sudden swelling of our retinue", "Had waked suspicion; and, though fierce and trusty,", "The vassals of that district are too rude", "And quick in quarrel to have long maintained", "The secret discipline we need for such", "A service, till our foes are dealt upon.", "", "_Doge_. True; but when once the signal has been given,", "_These_ are the men for such an enterprise;", "These city slaves have all their private bias,", "Their prejudice _against_ or _for_ this noble,", "Which may induce them to o'erdo or spare", "Where mercy may be madness; the fierce peasants,", "Serfs of my county of Val di Marino,", "Would do the bidding of their lord without", "Distinguishing for love or hate his foes;", "Alike to them Marcello or Cornaro,", "A Gradenigo or a Foscari;", "They are not used to start at those vain names,", "Nor bow the knee before a civic Senate;", "A chief in armour is their Suzerain,", "And not a thing in robes.", "", "_Ber. F._ We are enough;", "And for the dispositions of our clients", "Against the Senate I will answer.", "", "_Doge_. Well,", "The die is thrown; but for a warlike service,", "Done in the field, commend me to my peasants:", "They made the sun shine through the host of Huns", "When sallow burghers slunk back to their tents,", "And cowered to hear their own victorious trumpet.", "If there be small resistance, you will find", "These Citizens all Lions, like their Standard;", "But if there's much to do, you'll wish, with me,", "A band of iron rustics at our backs.", "", "_Ber_. Thus thinking, I must marvel you resolve", "To strike the blow so suddenly.", "", "_Doge_. Such blows", "Must be struck suddenly or never. When", "I had o'ermastered the weak false remorse", "Which yearned about my heart, too fondly yielding", "A moment to the feelings of old days,", "I was most fain to strike; and, firstly, that", "I might not yield again to such emotions;", "And, secondly, because of all these men,", "Save Israel and Philip Calendaro,", "I know not well the courage or the faith:", "To-day might find 'mongst them a traitor to us,", "As yesterday a thousand to the Senate;", "But once in, with their hilts hot in their hands,", "They must _on_ for their own sakes; one stroke struck,", "And the mere instinct of the first-born Cain,", "Which ever lurks somewhere in human hearts,", "Though Circumstance may keep it in abeyance,", "Will urge the rest on like to wolves; the sight", "Of blood to crowds begets the thirst of more,", "As the first wine-cup leads to the long revel;", "And you will find a harder task to quell", "Than urge them when they _have_ commenced, but _till_", "That moment, a mere voice, a straw, a shadow,", "Are capable of turning them aside.--", "How goes the night?", "", "_Ber. F._ Almost upon the dawn.", "", "_Doge_. Then it is time to strike upon the bell.", "Are the men posted?", "", "_Ber. F._ By this time they are;", "But they have orders not to strike, until", "They have command from you through me in person.", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis well.--Will the morn never put to rest", "These stars which twinkle yet o'er all the heavens?", "I am settled and bound up, and being so,", "The very effort which it cost me to", "Resolve to cleanse this Commonwealth with fire,", "Now leaves my mind more steady. I have wept,", "And trembled at the thought of this dread duty;", "But now I have put down all idle passion,", "And look the growing tempest in the face,", "As doth the pilot of an Admiral Galley:", "Yet (wouldst thou think it, kinsman?) it hath been", "A greater struggle to me, than when nations", "Beheld their fate merged in the approaching fight,", "Where I was leader of a phalanx, where", "Thousands were sure to perish--Yes, to spill", "The rank polluted current from the veins", "Of a few bloated despots needed more", "To steel me to a purpose such as made", "Timoleon immortal, than to face", "The toils and dangers of a life of war.", "", "_Ber. F._ It gladdens me to see your former wisdom", "Subdue the furies which so wrung you ere", "You were decided.", "", "_Doge_. It was ever thus", "With me; the hour of agitation came", "In the first glimmerings of a purpose, when", "Passion had too much room to sway; but in", "The hour of action I have stood as calm", "As were the dead who lay around me: this", "They knew who made me what I am, and trusted", "To the subduing power which I preserved", "Over my mood, when its first burst was spent.", "But they were not aware that there are things", "Which make revenge a virtue by reflection,", "And not an impulse of mere anger; though", "The laws sleep, Justice wakes, and injured souls", "Oft do a public right with private wrong,", "And justify their deeds unto themselves.--", "Methinks the day breaks--is it not so? look,", "Thine eyes are clear with youth;--the air puts on", "A morning freshness, and, at least to me,", "The sea looks greyer through the lattice.", "", "_Ber. F._ True,", "The morn is dappling in the sky.", "", "_Doge_. Away then!", "See that they strike without delay, and with", "The first toll from St. Mark's, march on the palace", "With all our House's strength; here I will meet you;", "The Sixteen and their companies will move", "In separate columns at the self-same moment:", "Be sure you post yourself at the great Gate:", "I would not trust \"the Ten\" except to us--", "The rest, the rabble of patricians, may", "Glut the more careless swords of those leagued with us.", "Remember that the cry is still \"Saint Mark!", "The Genoese are come--ho! to the rescue!", "Saint Mark and Liberty!\"--Now--now to action!", "", "_Ber. F._ Farewell then, noble Uncle! we will meet", "In freedom and true sovereignty, or never!", "", "_Doge_. Come hither, my Bertuccio--one embrace;", "Speed, for the day grows broader; send me soon", "A messenger to tell me how all goes", "When you rejoin our troops, and then sound--sound", "The storm-bell from St. Mark's!", " [_Exit_ BERTUCCIO FALIERO.", "", "_Doge_ (_solus_). He is gone,", "And on each footstep moves a life. 'Tis done.", "Now the destroying Angel hovers o'er", "Venice, and pauses ere he pours the vial,", "Even as the eagle overlooks his prey,", "And for a moment, poised in middle air,", "Suspends the motion of his mighty wings,", "Then swoops with his unerring beak. Thou Day!", "That slowly walk'st the waters! march--march on--", "I would not smite i' the dark, but rather see", "That no stroke errs. And you, ye blue sea waves!", "I have seen you dyed ere now, and deeply too,", "With Genoese, Saracen, and Hunnish gore,", "While that of Venice flowed too, but victorious:", "Now thou must wear an unmixed crimson; no", "Barbaric blood can reconcile us now", "Unto that horrible incarnadine,", "But friend or foe will roll in civic slaughter.", "And have I lived to fourscore years for this?", "I, who was named Preserver of the City?", "I, at whose name the million's caps were flung", "Into the air, and cries from tens of thousands", "Rose up, imploring Heaven to send me blessings,", "And fame, and length of days--to see this day?", "But this day, black within the calendar,", "Shall be succeeded by a bright millennium.", "Doge Dandolo survived to ninety summers", "To vanquish empires, and refuse their crown;", "I will resign a crown, and make the State", "Renew its freedom--but oh! by what means?", "The noble end must justify them. What", "Are a few drops of human blood? 'tis false,", "The blood of tyrants is not human; they,", "Like to incarnate Molochs, feed on ours,", "Until 'tis time to give them to the tombs", "Which they have made so populous.--Oh World!", "Oh Men! what are ye, and our best designs,", "That we must work by crime to punish crime?", "And slay as if Death had but this one gate,", "When a few years would make the sword superfluous?", "And I, upon the verge of th' unknown realm,", "Yet send so many heralds on before me?--", "I must not ponder this. [_A pause._", " Hark! was there not", "A murmur as of distant voices, and", "The tramp of feet in martial unison?", "What phantoms even of sound our wishes raise!", "It cannot be--the signal hath not rung--", "Why pauses it? My nephew's messenger", "Should be upon his way to me, and he", "Himself perhaps even now draws grating back", "Upon its ponderous hinge the steep tower portal,", "Where swings the sullen huge oracular bell,", "Which never knells but for a princely death,", "Or for a state in peril, pealing forth", "Tremendous bodements; let it do its office,", "And be this peal its awfullest and last", "Sound till the strong tower rock!--What! silent still?", "I would go forth, but that my post is here,", "To be the centre of re-union to", "The oft discordant elements which form", "Leagues of this nature, and to keep compact", "The wavering of the weak, in case of conflict;", "For if they should do battle,'twill be here,", "Within the palace, that the strife will thicken:", "Then here must be my station, as becomes", "The master-mover.--Hark! he comes--he comes,", "My nephew, brave Bertuccio's messenger.--", "What tidings? Is he marching? hath he sped?", "_They_ here!-all's lost-yet will I make an effort.", "", " _Enter a_ SIGNOR OF THE NIGHT, _with Guards, etc., etc._", "", "_Sig_. Doge, I arrest thee of high treason!", "", "_Doge_. Me!", "Thy Prince, of treason?--Who are they that dare", "Cloak their own treason under such an order?", "", "_Sig_. (_showing his order_).", "Behold my order from the assembled Ten.", "", "_Doge_. And _where_ are they, and _why_ assembled? no", "Such Council can be lawful, till the Prince", "Preside there, and that duty's mine: on thine", "I charge thee, give me way, or marshal me", "To the Council chamber.", "", "_Sig_. Duke! it may not be:", "Nor are they in the wonted Hall of Council,", "But sitting in the convent of Saint Saviour's.", "", "_Doge_. You dare to disobey me, then?", "", "_Sig_. I serve", "The State, and needs must serve it faithfully;", "My warrant is the will of those who rule it.", "", "_Doge_. And till that warrant has my signature", "It is illegal, and, as _now_ applied,", "Rebellious. Hast thou weighed well thy life's worth,", "That thus you dare assume a lawless function?", "", "_Sig_. 'Tis not my office to reply, but act--", "I am placed here as guard upon thy person,", "And not as judge to hear or to decide.", "", "_Doge_ (_aside_).", "I must gain time. So that the storm-bell sound,", "All may be well yet. Kinsman, speed--speed--speed!--", "Our fate is trembling in the balance, and", "Woe to the vanquished! be they Prince and people,", "Or slaves and Senate--", " [_The great bell of St. Mark's tolls._", " Lo! it sounds--it tolls!", "", "_Doge_ (_aloud_).", "Hark, Signor of the Night! and you, ye hirelings,", "Who wield your mercenary staves in fear,", "It is your knell.--Swell on, thou lusty peal!", "Now, knaves, what ransom for your lives?", "", "_Sig_. Confusion!", "Stand to your arms, and guard the door--all's lost", "Unless that fearful bell be silenced soon.", "The officer hath missed his path or purpose,", "Or met some unforeseen and hideous obstacle,", "Anselmo, with thy company proceed", "Straight to the tower; the rest remain with me.", " [_Exit part of the Guard._", "", "_Doge_. Wretch! if thou wouldst have thy vile life, implore it;", "It is not now a lease of sixty seconds.", "Aye, send thy miserable ruffians forth;", "They never shall return.", "", "_Sig_. So let it be!", "They die then in their duty, as will I.", "", "_Doge_. Fool! the high eagle flies at nobler game", "Than thou and thy base myrmidons,--live on,", "So thou provok'st not peril by resistance,", "And learn (if souls so much obscured can bear", "To gaze upon the sunbeams) to be free.", "", "_Sig_. And learn thou to be captive. It hath ceased,", " [_The bell ceases to toll_.", "The traitorous signal, which was to have set", "The bloodhound mob on their patrician prey--", "The knell hath rung, but it is not the Senate's!", "", "_Doge_ (_after a pause_).", "All's silent, and all's lost!", "", "_Sig_. Now, Doge, denounce me", "As rebel slave of a revolted Council!", "Have I not done my duty?", "", "_Doge_. Peace, thou thing!", "Thou hast done a worthy deed, and earned the price", "Of blood, and they who use thee will reward thee.", "But thou wert sent to watch, and not to prate,", "As thou said'st even now--then do thine office,", "But let it be in silence, as behoves thee,", "Since, though thy prisoner, I am thy Prince.", "", "_Sig_. I did not mean to fail in the respect", "Due to your rank: in this I shall obey you.", "", "_Doge_ (_aside_). There now is nothing left me save to die;", "And yet how near success! I would have fallen,", "And proudly, in the hour of triumph, but", "To miss it thus!----", "", " _Enter other_ SIGNORS OF THE NIGHT, _with_", " BERTUCCIO FALIERO _prisoner_.", "", "_2nd Sig_. We took him in the act", "Of issuing from the tower, where, at his order,", "As delegated from the Doge, the signal", "Had thus begun to sound.", "", "_1st Sig_. Are all the passes", "Which lead up to the palace well secured?", "", "_2nd Sig_. They are--besides, it matters not; the Chiefs", "Are all in chains, and some even now on trial--", "Their followers are dispersed, and many taken.", "", "_Ber. F._ Uncle!", "", "_Doge_. It is in vain to war with Fortune;", "The glory hath departed from our house.", "", "_Ber. F._ Who would have deemed it?--Ah! one moment sooner!", "", "_Doge_. That moment would have changed the face of ages;", "_This_ gives us to Eternity--We'll meet it", "As men whose triumph is not in success,", "But who can make their own minds all in all,", "Equal to every fortune. Droop not,'tis", "But a brief passage--I would go alone,", "Yet if they send us, as 'tis like, together,", "Let us go worthy of our sires and selves.", "", "_Ber. F._ I shall not shame you, Uncle.", "", "_1st Sig_. Lords, our orders", "Are to keep guard on both in separate chambers,", "Until the Council call ye to your trial.", "", "_Doge_. Our trial! will they keep their mockery up", "Even to the last? but let them deal upon us,", "As we had dealt on them, but with less pomp.", "'Tis but a game of mutual homicides,", "Who have cast lots for the first death, and they", "Have won with false dice.--Who hath been our Judas?", "", "_1st Sig_. I am not warranted to answer that.", "", "_Ber. F._ I'll answer for thee--'tis a certain Bertram,", "Even now deposing to the secret Giunta.", "", "_Doge_. Bertram, the Bergamask! With what vile tools", "We operate to slay or save! This creature,", "Black with a double treason, now will earn", "Rewards and honours, and be stamped in story", "With the geese in the Capitol, which gabbled", "Till Rome awoke, and had an annual triumph,", "While Manlius, who hurled down the Gauls, was cast", "From the Tarpeian.", "", "_1st Sig_. He aspired to treason,", "And sought to rule the State.", "", "_Doge_. He saved the State,", "And sought but to reform what he revived--", "But this is idle--Come, sirs, do your work.", "", "_1st Sig_. Noble Bertuccio, we must now remove you", "Into an inner chamber.", "", "_Ber. F._ Farewell, Uncle!", "If we shall meet again in life I know not,", "But they perhaps will let our ashes mingle.", "", "_Doge_. Yes, and our spirits, which shall yet go forth,", "And do what our frail clay, thus clogged, hath failed in!", "They cannot quench the memory of those", "Who would have hurled them from their guilty thrones,", "And such examples will find heirs, though distant.", "", "ACT V.", "", "SCENE 1.--_The Hall of the Council of Ten assembled with the additional", " Senators, who, on the Trials of the Conspirators for the Treason of_", " MARINO FALIERO, _composed what was called the Giunta,--Guards, Officers,", " etc., etc._ ISRAEL BERTUCCIO _and_ PHILIP CALENDARO _as Prisoners_.", " BERTRAM, LIONI, _and Witnesses, etc._", "", " _The Chief of the Ten_, BENINTENDE.", "", "_Ben_. There now rests, after such conviction of", "Their manifold and manifest offences,", "But to pronounce on these obdurate men", "The sentence of the Law:--a grievous task", "To those who hear, and those who speak. Alas!", "That it should fall to me! and that my days", "Of office should be stigmatised through all", "The years of coming time, as bearing record", "To this most foul and complicated treason", "Against a just and free state, known to all", "The earth as being the Christian bulwark 'gainst", "The Saracen and the schismatic Greek,", "The savage Hun, and not less barbarous Frank;", "A City which has opened India's wealth", "To Europe; the last Roman refuge from", "O'erwhelming Attila; the Ocean's Queen;", "Proud Genoa's prouder rival! 'Tis to sap", "The throne of such a City, these lost men", "Have risked and forfeited their worthless lives--", "So let them die the death.", "", "_I. Ber_. We are prepared;", "Your racks have done that for us. Let us die.", "", "_Ben_. If ye have that to say which would obtain", "Abatement of your punishment, the Giunta", "Will hear you; if you have aught to confess,", "Now is your time,--perhaps it may avail ye.", "", "_I. Ber_. We stand to hear, and not to speak.", "", "_Ben_. Your crimes", "Are fully proved by your accomplices,", "And all which Circumstance can add to aid them;", "Yet we would hear from your own lips complete", "Avowal of your treason: on the verge", "Of that dread gulf which none repass, the truth", "Alone can profit you on earth or Heaven--", "Say, then, what was your motive?", "", "_I. Ber_. Justice!", "", "_Ben_. What", "Your object?", "", "_I. Ber_. Freedom!", "", "_Ben_. You are brief, sir.", "", "_I. Ber_. So my life grows: I", "Was bred a soldier, not a senator.", "", "_Ben_. Perhaps you think by this blunt brevity", "To brave your judges to postpone the sentence?", "", "_I. Ber_. Do you be brief as I am, and believe me,", "I shall prefer that mercy to your pardon.", "", "_Ben_. Is this your sole reply to the Tribunal?", "", "_I. Ber_. Go, ask your racks what they have wrung from us,", "Or place us there again; we have still some blood left,", "And some slight sense of pain in these wrenched limbs:", "But this ye dare not do; for if we die there--", "And you have left us little life to spend", "Upon your engines, gorged with pangs already--", "Ye lose the public spectacle, with which", "You would appal your slaves to further slavery!", "Groans are not words, nor agony assent,", "Nor affirmation Truth, if Nature's sense", "Should overcome the soul into a lie,", "For a short respite--must we bear or die?", "", "_Ben_. Say, who were your accomplices?", "", "_I. Ber_. The Senate.", "", "_Ben_. What do you mean?", "", "_I. Ber_. Ask of the suffering people,", "Whom your patrician crimes have driven to crime.", "", "_Ben_. You know the Doge?", "", "_I. Ber_. I served with him at Zara", "In the field, when _you_ were pleading here your way", "To present office; we exposed our lives,", "While you but hazarded the lives of others,", "Alike by accusation or defence;", "And for the rest, all Venice knows her Doge,", "Through his great actions, and the Senate's insults.", "", "_Ben_. You have held conference with him?", "", "_I. Ber_. I am weary--", "Even wearier of your questions than your tortures:", "I pray you pass to judgment.", "", "_Ben_. It is coming.", "And you, too, Philip Calendaro, what", "Have you to say why you should not be doomed?", "", "_Cal_. I never was a man of many words,", "And now have few left worth the utterance.", "", "_Ben_. A further application of yon engine", "May change your tone.", "", "_Cal_. Most true, it _will_ do so;", "A former application did so; but", "It will not change my words, or, if it did--", "", "_Ben_. What then?", "", "_Cal_. Will my avowal on yon rack", "Stand good in law?", "", "_Ben_. Assuredly.", "", "_Cal_. Whoe'er", "The culprit be whom I accuse of treason?", "", "_Ben_. Without doubt, he will be brought up to trial.", "", "_Cal_. And on this testimony would he perish?", "", "_Ben_. So your confession be detailed and full,", "He will stand here in peril of his life.", "", "_Cal_. Then look well to thy proud self, President!", "For by the Eternity which yawns before me,", "I swear that _thou_, and only thou, shall be", "The traitor I denounce upon that rack,", "If I be stretched there for the second time.", "", "_One of the Giunta_. Lord President,'twere best proceed to judgment;", "There is no more to be drawn from these men.", "", "_Ben_. Unhappy men! prepare for instant death.", "The nature of your crime--our law--and peril", "The State now stands in, leave not an hour's respite.", "Guards! lead them forth, and upon the balcony", "Of the red columns, where, on festal Thursday,", "The Doge stands to behold the chase of bulls,", "Let them be justified: and leave exposed", "Their wavering relics, in the place of judgment,", "To the full view of the assembled people!", "And Heaven have mercy on their souls!", "", "_The Giunta_. Amen!", "", "_I. Ber_. Signors, farewell! we shall not all again", "Meet in one place.", "", "_Ben_. And lest they should essay", "To stir up the distracted multitude--", "Guards! let their mouths be gagged even in the act", "Of execution. Lead them hence!", "", "_Cal_. What! must we", "Not even say farewell to some fond friend,", "Nor leave a last word with our confessor?", "", "_Ben_. A priest is waiting in the antechamber;", "But, for your friends, such interviews would be", "Painful to them, and useless all to you.", "", "_Cal_. I knew that we were gagged in life; at least", "All those who had not heart to risk their lives", "Upon their open thoughts; but still I deemed", "That in the last few moments, the same idle", "Freedom of speech accorded to the dying,", "Would not now be denied to us; but since----", "", "_I. Ber_. Even let them have their way, brave Calendaro!", "What matter a few syllables? let's die", "Without the slightest show of favour from them;", "So shall our blood more readily arise", "To Heaven against them, and more testify", "To their atrocities, than could a volume", "Spoken or written of our dying words!", "They tremble at our voices--nay, they dread", "Our very silence--let them live in fear!", "Leave them unto their thoughts, and let us now", "Address our own above!--Lead on; we are ready.", "", "_Cal_. Israel, hadst thou but hearkened unto me", "It had not now been thus; and yon pale villain,", "The coward Bertram, would----", "", "_I. Ber_. Peace, Calendaro!", "What brooks it now to ponder upon this?", "", "_Bert_. Alas! I fain you died in peace with me:", "I did not seek this task; 'twas forced upon me:", "Say, you forgive me, though I never can", "Retrieve my own forgiveness--frown not thus!", "", "_I. Ber_. I die and pardon thee!", "", "_Cal_. (_spitting at him_). I die and scorn thee!", " [_Exeunt_ ISRAEL BERTUCCIO _and_ PHILIP CALENDARO, _Guards, etc_.", "", "_Ben_. Now that these criminals have been disposed of,", "'Tis time that we proceed to pass our sentence", "Upon the greatest traitor upon record", "In any annals, the Doge Faliero!", "The proofs and process are complete; the time", "And crime require a quick procedure: shall", "He now be called in to receive the award?", "", "_The Giunta_. Aye, aye.", "", "_Ben_. Avogadori, order that the Doge", "Be brought before the Council.", "", "_One of the Giunta_. And the rest,", "When shall they be brought up?", "", "_Ben_. When all the Chiefs", "Have been disposed of. Some have fled to Chiozza;", "But there are thousands in pursuit of them,", "And such precaution ta'en on terra firma,", "As well as in the islands, that we hope", "None will escape to utter in strange lands", "His libellous tale of treasons 'gainst the Senate.", "", " _Enter the_ DOGE _as Prisoner, with Guards, etc., etc._", "", "_Ben_. Doge--for such still you are, and by the law", "Must be considered, till the hour shall come", "When you must doff the Ducal Bonnet from", "That head, which could not wear a crown more noble", "Than Empires can confer, in quiet honour,", "But it must plot to overthrow your peers,", "Who made you what you are, and quench in blood", "A City's glory--we have laid already", "Before you in your chamber at full length,", "By the Avogadori, all the proofs", "Which have appeared against you; and more ample", "Ne'er reared their sanguinary shadows to", "Confront a traitor. What have you to say", "In your defence?", "", "_Doge_. What shall I say to ye,", "Since my defence must be your condemnation?", "You are at once offenders and accusers,", "Judges and Executioners!--Proceed", "Upon your power.", "", "_Ben_. Your chief accomplices", "Having confessed, there is no hope for you.", "", "_Doge_. And who be they?", "", "_Ben_. In number many; but", "The first now stands before you in the court,", "Bertram of Bergamo,--would you question him?", "", "_Doge_ (_looking at him contemptuously_). No.", "", "_Ben_. And two others, Israel Bertuccio,", "And Philip Calendaro, have admitted", "Their fellowship in treason with the Doge!", "", "_Doge_. And where are they?", "", "_Ben_. Gone to their place, and now", "Answering to Heaven for what they did on earth.", "", "_Doge_. Ah! the plebeian Brutus, is he gone?", "And the quick Cassius of the arsenal?--", "How did they meet their doom?", "", "_Ben_. Think of your own:", "It is approaching. You decline to plead, then?", "", "_Doge_. I cannot plead to my inferiors, nor", "Can recognise your legal power to try me.", "Show me the law!", "", "_Ben_. On great emergencies,", "The law must be remodelled or amended:", "Our fathers had not fixed the punishment", "Of such a crime, as on the old Roman tables", "The sentence against parricide was left", "In pure forgetfulness; they could not render", "That penal, which had neither name nor thought", "In their great bosoms; who would have foreseen", "That Nature could be filed to such a crime", "As sons 'gainst sires, and princes 'gainst their realms?", "Your sin hath made us make a law which will", "Become a precedent 'gainst such haught traitors,", "As would with treason mount to tyranny;", "Not even contented with a sceptre, till", "They can convert it to a two-edged sword!", "Was not the place of Doge sufficient for ye?", "What's nobler than the signory of Venice?", "", "_Doge_. The signory of Venice! You betrayed me--", "_You--you_, who sit there, traitors as ye are!", "From my equality with you in birth,", "And my superiority in action,", "You drew me from my honourable toils", "In distant lands--on flood, in field, in cities--", "_You_ singled me out like a victim to", "Stand crowned, but bound and helpless, at the altar", "Where you alone could minister. I knew not,", "I sought not, wished not, dreamed not the election,", "Which reached me first at Rome, and I obeyed;", "But found on my arrival, that, besides", "The jealous vigilance which always led you", "To mock and mar your Sovereign's best intents,", "You had, even in the interregnum of", "My journey to the capital, curtailed", "And mutilated the few privileges", "Yet left the Duke: all this I bore, and would", "Have borne, until my very hearth was stained", "By the pollution of your ribaldry,", "And he, the ribald, whom I see amongst you--", "Fit judge in such tribunal!----", "", "_Ben_. (_interrupting him_). Michel Steno", "Is here in virtue of his office, as", "One of the Forty; \"the Ten\" having craved", "A Giunta of patricians from the Senate", "To aid our judgment in a trial arduous", "And novel as the present: he was set", "Free from the penalty pronounced upon him,", "Because the Doge, who should protect the law,", "Seeking to abrogate all law, can claim", "No punishment of others by the statutes", "Which he himself denies and violates!", "", "_Doge_. _His_ punishment! I rather see him _there_,", "Where he now sits, to glut him with my death,", "Than in the mockery of castigation,", "Which your foul, outward, juggling show of justice", "Decreed as sentence! Base as was his crime,", "'Twas purity compared with your protection.", "", "_Ben_. And can it be, that the great Doge of Venice,", "With three parts of a century of years", "And honours on his head, could thus allow", "His fury, like an angry boy's, to master", "All Feeling, Wisdom, Faith and Fear, on such", "A provocation as a young man's petulance?", "", "_Doge_. A spark creates the flame--'tis the last drop", "Which makes the cup run o'er, and mine was full", "Already: you oppressed the Prince and people;", "I would have freed both, and have failed in both:", "The price of such success would have been glory,", "Vengeance, and victory, and such a name", "As would have made Venetian history", "Rival to that of Greece and Syracuse", "When they were freed, and flourished ages after,", "And mine to Gelon and to Thrasybulus:", "Failing, I know the penalty of failure", "Is present infamy and death--the future", "Will judge, when Venice is no more, or free;", "Till then, the truth is in abeyance. Pause not;", "I would have shown no mercy, and I seek none;", "My life was staked upon a mighty hazard,", "And being lost, take what I would have taken!", "I would have stood alone amidst your tombs:", "Now you may flock round mine, and trample on it,", "As you have done upon my heart while living.", "", "_Ben_. You do confess then, and admit the justice", "Of our Tribunal?", "", "_Doge_. I confess to have failed;", "Fortune is female: from my youth her favours", "Were not withheld, the fault was mine to hope", "Her former smiles again at this late hour.", "", "_Ben_. You do not then in aught arraign our equity?", "", "_Doge_. Noble Venetians! stir me not with questions.", "I am resigned to the worst; but in me still", "Have something of the blood of brighter days,", "And am not over-patient. Pray you, spare me", "Further interrogation, which boots nothing,", "Except to turn a trial to debate.", "I shall but answer that which will offend you,", "And please your enemies--a host already;", "'Tis true, these sullen walls should yield no echo:", "But walls have ears--nay, more, they have tongues; and if", "There were no other way for Truth to o'erleap them,", "You who condemn me, you who fear and slay me,", "Yet could not bear in silence to your graves", "What you would hear from me of Good or Evil;", "The secret were too mighty for your souls:", "Then let it sleep in mine, unless you court", "A danger which would double that you escape.", "Such my defence would be, had I full scope", "To make it famous; for true _words_ are _things_,", "And dying men's are things which long outlive,", "And oftentimes avenge them; bury mine,", "If ye would fain survive me: take this counsel,", "And though too oft ye make me live in wrath,", "Let me die calmly; you may grant me this;", "I deny nothing--defend nothing--nothing", "I ask of you, but silence for myself,", "And sentence from the Court!", "", "_Ben_. This full admission", "Spares us the harsh necessity of ordering", "The torture to elicit the whole truth.", "", "_Doge_. The torture! you have put me there already,", "Daily since I was Doge; but if you will", "Add the corporeal rack, you may: these limbs", "Will yield with age to crushing iron; but", "There's that within my heart shall strain your engines.", "", " _Enter an_ OFFICER.", "", "_Officer_. Noble Venetians! Duchess Faliero", "Requests admission to the Giunta's presence.", "", "_Ben_. Say, Conscript Fathers, shall she be admitted?", "", "_One of the Giunta_. She may have revelations of importance", "Unto the state, to justify compliance", "With her request.", "", "_Ben_. Is this the general will?", "", "_All_. It is.", "", "_Doge_. Oh, admirable laws of Venice!", "Which would admit the wife, in the full hope", "That she might testify against the husband.", "What glory to the chaste Venetian dames!", "But such blasphemers 'gainst all Honour, as", "Sit here, do well to act in their vocation.", "Now, villain Steno! if this woman fail,", "I'll pardon thee thy lie, and thy escape,", "And my own violent death, and thy vile life.", "", " _The_ DUCHESS _enters_.", "", "_Ben_. Lady! this just Tribunal has resolved,", "Though the request be strange, to grant it, and", "Whatever be its purport, to accord", "A patient hearing with the due respect", "Which fits your ancestry, your rank, and virtues:", "But you turn pale--ho! there, look to the Lady!", "Place a chair instantly.", "", "_Ang_. A moment's faintness--", "'Tis past; I pray you pardon me,--I sit not", "In presence of my Prince and of my husband,", "While he is on his feet.", "", "_Ben_. Your pleasure, Lady?", "", "_Ang_. Strange rumours, but most true, if all I hear", "And see be sooth, have reached me, and I come", "To know the worst, even at the worst; forgive", "The abruptness of my entrance and my bearing.", "Is it--I cannot speak--I cannot shape", "The question--but you answer it ere spoken,", "With eyes averted, and with gloomy brows--", "Oh God! this is the silence of the grave!", "", "_Ben_. (_after a pause_). Spare us, and spare thyself the repetition", "Of our most awful, but inexorable", "Duty to Heaven and man!", "", "_Ang_. Yet speak; I cannot--", "I cannot--no--even now believe these things.", "Is _he_ condemned?", "", "_Ben_. Alas!", "", "_Ang_. And was he guilty?", "", "_Ben_. Lady! the natural distraction of", "Thy thoughts at such a moment makes the question", "Merit forgiveness; else a doubt like this", "Against a just and paramount tribunal", "Were deep offence. But question even the Doge,", "And if he can deny the proofs, believe him", "Guiltless as thy own bosom.", "", "_Ang_. Is it so?", "My Lord, my Sovereign, my poor father's friend,", "The mighty in the field, the sage in Council,", "Unsay the words of this man!--thou art silent!", "", "_Ben_. He hath already owned to his own guilt,", "Nor, as thou see'st, doth he deny it now.", "", "_Ang_. Aye, but he must not die! Spare his few years,", "Which Grief and Shame will soon cut down to days!", "One day of baffled crime must not efface", "Near sixteen lustres crowned with brave acts.", "", "_Ben_. His doom must be fulfilled without remission", "Of time or penalty--'tis a decree.", "", "_Ang_. He hath been guilty, but there may be mercy.", "", "_Ben_. Not in this case with justice.", "", "_Ang_. Alas! Signor,", "He who is only just is cruel; who", "Upon the earth would live were all judged justly?", "", "_Ben_. His punishment is safety to the State.", "", "_Ang_. He was a subject, and hath served the State;", "He was your General, and hath saved the State;", "He is your Sovereign, and hath ruled the State.", "", "_One of the Council_. He is a traitor, and betrayed the State.", "", "_Ang_. And, but for him, there now had been no State", "To save or to destroy; and you, who sit", "There to pronounce the death of your deliverer,", "Had now been groaning at a Moslem oar,", "Or digging in the Hunnish mines in fetters!", "", "_One of the Council_. No, Lady, there are others who would die", "Rather than breathe in slavery!", "", "_Ang_. If there are so", "Within _these_ walls, _thou_ art not of the number:", "The truly brave are generous to the fallen!--", "Is there no hope?", "", "_Ben_. Lady, it cannot be.", "", "_Ang_. (_turning to the Doge_).", "Then die, Faliero! since it must be so;", "But with the spirit of my father's friend.", "Thou hast been guilty of a great offence,", "Half cancelled by the harshness of these men.", "I would have sued to them, have prayed to them.", "Have begged as famished mendicants for bread,", "Have wept as they will cry unto their God", "For mercy, and be answered as they answer,--", "Had it been fitting for thy name or mine,", "And if the cruelty in their cold eyes", "Had not announced the heartless wrath within.", "Then, as a Prince, address thee to thy doom!", "", "_Doge_. I have lived too long not to know how to die!", "Thy suing to these men were but the bleating", "Of the lamb to the butcher, or the cry", "Of seamen to the surge: I would not take", "A life eternal, granted at the hands", "Of wretches, from whose monstrous villanies", "I sought to free the groaning nations!", "", "_Michel Steno_. Doge,", "A word with thee, and with this noble lady,", "Whom I have grievously offended. Would", "Sorrow, or shame, or penance on my part,", "Could cancel the inexorable past!", "But since that cannot be, as Christians let us", "Say farewell, and in peace: with full contrition", "I crave, not pardon, but compassion from you,", "And give, however weak, my prayers for both.", "", "_Ang_. Sage Benintende, now chief Judge of Venice,", "I speak to thee in answer to yon Signor.", "Inform the ribald Steno, that his words", "Ne'er weighed in mind with Loredano's daughter,", "Further than to create a moment's pity", "For such as he is: would that others had", "Despised him as I pity! I prefer", "My honour to a thousand lives, could such", "Be multiplied in mine, but would not have", "A single life of others lost for that", "Which nothing human can impugn--the sense", "Of Virtue, looking not to what is called", "A good name for reward, but to itself.", "To me the scorner's words were as the wind", "Unto the rock: but as there are--alas!", "Spirits more sensitive, on which such things", "Light as the Whirlwind on the waters; souls", "To whom Dishonour's shadow is a substance", "More terrible than Death, here and hereafter;", "Men whose vice is to start at Vice's scoffing,", "And who, though proof against all blandishments", "Of pleasure, and all pangs of Pain, are feeble", "When the proud name on which they pinnacled", "Their hopes is breathed on, jealous as the eagle", "Of her high aiery; let what we now", "Behold, and feel, and suffer, be a lesson", "To wretches how they tamper in their spleen", "With beings of a higher order. Insects", "Have made the lion mad ere now; a shaft", "I' the heel o'erthrew the bravest of the brave;", "A wife's Dishonour was the bane of Troy;", "A wife's Dishonour unkinged Rome for ever;", "An injured husband brought the Gauls to Clusium,", "And thence to Rome, which perished for a time;", "An obscene gesture cost Caligula", "His life, while Earth yet bore his cruelties;", "A virgin's wrong made Spain a Moorish province;", "And Steno's lie, couched in two worthless lines,", "Hath decimated Venice, put in peril", "A Senate which hath stood eight hundred years,", "Discrowned a Prince, cut off his crownless head,", "And forged new fetters for a groaning people!", "Let the poor wretch, like to the courtesan", "Who fired Persepolis, be proud of this,", "If it so please him--'twere a pride fit for him!", "But let him not insult the last hours of", "Him, who, whate'er he now is, _was_ a Hero,", "By the intrusion of his very prayers;", "Nothing of good can come from such a source,", "Nor would we aught with him, nor now, nor ever:", "We leave him to himself, that lowest depth", "Of human baseness. Pardon is for men,", "And not for reptiles--we have none for Steno,", "And no resentment: things like him must sting,", "And higher beings suffer; 'tis the charter", "Of Life. The man who dies by the adder's fang", "May have the crawler crushed, but feels no anger:", "'Twas the worm's nature; and some men are worms", "In soul, more than the living things of tombs.", "", "_Doge_ (_to Ben._).", "Signor! complete that which you deem your duty.", "", "_Ben_. Before we can proceed upon that duty,", "We would request the Princess to withdraw;", "'Twill move her too much to be witness to it.", "", "_Ang_. I know it will, and yet I must endure it,", "For 'tis a part of mine--I will not quit,", "Except by force, my husband's side--Proceed!", "Nay, fear not either shriek, or sigh, or tear;", "Though my heart burst, it shall be silent.--Speak!", "I have that within which shall o'ermaster all.", "", "_Ben_. Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice,", "Count of Val di Marino, Senator,", "And some time General of the Fleet and Army,", "Noble Venetian, many times and oft", "Intrusted by the state with high employments,", "Even to the highest, listen to the sentence.", "Convict by many witnesses and proofs,", "And by thine own confession, of the guilt", "Of Treachery and Treason, yet unheard of", "Until this trial--the decree is Death--", "Thy goods are confiscate unto the State,", "Thy name is razed from out her records, save", "Upon a public day of thanksgiving", "For this our most miraculous deliverance,", "When thou art noted in our calendars", "With earthquakes, pestilence, and foreign foes,", "And the great Enemy of man, as subject", "Of grateful masses for Heaven's grace in snatching", "Our lives and country from thy wickedness.", "The place wherein as Doge thou shouldst be painted", "With thine illustrious predecessors, is", "To be left vacant, with a death-black veil", "Flung over these dim words engraved beneath,--", "\"This place is of Marino Faliero,", "Decapitated for his crimes.\"", "", "_Doge_. \"His _crimes_!\"", "But let it be so:--it will be in vain.", "The veil which blackens o'er this blighted name,", "And hides, or seems to hide, these lineaments,", "Shall draw more gazers than the thousand portraits", "Which glitter round it in their pictured trappings--", "_Your_ delegated slaves--the people's tyrants!", "\"Decapitated for his crimes!\"--_What_ crimes?", "Were it not better to record the facts,", "So that the contemplator might approve,", "Or at the least learn _whence_ the crimes arose?", "When the beholder knows a Doge conspired,", "Let him be told the cause--it is your history.", "", "_Ben_. Time must reply to that; our sons will judge", "Their fathers' judgment, which I now pronounce.", "As Doge, clad in the ducal robes and Cap,", "Thou shalt be led hence to the Giants' Staircase,", "Where thou and all our Princes are invested;", "And there, the Ducal Crown being first resumed", "Upon the spot where it was first assumed,", "Thy head shall be struck off; and Heaven have mercy", "Upon thy soul!", "", "_Doge_. Is this the Giunta's sentence?", "", "_Ben_. It is.", "", "_Doge_. I can endure it.--And the time?", "", "_Ben_. Must be immediate.--Make thy peace with God:", "Within an hour thou must be in His presence.", "", "_Doge_. I am _already_; and my blood will rise", "To Heaven before the souls of those who shed it.", "Are all my lands confiscated?", "", "_Ben_. They are;", "And goods, and jewels, and all kind of treasure,", "Except two thousand ducats--these dispose of.", "", "_Doge_. That's harsh.--I would have fain reserved the lands", "Near to Treviso, which I hold by investment", "From Laurence the Count-bishop of Ceneda,", "In fief perpetual to myself and heirs,", "To portion them (leaving my city spoil,", "My palace and my treasures, to your forfeit)", "Between my consort and my kinsmen.", "", "_Ben_. These", "Lie under the state's ban--their Chief, thy nephew,", "In peril of his own life; but the Council", "Postpones his trial for the present. If", "Thou will'st a state unto thy widowed Princess,", "Fear not, for we will do her justice.", "", "_Ang_. Signors,", "I share not in your spoil! From henceforth, know", "I am devoted unto God alone,", "And take my refuge in the cloister.", "", "_Doge_. Come!", "The hour may be a hard one, but 'twill end.", "Have I aught else to undergo save Death?", "", "_Ben_. You have nought to do, except confess and die.", "The priest is robed, the scimitar is bare,", "And both await without.--But, above all,", "Think not to speak unto the people; they", "Are now by thousands swarming at the gates,", "But these are closed: the Ten, the Avogadori,", "The Giunta, and the chief men of the Forty,", "Alone will be beholders of thy doom,", "And they are ready to attend the Doge.", "", "_Doge_. The Doge!", "", "_Ben_. Yes, Doge, thou hast lived and thou shalt die", "A Sovereign; till the moment which precedes", "The separation of that head and trunk,", "That ducal crown and head shall be united.", "Thou hast forgot thy dignity in deigning", "To plot with petty traitors; not so we,", "Who in the very punishment acknowledge", "The Prince. Thy vile accomplices have died", "The dog's death, and the wolf's; but them shall fall", "As falls the lion by the hunters, girt", "By those who feel a proud compassion for thee,", "And mourn even the inevitable death", "Provoked by thy wild wrath, and regal fierceness.", "Now we remit thee to thy preparation:", "Let it be brief, and we ourselves will be", "Thy guides unto the place where first we were", "United to thee as thy subjects, and", "Thy Senate; and must now be parted from thee", "As such for ever, on the self-same spot.", "Guards! form the Doge's escort to his chamber.", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "SCENE II.--_The Doge's Apartment_.", "", " _The_ DOGE _as Prisoner, and the_ DUCHESS _attending him_.", "", "_Doge_. Now, that the priest is gone, 'twere useless all", "To linger out the miserable minutes;", "But one pang more, the pang of parting from thee,", "And I will leave the few last grains of sand,", "Which yet remain of the accorded hour,", "Still falling--I have done with Time.", "", "_Ang_. Alas!", "And I have been the cause, the unconscious cause;", "And for this funeral marriage, this black union,", "Which thou, compliant with my father's wish,", "Didst promise at _his_ death, thou hast sealed thine own.", "", "_Doge_. Not so: there was that in my spirit ever", "Which shaped out for itself some great reverse;", "The marvel is, it came not until now--", "And yet it was foretold me.", "", "_Ang_. How foretold you?", "", "_Doge_. Long years ago--so long, they are a doubt", "In memory, and yet they live in annals:", "When I was in my youth, and served the Senate", "And Signory as Podesta and Captain", "Of the town of Treviso, on a day", "Of festival, the sluggish Bishop who", "Conveyed the Host aroused my rash young anger,", "By strange delay, and arrogant reply", "To my reproof: I raised my hand and smote him,", "Until he reeled beneath his holy burthen;", "And as he rose from earth again, he raised", "His tremulous hands in pious wrath towards Heaven.", "Thence pointing to the Host, which had fallen from him,", "He turned to me, and said, \"The Hour will come", "When he thou hast o'erthrown shall overthrow thee:", "The Glory shall depart from out thy house,", "The Wisdom shall be shaken from thy soul,", "And in thy best maturity of Mind", "A madness of the heart shall seize upon thee;", "Passion shall tear thee when all passions cease", "In other men, or mellow into virtues;", "And Majesty which decks all other heads,", "Shall crown to leave thee headless; honours shall", "But prove to thee the heralds of Destruction,", "And hoary hairs of Shame, and both of Death,", "But not such death as fits an agéd man.\"", "Thus saying, he passed on.--That Hour is come.", "", "_Ang_. And with this warning couldst thou not have striven", "To avert the fatal moment, and atone,", "By penitence, for that which thou hadst done?", "", "_Doge_. I own the words went to my heart, so much", "That I remembered them amid the maze", "Of Life, as if they formed a spectral voice,", "Which shook me in a supernatural dream;", "And I repented; but 'twas not for me", "To pull in resolution: what must be", "I could not change, and would not fear.--Nay more,", "Thou can'st not have forgot, what all remember,", "That on my day of landing here as Doge,", "On my return from Rome, a mist of such", "Unwonted density went on before", "The Bucentaur, like the columnar cloud", "Which ushered Israel out of Egypt, till", "The pilot was misled, and disembarked us", "Between the Pillars of Saint Mark's, where 'tis", "The custom of the state to put to death", "Its criminals, instead of touching at", "The Riva della Paglia, as the wont is,--", "So that all Venice shuddered at the omen.", "", "_Ang_. Ah! little boots it now to recollect", "Such things.", "", "_Doge_. And yet I find a comfort in", "The thought, that these things are the work of Fate;", "For I would rather yield to Gods than men,", "Or cling to any creed of destiny,", "Rather than deem these mortals, most of whom", "I know to be as worthless as the dust,", "And weak as worthless, more than instruments", "Of an o'er-ruling Power; they in themselves", "Were all incapable--they could not be", "Vistors of him who oft had conquered for them.", "", "_Ang_. Employ the minutes left in aspirations", "Of a more healing nature, and in peace", "Even with these wretches take thy flight to Heaven.", "", "_Doge_. I _am_ at peace: the peace of certainty", "That a sure Hour will come, when their sons' sons,", "And this proud city, and these azure waters,", "And all which makes them eminent and bright,", "Shall be a desolation and a curse,", "A hissing and a scoff unto the nations,", "A Carthage, and a Tyre, an Ocean Babel.", "", "_Ang_. Speak not thus now: the surge of Passion still", "Sweeps o'er thee to the last; thou dost deceive", "Thyself, and canst not injure them--be calmer.", "", "_Doge_. I stand within Eternity, and see", "Into Eternity, and I behold--", "Aye, palpable as I see thy sweet face", "For the last time--the days which I denounce", "Unto all time against these wave-girt walls,", "And they who are indwellers.", "", "_Guard_ (_coming forward_). Doge of Venice,", "The Ten are in attendance on your Highness.", "", "_Doge_. Then farewell, Angiolina!--one embrace--", "Forgive the old man who hath been to thee", "A fond but fatal husband--love my memory--", "I would not ask so much for me still living,", "But thou canst judge of me more kindly now,", "Seeing my evil feelings are at rest.", "Besides, of all the fruit of these long years,", "Glory, and Wealth, and Power, and Fame, and Name,", "Which generally leave some flowers to bloom", "Even o'er the grave, I have nothing left, not even", "A little love, or friendship, or esteem,", "No, not enough to extract an epitaph", "From ostentatious kinsmen; in one hour", "I have uprooted all my former life,", "And outlived everything, except thy heart,", "The pure, the good, the gentle, which will oft", "With unimpaired but not a clamorous grief", "Still keep----Thou turn'st so pale!--Alas! she faints,", "She has no breath, no pulse!--Guards! lend your aid--", "I cannot leave her thus, and yet 'tis better,", "Since every lifeless moment spares a pang.", "When she shakes off this temporary death,", "I shall be with the Eternal.--Call her women--", "One look!--how cold her hand!--as cold as mine", "Shall be ere she recovers.--Gently tend her,", "And take my last thanks--I am ready now.", "", " [_The Attendants of_ ANGIOLINA _enter, and surround", " their Mistress, who has fainted.--Exeunt the_ DOGE,", " _Guards, etc., etc._", "", "SCENE III.--_The Court of the Ducal Palace; the outer gates", " are shut against the people.--The_ DOGE _enters in his ducal", " robes, in procession with the_ COUNCIL OF TEN _and other Patricians,", " attended by the Guards, till they arrive at the top of the", " \"Giants' Staircase (where the Doges took the oaths); the", " the Executioner is stationed there with his sword.--On arriving, a_", " CHIEF OF THE TEN _takes off the ducal cap from the Doge's head_.", "", "_Doge_. So now the Doge is nothing, and at last", "I am again Marino Faliero:", "'Tis well to be so, though but for a moment,", "Here was I crowned, and here, bear witness, Heaven!", "With how much more contentment I resign", "That shining mockery, the ducal bauble,", "Than I received the fatal ornament.", "", "_One of the Ten_. Thou tremblest, Faliero!", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis with age, then.", "", "_Ben_. Faliero! hast thou aught further to commend,", "Compatible with justice, to the Senate?", "", "_Doge_. I would commend my nephew to their mercy,", "My consort to their justice; for methinks", "My death, and such a death, might settle all", "Between the State and me.", "", "_Ben_. They shall be cared for;", "Even notwithstanding thine unheard-of crime.", "", "_Doge_. Unheard of! aye, there's not a history", "But shows a thousand crowned conspirators", "_Against_ the people; but to set them free,", "One Sovereign only died, and one is dying.", "", "_Ben_. And who were they who fell in such a cause?", "", "_Doge_. The King of Sparta, and the Doge of Venice--", "Agis and Faliero!", "", "_Ben_. Hast thou more", "To utter or to do?", "", "_Doge_. May I speak?", "", "_Ben_. Thou may'st;", "But recollect the people are without,", "Beyond the compass of the human voice.", "", "_Doge_. I speak to Time and to Eternity,", "Of which I grow a portion, not to man.", "Ye Elements! in which to be resolved", "I hasten, let my voice be as a Spirit", "Upon you! Ye blue waves! which bore my banner.", "Ye winds! which fluttered o'er as if you loved it,", "And filled my swelling sails as they were wafted", "To many a triumph! Thou, my native earth,", "Which I have bled for! and thou, foreign earth,", "Which drank this willing blood from many a wound!", "Ye stones, in which my gore will not sink, but", "Reek up to Heaven! Ye skies, which will receive it!", "Thou Sun! which shinest on these things, and Thou!", "Who kindlest and who quenchest suns!--Attest!", "I am not innocent--but are these guiltless?", "I perish, but not unavenged; far ages", "Float up from the abyss of Time to be,", "And show these eyes, before they close, the doom", "Of this proud City, and I leave my curse", "On her and hers for ever!----Yes, the hours", "Are silently engendering of the day,", "When she, who built 'gainst Attila a bulwark,", "Shall yield, and bloodlessly and basely yield,", "Unto a bastard Attila, without", "Shedding so much blood in her last defence,", "As these old veins, oft drained in shielding her,", "Shall pour in sacrifice.--She shall be bought", "And sold, and be an appanage to those", "Who shall despise her!--She shall stoop to be", "A province for an Empire, petty town", "In lieu of Capital, with slaves for senates,", "Beggars for nobles, panders for a people!", "Then when the Hebrew's in thy palaces,", "The Hun in thy high places, and the Greek", "Walks o'er thy mart, and smiles on it for his;", "When thy patricians beg their bitter bread", "In narrow streets, and in their shameful need", "Make their nobility a plea for pity;", "Then, when the few who still retain a wreck", "Of their great fathers' heritage shall fawn", "Round a barbarian Vice of Kings' Vice-gerent,", "Even in the Palace where they swayed as Sovereigns,", "Even in the Palace where they slew their Sovereign,", "Proud of some name they have disgraced, or sprung", "From an adulteress boastful of her guilt", "With some large gondolier or foreign soldier,", "Shall bear about their bastardy in triumph", "To the third spurious generation;--when", "Thy sons are in the lowest scale of being,", "Slaves turned o'er to the vanquished by the victors,", "Despised by cowards for greater cowardice,", "And scorned even by the vicious for such vices", "As in the monstrous grasp of their conception", "Defy all codes to image or to name them;", "Then, when of Cyprus, now thy subject kingdom,", "All thine inheritance shall be her shame", "Entailed on thy less virtuous daughters, grown", "A wider proverb for worse prostitution;--", "When all the ills of conquered states shall cling thee,", "Vice without splendour, Sin without relief", "Even from the gloss of Love to smooth it o'er,", "But in its stead, coarse lusts of habitude,", "Prurient yet passionless, cold studied lewdness,", "Depraving Nature's frailty to an art;--", "When these and more are heavy on thee, when", "Smiles without mirth, and pastimes without Pleasure,", "Youth without Honour, Age without respect,", "Meanness and Weakness, and a sense of woe", "'Gainst which thou wilt not strive, and dar'st not murmur,", "Have made thee last and worst of peopled deserts,", "Then, in the last gasp of thine agony,", "Amidst thy many murders, think of _mine!_", "Thou den of drunkards with the blood of Princes!", "Gehenna of the waters! thou Sea-Sodom!", "Thus I devote thee to the Infernal Gods!", "Thee and thy serpent seed!", " [_Here the_ DOGE _turns and addresses the Executioner._", " Slave, do thine office!", "Strike as I struck the foe! Strike as I would", "Have struck those tyrants! Strike deep as my curse!", "Strike--and but once!", "", " [_The_ DOGE _throws himself upon his knees, and as", " the Executioner raises his sword the scene closes._", "", "SCENE IV.--_The Piazza and Piazzetta of St. Mark's.--", " The people in crowds gathered round the grated gates", " of the Ducal Palace, which are shut._", "", "_First Citizen_. I have gained the Gate, and can discern the Ten,", "Robed in their gowns of state, ranged round the Doge.", "", "_Second Cit_. I cannot reach thee with mine utmost effort.", "How is it? let us hear at least, since sight", "Is thus prohibited unto the people,", "Except the occupiers of those bars.", "", "_First Cit_. One has approached the Doge, and now they strip", "The ducal bonnet from his head--and now", "He raises his keen eyes to Heaven; I see", "Them glitter, and his lips move--Hush! hush!--no,", "'Twas but a murmur--Curse upon the distance!", "His words are inarticulate, but the voice", "Swells up like muttered thunder; would we could", "But gather a sole sentence!", "", "_Second Cit_. Hush! we perhaps may catch the sound.", "", "_First Cit_. 'Tis vain.", "I cannot hear him.--How his hoary hair", "Streams on the wind like foam upon the wave!", "Now--now--he kneels--and now they form a circle", "Round him, and all is hidden--but I see", "The lifted sword in air----Ah! hark! it falls!", "", " [_The people murmur._", "", "_Third Cit_. Then they have murdered him who would have freed us.", "", "_Fourth Cit_. He was a kind man to the commons ever.", "", "_Fifth Cit_. Wisely they did to keep their portals barred.", "Would we had known the work they were preparing", "Ere we were summoned here--we would have brought", "Weapons, and forced them!", "", "_Sixth Cit_. Are you sure he's dead?", "", "_First Cit_. I saw the sword fall--Lo! what have we here?", "", " _Enter on the Balcony of the Palace which fronts St. Mark's", " Place a_ CHIEF OF THE TEN, _with a bloody sword.", " He waves it thrice before the People, and exclaims,_", "", "\"Justice hath dealt upon the mighty Traitor!\"", "", " [_The gates are opened; the populace rush in towards the", " \"Giants' Staircase,\" where the execution has taken place", " The foremost of them exclaims to those behind,_", "", "\"The gory head rolls down the Giants' Steps!\"", "[_The curtain falls_." ], "linecount": "3931" }, { "title": "The Vision of Judgment. by Quevedo Redivivus", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " SUGGESTED BY THE COMPOSITION SO ENTITLED BY THE AUTHOR", " OF \"WAT TYLER.\"", "", "\"A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel!", "I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.\"", "", " [_Merchant of Venice_, act iv. sc. 1, lines 218, 336.", "", "\" fools rush in where angels fear to tread.\"", "", " [POPE'S _Essay on Criticism_, line 625.", "", "Saint Peter sat by the celestial gate:", " His keys were rusty, and the lock was dull,", "So little trouble had been given of late;", " Not that the place by any means was full,", "But since the Gallic era \"eighty-eight\"", " The Devils had ta'en a longer, stronger pull,", "And \"a pull altogether,\" as they say", "At sea--which drew most souls another way.", "", "The Angels all were singing out of tune,", " And hoarse with having little else to do,", "Excepting to wind up the sun and moon,", " Or curb a runaway young star or two,", "Or wild colt of a comet, which too soon", " Broke out of bounds o'er the ethereal blue,", "Splitting some planet with its playful tail,", "As boats are sometimes by a wanton whale.", "", "The Guardian Seraphs had retired on high,", " Finding their charges past all care below;", "Terrestrial business filled nought in the sky", " Save the Recording Angel's black bureau;", "Who found, indeed, the facts to multiply", " With such rapidity of vice and woe,", "That he had stripped off both his wings in quills,", "And yet was in arrear of human ills.", "", "His business so augmented of late years,", " That he was forced, against his will, no doubt,", "(Just like those cherubs, earthly ministers,)", " For some resource to turn himself about,", "And claim the help of his celestial peers,", " To aid him ere he should be quite worn out", "By the increased demand for his remarks:", "Six Angels and twelve Saints were named his clerks.", "", "This was a handsome board--at least for Heaven;", " And yet they had even then enough to do,", "So many Conquerors' cars were daily driven,", " So many kingdoms fitted up anew;", "Each day, too, slew its thousands six or seven,", " Till at the crowning carnage, Waterloo,", "They threw their pens down in divine disgust--", "The page was so besmeared with blood and dust.", "", "This by the way; 'tis not mine to record", " What Angels shrink from: even the very Devil", "On this occasion his own work abhorred,", " So surfeited with the infernal revel:", "Though he himself had sharpened every sword,", " It almost quenched his innate thirst of evil.", "(Here Satan's sole good work deserves insertion--", "'Tis, that he has both Generals in reversion.)", "", "Let's skip a few short years of hollow peace,", " Which peopled earth no better, Hell as wont,", "And Heaven none--they form the tyrant's lease,", " With nothing but new names subscribed upon't;", "'Twill one day finish: meantime they increase,", " \"With seven heads and ten horns,\" and all in front,", "Like Saint John's foretold beast; but ours are born", "Less formidable in the head than horn.", "", "In the first year of Freedom's second dawn", " Died George the Third; although no tyrant, one", "Who shielded tyrants, till each sense withdrawn", " Left him nor mental nor external sun:", "A better farmer ne'er brushed dew from lawn,", " A worse king never left a realm undone!", "He died--but left his subjects still behind,", "One half as mad--and t'other no less blind.", "", "He died! his death made no great stir on earth:", " His burial made some pomp; there was profusion", "Of velvet--gilding--brass--and no great dearth", " Of aught but tears--save those shed by collusion:", "For these things may be bought at their true worth;", " Of elegy there was the due infusion--", "Bought also; and the torches, cloaks and banners,", "Heralds, and relics of old Gothic manners,", "", "Formed a sepulchral melodrame. Of all", " The fools who flocked to swell or see the show,", "Who cared about the corpse? The funeral", " Made the attraction, and the black the woe,", "There throbbed not there a thought which pierced the pall;", " And when the gorgeous coffin was laid low,", "It seemed the mockery of hell to fold", "The rottenness of eighty years in gold.", "", "So mix his body with the dust! It might", " Return to what it _must_ far sooner, were", "The natural compound left alone to fight", " Its way back into earth, and fire, and air;", "But the unnatural balsams merely blight", " What Nature made him at his birth, as bare", "As the mere million's base unmummied clay--", "Yet all his spices but prolong decay.", "", "He's dead--and upper earth with him has done;", " He's buried; save the undertaker's bill,", "Or lapidary scrawl, the world is gone", " For him, unless he left a German will:", "But where's the proctor who will ask his son?", " In whom his qualities are reigning still,", "Except that household virtue, most uncommon,", "Of constancy to a bad, ugly woman.", "", "\"God save the king!\" It is a large economy", " In God to save the like; but if he will", "Be saving, all the better; for not one am I", " Of those who think damnation better still:", "I hardly know too if not quite alone am I", " In this small hope of bettering future ill", "By circumscribing, with some slight restriction,", "The eternity of Hell's hot jurisdiction.", "", "I know this is unpopular; I know", " 'Tis blasphemous; I know one may be damned", "For hoping no one else may e'er be so;", " I know my catechism; I know we're crammed", "With the best doctrines till we quite o'erflow;", " I know that all save England's Church have shammed,", "And that the other twice two hundred churches", "And synagogues have made a _damned_ bad purchase.", "", "God help us all! God help me too! I am,", " God knows, as helpless as the Devil can wish,", "And not a whit more difficult to damn,", " Than is to bring to land a late-hooked fish,", "Or to the butcher to purvey the lamb;", " Not that I'm fit for such a noble dish,", "As one day will be that immortal fry", "Of almost every body born to die.", "", "Saint Peter sat by the celestial gate,", " And nodded o'er his keys: when, lo! there came", "A wondrous noise he had not heard of late--", " A rushing sound of wind, and stream, and flame;", "In short, a roar of things extremely great,", " Which would have made aught save a Saint exclaim;", "But he, with first a start and then a wink,", "Said, \"There's another star gone out, I think!\"", "", "But ere he could return to his repose,", " A Cherub flapped his right wing o'er his eyes--", "At which Saint Peter yawned, and rubbed his nose:", " \"Saint porter,\" said the angel, \"prithee rise!\"", "Waving a goodly wing, which glowed, as glows", " An earthly peacock's tail, with heavenly dyes:", "To which the saint replied, \"Well, what's the matter?", "\"Is Lucifer come back with all this clatter?\"", "", "\"No,\" quoth the Cherub: \"George the Third is dead.\"", " \"And who _is_ George the Third?\" replied the apostle:", "\"_What George? what Third?_\" \"The King of England,\" said", " The angel. \"Well! he won't find kings to jostle", "Him on his way; but does he wear his head?", " Because the last we saw here had a tustle,", "And ne'er would have got into Heaven's good graces,", "Had he not flung his head in all our faces.", "", "\"He was--if I remember--King of France;", " That head of his, which could not keep a crown", "On earth, yet ventured in my face to advance", " A claim to those of martyrs--like my own:", "If I had had my sword, as I had once", " When I cut ears off, I had cut him down;", "But having but my _keys_, and not my brand,", "I only knocked his head from out his hand.", "", "\"And then he set up such a headless howl,", " That all the Saints came out and took him in;", "And there he sits by Saint Paul, cheek by jowl;", " That fellow Paul--the parvenù! The skin", "Of Saint Bartholomew, which makes his cowl", " In heaven, and upon earth redeemed his sin,", "So as to make a martyr, never sped", "Better than did this weak and wooden head.", "", "\"But had it come up here upon its shoulders,", " There would have been a different tale to tell:", "The fellow-feeling in the Saint's beholders", " Seems to have acted on them like a spell;", "And so this very foolish head Heaven solders", " Back on its trunk: it may be very well,", "And seems the custom here to overthrow", "Whatever has been wisely done below.\"", "", "The Angel answered, \"Peter! do not pout:", " The King who comes has head and all entire,", "And never knew much what it was about--", " He did as doth the puppet--by its wire,", "And will be judged like all the rest, no doubt:", " My business and your own is not to inquire", "Into such matters, but to mind our cue--", "Which is to act as we are bid to do.\"", "", "While thus they spake, the angelic caravan,", " Arriving like a rush of mighty wind,", "Cleaving the fields of space, as doth the swan", " Some silver stream (say Ganges, Nile, or Inde,", "Or Thames, or Tweed), and midst them an old man", " With an old soul, and both extremely blind,", "Halted before the gate, and, in his shroud,", "Seated their fellow-traveller on a cloud.", "", "But bringing up the rear of this bright host", " A Spirit of a different aspect waved", "His wings, like thunder-clouds above some coast", " Whose barren beach with frequent wrecks is paved;", "His brow was like the deep when tempest-tossed;", " Fierce and unfathomable thoughts engraved", "Eternal wrath on his immortal face,", "And _where_ he gazed a gloom pervaded space.", "", "As he drew near, he gazed upon the gate", " Ne'er to be entered more by him or Sin,", "With such a glance of supernatural hate,", " As made Saint Peter wish himself within;", "He pottered with his keys at a great rate,", " And sweated through his Apostolic skin:", "Of course his perspiration was but ichor,", "Or some such other spiritual liquor.", "", "The very Cherubs huddled all together,", " Like birds when soars the falcon; and they felt", "A tingling to the tip of every feather,", " And formed a circle like Orion's belt", "Around their poor old charge; who scarce knew whither", " His guards had led him, though they gently dealt", "With royal Manes (for by many stories,", "And true, we learn the Angels all are Tories).", "", "As things were in this posture, the gate flew", " Asunder, and the flashing of its hinges", "Flung over space an universal hue", " Of many-coloured flame, until its tinges", "Reached even our speck of earth, and made a new", " Aurora borealis spread its fringes", "O'er the North Pole; the same seen, when ice-bound,", "By Captain Parry's crew, in \"Melville's Sound.\"", "", "And from the gate thrown open issued beaming", " A beautiful and mighty Thing of Light,", "Radiant with glory, like a banner streaming", " Victorious from some world-o'erthrowing fight:", "My poor comparisons must needs be teeming", " With earthly likenesses, for here the night", "Of clay obscures our best conceptions, saving", "Johanna Southcote, or Bob Southey raving.", "", "'Twas the Archangel Michael: all men know", " The make of Angels and Archangels, since", "There's scarce a scribbler has not one to show,", " From the fiends' leader to the Angels' Prince.", "There also are some altar-pieces, though", " I really can't say that they much evince", "One's inner notions of immortal spirits;", "But let the connoisseurs explain _their_ merits.", "", "Michael flew forth in glory and in good;", " A goodly work of him from whom all Glory", "And Good arise; the portal past--he stood;", " Before him the young Cherubs and Saints hoary--", "(I say _young_, begging to be understood", " By looks, not years; and should be very sorry", "To state, they were not older than St. Peter,", "But merely that they seemed a little sweeter).", "", "The Cherubs and the Saints bowed down before", " That arch-angelic Hierarch, the first", "Of Essences angelical who wore", " The aspect of a god; but this ne'er nursed", "Pride in his heavenly bosom, in whose core", " No thought, save for his Maker's service, durst", "Intrude, however glorified and high;", "He knew him but the Viceroy of the sky.", "", "He and the sombre, silent Spirit met--", " They knew each other both for good and ill;", "Such was their power, that neither could forget", " His former friend and future foe; but still", "There was a high, immortal, proud regret", " In either's eye, as if 'twere less their will", "Than destiny to make the eternal years", "Their date of war, and their \"Champ Clos\" the spheres.", "", "But here they were in neutral space: we know", " From Job, that Satan hath the power to pay", "A heavenly visit thrice a-year or so;", " And that the \"Sons of God,\" like those of clay,", "Must keep him company; and we might show", " From the same book, in how polite a way", "The dialogue is held between the Powers", "Of Good and Evil--but 'twould take up hours.", "", "And this is not a theologic tract,", " To prove with Hebrew and with Arabic,", "If Job be allegory or a fact,", " But a true narrative; and thus I pick", "From out the whole but such and such an act", " As sets aside the slightest thought of trick.", "'Tis every tittle true, beyond suspicion,", "And accurate as any other vision.", "", "The spirits were in neutral space, before", " The gate of Heaven; like eastern thresholds is", "The place where Death's grand cause is argued o'er,", " And souls despatched to that world or to this;", "And therefore Michael and the other wore", " A civil aspect: though they did not kiss,", "Yet still between his Darkness and his Brightness", "There passed a mutual glance of great politeness.", "", "The Archangel bowed, not like a modern beau,", " But with a graceful oriental bend,", "Pressing one radiant arm just where below", " The heart in good men is supposed to tend;", "He turned as to an equal, not too low,", " But kindly; Satan met his ancient friend", "With more hauteur, as might an old Castilian", "Poor Noble meet a mushroom rich civilian.", "", "He merely bent his diabolic brow", " An instant; and then raising it, he stood", "In act to assert his right or wrong, and show", " Cause why King George by no means could or should", "Make out a case to be exempt from woe", " Eternal, more than other kings, endued", "With better sense and hearts, whom History mentions,", "Who long have \"paved Hell with their good intentions.\"", "", "Michael began: \"What wouldst thou with this man,", " Now dead, and brought before the Lord? What ill", "Hath he wrought since his mortal race began,", " That thou canst claim him? Speak! and do thy will,", "If it be just: if in this earthly span", " He hath been greatly failing to fulfil", "His duties as a king and mortal, say,", "And he is thine; if not--let him have way.\"", "", "\"Michael!\" replied the Prince of Air, \"even here", " Before the gate of Him thou servest, must", "I claim my subject: and will make appear", " That as he was my worshipper in dust,", "So shall he be in spirit, although dear", " To thee and thine, because nor wine nor lust", "Were of his weaknesses; yet on the throne", "He reigned o'er millions to serve me alone.", "", "\"Look to _our_ earth, or rather _mine_; it was,", " _Once, more_ thy master's: but I triumph not", "In this poor planet's conquest; nor, alas!", " Need he thou servest envy me my lot:", "With all the myriads of bright worlds which pass", " In worship round him, he may have forgot", "Yon weak creation of such paltry things:", "I think few worth damnation save their kings,", "", "\"And these but as a kind of quit-rent, to", " Assert my right as Lord: and even had", "I such an inclination,'twere (as you", " Well know) superfluous; they are grown so bad,", "That Hell has nothing better left to do", " Than leave them to themselves: so much more mad", "And evil by their own internal curse,", "Heaven cannot make them better, nor I worse.", "", "\"Look to the earth, I said, and say again:", " When this old, blind, mad, helpless, weak, poor worm", "Began in youth's first bloom and flush to reign,", " The world and he both wore a different form,", "And much of earth and all the watery plain", " Of Ocean called him king: through many a storm", "His isles had floated on the abyss of Time;", "For the rough virtues chose them for their clime.", "", "\"He came to his sceptre young; he leaves it old:", " Look to the state in which he found his realm,", "And left it; and his annals too behold,", " How to a minion first he gave the helm;", "How grew upon his heart a thirst for gold,", " The beggar's vice, which can but overwhelm", "The meanest hearts; and for the rest, but glance", "Thine eye along America and France.", "", "\"'Tis true, he was a tool from first to last", " (I have the workmen safe); but as a tool", "So let him be consumed. From out the past", " Of ages, since mankind have known the rule", "Of monarchs--from the bloody rolls amassed", " Of Sin and Slaughter--from the Cæsars' school,", "Take the worst pupil; and produce a reign", "More drenched with gore, more cumbered with the slain.", "", "\"He ever warred with freedom and the free:", " Nations as men, home subjects, foreign foes,", "So that they uttered the word 'Liberty!'", " Found George the Third their first opponent. Whose", "History was ever stained as his will be", " With national and individual woes?", "I grant his household abstinence; I grant", "His neutral virtues, which most monarchs want;", "", "\"I know he was a constant consort; own", " He was a decent sire, and middling lord.", "All this is much, and most upon a throne;", " As temperance, if at Apicius' board,", "Is more than at an anchorite's supper shown.", " I grant him all the kindest can accord;", "And this was well for him, but not for those", "Millions who found him what Oppression chose.", "", "\"The New World shook him off; the Old yet groans", " Beneath what he and his prepared, if not", "Completed: he leaves heirs on many thrones", " To all his vices, without what begot", "Compassion for him--his tame virtues; drones", " Who sleep, or despots who have now forgot", "A lesson which shall be re-taught them, wake", "Upon the thrones of earth; but let them quake!", "", "\"Five millions of the primitive, who hold", " The faith which makes ye great on earth, implored", "A _part_ of that vast _all_ they held of old,--", " Freedom to worship--not alone your Lord,", "Michael, but you, and you, Saint Peter! Cold", " Must be your souls, if you have not abhorred", "The foe to Catholic participation", "In all the license of a Christian nation.", "", "\"True! he allowed them to pray God; but as", " A consequence of prayer, refused the law", "Which would have placed them upon the same base", " With those who did not hold the Saints in awe.\"", "But here Saint Peter started from his place", " And cried, \"You may the prisoner withdraw:", "Ere Heaven shall ope her portals to this Guelph,", "While I am guard, may I be damned myself!", "", "\"Sooner will I with Cerberus exchange", " My office (and _his_ is no sinecure)", "Than see this royal Bedlam-bigot range", " The azure fields of Heaven, of that be sure!\"", "\"Saint!\" replied Satan, \"you do well to avenge", " The wrongs he made your satellites endure;", "And if to this exchange you should be given,", "I'll try to coax _our_ Cerberus up to Heaven!\"", "", "Here Michael interposed: \"Good Saint! and Devil!", " Pray, not so fast; you both outrun discretion.", "Saint Peter! you were wont to be more civil:", " Satan! excuse this warmth of his expression,", "And condescension to the vulgar's level:", " Even Saints sometimes forget themselves in session.", "Have you got more to say?\"--\"No.\"--\"If you please,", "I'll trouble you to call your witnesses.\"", "", "Then Satan turned and waved his swarthy hand,", " Which stirred with its electric qualities", "Clouds farther off than we can understand,", " Although we find him sometimes in our skies;", "Infernal thunder shook both sea and land", " In all the planets--and Hell's batteries", "Let off the artillery, which Milton mentions", "As one of Satan's most sublime inventions.", "", "This was a signal unto such damned souls", " As have the privilege of their damnation", "Extended far beyond the mere controls", " Of worlds past, present, or to come; no station", "Is theirs particularly in the rolls", " Of Hell assigned; but where their inclination", "Or business carries them in search of game,", "They may range freely--being damned the same.", "", "They are proud of this--as very well they may,", " It being a sort of knighthood, or gilt key", "Stuck in their loins; or like to an \"entré\"", " Up the back stairs, or such free-masonry.", "I borrow my comparisons from clay,", " Being clay myself. Let not those spirits be", "Offended with such base low likenesses;", "We know their posts are nobler far than these.", "", "When the great signal ran from Heaven to Hell--", " About ten million times the distance reckoned", "From our sun to its earth, as we can tell", " How much time it takes up, even to a second,", "For every ray that travels to dispel", " The fogs of London, through which, dimly beaconed,", "The weathercocks are gilt some thrice a year,", "If that the _summer_ is not too severe:", "", "I say that I can tell--'twas half a minute;", " I know the solar beams take up more time", "Ere, packed up for their journey, they begin it;", " But then their Telegraph is less sublime,", "And if they ran a race, they would not win it", " 'Gainst Satan's couriers bound for their own clime.", "The sun takes up some years for every ray", "To reach its goal--the Devil not half a day.", "", "Upon the verge of space, about the size", " Of half-a-crown, a little speck appeared", "(I've seen a something like it in the skies", " In the Ægean, ere a squall); it neared,", "And, growing bigger, took another guise;", " Like an aërial ship it tacked, and steered,", "Or _was_ steered (I am doubtful of the grammar", "Of the last phrase, which makes the stanza stammer;", "", "But take your choice): and then it grew a cloud;", " And so it was--a cloud of witnesses.", "But such a cloud! No land ere saw a crowd", " Of locusts numerous as the heavens saw these;", "They shadowed with their myriads Space; their loud", " And varied cries were like those of wild geese,", "(If nations may be likened to a goose),", "And realised the phrase of \"Hell broke loose.\"", "", "Here crashed a sturdy oath of stout John Bull,", " Who damned away his eyes as heretofore:", "There Paddy brogued \"By Jasus!\"--\"What's your wull?\"", " The temperate Scot exclaimed: the French ghost swore", "In certain terms I shan't translate in full,", " As the first coachman will; and 'midst the war,", "The voice of Jonathan was heard to express,", "\"_Our_ President is going to war, I guess.\"", "", "Besides there were the Spaniard, Dutch, and Dane;", " In short, an universal shoal of shades", "From Otaheite's isle to Salisbury Plain,", " Of all climes and professions, years and trades,", "Ready to swear against the good king's reign,", " Bitter as clubs in cards are against spades:", "All summoned by this grand \"subpoena,\" to", "Try if kings mayn't be damned like me or you.", "", "When Michael saw this host, he first grew pale,", " As Angels can; next, like Italian twilight,", "He turned all colours--as a peacock's tail,", " Or sunset streaming through a Gothic skylight", "In some old abbey, or a trout not stale,", " Or distant lightning on the horizon by night,", "Or a fresh rainbow, or a grand review", "Of thirty regiments in red, green, and blue.", "", "Then he addressed himself to Satan: \"Why--", " My good old friend, for such I deem you, though", "Our different parties make us fight so shy,", " I ne'er mistake you for a _personal_ foe;", "Our difference _political_, and I", " Trust that, whatever may occur below,", "You know my great respect for you: and this", "Makes me regret whate'er you do amiss--", "", "\"Why, my dear Lucifer, would you abuse", " My call for witnesses? I did not mean", "That you should half of Earth and Hell produce;", " 'Tis even superfluous, since two honest, clean,", "True testimonies are enough: we lose", " Our Time, nay, our Eternity, between", "The accusation and defence: if we", "Hear both, 'twill stretch our immortality.\"", "", "Satan replied, \"To me the matter is", " Indifferent, in a personal point of view:", "I can have fifty better souls than this", " With far less trouble than we have gone through", "Already; and I merely argued his", " Late Majesty of Britain's case with you", "Upon a point of form: you may dispose", "Of him; I've kings enough below, God knows!\"", "", "Thus spoke the Demon (late called \"multifaced\"", " By multo-scribbling Southey). \"Then we'll call", "One or two persons of the myriads placed", " Around our congress, and dispense with all", "The rest,\" quoth Michael: \"Who may be so graced", " As to speak first? there's choice enough--who shall", "It be?\" Then Satan answered, \"There are many;", "But you may choose Jack Wilkes as well as any.\"", "", "A merry, cock-eyed, curious-looking Sprite", " Upon the instant started from the throng,", "Dressed in a fashion now forgotten quite;", " For all the fashions of the flesh stick long", "By people in the next world; where unite", " All the costumes since Adam's, right or wrong,", "From Eve's fig-leaf down to the petticoat,", "Almost as scanty, of days less remote.", "", "The Spirit looked around upon the crowds", " Assembled, and exclaimed, \"My friends of all", "The spheres, we shall catch cold amongst these clouds;", " So let's to business: why this general call?", "If those are freeholders I see in shrouds,", " And 'tis for an election that they bawl,", "Behold a candidate with unturned coat!", "Saint Peter, may I count upon your vote?\"", "", "\"Sir,\" replied Michael, \"you mistake; these things", " Are of a former life, and what we do", "Above is more august; to judge of kings", " Is the tribunal met: so now you know.\"", "\"Then I presume those gentlemen with wings,\"", " Said Wilkes, \"are Cherubs; and that soul below", "Looks much like George the Third, but to my mind", "A good deal older--bless me! is he blind?\"", "", "\"He is what you behold him, and his doom", " Depends upon his deeds,\" the Angel said;", "\"If you have aught to arraign in him, the tomb", " Gives license to the humblest beggar's head", "To lift itself against the loftiest.\"--\"Some,\"", " Said Wilkes, \"don't wait to see them laid in lead,", "For such a liberty--and I, for one,", "Have told them what I thought beneath the sun.\"", "", "\"_Above_ the sun repeat, then, what thou hast", " To urge against him,\" said the Archangel. \"Why,\"", "Replied the spirit, \"since old scores are past,", " Must I turn evidence? In faith, not I.", "Besides, I beat him hollow at the last,", " With all his Lords and Commons: in the sky", "I don't like ripping up old stories, since", "His conduct was but natural in a prince.", "", "\"Foolish, no doubt, and wicked, to oppress", " A poor unlucky devil without a shilling;", "But then I blame the man himself much less", " Than Bute and Grafton, and shall be unwilling", "To see him punished here for their excess,", " Since they were both damned long ago, and still in", "Their place below: for me, I have forgiven,", "And vote his _habeas corpus_ into Heaven.\"", "", "\"Wilkes,\" said the Devil, \"I understand all this;", " You turned to half a courtier ere you died,", "And seem to think it would not be amiss", " To grow a whole one on the other side", "Of Charon's ferry; you forget that _his_", " Reign is concluded; whatsoe'er betide,", "He won't be sovereign more: you've lost your labour,", "For at the best he will but be your neighbour.", "", "\"However, I knew what to think of it,", " When I beheld you in your jesting way,", "Flitting and whispering round about the spit", " Where Belial, upon duty for the day,", "With Fox's lard was basting William Pitt,", " His pupil; I knew what to think, I say:", "That fellow even in Hell breeds farther ills;", "I'll have him _gagged_--'twas one of his own Bills.", "", "\"Call Junius!\" From the crowd a shadow stalked.", " And at the name there was a general squeeze,", "So that the very ghosts no longer walked", " In comfort, at their own aërial ease,", "But were all rammed, and jammed (but to be balked,", " As we shall see), and jostled hands and knees,", "Like wind compressed and pent within a bladder,", "Or like a human colic, which is sadder.", "", "The shadow came--a tall, thin, grey-haired figure,", " That looked as it had been a shade on earth;", "Quick in its motions, with an air of vigour,", " But nought to mark its breeding or its birth;", "Now it waxed little, then again grew bigger,", " With now an air of gloom, or savage mirth:", "But as you gazed upon its features, they", "Changed every instant--to _what_, none could say.", "", "The more intently the ghosts gazed, the less", " Could they distinguish whose the features were;", "The Devil himself seemed puzzled even to guess;", " They varied like a dream--now here, now there;", "And several people swore from out the press,", " They knew him perfectly; and one could swear", "He was his father; upon which another", "Was sure he was his mother's cousin's brother:", "", "Another, that he was a duke, or knight,", " An orator, a lawyer, or a priest,", "A nabob, a man-midwife; but the wight", " Mysterious changed his countenance at least", "As oft as they their minds: though in full sight", " He stood, the puzzle only was increased;", "The man was a phantasmagoria in", "Himself--he was so volatile and thin.", "", "The moment that you had pronounced him _one_,", " Presto! his face changed, and he was another;", "And when that change was hardly well put on,", " It varied, till I don't think his own mother", "(If that he had a mother) would her son", " Have known, he shifted so from one to t'other;", "Till guessing from a pleasure grew a task,", "At this epistolary \"Iron Mask.\"", "", "For sometimes he like Cerberus would seem--", " \"Three gentlemen at once\" (as sagely says", "Good Mrs. Malaprop); then you might deem", " That he was not even _one_; now many rays", "Were flashing round him; and now a thick steam", " Hid him from sight--like fogs on London days:", "Now Burke, now Tooke, he grew to people's fancies", "And certes often like Sir Philip Francis.", "", "I've an hypothesis--'tis quite my own;", " I never let it out till now, for fear", "Of doing people harm about the throne,", " And injuring some minister or peer,", "On whom the stigma might perhaps be blown;", " It is--my gentle public, lend thine ear!", "'Tis, that what Junius we are wont to call,", "Was _really--truly_--nobody at all.", "", "I don't see wherefore letters should not be", " Written without hands, since we daily view", "Them written without heads; and books, we see,", " Are filled as well without the latter too:", "And really till we fix on somebody", " For certain sure to claim them as his due,", "Their author, like the Niger's mouth, will bother", "The world to say if _there_ be mouth or author.", "", "\"And who and what art thou?\" the Archangel said.", " \"For _that_ you may consult my title-page,\"", "Replied this mighty shadow of a shade:", " \"If I have kept my secret half an age,", "I scarce shall tell it now.\"--\"Canst thou upbraid,\"", " Continued Michael, \"George Rex, or allege", "Aught further?\" Junius answered, \"You had better", "First ask him for _his_ answer to my letter:", "", "\"My charges upon record will outlast", " The brass of both his epitaph and tomb.\"", "\"Repent'st thou not,\" said Michael, \"of some past", " Exaggeration? something which may doom", "Thyself if false, as him if true? Thou wast", " Too bitter--is it not so?--in thy gloom", "Of passion?\"--\"Passion!\" cried the phantom dim,", "\"I loved my country, and I hated him.", "", "\"What I have written, I have written: let", " The rest be on his head or mine!\" So spoke", "Old \"_Nominis Umbra_;\" and while speaking yet,", " Away he melted in celestial smoke.", "Then Satan said to Michael, \"Don't forget", " To call George Washington, and John Horne Tooke,", "And Franklin;\"--but at this time there was heard", "A cry for room, though not a phantom stirred.", "", "At length with jostling, elbowing, and the aid", " Of Cherubim appointed to that post,", "The devil Asmodeus to the circle made", " His way, and looked as if his journey cost", "Some trouble. When his burden down he laid,", " \"What's this?\" cried Michael; \"why, 'tis not a ghost?\"", "\"I know it,\" quoth the Incubus; \"but he", "Shall be one, if you leave the affair to me.", "", "\"Confound the renegado! I have sprained", " My left wing, he's so heavy; one would think", "Some of his works about his neck were chained.", " But to the point; while hovering o'er the brink", "Of Skiddaw (where as usual it still rained),", " I saw a taper, far below me, wink,", "And stooping, caught this fellow at a libel--", "No less on History--than the Holy Bible.", "", "\"The former is the Devil's scripture, and", " The latter yours, good Michael: so the affair", "Belongs to all of us, you understand.", " I snatched him up just as you see him there,", "And brought him off for sentence out of hand:", " I've scarcely been ten minutes in the air--", "At least a quarter it can hardly be:", "I dare say that his wife is still at tea.\"", "", "Here Satan said, \"I know this man of old,", " And have expected him for some time here;", "A sillier fellow you will scarce behold,", " Or more conceited in his petty sphere:", "But surely it was not worth while to fold", " Such trash below your wing, Asmodeus dear:", "We had the poor wretch safe (without being bored", "With carriage) coming of his own accord.", "", "\"But since he's here, let's see what he has done.\"", " \"Done!\" cried Asmodeus, \"he anticipates", "The very business you are now upon,", " And scribbles as if head clerk to the Fates.", "Who knows to what his ribaldry may run,", " When such an ass as this, like Balaam's, prates?\"", "\"Let's hear,\" quoth Michael, \"what he has to say:", "You know we're bound to that in every way.\"", "", "Now the bard, glad to get an audience, which", " By no means often was his case below,", "Began to cough, and hawk, and hem, and pitch", " His voice into that awful note of woe", "To all unhappy hearers within reach", " Of poets when the tide of rhyme's in flow;", "But stuck fast with his first hexameter,", "Not one of all whose gouty feet would stir.", "", "But ere the spavined dactyls could be spurred", " Into recitative, in great dismay", "Both Cherubim and Seraphim were heard", " To murmur loudly through their long array;", "And Michael rose ere he could get a word", " Of all his foundered verses under way,", "And cried, \"For God's sake stop, my friend! 'twere best--", "'_Non Di, non homines_'--you know the rest.\"", "", "A general bustle spread throughout the throng,", " Which seemed to hold all verse in detestation;", "The Angels had of course enough of song", " When upon service; and the generation", "Of ghosts had heard too much in life, not long", " Before, to profit by a new occasion:", "The Monarch, mute till then, exclaimed, \"What! what!", "_Pye_ come again? No more--no more of that!\"", "", "The tumult grew; an universal cough", " Convulsed the skies, as during a debate,", "When Castlereagh has been up long enough", " (Before he was first minister of state,", "I mean--the _slaves hear now_); some cried \"Off, off!\"", " As at a farce; till, grown quite desperate,", "The Bard Saint Peter prayed to interpose", "(Himself an author) only for his prose.", "", "The varlet was not an ill-favoured knave;", " A good deal like a vulture in the face,", "With a hook nose and a hawk's eye, which gave", " A smart and sharper-looking sort of grace", "To his whole aspect, which, though rather grave,", " Was by no means so ugly as his case;", "But that, indeed, was hopeless as can be,", "Quite a poetic felony \"_de se_.\"", "", "Then Michael blew his trump, and stilled the noise", " With one still greater, as is yet the mode", "On earth besides; except some grumbling voice,", " Which now and then will make a slight inroad", "Upon decorous silence, few will twice", " Lift up their lungs when fairly overcrowed;", "And now the Bard could plead his own bad cause,", "With all the attitudes of self-applause.", "", "He said--(I only give the heads)--he said,", " He meant no harm in scribbling; 'twas his way", "Upon all topics; 'twas, besides, his bread,", " Of which he buttered both sides; 'twould delay", "Too long the assembly (he was pleased to dread),", " And take up rather more time than a day,", "To name his works--he would but cite a few--", "\"Wat Tyler\"--\"Rhymes on Blenheim\"--\"Waterloo.\"", "", "He had written praises of a Regicide;", " He had written praises of all kings whatever;", "He had written for republics far and wide,", " And then against them bitterer than ever;", "For pantisocracy he once had cried", " Aloud, a scheme less moral than 'twas clever;", "Then grew a hearty anti-jacobin--", "Had turned his coat--and would have turned his skin.", "", "He had sung against all battles, and again", " In their high praise and glory; he had called", "Reviewing \"the ungentle craft,\" and then", " Became as base a critic as e'er crawled--", "Fed, paid, and pampered by the very men", " By whom his muse and morals had been mauled:", "He had written much blank verse, and blanker prose,", "And more of both than any body knows.", "", "He had written Wesley's life:--here turning round", " To Satan, \"Sir, I'm ready to write yours,", "In two octavo volumes, nicely bound,", " With notes and preface, all that most allures", "The pious purchaser; and there's no ground", " For fear, for I can choose my own reviewers:", "So let me have the proper documents,", "That I may add you to my other saints.\"", "", "Satan bowed, and was silent. \"Well, if you,", " With amiable modesty, decline", "My offer, what says Michael? There are few", " Whose memoirs could be rendered more divine.", "Mine is a pen of all work; not so new", " As it was once, but I would make you shine", "Like your own trumpet. By the way, my own", "Has more of brass in it, and is as well blown.", "", "\"But talking about trumpets, here's my 'Vision!'", " Now you shall judge, all people--yes--you shall", "Judge with my judgment! and by my decision", " Be guided who shall enter heaven or fall.", "I settle all these things by intuition,", " Times present, past, to come--Heaven--Hell--and all,", "Like King Alfonso. When I thus see double,", "I save the Deity some worlds of trouble.\"", "", "He ceased, and drew forth an MS.; and no", " Persuasion on the part of Devils, Saints,", "Or Angels, now could stop the torrent; so", " He read the first three lines of the contents:", "But at the fourth, the whole spiritual show", "Had vanished, with variety of scents,", "Ambrosial and sulphureous, as they sprang,", "Like lightning, off from his \"melodious twang.\"", "", "Those grand heroics acted as a spell;", " The Angels stopped their ears and plied their pinions;", "The Devils ran howling, deafened, down to Hell;", " The ghosts fled, gibbering, for their own dominions--", "(For 'tis not yet decided where they dwell,", " And I leave every man to his opinions);", "Michael took refuge in his trump--but, lo!", "His teeth were set on edge, he could not blow!", "", "Saint Peter, who has hitherto been known", " For an impetuous saint, upraised his keys,", "And at the fifth line knocked the poet down;", " Who fell like Phaeton, but more at ease,", "Into his lake, for there he did not drown;", " A different web being by the Destinies", "Woven for the Laureate's final wreath, whene'er", "Reform shall happen either here or there.", "", "He first sank to the bottom--like his works,", " But soon rose to the surface--like himself;", "For all corrupted things are buoyed like corks,", " By their own rottenness, light as an elf,", "Or wisp that flits o'er a morass: he lurks,", " It may be, still, like dull books on a shelf,", "In his own den, to scrawl some \"Life\" or \"Vision,\"", "As Welborn says--\"the Devil turned precisian.\"", "", "As for the rest, to come to the conclusion", " Of this true dream, the telescope is gone", "Which kept my optics free from all delusion,", " And showed me what I in my turn have shown;", "All I saw farther, in the last confusion,", " Was, that King George slipped into Heaven for one;", "And when the tumult dwindled to a calm,", "I left him practising the hundredth psalm." ], "linecount": "855" }, { "title": "A Very Mournful Ballad on the Siege and Conquest of Alhama", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The Moorish King rides up and down.", "Through Granada's royal town:", "From Elvira's gates to those", "Of Bivarambla on he goes.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "Letters to the Monarch tell", "How Alhama's city fell:", "In the fire the scroll he threw,", "And the messenger he slew.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "He quits his mule, and mounts his horse,", "And through the street directs his course;", "Through the street of Zacatin", "To the Alhambra spurring in.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "When the Alhambra walls he gained,", "On the moment he ordained", "That the trumpet straight should sound", "With the silver clarion round.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "And when the hollow drums of war", "Beat the loud alarm afar,", "That the Moors of town and plain", "Might answer to the martial strain.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "Then the Moors, by this aware,", "That bloody Mars recalled them there,", "One by one, and two by two,", "To a mighty squadron grew.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "Out then spake an aged Moor", "In these words the king before,", "\"Wherefore call on us, oh King?", "What may mean this gathering?\"", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"Friends! ye have, alas! to know", "Of a most disastrous blow--", "That the Christians, stern and bold,", "Have obtained Alhama's hold.\"", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "Out then spake old Alfaqui,", "With his beard so white to see,", "\"Good King! thou art justly served,", "Good King! this thou hast deserved.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"By thee were slain, in evil hour,", "The Abencerrage, Granada's flower;", "And strangers were received by thee,", "Of Cordova the Chivalry.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"And for this, oh King! is sent", "On thee a double chastisement;", "Thee and thine, thy crown and realm,", "One last wreck shall overwhelm.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"He who holds no laws in awe,", "He must perish by the law;", "And Granada must be won,", "And thyself with her undone.\"", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "Fire flashed from out the old Moor's eyes,", "The Monarch's wrath began to rise,", "Because he answered, and because", "He spake exceeding well of laws.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"There is no law to say such things", "As may disgust the ear of kings:\"--", "Thus, snorting with his choler, said", "The Moorish King, and doomed him dead.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "Moor Alfaqui! Moor Alfaqui!", "Though thy beard so hoary be,", "The King hath sent to have thee seized,", "For Alhama's loss displeased.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "And to fix thy head upon", "High Alhambra's loftiest stone;", "That this for thee should be the law,", "And others tremble when they saw.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"Cavalier, and man of worth!", "Let these words of mine go forth;", "Let the Moorish Monarch know,", "That to him I nothing owe.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"But on my soul Alhama weighs,", "And on my inmost spirit preys;", "And if the King his land hath lost,", "Yet others may have lost the most.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"Sires have lost their children, wives", "Their lords, and valiant men their lives!", "One what best his love might claim", "Hath lost, another wealth, or fame.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "\"I lost a damsel in that hour,", "Of all the land the loveliest flower;", "Doubloons a hundred I would pay,", "And think her ransom cheap that day.\"", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "And as these things the old Moor said,", "They severed from the trunk his head;", "And to the Alhambra's wall with speed", "'Twas carried, as the King decreed.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "And men and infants therein weep", "Their loss, so heavy and so deep;", "Granada's ladies, all she rears", "Within her walls, burst into tears.", " Woe is me, Alhama!", "", "And from the windows o'er the walls", "The sable web of mourning falls;", "The King weeps as a woman o'er", "His loss, for it is much and sore.", " Woe is me, Alhama!" ], "linecount": "115" }, { "title": "On the Bust of Helen by Canova", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "In this belovéd marble view", " Above the works and thoughts of Man,", "What Nature _could_ but _would not_ do,", " And Beauty and Canova _can!_", "Beyond Imagination's power,", " Beyond the Bard's defeated art,", "With Immortality her dower,", " Behold the _Helen_ of the heart." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Stanzas", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Could Love for ever", " Run like a river,", " And Time's endeavour", " Be tried in vain--", " No other pleasure", " With this could measure;", " And like a treasure", " We'd hug the chain.", " But since our sighing", " Ends not in dying,", " And, formed for flying,", " Love plumes his wing;", " Then for this reason", " Let's love a season;", "But let that season be only Spring.", "", " When lovers parted", " Feel broken-hearted,", " And, all hopes thwarted,", " Expect to die;", " A few years older,", " Ah! how much colder", " They might behold her", " For whom they sigh!", " When linked together,", " In every weather,", " They pluck Love's feather", " From out his wing--", " He'll stay for ever,", " But sadly shiver", "Without his plumage, when past the Spring.", "", " Like Chiefs of Faction,", " His life is action--", " A formal paction", " That curbs his reign,", " Obscures his glory,", " Despot no more, he", " Such territory", " Quits with disdain.", " Still, still advancing,", " With banners glancing,", " His power enhancing,", " He must move on--", " Repose but cloys him,", " Retreat destroys him,", "Love brooks not a degraded throne.", "", " Wait not, fond lover!", " Till years are over,", " And then recover", " As from a dream.", " While each bewailing", " The other's failing.", " With wrath and railing,", " All hideous seem--", " While first decreasing,", " Yet not quite ceasing,", " Wait not till teasing,", " All passion blight:", " If once diminished", " Love's reign is finished--", "Then part in friendship,--and bid good-night.", "", " So shall Affection", " To recollection", " The dear connection", " Bring back with joy:", " You had not waited", " Till, tired or hated,", " Your passions sated", " Began to cloy.", " Your last embraces", " Leave no cold traces--", " The same fond faces", " As through the past:", " And eyes, the mirrors", " Of your sweet errors,", "Reflect but rapture--not least though last.", "", " True, separations", " Ask more than patience;", " What desperations", " From such have risen!", " But yet remaining,", " What is't but chaining", " Hearts which, once waning,", " Beat 'gainst their prison?", " Time can but cloy love,", " And use destroy love:", " The wingéd boy, Love,", " Is but for boys--", " You'll find it torture", " Though sharper, shorter,", "To wean, and not wear out your joys." ], "linecount": "90" }, { "title": "Ode to a Lady Whose Lover Was Killed by a Ball, Which at the Same Time Shivered a Portrait Next His Heart", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " _On peut trouver des femmes qui n'ont jamais eu de galanterie, mais", " il est rare d'en trouver qui n'en aient jamais eu", " qu'une_.--[_Réflexions_ ... du Duc de la Rochefoucauld, No.", " lxxiii.", "", " Lady! in whose heroic port", "And Beauty, Victor even of Time,", " And haughty lineaments, appear", " Much that is awful, more that's dear--", " Wherever human hearts resort", " _There_ must have been for thee a Court,", " And Thou by acclamation Queen,", " Where never Sovereign yet had been.", "That eye so soft, and yet severe,", " Perchance might look on Love as Crime;", "And yet--regarding thee more near--", "The traces of an unshed tear", " Compressed back to the heart,", "And mellowed Sadness in thine air,", "Which shows that Love hath once been there,", "To those who watch thee will disclose", "More than ten thousand tomes of woes", " Wrung from the vain Romancer's art.", "With thee how proudly Love hath dwelt!", "His full Divinity was felt,", "Maddening the heart he could not melt,", " Till Guilt became Sublime;", "But never yet did Beauty's Zone", "For him surround a lovelier throne,", "Than in that bosom once his own:", " And he the Sun and Thou the Clime", "Together must have made a Heaven", "For which the Future would be given.", "", "And thou hast loved--Oh! not in vain!", " And not as common Mortals love.", " The Fruit of Fire is Ashes,", " The Ocean's tempest dashes", "Wrecks and the dead upon the rocky shore:", "True Passion must the all-searching changes prove,", " The Agony of Pleasure and of Pain,", " Till Nothing but the Bitterness remain;", " And the Heart's Spectre flitting through the brain", "Scoffs at the Exorcism which would remove.", "", "And where is He thou lovedst? in the tomb,", " Where should the happy Lover be!", "For him could Time unfold a brighter doom,", " Or offer aught like thee?", "He in the thickest battle died,", " Where Death is Pride;", "And _Thou_ his widow--not his bride,", " Wer't not more free--", "_Here_ where all love, till Love is made", " A bondage or a trade,", "_Here_--thou so redolent of Beauty,", "In whom Caprice had seemed a duty,", "_Thou_, who could'st trample and despise", "The holiest chain of human ties", "For him, the dear One in thine eyes,", " Broke it no more.", "Thy heart was withered to it's Core,", "It's hopes, it's fears, it's feelings o'er:", "Thy Blood grew Ice when _his_ was shed,", "And Thou the Vestal of the Dead.", "", "Thy Lover died, as All", " Who truly love should die;", "For such are worthy in the fight to fall", " Triumphantly.", "No Cuirass o'er that glowing heart", "The deadly bullet turned apart:", "Love had bestowed a richer Mail,", " Like Thetis on her Son;", "But hers at last was vain, and thine could fail--", " The hero's and the lover's race was run.", "Thy worshipped portrait, thy sweet face,", "_Without_ that bosom kept it's place", " As Thou _within_.", "Oh! enviously destined Ball!", "Shivering thine imaged charms and all", " Those Charms would win:", "Together pierced, the fatal Stroke hath gored", "Votary and Shrine, the adoring and the adored.", " That Heart's last throb was thine, that blood", " Baptized thine Image in it's flood,", " And gushing from the fount of Faith", " O'erflowed with Passion even in Death,", "Constant to thee as in it's hour", "Of rapture in the secret bower.", "Thou too hast kept thy plight full well,", "As many a baffled Heart can tell." ], "linecount": "88" }, { "title": "The Irish Avatar", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "Ere the daughter of Brunswick is cold in her grave,", "And her ashes still float to their home o'er the tide,", "Lo! George the triumphant speeds over the wave,", " To the long-cherished Isle which he loved like his--bride.", "", "True, the great of her bright and brief Era are gone,", " The rain-bow-like Epoch where Freedom could pause", "For the few little years, out of centuries won,", " Which betrayed not, or crushed not, or wept not her cause.", "", "True, the chains of the Catholic clank o'er his rags,", " The Castle still stands, and the Senate's no more,", "And the Famine which dwelt on her freedomless crags", " Is extending its steps to her desolate shore.", "", "To her desolate shore--where the emigrant stands", " For a moment to gaze ere he flies from his hearth;", "Tears fall on his chain, though it drops from his hands,", " For the dungeon he quits is the place of his birth.", "", "But he comes! the Messiah of Royalty comes!", " Like a goodly Leviathan rolled from the waves;", "Then receive him as best such an advent becomes,", " With a legion of cooks, and an army of slaves!", "", "He comes in the promise and bloom of threescore,", " To perform in the pageant the Sovereign's part--", "But long live the Shamrock, which shadows him o'er!", " Could the Green in his _hat_ be transferred to his _heart!_", "", "Could that long-withered spot but be verdant again,", " And a new spring of noble affections arise--", "Then might Freedom forgive thee this dance in thy chain,", " And this shout of thy slavery which saddens the skies.", "", "Is it madness or meanness which clings to thee now?", " Were he God--as he is but the commonest clay,", "With scarce fewer wrinkles than sins on his brow--", " Such servile devotion might shame him away.", "", "Aye, roar in his train! let thine orators lash", " Their fanciful spirits to pamper his pride--", "Not thus did thy Grattan indignantly flash", " His soul o'er the freedom implored and denied.", "", "Ever glorious Grattan! the best of the good!", " So simple in heart, so sublime in the rest!", "With all which Demosthenes wanted endued,", " And his rival, or victor, in all he possessed.", "", "Ere Tully arose in the zenith of Rome,", " Though unequalled, preceded, the task was begun--", "But Grattan sprung up like a god from the tomb", " Of ages, the first, last, the saviour, the _one!_", "", "With the skill of an Orpheus to soften the brute;", " With the fire of Prometheus to kindle mankind;", "Even Tyranny, listening, sate melted or mute,", " And Corruption shrunk scorched from the glance of his mind.", "", "But back to our theme! Back to despots and slaves!", " Feasts furnished by Famine! rejoicings by Pain!", "True Freedom but _welcomes_, while Slavery still _raves_,", " When a week's Saturnalia hath loosened her chain.", "", "Let the poor squalid splendour thy wreck can afford,", " (As the bankrupt's profusion his ruin would hide)", "Gild over the palace, Lo! Erin, thy Lord!", " Kiss his foot with thy blessing--his blessings denied!", "", "Or _if_ freedom past hope be extorted at last,", " If the idol of brass find his feet are of clay,", "Must what terror or policy wring forth be classed", " With what monarchs ne'er give, but as wolves yield their prey?", "", "Each brute hath its nature; a King's is to _reign_,--", " To _reign!_ in that word see, ye ages, comprised", "The cause of the curses all annals contain,", " From Cæsar the dreaded to George the despised!", "", "Wear, Fingal, thy trapping! O'Connell, proclaim", " His accomplishments! _His!!!_ and thy country convince", "Half an age's contempt was an error of fame,", " And that \"Hal is the rascaliest, sweetest _young_ prince!\"", "", "Will thy yard of blue riband, poor Fingal, recall", " The fetters from millions of Catholic limbs?", "Or, has it not bound thee the fastest of all", " The slaves, who now hail their betrayer with hymns?", "", "Aye! \"Build him a dwelling!\" let each give his mite!", " Till, like Babel, the new royal dome hath arisen!", "Let thy beggars and helots their pittance unite--", " And a palace bestow for a poor-house and prison!", "", "Spread--spread for Vitellius, the royal repast,", " Till the gluttonous despot be stuffed to the gorge!", "And the roar of his drunkards proclaim him at last", " The Fourth of the fools and oppressors called \"George!\"", "", "Let the tables be loaded with feasts till they groan!", " Till they _groan_ like thy people, through ages of woe!", "Let the wine flow around the old Bacchanal's throne,", " Like their blood which has flowed, and which yet has to flow.", "", "But let not _his_ name be thine idol alone--", " On his right hand behold a Sejanus appears!", "Thine own Castlereagh! let him still be thine own!", " A wretch never named but with curses and jeers!", "", "Till now, when the Isle which should blush for his birth,", " Deep, deep as the gore which he shed on her soil,", "Seems proud of the reptile which crawled from her earth,", " And for murder repays him with shouts and a smile.", "", "Without one single ray of her genius,--without", " The fancy, the manhood, the fire of her race--", "The miscreant who well might plunge Erin in doubt", " If _she_ ever gave birth to a being so base.", "", "If she did--let her long-boasted proverb be hushed,", " Which proclaims that from Erin no reptile can spring--", "See the cold-blooded Serpent, with venom full flushed,", " Still warming its folds in the breast of a King!", "", "Shout, drink, feast, and flatter! Oh! Erin, how low", " Wert thou sunk by misfortune and tyranny, till", "Thy welcome of tyrants hath plunged thee below", " The depth of thy deep in a deeper gulf still.", "", "My voice, though but humble, was raised for thy right;", " My vote, as a freeman's, still voted thee free;", "This hand, though but feeble, would arm in thy fight,", " And this heart, though outworn, had a throb still for _thee!_", "", "Yes, I loved thee and thine, though thou art not my land;", " I have known noble hearts and great souls in thy sons,", "And I wept with the world, o'er the patriot band", " Who are gone, but I weep them no longer as once.", "", "For happy are they now reposing afar,--", " Thy Grattan, thy Curran, thy Sheridan, all", "Who, for years, were the chiefs in the eloquent war,", " And redeemed, if they have not retarded, thy fall.", "", "Yes, happy are they in their cold English graves!", " Their shades cannot start to thy shouts of to-day--", "Nor the steps of enslavers and chain-kissing slaves", " Be stamped in the turf o'er their fetterless clay.", "", "Till now I had envied thy sons and their shore,", " Though their virtues were hunted, their liberties fled;", "There was something so warm and sublime in the core", " Of an Irishman's heart, that I envy--thy _dead_.", "", "Or, if aught in my bosom can quench for an hour", " My contempt for a nation so servile, though sore,", "Which though trod like the worm will not turn upon power,", " 'Tis the glory of Grattan, and genius of Moore!" ], "linecount": "128" }, { "title": "To----", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "But once I dared to lift my eyes--", " To lift my eyes to thee;", "And since that day, beneath the skies,", " No other sight they see.", "", "In vain sleep shuts them in the night--", " The night grows day to me;", "Presenting idly to my sight", " What still a dream must be.", "", "A fatal dream--for many a bar", " Divides thy fate from mine;", "And still my passions wake and war,", " But peace be still with thine." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Aristomenes", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " Canto First.", "", "The Gods of old are silent on the shore.", "Since the great Pan expired, and through the roar", "Of the Ionian waters broke a dread", "Voice which proclaimed \"the Mighty Pan is dead.\"", "How much died with him! false or true--the dream", "Was beautiful which peopled every stream", "With more than finny tenants, and adorned", "The woods and waters with coy nymphs that scorned", "Pursuing Deities, or in the embrace", "Of gods brought forth the high heroic race", "Whose names are on the hills and o'er the seas." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "The Blues: A Literary Eclogue", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"Nimium ne crede colori.\"--Virgil,", "", "ECLOGUE THE FIRST.", "", " _London.--Before the Door of a Lecture Room_.", "", " _Enter_ TRACY, _meeting_ INKEL.", "", "_Ink_. You're too late.", "", "_Tra_. Is it over?", "", "_Ink_. Nor will be this hour.", "But the benches are crammed, like a garden in flower.", "With the pride of our belles, who have made it the fashion;", "So, instead of \"beaux arts,\" we may say \"la _belle_ passion\"", "For learning, which lately has taken the lead in", "The world, and set all the fine gentlemen reading.", "", "_Tra_. I know it too well, and have worn out my patience", "With studying to study your new publications.", "There's Vamp, Scamp, and Mouthy, and Wordswords and Co.", "With their damnable----", "", "_Ink_. Hold, my good friend, do you know", "Whom you speak to?", "", "_Tra_. Right well, boy, and so does \"the Row:\"", "You're an author--a poet--", "", "_Ink_. And think you that I", "Can stand tamely in silence, to hear you decry", "The Muses?", "", "_Tra_. Excuse me: I meant no offence", "To the Nine; though the number who make some pretence", "To their favours is such----but the subject to drop,", "I am just piping hot from a publisher's shop,", "(Next door to the pastry-cook's; so that when I", "Cannot find the new volume I wanted to buy", "On the bibliopole's shelves, it is only two paces,", "As one finds every author in one of those places:)", "Where I just had been skimming a charming critique,", "So studded with wit, and so sprinkled with Greek!", "Where your friend--you know who--has just got such a threshing,", "That it is, as the phrase goes, extremely \"_refreshing._\"", "What a beautiful word!", "", "_Ink_. Very true; 'tis so soft", "And so cooling--they use it a little too oft;", "And the papers have got it at last--but no matter.", "So they've cut up our friend then?", "", "_Tra_. Not left him a tatter--", "Not a rag of his present or past reputation,", "Which they call a disgrace to the age, and the nation.", "", "_Ink_. I'm sorry to hear this! for friendship, you know--", "Our poor friend!--but I thought it would terminate so.", "Our friendship is such, I'll read nothing to shock it.", "You don't happen to have the Review in your pocket?", "", "_Tra_. No; I left a round dozen of authors and others", "(Very sorry, no doubt, since the cause is a brother's)", "All scrambling and jostling, like so many imps,", "And on fire with impatience to get the next glimpse.", "", "_Ink_. Let us join them.", "", "_Tra_. What, won't you return to the lecture?", "", "_Ink_. Why the place is so crammed, there's not room for a spectre.", "Besides, our friend Scamp is to-day so absurd--", "", "_Tra_. How can you know that till you hear him?", "", "_Ink_. I heard", "Quite enough; and, to tell you the truth, my retreat", "Was from his vile nonsense, no less than the heat.", "", "_Tra_. I have had no great loss then?", "", "_Ink_. Loss!--such a palaver!", "I'd inoculate sooner my wife with the slaver", "Of a dog when gone rabid, than listen two hours", "To the torrent of trash which around him he pours,", "Pumped up with such effort, disgorged with such labour,", "That----come--do not make me speak ill of one's neighbour.", "", "_Tra_. _I_ make you!", "", "_Ink_. Yes, you! I said nothing until", "You compelled me, by speaking the truth----", "", "_Tra_. _To speak ill?_", "Is that your deduction?", "", "_Ink_. When speaking of Scamp ill,", "I certainly _follow, not set_ an example.", "The fellow's a fool, an impostor, a zany.", "", "_Tra_. And the crowd of to-day shows that one fool makes many.", "But we two will be wise.", "", "_Ink_. Pray, then, let us retire.", "", "_Tra_. I would, but----", "", "_Ink_. There must be attraction much higher", "Than Scamp, or the Jew's harp he nicknames his lyre,", "To call you to this hotbed.", "", "_Tra_. I own it--'tis true--", "A fair lady----", "", "_Ink_. A spinster?", "", "_Tra_. Miss Lilac.", "", "_Ink_. The Blue!", "", "_Tra_. The heiress! The angel!", "", "_Ink_. The devil! why, man,", "Pray get out of this hobble as fast as you can.", "_You_ wed with Miss Lilac! 'twould be your perdition:", "She's a poet, a chymist, a mathematician.", "", "_Tra_. I say she's an angel.", "", "_Ink_. Say rather an angle.", "If you and she marry, you'll certainly wrangle.", "I say she's a Blue, man, as blue as the ether.", "", "_Tra_. And is that any cause for not coming together?", "", "_Ink_. Humph! I can't say I know any happy alliance", "Which has lately sprung up from a wedlock with science.", "She's so learnéd in all things, and fond of concerning", "Herself in all matters connected with learning,", "That----", "", "_Tra_. What?", "", "_Ink_. I perhaps may as well hold my tongue;", "But there's five hundred people can tell you you're", "wrong.", "", "_Tra_. You forget Lady Lilac's as rich as a Jew.", "", "_Ink_. Is it miss or the cash of mamma you pursue?", "", "_Tra_. Why, Jack, I'll be frank with you--something of both.", "The girl's a fine girl.", "", "_Ink_. And you feel nothing loth", "To her good lady-mother's reversion; and yet", "Her life is as good as your own, I will bet.", "", "_Tra_. Let her live, and as long as she likes; I demand", "Nothing more than the heart of her daughter and hand.", "", "_Ink_. Why, that heart's in the inkstand--that hand on the pen.", "", "_Tra_. A propos--Will you write me a song now and then?", "", "_Ink_. To what purpose?", "", "_Tra_. You know, my dear friend, that in prose", "My talent is decent, as far as it goes;", "But in rhyme----", "", "_Ink_. You're a terrible stick, to be sure.", "", "_Tra_. I own it; and yet, in these times, there's no lure", "For the heart of the fair like a stanza or two;", "And so, as I can't, will you furnish a few?", "", "_Ink_. In your name?", "", "_Tra_. In my name. I will copy them out,", "To slip into her hand at the very next rout.", "", "_Ink_. Are you so far advanced as to hazard this?", "", "_Tra_. Why,", "Do you think me subdued by a Blue-stocking's eye,", "So far as to tremble to tell her in rhyme", "What I've told her in prose, at the least, as sublime?", "", "_Ink_. _As sublime!_ If i be so, no need of my Muse.", "", "_Tra_. But consider, dear Inkel, she's one of the \"Blues.\"", "", "_Ink_. As sublime!--Mr. Tracy--I've nothing to say.", "Stick to prose--As sublime!!--but I wish you good day.", "", "_Tra_. Nay, stay, my dear fellow--consider--I'm wrong;", "I own it; but, prithee, compose me the song.", "", "_Ink_. _As_ sublime!!", "", "_Tra_. I but used the expression in haste.", "", "_Ink_. That may be, Mr. Tracy, but shows damned bad taste.", "", "_Tra_. I own it, I know it, acknowledge it--what", "Can I say to you more?", "", "_Ink_. I see what you'd be at:", "You disparage my parts with insidious abuse,", "Till you think you can turn them best to your own use.", "", "_Tra_. And is that not a sign I respect them?", "", "_Ink_. Why that", "To be sure makes a difference.", "", "_Tra_. I know what is what:", "And you, who're a man of the gay world, no less", "Than a poet of t'other, may easily guess", "That I never could mean, by a word, to offend", "A genius like you, and, moreover, my friend.", "", "_Ink_. No doubt; you by this time should know what is due", "To a man of----but come--let us shake hands.", "", "_Tra_. You knew,", "And you _know_, my dear fellow, how heartily I,", "Whatever you publish, am ready to buy.", "", "_Ink_. That's my bookseller's business; I care not for sale;", "Indeed the best poems at first rather fail.", "There were Renegade's epics, and Botherby's plays,", "And my own grand romance--", "", "_Tra_. Had its full share of praise.", "I myself saw it puffed in the \"Old Girl's Review.\"", "", "_Ink_. What Review?", "", "_Tra_. Tis the English \"Journal de Trevoux;\"", "A clerical work of our Jesuits at home.", "Have you never yet seen it?", "", "_Ink_. That pleasure's to come.", "", "_Tra_. Make haste then.", "", "_Ink_. Why so?", "", "_Tra_. I have heard people say", "That it threatened to give up the _ghost_ t'other day.", "", "_Ink_. Well, that is a sign of some _spirit_.", "", "_Tra_. No doubt.", "Shall you be at the Countess of Fiddlecome's rout?", "", "_Ink_. I've a card, and shall go: but at present, as soon", "As friend Scamp shall be pleased to step down from the moon,", "(Where he seems to be soaring in search of his wits),", "And an interval grants from his lecturing fits,", "I'm engaged to the Lady Bluebottle's collation,", "To partake of a luncheon and learn'd conversation:", "'Tis a sort of reunion for Scamp, on the days", "Of his lecture, to treat him with cold tongue and praise.", "And I own, for my own part, that 'tis not unpleasant.", "Will you go? There's Miss Lilac will also be present.", "", "_Tra_. That \"metal's attractive.\"", "", "_Ink_. No doubt--to the pocket.", "", "_Tra_. You should rather encourage my passion than shock it.", "But let us proceed; for I think by the hum----", "", "_Ink_. Very true; let us go, then, before they can come,", "Or else we'll be kept here an hour at their levee,", "On the rack of cross questions, by all the blue bevy.", "Hark! Zounds, they'll be on us; I know by the drone", "Of old Botherby's spouting ex-cathedrâ tone.", "Aye! there he is at it. Poor Scamp! better join", "Your friends, or he'll pay you back in your own coin.", "", "_Tra_. All fair; 'tis but lecture for lecture.", "", "_Ink_. That's clear.", "But for God's sake let's go, or the Bore will be here.", "Come, come: nay, I'm off.", " [_Exit_ INKEL.", "", "_Tra_. You are right, and I'll follow;", "'Tis high time for a \"_Sic me servavit Apollo_.\"", "And yet we shall have the whole crew on our kibes,", "Blues, dandies, and dowagers, and second-hand scribes,", "All flocking to moisten their exquisite throttles", "With a glass of Madeira at Lady Bluebottle's.", " [_Exit_ TRACY.", "", "ECLOGUE THE SECOND.", "", " _An Apartment in the House of_ LADY BLUEBOTTLE.--_A Table prepared._", "", " SIR RICHARD BLUEBOTTLE _solus_.", "", "Was there ever a man who was married so sorry?", "Like a fool, I must needs do the thing in a hurry.", "My life is reversed, and my quiet destroyed;", "My days, which once passed in so gentle a void,", "Must now, every hour of the twelve, be employed;", "The twelve, do I say?--of the whole twenty-four,", "Is there one which I dare call my own any more?", "What with driving and visiting, dancing and dining,", "What with learning, and teaching, and scribbling, and shining,", "In science and art, I'll be cursed if I know", "Myself from my wife; for although we are two,", "Yet she somehow contrives that all things shall be done", "In a style which proclaims us eternally one.", "But the thing of all things which distresses me more", "Than the bills of the week (though they trouble me sore)", "Is the numerous, humorous, backbiting crew", "Of scribblers, wits, lecturers, white, black, and blue,", "Who are brought to my house as an inn, to my cost--", "For the bill here, it seems, is defrayed by the host--", "No pleasure! no leisure! no thought for my pains,", "But to hear a vile jargon which addles my brains;", "A smatter and chatter, gleaned out of reviews,", "By the rag, tag, and bobtail, of those they call \"Blues;\"", "A rabble who know not----But soft, here they come!", "Would to God I were deaf! as I'm not, I'll be dumb.", "", "_Enter_ LADY BLUEBOTTLE, MISS LILAC, LADY BLUEMOUNT, MR. BOTHERBY,", " INKEL, TRACY, MISS MAZARINE, _and others, with_ SCAMP _the Lecturer,", " etc., etc._", "", "_Lady Blueb_.", "Ah! Sir Richard, good morning: I've brought you some friends.", "", "_Sir Rich_. (_bows, and afterwards aside_).", "If friends, they're the first.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. But the luncheon attends.", "I pray ye be seated, \"_sans cérémonie_.\"", "Mr. Scamp, you're fatigued; take your chair there, next me.", " [_They all sit._", "", "_Sir Rich_. (_aside_). If he does, his fatigue is to come.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. Mr. Tracy--", "Lady Bluemount--Miss Lilac--be pleased, pray, to place ye;", "And you, Mr. Botherby--", "", "_Both_. Oh, my dear Lady,", "I obey.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. Mr. Inkel, I ought to upbraid ye:", "You were not at the lecture.", "", "_Ink_. Excuse me, I was;", "But the heat forced me out in the best part--alas!", "And when--", "", "_Lady Blueb_. To be sure it was broiling; but then", "You have lost such a lecture!", "", "_Both_. The best of the ten.", "", "_Tra_. How can you know that? there are two more.", "", "_Both_. Because", "I defy him to beat this day's wondrous applause.", "The very walls shook.", "", "_Ink_. Oh, if that be the test,", "I allow our friend Scamp has this day done his best.", "Miss Lilac, permit me to help you;--a wing?", "", "_Miss Lil_. No more, sir, I thank you. Who lectures next spring?", "", "_Both_. Dick Dunder.", "", "_Ink_. That is, if he lives.", "", "_Miss Lil_. And why not?", "", "_Ink_. No reason whatever, save that he's a sot.", "Lady Bluemount! a glass of Madeira?", "", "_Lady Bluem_. With pleasure.", "", "_Ink_. How does your friend Wordswords, that Windermere treasure?", "Does he stick to his lakes, like the leeches he sings,", "And their gatherers, as Homer sung warriors and kings?", "", "_Lady Bluem_. He has just got a place.", "", "_Ink_. As a footman?", "", "_Lady Bluem_. For shame!", "Nor profane with your sneers so poetic a name.", "", "_Ink_. Nay, I meant him no evil, but pitied his master;", "For the poet of pedlers 'twere, sure, no disaster", "To wear a new livery; the more, as 'tis not", "The first time he has turned both his creed and his coat.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. For shame! I repeat. If Sir George could but hear--", "", "_Lady Blueb_. Never mind our friend Inkel; we all know, my dear,", "'Tis his way.", "", "_Sir Rich_. But this place--", "", "_Ink_. Is perhaps like friend Scamp's,", "A lecturer's.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. Excuse me--'tis one in the \"Stamps:\"", "He is made a collector.", "", "_Tra_. Collector!", "", "_Sir Rich_. How?", "", "_Miss Lil_. What?", "", "_Ink_. I shall think of him oft when I buy a new hat:", "There his works will appear--", "", "_Lady Bluem_. Sir, they reach to the Ganges.", "", "_Ink_. I sha'n't go so far--I can have them at Grange's.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. Oh fie!", "", "_Miss Lil_. And for shame!", "", "_Lady Bluem_. You're too bad.", "", "_Both_. Very good!", "", "_Lady Bluem_. How good?", "", "_Lady Blueb_. He means nought--'tis his phrase.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. He grows rude.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. He means nothing; nay, ask him.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. Pray, Sir! did you mean", "What you say?", "", "_Ink_. Never mind if he did; 'twill be seen", "That whatever he means won't alloy what he says.", "", "_Both_. Sir!", "", "_Ink_. Pray be content with your portion of praise;", "'Twas in your defence.", "", "_Both_. If you please, with submission", "I can make out my own.", "", "_Ink_. It would be your perdition.", "While you live, my dear Botherby, never defend", "Yourself or your works; but leave both to a friend.", "Apropos--Is your play then accepted at last?", "", "_Both_. At last?", "", "_Ink_. Why I thought--that's to say--there had passed", "A few green-room whispers, which hinted,--you know", "That the taste of the actors at best is so so.", "", "_Both_. Sir, the green-room's in rapture, and so's the Committee.", "", "_Ink_. Aye--yours are the plays for exciting our \"pity", "And fear,\" as the Greek says: for \"purging the mind,\"", "I doubt if you'll leave us an equal behind.", "", "_Both_. I have written the prologue, and meant to have prayed", "For a spice of your wit in an epilogue's aid.", "", "_Ink_. Well, time enough yet, when the play's to be played.", "Is it cast yet?", "", "_Both_. The actors are fighting for parts,", "As is usual in that most litigious of arts.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. We'll all make a party, and go the _first_ night.", "", "_Tra_. And you promised the epilogue, Inkel.", "", "_Ink_. Not quite.", "However, to save my friend Botherby trouble,", "I'll do what I can, though my pains must be double.", "", "_Tra_. Why so?", "", "_Ink_. To do justice to what goes before.", "", "_Both_. Sir, I'm happy to say, I've no fears on that score.", "Your parts, Mr. Inkel, are----", "", "_Ink_. Never mind _mine_;", "Stick to those of your play, which is quite your own line.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. You're a fugitive writer, I think, sir, of rhymes?", "", "_Ink_. Yes, ma'am; and a fugitive reader sometimes.", "On Wordswords, for instance, I seldom alight,", "Or on Mouthey, his friend, without taking to flight.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. Sir, your taste is too common; but time and posterity", "Will right these great men, and this age's severity", "Become its reproach.", "", "_Ink_. I've no sort of objection,", "So I'm not of the party to take the infection.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. Perhaps you have doubts that they ever will _take_?", "", "_Ink_. Not at all; on the contrary, those of the lake", "Have taken already, and still will continue", "To take--what they can, from a groat to a guinea,", "Of pension or place;--but the subject's a bore.", "", "_Lady Bluem_. Well, sir, the time's coming.", "", "_Ink_. Scamp! don't you feel sore?", "What say you to this?", "", "_Scamp_. They have merit, I own;", "Though their system's absurdity keeps it unknown,", "", "_Ink_. Then why not unearth it in one of your lectures?", "", "_Scamp_. It is only time past which comes under my strictures.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. Come, a truce with all tartness;--the joy of my heart", "Is to see Nature's triumph o'er all that is art.", "Wild Nature!--Grand Shakespeare!", "", "_Both_. And down Aristotle!", "", "_Lady Bluem_. Sir George thinks exactly with Lady Bluebottle:", "And my Lord Seventy-four, who protects our dear Bard,", "And who gave him his place, has the greatest regard", "For the poet, who, singing of pedlers and asses,", "Has found out the way to dispense with Parnassus.", "", "_Tra_. And you, Scamp!--", "", "_Scamp_. I needs must confess I'm embarrassed.", "", "_Ink_. Don't call upon Scamp, who's already so harassed", "With old _schools_, and new _schools_,", " and no _schools_, and all _schools_.", "", "_Tra_. Well, one thing is certain, that _some_ must be fools.", "I should like to know who.", "", "_Ink_. And I should not be sorry", "To know who are _not_:--it would save us some worry.", "", "_Lady Blueb_. A truce with remark, and let nothing control", "This \"feast of our reason, and flow of the soul.\"", "Oh! my dear Mr. Botherby! sympathise!--I", "Now feel such a rapture, I'm ready to fly,", "I feel so elastic--\"_so buoyant--so buoyant!_\"", "", "_Ink_. Tracy! open the window.", "", "_Tra_. I wish her much joy on't.", "", "_Both_. For God's sake, my Lady Bluebottle, check not", "This gentle emotion, so seldom our lot", "Upon earth. Give it way: 'tis an impulse which lifts", "Our spirits from earth--the sublimest of gifts;", "For which poor Prometheus was chained to his mountain:", "'Tis the source of all sentiment--feeling's true fountain;", "'Tis the Vision of Heaven upon Earth: 'tis the gas", "Of the soul: 'tis the seizing of shades as they pass,", "And making them substance: 'tis something divine:--", "", "_Ink_. Shall I help you, my friend, to a little more wine?", "", "_Both_. I thank you: not any more, sir, till I dine.", "", "_Ink_. Apropos--Do you dine with Sir Humphry to day?", "", "_Tra_. I should think with _Duke_ Humphry was more in your way.", "", "_Ink_. It might be of yore; but we authors now look", "To the Knight, as a landlord, much more than the Duke.", "The truth is, each writer now quite at his ease is,", "And (except with his publisher) dines where he pleases.", "But 'tis now nearly five, and I must to the Park.", "", "_Tra_. And I'll take a turn with you there till 'tis dark.", "And you, Scamp--", "", "_Scamp_. Excuse me! I must to my notes,", "For my lecture next week.", "", "_Ink_. He must mind whom he quotes", "Out of \"Elegant Extracts.\"", "", "_Lady Blueb_. Well, now we break up;", "But remember Miss Diddle invites us to sup.", "", "_Ink_. Then at two hours past midnight we all meet again,", "For the sciences, sandwiches, hock, and champagne!", "", "_Tra_. And the sweet lobster salad!", "", "_Both_. I honour that meal;", "For 'tis then that our feelings most genuinely--feel.", "", "_Ink_. True; feeling is truest _then_, far beyond question:", "I wish to the gods 'twas the same with digestion!", "", "_Lady Blueb_. Pshaw!--never mind that; for one moment of feeling", "Is worth--God knows what.", "", "_Ink_. 'Tis at least worth concealing", "For itself, or what follows--But here comes your carriage.", "", "_Sir Rich_. (_aside_).", "I wish all these people were d----d with _my_ marriage!", " [_Exeunt._" ], "linecount": "435" }, { "title": "Sardanapalus", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "ACT I.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Hall in the Palace_.", "", "_Salemenes_ (_solus_).", "He hath wronged his queen, but still he is her lord;", "He hath wronged my sister--still he is my brother;", "He hath wronged his people--still he is their sovereign--", "And I must be his friend as well as subject:", "He must not perish thus. I will not see", "The blood of Nimrod and Semiramis", "Sink in the earth, and thirteen hundred years", "Of Empire ending like a shepherd's tale;", "He must be roused. In his effeminate heart", "There is a careless courage which Corruption", "Has not all quenched, and latent energies,", "Repressed by circumstance, but not destroyed--", "Steeped, but not drowned, in deep voluptuousness.", "If born a peasant, he had been a man", "To have reached an empire: to an empire born,", "He will bequeath none; nothing but a name,", "Which his sons will not prize in heritage:--", "Yet--not all lost--even yet--he may redeem", "His sloth and shame, by only being that", "Which he should be, as easily as the thing", "He should not be and is. Were it less toil", "To sway his nations than consume his life?", "To head an army than to rule a harem?", "He sweats in palling pleasures, dulls his soul,", "And saps his goodly strength, in toils which yield not", "Health like the chase, nor glory like the war--", "He must be roused. Alas! there is no sound", " [_Sound of soft music heard from within_.", "To rouse him short of thunder. Hark! the lute--", "The lyre--the timbrel; the lascivious tinklings", "Of lulling instruments, the softening voices", "Of women, and of beings less than women,", "Must chime in to the echo of his revel,", "While the great King of all we know of earth", "Lolls crowned with roses, and his diadem", "Lies negligently by to be caught up", "By the first manly hand which dares to snatch it.", "Lo, where they come! already I perceive", "The reeking odours of the perfumed trains,", "And see the bright gems of the glittering girls,", "At once his Chorus and his Council, flash", "Along the gallery, and amidst the damsels,", "As femininely garbed, and scarce less female,", "The grandson of Semiramis, the Man-Queen.--", "He comes! Shall I await him? yes, and front him,", "And tell him what all good men tell each other,", "Speaking of him and his. They come, the slaves", "Led by the monarch subject to his slaves.", "", "SCENE II.", "", " _Enter_ SARDANAPALUS _effeminately dressed, his Head", " crowned with Flowers, and his Robe negligently flowing,", " attended by a Train of Women and young Slaves_.", "", "_Sar._ (_speaking to some of his attendants_).", "Let the pavilion over the Euphrates", "Be garlanded, and lit, and furnished forth", "For an especial banquet; at the hour", "Of midnight we will sup there: see nought wanting,", "And bid the galley be prepared. There is", "A cooling breeze which crisps the broad clear river:", "We will embark anon. Fair Nymphs, who deign", "To share the soft hours of Sardanapalus,", "We'll meet again in that the sweetest hour,", "When we shall gather like the stars above us,", "And you will form a heaven as bright as theirs;", "Till then, let each be mistress of her time,", "And thou, my own Ionian Myrrha, choose;", "Wilt thou along with them or me?", "", "_Myr._ My Lord--", "", "_Sar._ My Lord!--my Life! why answerest thou so coldly?", "It is the curse of kings to be so answered.", "Rule thy own hours, thou rulest mine--say, wouldst thou", "Accompany our guests, or charm away", "The moments from me?", "", "_Myr._ The King's choice is mine.", "", "_Sar._ I pray thee say not so: my chiefest joy", "Is to contribute to thine every wish.", "I do not dare to breathe my own desire,", "Lest it should clash with thine; for thou art still", "Too prompt to sacrifice thy thoughts for others.", "", "_Myr._ I would remain: I have no happiness", "Save in beholding thine; yet--", "", "_Sar._ Yet! what YET?", "Thy own sweet will shall be the only barrier", "Which ever rises betwixt thee and me.", "", "_Myr._ I think the present is the wonted hour", "Of council; it were better I retire.", "", "_Sal._ (_comes forward and says_)", "The Ionian slave says well: let her retire.", "", "_Sar._ Who answers? How now, brother?", "", "_Sal._ The _Queen's_ brother,", "And your most faithful vassal, royal Lord.", "", "_Sar._ (_addressing his train_).", "As I have said, let all dispose their hours", "Till midnight, when again we pray your presence.", " [_The court retiring_.", "(_To_ MYRRHA, _who is going_.)", "Myrrha! I thought _thou_ wouldst remain.", "", "_Myr._ Great King,", "Thou didst not say so.", "", "_Sar._ But _thou_ looked'st it:", "I know each glance of those Ionic eyes,", "Which said thou wouldst not leave me.", "", "_Myr._ Sire! your brother----", "", "_Sal._ His _Consort's_ brother, minion of Ionia!", "How darest _thou_ name _me_ and not blush?", "", "_Sar._ Not blush!", "Thou hast no more eyes than heart to make her crimson", "Like to the dying day on Caucasus,", "Where sunset tints the snow with rosy shadows,", "And then reproach her with thine own cold blindness,", "Which will not see it. What! in tears, my Myrrha?", "", "_Sal._ Let them flow on; she weeps for more than one,", "And is herself the cause of bitterer tears.", "", "_Sar._ Curséd be he who caused those tears to flow!", "", "_Sal._ Curse not thyself--millions do that already.", "", "_Sar._ Thou dost forget thee: make me not remember", "I am a monarch.", "", "_Sal._ Would thou couldst!", "", "_Myr._ My sovereign,", "I pray, and thou, too, Prince, permit my absence.", "", "_Sar._ Since it must be so, and this churl has checked", "Thy gentle spirit, go; but recollect", "That we must forthwith meet: I had rather lose", "An empire than thy presence. [_Exit_ MYRRHA.", "", "_Sal._ It may be,", "Thou wilt lose both--and both for ever!", "", "_Sar._ Brother!", "I can at least command myself, who listen", "To language such as this: yet urge me not", "Beyond my easy nature.", "", "_Sal._ 'Tis beyond", "That easy--far too easy--idle nature,", "Which I would urge thee. O that I could rouse thee!", "Though 'twere against myself.", "", "_Sar._ By the god Baal!", "The man would make me tyrant.", "", "_Sal._ So thou art.", "Think'st thou there is no tyranny but that", "Of blood and chains? The despotism of vice,", "The weakness and the wickedness of luxury,", "The negligence, the apathy, the evils", "Of sensual sloth--produce ten thousand tyrants,", "Whose delegated cruelty surpasses", "The worst acts of one energetic master,", "However harsh and hard in his own bearing.", "The false and fond examples of thy lusts", "Corrupt no less than they oppress, and sap", "In the same moment all thy pageant power", "And those who should sustain it; so that whether", "A foreign foe invade, or civil broil", "Distract within, both will alike prove fatal:", "The first thy subjects have no heart to conquer;", "The last they rather would assist than vanquish.", "", "_Sar._ Why, what makes thee the mouth-piece of the people?", "", "_Sal._ Forgiveness of the Queen, my sister wrongs;", "A natural love unto my infant nephews;", "Faith to the King, a faith he may need shortly,", "In more than words; respect for Nimrod's line;", "Also, another thing thou knowest not.", "", "_Sar._ What's that?", "", "_Sal._ To thee an unknown word.", "", "_Sar._ Yet speak it;", "I love to learn.", "", "_Sal._ Virtue.", "", "_Sar._ Not know the word!", "Never was word yet rung so in my ears--", "Worse than the rabble's shout, or splitting trumpet:", "I've heard thy sister talk of nothing else.", "", "_Sal._ To change the irksome theme, then, hear of vice.", "", "_Sar._ From whom?", "", "_Sal._ Even from the winds, if thou couldst listen", "Unto the echoes of the Nation's voice.", "", "_Sar._ Come, I'm indulgent, as thou knowest, patient,", "As thou hast often proved--speak out, what moves thee?", "", "_Sal._ Thy peril.", "", "_Sar._ Say on.", "", "_Sal._ Thus, then: all the nations,", "For they are many, whom thy father left", "In heritage, are loud in wrath against thee.", "", "_Sar._ 'Gainst _me!!_ What would the slaves?", "", "_Sal._ A king.", "", "_Sar._ And what", "Am I then?", "", "_Sal._ In their eyes a nothing; but", "In mine a man who might be something still.", "", "_Sar._ The railing drunkards! why, what would they have?", "Have they not peace and plenty?", "", "_Sal._ Of the first", "More than is glorious: of the last, far less", "Than the King recks of.", "", "_Sar._ Whose then is the crime,", "But the false satraps, who provide no better?", "", "_Sal._ And somewhat in the Monarch who ne'er looks", "Beyond his palace walls, or if he stirs", "Beyond them, 'tis but to some mountain palace,", "Till summer heats wear down. O glorious Baal!", "Who built up this vast empire, and wert made", "A God, or at the least shinest like a God", "Through the long centuries of thy renown,", "This, thy presumed descendant, ne'er beheld", "As king the kingdoms thou didst leave as hero,", "Won with thy blood, and toil, and time, and peril!", "For what? to furnish imposts for a revel,", "Or multiplied extortions for a minion.", "", "_Sar._ I understand thee--thou wouldst have me go", "Forth as a conqueror. By all the stars", "Which the Chaldeans read--the restless slaves", "Deserve that I should curse them with their wishes,", "And lead them forth to glory.", "", "_Sal._ Wherefore not?", "Semiramis--a woman only--led", "These our Assyrians to the solar shores", "Of Ganges.", "", "_Sar._ Tis most true. And _how_ returned?", "", "_Sal._ Why, like a _man_--a hero; baffled, but", "Not vanquished. With but twenty guards, she made", "Good her retreat to Bactria.", "", "_Sar._ And how many", "Left she behind in India to the vultures?", "", "_Sal._ Our annals say not.", "", "_Sar._ Then I will say for them--", "That she had better woven within her palace", "Some twenty garments, than with twenty guards", "Have fled to Bactria, leaving to the ravens,", "And wolves, and men--the fiercer of the three,", "Her myriads of fond subjects. Is _this_ Glory?", "Then let me live in ignominy ever.", "", "_Sal._ All warlike spirits have not the same fate.", "Semiramis, the glorious parent of", "A hundred kings, although she failed in India,", "Brought Persia--Media--Bactria--to the realm", "Which she once swayed--and thou _mightst_ sway.", "", "_Sar._ _I sway_ them--", "She but subdued them.", "", "_Sal._ It may be ere long", "That they will need her sword more than your sceptre.", "", "_Sar._ There was a certain Bacchus, was there not?", "I've heard my Greek girls speak of such--they say", "He was a God, that is, a Grecian god,", "An idol foreign to Assyria's worship,", "Who conquered this same golden realm of Ind", "Thou prat'st of, where Semiramis was vanquished.", "", "_Sal._ I have heard of such a man; and thou perceiv'st", "That he is deemed a God for what he did.", "", "_Sar._ And in his godship I will honour him--", "Not much as man. What, ho! my cupbearer!", "", "_Sal._ What means the King?", "", "_Sar._ To worship your new God", "And ancient conqueror. Some wine, I say.", "", " _Enter Cupbearer_.", "", "_Sar._ (_addressing the Cupbearer_).", "Bring me the golden goblet thick with gems,", "Which bears the name of Nimrod's chalice. Hence,", "Fill full, and bear it quickly. [_Exit Cupbearer_.", "", "_Sal._ Is this moment", "A fitting one for the resumption of", "Thy yet unslept-off revels?", "", " _Re-enter Cupbearer, with wine_.", "", "_Sar._ (_taking the cup from him_). Noble kinsman,", "If these barbarian Greeks of the far shores", "And skirts of these our realms lie not, this Bacchus", "Conquered the whole of India, did he not?", "", "_Sal._ He did, and thence was deemed a Deity.", "", "_Sar._ Not so:--of all his conquests a few columns.", "Which may be his, and might be mine, if I", "Thought them worth purchase and conveyance, are", "The landmarks of the seas of gore he shed,", "The realms he wasted, and the hearts he broke.", "But here--here in this goblet is his title", "To immortality--the immortal grape", "From which he first expressed the soul, and gave", "To gladden that of man, as some atonement", "For the victorious mischiefs he had done.", "Had it not been for this, he would have been", "A mortal still in name as in his grave;", "And, like my ancestor Semiramis,", "A sort of semi-glorious human monster.", "Here's that which deified him--let it now", "Humanise thee; my surly, chiding brother,", "Pledge me to the Greek God!", "", "_Sal._ For all thy realms", "I would not so blaspheme our country's creed.", "", "_Sar._ That is to say, thou thinkest him a hero,", "That he shed blood by oceans; and no God,", "Because he turned a fruit to an enchantment,", "Which cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires", "The young, makes Weariness forget his toil,", "And Fear her danger; opens a new world", "When this, the present, palls. Well, then _I_ pledge thee", "And _him_ as a true man, who did his utmost", "In good or evil to surprise mankind. [_Drinks_.", "", "_Sal._ Wilt thou resume a revel at this hour?", "", "_Sar._ And if I did, 'twere better than a trophy,", "Being bought without a tear. But that is not", "My present purpose: since thou wilt not pledge me,", "Continue what thou pleasest.", "(_To the Cupbearer_.) Boy, retire. [_Exit Cupbearer_.", "", "_Sal._ I would but have recalled thee from thy dream;", "Better by me awakened than rebellion.", "", "_Sar._ Who should rebel? or why? what cause? pretext?", "I am the lawful King, descended from", "A race of Kings who knew no predecessors.", "What have I done to thee, or to the people,", "That thou shouldst rail, or they rise up against me?", "", "_Sal._ Of what thou hast done to me, I speak not.", "", "_Sar._ But", "Thou think'st that I have wronged the Queen: is't not so?", "", "_Sal._ _Think!_ Thou hast wronged her!", "", "_Sar._ Patience, Prince, and hear me.", "She has all power and splendour of her station,", "Respect, the tutelage of Assyria's heirs,", "The homage and the appanage of sovereignty.", "I married her as monarchs wed--for state,", "And loved her as most husbands love their wives.", "If she or thou supposedst I could link me", "Like a Chaldean peasant to his mate,", "Ye knew nor me--nor monarchs--nor mankind.", "", "_Sal._ I pray thee, change the theme: my blood disdains", "Complaint, and Salemenes' sister seeks not", "Reluctant love even from Assyria's lord!", "Nor would she deign to accept divided passion", "With foreign strumpets and Ionian slaves.", "The Queen is silent.", "", "_Sar._ And why not her brother?", "", "_Sal._ I only echo thee the voice of empires,", "Which he who long neglects not long will govern.", "", "_Sar._ The ungrateful and ungracious slaves! they murmur", "Because I have not shed their blood, nor led them", "To dry into the desert's dust by myriads,", "Or whiten with their bones the banks of Ganges;", "Nor decimated them with savage laws,", "Nor sweated them to build up Pyramids,", "Or Babylonian walls.", "", "_Sal._ Yet these are trophies", "More worthy of a people and their prince", "Than songs, and lutes, and feasts, and concubines,", "And lavished treasures, and contemnéd virtues.", "", "_Sar._ Or for my trophies I have founded cities:", "There's Tarsus and Anchialus, both built", "In one day--what could that blood-loving beldame,", "My martial grandam, chaste Semiramis,", "Do more, except destroy them?", "", "_Sal._ 'Tis most true;", "I own thy merit in those founded cities,", "Built for a whim, recorded with a verse", "Which shames both them and thee to coming ages.", "", "_Sar._ Shame me! By Baal, the cities, though well built,", "Are not more goodly than the verse! Say what", "Thou wilt 'gainst me, my mode of life or rule,", "But nothing 'gainst the truth of that brief record.", "Why, those few lines contain the history", "Of all things human: hear--\"Sardanapalus,", "The king, and son of Anacyndaraxes,", "In one day built Anchialus and Tarsus.", "Eat, drink, and love; the rest's not worth a fillip.\"", "", "_Sal._ A worthy moral, and a wise inscription,", "For a king to put up before his subjects!", "", "_Sar._ Oh, thou wouldst have me doubtless set up edicts--", "\"Obey the king--contribute to his treasure--", "Recruit his phalanx--spill your blood at bidding--", "Fall down and worship, or get up and toil.\"", "Or thus--\"Sardanapalus on this spot", "Slew fifty thousand of his enemies.", "These are their sepulchres, and this his trophy.\"", "I leave such things to conquerors; enough", "For me, if I can make my subjects feel", "The weight of human misery less, and glide", "Ungroaning to the tomb: I take no license", "Which I deny to them. We all are men.", "", "_Sal._ Thy Sires have been revered as Gods--", "", "_Sar._ In dust", "And death, where they are neither Gods nor men.", "Talk not of such to me! the worms are Gods;", "At least they banqueted upon your Gods,", "And died for lack of farther nutriment.", "Those Gods were merely men; look to their issue--", "I feel a thousand mortal things about me,", "But nothing godlike,--unless it may be", "The thing which you condemn, a disposition", "To love and to be merciful, to pardon", "The follies of my species, and (that's human)", "To be indulgent to my own.", "", "_Sal._ Alas!", "The doom of Nineveh is sealed.--Woe--woe", "To the unrivalled city!", "", "_Sar._ What dost dread?", "", "_Sal._ Thou art guarded by thy foes: in a few hours", "The tempest may break out which overwhelms thee,", "And thine and mine; and in another day", "What _is_ shall be the past of Belus' race.", "", "_Sar._ What must we dread?", "", "_Sal._ Ambitious treachery,", "Which has environed thee with snares; but yet", "There is resource: empower me with thy signet", "To quell the machinations, and I lay", "The heads of thy chief foes before thy feet.", "", "_Sar._ The heads--how many?", "", "_Sal._ Must I stay to number", "When even thine own's in peril? Let me go;", "Give me thy signet--trust me with the rest.", "", "_Sar._ I will trust no man with unlimited lives.", "When we take those from others, we nor know", "What we have taken, nor the thing we give.", "", "_Sal._ Wouldst thou not take their lives who seek for thine?", "", "_Sar._ That's a hard question--But I answer, Yes.", "Cannot the thing be done without? Who are they", "Whom thou suspectest?--Let them be arrested.", "", "_Sal._ I would thou wouldst not ask me; the next moment", "Will send my answer through thy babbling troop", "Of paramours, and thence fly o'er the palace,", "Even to the city, and so baffle all.--", "Trust me.", "", "_Sar._ Thou knowest I have done so ever;", "Take thou the signet. [_Gives the signet_.", "", "_Sal._ I have one more request.", "", "_Sar._ Name it.", "", "_Sal._ That thou this night forbear the banquet", "In the pavilion over the Euphrates.", "", "_Sar._ Forbear the banquet! Not for all the plotters", "That ever shook a kingdom! Let them come,", "And do their worst: I shall not blench for them;", "Nor rise the sooner; nor forbear the goblet;", "Nor crown me with a single rose the less;", "Nor lose one joyous hour.--I fear them not.", "", "_Sal._ But thou wouldst arm thee, wouldst thou not, if needful?", "", "_Sar._ Perhaps. I have the goodliest armour, and", "A sword of such a temper, and a bow,", "And javelin, which might furnish Nimrod forth:", "A little heavy, but yet not unwieldy.", "And now I think on't, 'tis long since I've used them,", "Even in the chase. Hast ever seen them, brother?", "", "_Sal._ Is this a time for such fantastic trifling?--", "If need be, wilt thou wear them?", "", "_Sar._ Will I not?", "Oh! if it must be so, and these rash slaves", "Will not be ruled with less, I'll use the sword", "Till they shall wish it turned into a distaff.", "", "_Sal._ They say thy Sceptre's turned to that already.", "", "_Sar._ That's false! but let them say so: the old Greeks,", "Of whom our captives often sing, related", "The same of their chief hero, Hercules,", "Because he loved a Lydian queen: thou seest", "The populace of all the nations seize", "Each calumny they can to sink their sovereigns.", "", "_Sal._ They did not speak thus of thy fathers.", "", "_Sar._ No;", "They dared not. They were kept to toil and combat;", "And never changed their chains but for their armour:", "Now they have peace and pastime, and the license", "To revel and to rail; it irks me not.", "I would not give the smile of one fair girl", "For all the popular breath that e'er divided", "A name from nothing. What are the rank tongues", "Of this vile herd, grown insolent with feeding,", "That I should prize their noisy praise, or dread", "Their noisome clamour?", "", "_Sal._ You have said they are men;", "As such their hearts are something.", "", "_Sar._ So my dogs' are;", "And better, as more faithful:--but, proceed;", "Thou hast my signet:--since they are tumultuous,", "Let them be tempered, yet not roughly, till", "Necessity enforce it. I hate all pain,", "Given or received; we have enough within us,", "The meanest vassal as the loftiest monarch,", "Not to add to each other's natural burthen", "Of mortal misery, but rather lessen,", "By mild reciprocal alleviation,", "The fatal penalties imposed on life:", "But this they know not, or they will not know.", "I have, by Baal! done all I could to soothe them:", "I made no wars, I added no new imposts,", "I interfered not with their civic lives,", "I let them pass their days as best might suit them,", "Passing my own as suited me.", "", "_Sal._ Thou stopp'st", "Short of the duties of a king; and therefore", "They say thou art unfit to be a monarch.", "", "_Sar._ They lie.--Unhappily, I am unfit", "To be aught save a monarch; else for me", "The meanest Mede might be the king instead.", "", "_Sal._ There is one Mede, at least, who seeks to be so.", "", "_Sar._ What mean'st thou!--'tis thy secret; thou desirest", "Few questions, and I'm not of curious nature.", "Take the fit steps; and, since necessity", "Requires, I sanction and support thee. Ne'er", "Was man who more desired to rule in peace", "The peaceful only: if they rouse me, better", "They had conjured up stern Nimrod from his ashes,", "\"The Mighty Hunter!\" I will turn these realms", "To one wide desert chase of brutes, who _were_,", "But _would_ no more, by their own choice, be human.", "_What_ they have found me, they belie; _that which_", "They yet may find me--shall defy their wish", "To speak it worse; and let them thank themselves.", "", "_Sal._ Then thou at last canst feel?", "", "_Sar._ Feel! who feels not", "Ingratitude?", "", "_Sal._ I will not pause to answer", "With words, but deeds. Keep thou awake that energy", "Which sleeps at times, but is not dead within thee,", "And thou may'st yet be glorious in thy reign,", "As powerful in thy realm. Farewell! [_Exit_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sar._ (_solus_). Farewell!", "He's gone; and on his finger bears my signet,", "Which is to him a sceptre. He is stern", "As I am heedless; and the slaves deserve", "To feel a master. What may be the danger,", "I know not: he hath found it, let him quell it.", "Must I consume my life--this little life--", "In guarding against all may make it less?", "It is not worth so much! It were to die", "Before my hour, to live in dread of death,", "Tracing revolt; suspecting all about me,", "Because they are near; and all who are remote,", "Because they are far. But if it should be so--", "If they should sweep me off from Earth and Empire,", "Why, what is Earth or Empire of the Earth?", "I have loved, and lived, and multiplied my image;", "To die is no less natural than those", "Acts of this clay! 'Tis true I have not shed", "Blood as I might have done, in oceans, till", "My name became the synonyme of Death--", "A terror and a trophy. But for this", "I feel no penitence; my life is love:", "If I must shed blood, it shall be by force.", "Till now, no drop from an Assyrian vein", "Hath flowed for me, nor hath the smallest coin", "Of Nineveh's vast treasures e'er been lavished", "On objects which could cost her sons a tear:", "If then they hate me, 'tis because I hate not:", "If they rebel, 'tis because I oppress not.", "Oh, men! ye must be ruled with scythes, not sceptres,", "And mowed down like the grass, else all we reap", "Is rank abundance, and a rotten harvest", "Of discontents infecting the fair soil,", "Making a desert of fertility.--", "I'll think no more.--Within there, ho!", "", " _Enter an_ ATTENDANT.", "", "_Sar._ Slave, tell", "The Ionian Myrrha we would crave her presence.", "", "_Attend._ King, she is here.", "", " MYRRHA _enters_.", "", "_Sar._ (_apart to Attendant_). Away!", "", "(_Addressing_ MYRRHA.) Beautiful being!", "Thou dost almost anticipate my heart;", "It throbbed for thee, and here thou comest: let me", "Deem that some unknown influence, some sweet oracle,", "Communicates between us, though unseen,", "In absence, and attracts us to each other.", "", "_Myr._ There doth.", "", "_Sar._ I know there doth, but not its name:", "What is it?", "", "_Myr._ In my native land a God,", "And in my heart a feeling like a God's,", "Exalted; yet I own 'tis only mortal;", "For what I feel is humble, and yet happy--", "That is, it would be happy; but---- [MYRRHA _pauses_.", "", "_Sar._ There comes", "For ever something between us and what", "We deem our happiness: let me remove", "The barrier which that hesitating accent", "Proclaims to thine, and mine is sealed.", "", "_Myr._ My Lord!--", "", "_Sar._ My Lord--my King--Sire--Sovereign; thus it is--", "For ever thus, addressed with awe. I ne'er", "Can see a smile, unless in some broad banquet's", "Intoxicating glare, when the buffoons", "Have gorged themselves up to equality,", "Or I have quaffed me down to their abasement.", "Myrrha, I can hear all these things, these names,", "Lord--King--Sire--Monarch--nay, time was I prized them;", "That is, I suffered them--from slaves and nobles;", "But when they falter from the lips I love,", "The lips which have been pressed to mine, a chill", "Comes o'er my heart, a cold sense of the falsehood", "Of this my station, which represses feeling", "In those for whom I have felt most, and makes me", "Wish that I could lay down the dull tiara,", "And share a cottage on the Caucasus", "With thee--and wear no crowns but those of flowers.", "", "_Myr._ Would that we could!", "", "_Sar._ And dost _thou_ feel this?--Why?", "", "_Myr._ Then thou wouldst know what thou canst never know.", "", "_Sar._ And that is----", "", "_Myr._ The true value of a heart;", "At least, a woman's.", "", "_Sar._ I have proved a thousand--A", "thousand, and a thousand.", "", "_Myr._ Hearts?", "", "_Sar._ I think so.", "", "_Myr._ Not one! the time may come thou may'st.", "", "_Sar._ It will.", "Hear, Myrrha; Salemenes has declared--", "Or why or how he hath divined it, Belus,", "Who founded our great realm, knows more than I--", "But Salemenes hath declared my throne", "In peril.", "", "_Myr._ He did well.", "", "_Sar._ And say'st _thou_ so?", "Thou whom he spurned so harshly, and now dared", "Drive from our presence with his savage jeers,", "And made thee weep and blush?", "", "_Myr._ I should do both", "More frequently, and he did well to call me", "Back to my duty. But thou spakest of peril", "Peril to thee----", "", "_Sar._ Aye, from dark plots and snares", "From Medes--and discontented troops and nations.", "I know not what--a labyrinth of things--", "A maze of muttered threats and mysteries:", "Thou know'st the man--it is his usual custom.", "But he is honest. Come, we'll think no more on't--", "But of the midnight festival.", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis time", "To think of aught save festivals. Thou hast not", "Spurned his sage cautions?", "", "_Sar._ What?--and dost thou fear?", "", "_Myr._ Fear!--I'm a Greek, and how should I fear death?", "A slave, and wherefore should I dread my freedom?", "", "_Sar._ Then wherefore dost thou turn so pale?", "", "_Myr._ I love.", "", "_Sar._ And do not I? I love thee far--far more", "Than either the brief life or the wide realm,", "Which, it may be, are menaced;--yet I blench not.", "", "_Myr._ That means thou lovest nor thyself nor me;", "For he who loves another loves himself,", "Even for that other's sake. This is too rash:", "Kingdoms and lives are not to be so lost.", "", "_Sar._ Lost!--why, who is the aspiring chief who dared", "Assume to win them?", "", "_Myr._ Who is he should dread", "To try so much? When he who is their ruler", "Forgets himself--will they remember him?", "", "_Sar._ Myrrha!", "", "_Myr._ Frown not upon me: you have smiled", "Too often on me not to make those frowns", "Bitterer to bear than any punishment", "Which they may augur.--King, I am your subject!", "Master, I am your slave! Man, I have loved you!--", "Loved you, I know not by what fatal weakness,", "Although a Greek, and born a foe to monarchs--", "A slave, and hating fetters--an Ionian,", "And, therefore, when I love a stranger, more", "Degraded by that passion than by chains!", "Still I have loved you. If that love were strong", "Enough to overcome all former nature,", "Shall it not claim the privilege to save you?", "", "_Sar._ _Save_ me, my beauty! Thou art very fair,", "And what I seek of thee is love--not safety.", "", "_Myr._ And without love where dwells security?", "", "_Sar._ I speak of woman's love.", "", "_Myr._ The very first", "Of human life must spring from woman's breast,", "Your first small words are taught you from her lips,", "Your first tears quenched by her, and your last sighs", "Too often breathed out in a woman's hearing,", "When men have shrunk from the ignoble care", "Of watching the last hour of him who led them.", "", "_Sar._ My eloquent Ionian! thou speak'st music:", "The very chorus of the tragic song", "I have heard thee talk of as the favourite pastime", "Of thy far father-land. Nay, weep not--calm thee.", "", "_Myr._ I weep not.--But I pray thee, do not speak", "About my fathers or their land.", "", "_Sar._ Yet oft", "Thou speakest of them.", "", "_Myr._ True--true: constant thought", "Will overflow in words unconsciously;", "But when another speaks of Greeks, it wounds me.", "", "_Sar._ Well, then, how wouldst thou _save_ me, as thou saidst?", "", "_Myr._ By teaching thee to save thyself, and not", "Thyself alone, but these vast realms, from all", "The rage of the worst war--the war of brethren.", "", "_Sar._ Why, child, I loathe all war, and warriors;", "I live in peace and pleasure: what can man", "Do more?", "", "_Myr._ Alas! my Lord, with common men", "There needs too oft the show of war to keep", "The substance of sweet peace; and, for a king,", "'Tis sometimes better to be feared than loved.", "", "_Sar._ And I have never sought but for the last.", "", "_Myr._ And now art neither.", "", "_Sar._ Dost _thou_ say so, Myrrha?", "", "_Myr._ I speak of civic popular love, _self_-love,", "Which means that men are kept in awe and law,", "Yet not oppressed--at least they must not think so,", "Or, if they think so, deem it necessary,", "To ward off worse oppression, their own passions.", "A King of feasts, and flowers, and wine, and revel,", "And love, and mirth, was never King of Glory.", "", "_Sar._ Glory! what's that?", "", "_Myr._ Ask of the Gods thy fathers.", "", "_Sar._ They cannot answer; when the priests speak for them,", "'Tis for some small addition to the temple.", "", "_Myr._ Look to the annals of thine Empire's founders.", "", "_Sar._ They are so blotted o'er with blood, I cannot.", "But what wouldst have? the Empire _has been_ founded.", "I cannot go on multiplying empires.", "", "_Myr._ Preserve thine own.", "", "_Sar._ At least, I will enjoy it.", "Come, Myrrha, let us go on to the Euphrates:", "The hour invites, the galley is prepared,", "And the pavilion, decked for our return,", "In fit adornment for the evening banquet,", "Shall blaze with beauty and with light, until", "It seems unto the stars which are above us", "Itself an opposite star; and we will sit", "Crowned with fresh flowers like----", "", "_Myr._ Victims.", "", "_Sar._ No, like sovereigns,", "The Shepherd Kings of patriarchal times,", "Who knew no brighter gems than summer wreaths,", "And none but tearless triumphs. Let us on.", "", " _Enter_ PANIA.", "", "_Pan._ May the King live for ever!", "", "_Sar._ Not an hour", "Longer than he can love. How my soul hates", "This language, which makes life itself a lie,", "Flattering dust with eternity. Well, Pania!", "Be brief.", "", "_Pan._ I am charged by Salemenes to", "Reiterate his prayer unto the King,", "That for this day, at least, he will not quit", "The palace: when the General returns,", "He will adduce such reasons as will warrant", "His daring, and perhaps obtain the pardon", "Of his presumption.", "", "_Sar._ What! am I then cooped?", "Already captive? can I not even breathe", "The breath of heaven? Tell prince Salemenes,", "Were all Assyria raging round the walls", "In mutinous myriads, I would still go forth.", "", "_Pan._ I must obey, and yet----", "", "_Myr._ Oh, Monarch, listen.--", "How many a day and moon thou hast reclined", "Within these palace walls in silken dalliance,", "And never shown thee to thy people's longing;", "Leaving thy subjects' eyes ungratified,", "The satraps uncontrolled, the Gods unworshipped,", "And all things in the anarchy of sloth,", "Till all, save evil, slumbered through the realm!", "And wilt thou not now tarry for a day,--", "A day which may redeem thee? Wilt thou not", "Yield to the few still faithful a few hours,", "For them, for thee, for thy past fathers' race,", "And for thy sons' inheritance?", "", "_Pan._ 'Tis true!", "From the deep urgency with which the Prince", "Despatched me to your sacred presence, I", "Must dare to add my feeble voice to that", "Which now has spoken.", "", "_Sar._ No, it must not be.", "", "_Myr._ For the sake of thy realm!", "", "_Sar._ Away!", "", "_Pan._ For that", "Of all thy faithful subjects, who will rally", "Round thee and thine.", "", "_Sar._ These are mere fantasies:", "There is no peril:--'tis a sullen scheme", "Of Salemenes, to approve his zeal,", "And show himself more necessary to us.", "", "_Myr._ By all that's good and glorious take this counsel.", "", "_Sar._ Business to-morrow.", "", "_Myr._ Aye--or death to-night.", "", "_Sar._ Why let it come then unexpectedly,", "'Midst joy and gentleness, and mirth and love;", "So let me fall like the plucked rose!--far better", "Thus than be withered.", "", "_Myr._ Then thou wilt not yield,", "Even for the sake of all that ever stirred", "A monarch into action, to forego", "A trifling revel.", "", "_Sar._ No.", "", "_Myr._ Then yield for _mine_;", "For my sake!", "", "_Sar._ Thine, my Myrrha!", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis the first", "Boon which I ever asked Assyria's king.", "", "_Sar._ That's true, and, wer't my kingdom, must be granted.", "Well, for thy sake, I yield me. Pania, hence!", "Thou hear'st me.", "", "_Pan._ And obey. [_Exit_ PANIA.", "", "_Sar._ I marvel at thee.", "What is thy motive, Myrrha, thus to urge me?", "", "_Myr._ Thy safety; and the certainty that nought", "Could urge the Prince thy kinsman to require", "Thus much from thee, but some impending danger.", "", "_Sar._ And if I do not dread it, why shouldst thou?", "", "_Myr._ Because _thou_ dost not fear, I fear for _thee_.", "", "_Sar._ To-morrow thou wilt smile at these vain fancies.", "", "_Myr._ If the worst come, I shall be where none weep,", "And that is better than the power to smile.", "And thou?", "", "_Sar._ I shall be King, as heretofore.", "", "_Myr._ Where?", "", "_Sar._ With Baal, Nimrod, and Semiramis,", "Sole in Assyria, or with them elsewhere.", "Fate made me what I am--may make me nothing--", "But either that or nothing must I be:", "I will not live degraded.", "", "_Myr._ Hadst thou felt", "Thus always, none would ever dare degrade thee.", "", "_Sar._ And who will do so now?", "", "_Myr._ Dost thou suspect none?", "", "_Sar._ Suspect!--that's a spy's office. Oh! we lose", "Ten thousand precious moments in vain words,", "And vainer fears. Within there!--ye slaves, deck", "The Hall of Nimrod for the evening revel;", "If I must make a prison of our palace,", "At least we'll wear our fetters jocundly;", "If the Euphrates be forbid us, and", "The summer-dwelling on its beauteous border,", "Here we are still unmenaced. Ho! within there!", " [_Exit_ SARDANAPALUS.", "", "_Myr._ (_solus_).", "Why do I love this man? My country's daughters", "Love none but heroes. But I have no country!", "The slave hath lost all save her bonds. I love him;", "And that's the heaviest link of the long chain--", "To love whom we esteem not. Be it so:", "The hour is coming when he'll need all love,", "And find none. To fall from him now were baser", "Than to have stabbed him on his throne when highest", "Would have been noble in my country's creed:", "I was not made for either. Could I save him,", "I should not love _him_ better, but myself;", "And I have need of the last, for I have fallen", "In my own thoughts, by loving this soft stranger:", "And yet, methinks, I love him more, perceiving", "That he is hated of his own barbarians,", "The natural foes of all the blood of Greece.", "Could I but wake a single thought like those", "Which even the Phrygians felt when battling long", "'Twixt Ilion and the sea, within his heart,", "He would tread down the barbarous crowds, and triumph.", "He loves me, and I love him; the slave loves", "Her master, and would free him from his vices.", "If not, I have a means of freedom still,", "And if I cannot teach him how to reign,", "May show him how alone a King can leave", "His throne. I must not lose him from my sight. [_Exit_.", "", "ACT II.", "", "SCENE I.--_The Portal of the same Hall of the Palace_.", "", "_Beleses_ (_solus_).", "The Sun goes down: methinks he sets more slowly,", "Taking his last look of Assyria's Empire.", "How red he glares amongst those deepening clouds,", "Like the blood he predicts. If not in vain,", "Thou Sun that sinkest, and ye stars which rise,", "I have outwatched ye, reading ray by ray", "The edicts of your orbs, which make Time tremble", "For what he brings the nations, 'tis the furthest", "Hour of Assyria's years. And yet how calm!", "An earthquake should announce so great a fall--", "A summer's sun discloses it. Yon disk,", "To the star-read Chaldean, bears upon", "Its everlasting page the end of what", "Seemed everlasting; but oh! thou true Sun!", "The burning oracle of all that live,", "As fountain of all life, and symbol of", "Him who bestows it, wherefore dost thou limit", "Thy lore unto calamity? Why not", "Unfold the rise of days more worthy thine", "All-glorious burst from ocean? why not dart", "A beam of hope athwart the future years,", "As of wrath to its days? Hear me! oh, hear me!", "I am thy worshipper, thy priest, thy servant--", "I have gazed on thee at thy rise and fall,", "And bowed my head beneath thy mid-day beams,", "When my eye dared not meet thee. I have watched", "For thee, and after thee, and prayed to thee,", "And sacrificed to thee, and read, and feared thee,", "And asked of thee, and thou hast answered--but", "Only to thus much: while I speak, he sinks--", "Is gone--and leaves his beauty, not his knowledge,", "To the delighted West, which revels in", "Its hues of dying glory. Yet what is", "Death, so it be but glorious? 'Tis a sunset;", "And mortals may be happy to resemble", "The Gods but in decay.", "", " _Enter_ ARBACES _by an inner door_.", "", "_Arb._ Beleses, why", "So wrapt in thy devotions? Dost thou stand", "Gazing to trace thy disappearing God", "Into some realm of undiscovered day?", "Our business is with night--'tis come.", "", "_Bel._ But not", "Gone.", "", "_Arb._ Let it roll on--we are ready.", "", "_Bel._ Yes.", "Would it were over!", "", "_Arb._ Does the prophet doubt,", "To whom the very stars shine Victory?", "", "_Bel._ I do not doubt of Victory--but the Victor.", "", "_Arb._ Well, let thy science settle that. Meantime", "I have prepared as many glittering spears", "As will out-sparkle our allies--your planets.", "There is no more to thwart us. The she-king,", "That less than woman, is even now upon", "The waters with his female mates. The order", "Is issued for the feast in the pavilion.", "The first cup which he drains will be the last", "Quaffed by the line of Nimrod.", "", "_Bel._ 'Twas a brave one.", "", "_Arb._ And is a weak one--'tis worn out--we'll mend it.", "", "_Bel._ Art sure of that?", "", "_Arb._ Its founder was a hunter--", "I am a soldier--what is there to fear?", "", "_Bel._ The soldier.", "", "_Arb._ And the priest, it may be: but", "If you thought thus, or think, why not retain", "Your king of concubines? why stir me up?", "Why spur me to this enterprise? your own", "No less than mine?", "", "_Bel._ Look to the sky!", "", "_Arb._ I look.", "", "_Bel._ What seest thou?", "", "_Arb._ A fair summer's twilight, and", "The gathering of the stars.", "", "_Bel._ And midst them, mark", "Yon earliest, and the brightest, which so quivers,", "As it would quit its place in the blue ether.", "", "_Arb._ Well?", "", "_Bel._ 'Tis thy natal ruler--thy birth planet.", "", "_Arb._ (_touching his scabbard_).", "My star is in this scabbard: when it shines,", "It shall out-dazzle comets. Let us think", "Of what is to be done to justify", "Thy planets and their portents. When we conquer,", "They shall have temples--aye, and priests--and thou", "Shalt be the pontiff of--what Gods thou wilt;", "For I observe that they are ever just,", "And own the bravest for the most devout.", "", "_Bel._ Aye, and the most devout for brave--thou hast not", "Seen me turn back from battle.", "", "_Arb._ No; I own thee", "As firm in fight as Babylonia's captain,", "As skilful in Chaldea's worship: now,", "Will it but please thee to forget the priest,", "And be the warrior?", "", "_Bel._ Why not both?", "", "_Arb._ The better;", "And yet it almost shames me, we shall have", "So little to effect. This woman's warfare", "Degrades the very conqueror. To have plucked", "A bold and bloody despot from his throne,", "And grappled with him, clashing steel with steel,", "That were heroic or to win or fall;", "But to upraise my sword against this silkworm,", "And hear him whine, it may be----", "", "_Bel._ Do not deem it:", "He has that in him which may make you strife yet;", "And were he all you think, his guards are hardy,", "And headed by the cool, stern Salemenes.", "", "_Arb._ They'll not resist.", "", "_Bel._ Why not? they are soldiers.", "", "_Arb._ True,", "And therefore need a soldier to command them.", "", "_Bel._ That Salemenes is.", "", "_Arb._ But not their King.", "Besides, he hates the effeminate thing that governs,", "For the Queen's sake, his sister. Mark you not", "He keeps aloof from all the revels?", "", "_Bel._ But", "Not from the council--there he is ever constant.", "", "_Arb._ And ever thwarted: what would you have more", "To make a rebel out of? A fool reigning,", "His blood dishonoured, and himself disdained:", "Why, it is _his_ revenge we work for.", "", "_Bel._ Could", "He but be brought to think so: this I doubt of.", "", "_Arb._ What, if we sound him?", "", "_Bel._ Yes--if the time served.", "", " _Enter_ BALEA.", "", "_Bal._ Satraps! The king commands your presence at", "The feast to-night.", "", "_Bel._ To hear is to obey.", "In the pavilion?", "", "_Bal._ No; here in the palace.", "", "_Arb._ How! in the palace? it was not thus ordered.", "", "_Bal._ It is so ordered now.", "", "_Arb._ And why?", "", "_Bal._ I know not.", "May I retire?", "", "_Arb._ Stay.", "", "_Bel._ (_to Arb. aside_). Hush! let him go his way.", "(_Alternately to Bal._) Yes, Balea, thank the Monarch, kiss the hem", "Of his imperial robe, and say, his slaves", "Will take the crumbs he deigns to scatter from", "His royal table at the hour--was't midnight?", "", "_Bal._ It was: the place, the hall of Nimrod. Lords,", "I humble me before you, and depart. [_Exit_ BALEA.", "", "_Arb._ I like not this same sudden change of place;", "There is some mystery: wherefore should he change it?", "", "_Bel._ Doth he not change a thousand times a day?", "Sloth is of all things the most fanciful--", "And moves more parasangs in its intents", "Than generals in their marches, when they seek", "To leave their foe at fault.--Why dost thou muse?", "", "_Arb._ He loved that gay pavilion,--it was ever", "His summer dotage.", "", "_Bel._ And he loved his Queen--", "And thrice a thousand harlotry besides--", "And he has loved all things by turns, except", "Wisdom and Glory.", "", "_Arb._ Still--I like it not.", "If he has changed--why, so must we: the attack", "Were easy in the isolated bower,", "Beset with drowsy guards and drunken courtiers;", "But in the hall of Nimrod----", "", "_Bel._ Is it so?", "Methought the haughty soldier feared to mount", "A throne too easily--does it disappoint thee", "To find there is a slipperier step or two", "Than what was counted on?", "", "_Arb._ When the hour comes,", "Thou shall perceive how far I fear or no.", "Thou hast seen my life at stake--and gaily played for:", "But here is more upon the die--a kingdom.", "", "_Bel._ I have foretold already--thou wilt win it:", "Then on, and prosper.", "", "_Arb._ Now were I a soothsayer,", "I would have boded so much to myself.", "But be the stars obeyed--I cannot quarrel", "With them, nor their interpreter. Who's here?", "", " _Enter_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sal._ Satraps!", "", "_Bel._ My Prince!", "", "_Sal._ Well met--I sought ye both,", "But elsewhere than the palace.", "", "_Arb._ Wherefore so?", "", "_Sal._ 'Tis not the hour.", "", "_Arb._ The hour!--what hour?", "", "_Sal._ Of midnight.", "", "_Bel._ Midnight, my Lord!", "", "_Sal._ What, are you not invited?", "", "_Bel._ Oh! yes--we had forgotten.", "", "_Sal._ Is it usual", "Thus to forget a Sovereign's invitation?", "", "_Arb._ Why--we but now received it.", "", "_Sal._ Then why here?", "", "_Arb._ On duty.", "", "_Sal._ On what duty?", "", "_Bel._ On the state's.", "We have the privilege to approach the presence;", "But found the Monarch absent.", "", "_Sal._ And I too", "Am upon duty.", "", "_Arb._ May we crave its purport?", "", "_Sal._ To arrest two traitors. Guards! Within there!", "", " _Enter Guards_.", "", "_Sal._ (_continuing_). Satraps,", "Your swords.", "", "_Bel._ (_delivering his_). My lord, behold my scimitar.", "", "_Arb._ (_drawing his sword_). Take mine.", "", "_Sal._ (_advancing_). I will.", "", "_Arb._ But in your heart the blade--", "The hilt quits not this hand.", "", "_Sal._ (_drawing_). How! dost thou brave me?", "Tis well--this saves a trial, and false mercy.", "Soldiers, hew down the rebel!", "", "_Arb._ Soldiers! Aye--", "_Alone, you_ dare not.", "", "_Sal._ Alone! foolish slave--", "What is there in thee that a Prince should shrink from", "Of open force? We dread thy treason, not", "Thy strength: thy tooth is nought without its venom--", "The serpent's, not the lion's. Cut him down.", "", "_Bel._ (_interposing_). Arbaces! Are you mad? Have I not rendered", "_My_ sword? Then trust like me our Sovereign's justice.", "", "_Arb._ No--I will sooner trust the stars thou prat'st of,", "And this slight arm, and die a king at least", "Of my own breath and body--so far that", "None else shall chain them.", "", "_Sal._ (_to the Guards_). You hear _him_ and _me_.", "Take him not,--kill.", "", " [_The Guards attack_ ARBACES, _who defends himself", " valiantly and dexterously till they waver_.", "", "_Sal._ Is it even so; and must", "I do the hangman's office? Recreants! see", "How you should fell a traitor.", " [SALEMENES _attacks_ ARBACES.", "", " _Enter_ SARDANAPALUS _and Train_.", "", "_Sar._ Hold your hands--", "Upon your lives, I say. What, deaf or drunken?", "My sword! O fool, I wear no sword: here, fellow,", "Give me thy weapon. [_To a Guard_.", "", " [SARDANAPALUS _snatches a sword from one of the soldiers,", " and rushes between the combatants--they separate_.", "", "_Sar._ In my very palace!", "What hinders me from cleaving you in twain,", "Audacious brawlers?", "", "_Bel._ Sire, your justice.", "", "_Sal._ Or--", "Your weakness.", "", "_Sar._ (_raising the sword_). How?", "", "_Sal._ Strike! so the blow's repeated", "Upon yon traitor--whom you spare a moment,", "I trust, for torture--I'm content.", "", "_Sar._ What--him!", "Who dares assail Arbaces?", "", "_Sal._ I!", "", "_Sar._ Indeed!", "Prince, you forget yourself. Upon what warrant?", "", "_Sal._ (_showing the signet_). Thine.", "", "_Arb._ (_confused_). The King's!", "", "_Sal._ Yes! and let the King confirm it.", "", "_Sar._ I parted not from this for such a purpose.", "", "_Sal._ You parted with it for your safety--I", "Employed it for the best. Pronounce in person.", "Here I am but your slave--a moment past", "I was your representative.", "", "_Sar._ Then sheathe", "Your swords.", " [ARBACES _and_ SALEMENES _return their swords to the scabbards_.", "", "_Sal._ Mine's sheathed: I pray you sheathe _not_ yours:", "Tis the sole sceptre left you now with safety.", "", "_Sar._ A heavy one; the hilt, too, hurts my hand.", "(_To a Guard_.) Here, fellow, take thy weapon back. Well, sirs,", "What doth this mean?", "", "_Bel._ The Prince must answer that.", "", "_Sal._ Truth upon my part, treason upon theirs.", "", "_Sar._ Treason--Arbaces! treachery and Beleses!", "That were an union I will not believe.", "", "_Bel._ Where is the proof?", "", "_Sal._ I'll answer that, if once", "The king demands your fellow-traitor's sword.", "", "_Arb._ (_to Sal._). A sword which hath been drawn as oft as thine", "Against his foes.", "", "_Sal._ And now against his brother,", "And in an hour or so against himself.", "", "_Sar._ That is not possible: he dared not; no--", "No--I'll not hear of such things. These vain bickerings", "Are spawned in courts by base intrigues, and baser", "Hirelings, who live by lies on good men's lives.", "You must have been deceived, my brother.", "", "_Sal._ First", "Let him deliver up his weapon, and", "Proclaim himself your subject by that duty,", "And I will answer all.", "", "_Sar._ Why, if I thought so--", "But no, it cannot be: the Mede Arbaces--", "The trusty, rough, true soldier--the best captain", "Of all who discipline our nations----No,", "I'll not insult him thus, to bid him render", "The scimitar to me he never yielded", "Unto our enemies. Chief, keep your weapon.", "", "_Sal._ (_delivering back the signet_).", "Monarch, take back your signet.", "", "_Sar._ No, retain it;", "But use it with more moderation.", "", "_Sal._ Sire,", "I used it for your honour, and restore it", "Because I cannot keep it with my own.", "Bestow it on Arbaces.", "", "_Sar._ So I should:", "He never asked it.", "", "_Sal._ Doubt not, he will have it,", "Without that hollow semblance of respect.", "", "_Bel._ I know not what hath prejudiced the Prince", "So strongly 'gainst two subjects, than whom none", "Have been more zealous for Assyria's weal.", "", "_Sal._ Peace, factious priest, and faithless soldier! thou", "Unit'st in thy own person the worst vices", "Of the most dangerous orders of mankind.", "Keep thy smooth words and juggling homilies", "For those who know thee not. Thy fellow's sin", "Is, at the least, a bold one, and not tempered", "By the tricks taught thee in Chaldea.", "", "_Bel._ Hear him,", "My liege--the son of Belus! he blasphemes", "The worship of the land, which bows the knee", "Before your fathers.", "", "_Sar._ Oh! for that I pray you", "Let him have absolution. I dispense with", "The worship of dead men; feeling that I", "Am mortal, and believing that the race", "From whence I sprung are--what I see them--ashes.", "", "_Bel._ King! Do not deem so: they are with the stars,", "And----", "", "_Sar._ You shall join them ere they will rise,", "If you preach farther--Why, _this_ is rank treason.", "", "_Sal._ My lord!", "", "_Sar._ To school me in the worship of", "Assyria's idols! Let him be released--", "Give him his sword.", "", "_Sal._ My Lord, and King, and Brother,", "I pray ye pause.", "", "_Sar._ Yes, and be sermonised,", "And dinned, and deafened with dead men and Baal,", "And all Chaldea's starry mysteries.", "", "_Bel._ Monarch! respect them.", "", "_Sar._ Oh! for that--I love them;", "I love to watch them in the deep blue vault,", "And to compare them with my Myrrha's eyes;", "I love to see their rays redoubled in", "The tremulous silver of Euphrates' wave,", "As the light breeze of midnight crisps the broad", "And rolling water, sighing through the sedges", "Which fringe his banks: but whether they may be", "Gods, as some say, or the abodes of Gods,", "As others hold, or simply lamps of night,", "Worlds--or the lights of Worlds--I know nor care not.", "There's something sweet in my uncertainty", "I would not change for your Chaldean lore;", "Besides, I know of these all clay can know", "Of aught above it, or below it--nothing.", "I see their brilliancy and feel their beauty--", "When they shine on my grave I shall know neither.", "", "_Bel._ For _neither_, Sire, say _better_.", "", "_Sar._ I will wait,", "If it so please you, Pontiff, for that knowledge.", "In the mean time receive your sword, and know", "That I prefer your service militant", "Unto your ministry--not loving either.", "", "_Sal._ (_aside_). His lusts have made him mad. Then must I save him,", "Spite of himself.", "", "_Sar._ Please you to hear me, Satraps!", "And chiefly thou, my priest, because I doubt thee", "More than the soldier; and would doubt thee all", "Wert thou not half a warrior: let us part", "In peace--I'll not say pardon--which must be", "Earned by the guilty; this I'll not pronounce ye,", "Although upon this breath of mine depends", "Your own; and, deadlier for ye, on my fears.", "But fear not--for that I am soft, not fearful--", "And so live on. Were I the thing some think me,", "Your heads would now be dripping the last drops", "Of their attainted gore from the high gates", "Of this our palace, into the dry dust,", "Their only portion of the coveted kingdom", "They would be crowned to reign o'er--let that pass.", "As I have said, I will not _deem_ ye guilty,", "Nor _doom_ ye guiltless. Albeit better men", "Than ye or I stand ready to arraign you;", "And should I leave your fate to sterner judges,", "And proofs of all kinds, I might sacrifice", "Two men, who, whatsoe'er they now are, were", "Once honest. Ye are free, sirs.", "", "_Arb._ Sire, this clemency----", "", "_Bel._ (_interrupting him_).", "Is worthy of yourself; and, although innocent,", "We thank----", "", "_Sar._ Priest! keep your thanksgivings for Belus;", "His offspring needs none.", "", "_Bel._ But being innocent----", "", "_Sar._ Be silent.--Guilt is loud. If ye are loyal,", "Ye are injured men, and should be sad, not grateful.", "", "_Bel._ So we should be, were justice always done", "By earthly power omnipotent; but Innocence", "Must oft receive her right as a mere favour.", "", "_Sar._ That's a good sentence for a homily,", "Though not for this occasion. Prithee keep it", "To plead thy Sovereign's cause before his people.", "", "_Bel._ I trust there is no cause.", "", "_Sar._ No _cause_, perhaps;", "But many causers:--if ye meet with such", "In the exercise of your inquisitive function", "On earth, or should you read of it in heaven", "In some mysterious twinkle of the stars,", "Which are your chronicles, I pray you note,", "That there are worse things betwixt earth and heaven", "Than him who ruleth many and slays none;", "And, hating not himself, yet loves his fellows", "Enough to spare even those who would not spare him", "Were they once masters--but that's doubtful. Satraps!", "Your swords and persons are at liberty", "To use them as ye will--but from this hour", "I have no call for either. Salemenes!", "Follow me.", "", " [_Exeunt_ SARDANAPALUS, SALEMENES, _and the Train, etc.,", " leaving_ ARBACES _and_ BELESES.", "", "_Arb._ Beleses!", "", "_Bel._ Now, what think you?", "", "_Arb._ That we are lost.", "", "_Bel._ That we have won the kingdom.", "", "_Arb._ What? thus suspected--with the sword slung o'er us", "But by a single hair, and that still wavering,", "To be blown down by his imperious breath", "Which spared us--why, I know not.", "", "_Bel._ Seek not why;", "But let us profit by the interval.", "The hour is still our own--our power the same--", "The night the same we destined. He hath changed", "Nothing except our ignorance of all", "Suspicion into such a certainty", "As must make madness of delay.", "", "_Arb._ And yet--", "", "_Bel._ What, doubting still?", "", "_Arb._ He spared our lives, nay, more,", "Saved them from Salemenes.", "", "_Bel._ And how long", "Will he so spare? till the first drunken minute.", "", "_Arb._ Or sober, rather. Yet he did it nobly;", "Gave royally what we had forfeited", "Basely----", "", "_Bel._ Say bravely.", "", "_Arb._ Somewhat of both, perhaps--", "But it has touched me, and, whate'er betide,", "I will no further on.", "", "_Bel._ And lose the world!", "", "_Arb._ Lose any thing except my own esteem.", "", "_Bel._ I blush that we should owe our lives to such", "A king of distaffs!", "", "_Arb._ But no less we owe them;", "And I should blush far more to take the grantor's!", "", "_Bel._ Thou may'st endure whate'er thou wilt--the stars", "Have written otherwise.", "", "_Arb._ Though they came down,", "And marshalled me the way in all their brightness,", "I would not follow.", "", "_Bel._ This is weakness--worse", "Than a scared beldam's dreaming of the dead,", "And waking in the dark.--Go to--go to.", "", "_Arb._ Methought he looked like Nimrod as he spoke,", "Even as the proud imperial statue stands", "Looking the monarch of the kings around it,", "And sways, while they but ornament, the temple.", "", "_Bel._ I told you that you had too much despised him,", "And that there was some royalty within him--What", "then? he is the nobler foe.", "", "_Arb._ But we", "The meaner.--Would he had not spared us!", "", "_Bel._ So--", "Wouldst thou be sacrificed thus readily?", "", "_Arb._ No--but it had been better to have died", "Than live ungrateful.", "", "_Bel._ Oh, the souls of some men!", "Thou wouldst digest what some call treason, and", "Fools treachery--and, behold, upon the sudden,", "Because for something or for nothing, this", "Rash reveller steps, ostentatiously,", "'Twixt thee and Salemenes, thou art turned", "Into--what shall I say?--Sardanapalus!", "I know no name more ignominious.", "", "_Arb._ But", "An hour ago, who dared to term me such", "Had held his life but lightly--as it is,", "I must forgive you, even as he forgave us--", "Semiramis herself would not have done it.", "", "_Bel._ No--the Queen liked no sharers of the kingdom,", "Not even a husband.", "", "_Arb._ I must serve him truly----", "", "_Bel._ And humbly?", "", "_Arb._ No, sir, proudly--being honest.", "I shall be nearer thrones than you to heaven;", "And if not quite so haughty, yet more lofty.", "You may do your own deeming--you have codes,", "And mysteries, and corollaries of", "Right and wrong, which I lack for my direction,", "And must pursue but what a plain heart teaches.", "And now you know me.", "", "_Bel._ Have you finished?", "", "_Arb._ Yes--", "With you.", "", "_Bel._ And would, perhaps, betray as well", "As quit me?", "", "_Arb._ That's a sacerdotal thought,", "And not a soldier's.", "", "_Bel._ Be it what you will--", "Truce with these wranglings, and but hear me.", "", "_Arb._ No--", "There is more peril in your subtle spirit", "Than in a phalanx.", "", "_Bel._ If it must be so--", "I'll on alone.", "", "_Arb._ Alone!", "", "_Bel._ Thrones hold but one.", "", "_Arb._ But this is filled.", "", "_Bel._ With worse than vacancy--", "A despised monarch. Look to it, Arbaces:", "I have still aided, cherished, loved, and urged you;", "Was willing even to serve you, in the hope", "To serve and save Assyria. Heaven itself", "Seemed to consent, and all events were friendly,", "Even to the last, till that your spirit shrunk", "Into a shallow softness; but now, rather", "Than see my country languish, I will be", "Her saviour or the victim of her tyrant--", "Or one or both--for sometimes both are one;", "And if I win--Arbaces is my servant.", "", "_Arb._ _Your_ servant!", "", "_Bel._ Why not? better than be slave,", "The _pardoned_ slave of _she_ Sardanapalus!", "", " _Enter_ PANIA.", "", "_Pan._ My Lords, I bear an order from the king.", "", "_Arb._ It is obeyed ere spoken.", "", "_Bel._ Notwithstanding,", "Let's hear it.", "", "_Pan._ Forthwith, on this very night,", "Repair to your respective satrapies", "Of Babylon and Media.", "", "_Bel._ With our troops?", "", "_Pan._ My order is unto the Satraps and", "Their household train.", "", "_Arb._ But----", "", "_Bel._ It must be obeyed:", "Say, we depart.", "", "_Pan._ My order is to see you", "Depart, and not to bear your answer.", "", "_Bel._ (_aside_). Aye!", "Well, Sir--we will accompany you hence.", "", "_Pan._ I will retire to marshal forth the guard", "Of honour which befits your rank, and wait", "Your leisure, so that it the hour exceeds not.", " [_Exit_ PANIA.", "", "_Bel._ Now then obey!", "", "_Arb._ Doubtless.", "", "_Bel._ Yes, to the gates", "That grate the palace, which is now our prison--", "No further.", "", "_Arb._ Thou hast harped the truth indeed!", "The realm itself, in all its wide extension,", "Yawns dungeons at each step for thee and me.", "", "_Bel._ Graves!", "", "_Arb._ If I thought so, this good sword should dig", "One more than mine.", "", "_Bel._ It shall have work enough.", "Let me hope better than thou augurest;", "At present, let us hence as best we may.", "Thou dost agree with me in understanding", "This order as a sentence?", "", "_Arb._ Why, what other", "Interpretation should it bear? it is", "The very policy of Orient monarchs--", "Pardon and poison--favours and a sword--", "A distant voyage, and an eternal sleep.", "How many Satraps in his father's time--", "For he I own is, or at least _was_, bloodless--", "", "_Bel._ But _will_ not--_can_ not be so now.", "", "_Arb._ I doubt it.", "How many Satraps have I seen set out", "In his Sire's day for mighty Vice-royalties,", "Whose tombs are on their path! I know not how,", "But they all sickened by the way, it was", "So long and heavy.", "", "_Bel._ Let us but regain", "The free air of the city, and we'll shorten", "The journey.", "", "_Arb._ 'Twill be shortened at the gates,", "It may be.", "", "_Bel._ No; they hardly will risk that.", "They mean us to die privately, but not", "Within the palace or the city walls,", "Where we are known, and may have partisans:", "If they had meant to slay us here, we were", "No longer with the living. Let us hence.", "", "_Arb._ If I but thought he did not mean my life--", "", "_Bel._ Fool! hence--what else should despotism alarmed", "Mean? Let us but rejoin our troops, and march.", "", "_Arb._ Towards our provinces?", "", "_Bel._ No; towards your kingdom.", "There's time--there's heart, and hope, and power, and means--", "Which their half measures leave us in full scope.--", "Away!", "", "_Arb._ And I even yet repenting must", "Relapse to guilt!", "", "_Bel._ Self-defence is a virtue,", "Sole bulwark of all right. Away, I say!", "Let's leave this place, the air grows thick and choking,", "And the walls have a scent of night-shade--hence!", "Let us not leave them time for further council.", "Our quick departure proves our civic zeal;", "Our quick departure hinders our good escort,", "The worthy Pania, from anticipating", "The orders of some parasangs from hence:", "Nay, there's no other choice, but----hence, I say.", " [_Exit with_ ARBACES, _who follows reluctantly_.", "", " _Enter_ SARDANAPALUS _and_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sar._ Well, all is remedied, and without bloodshed,", "That worst of mockeries of a remedy;", "We are now secure by these men's exile.", "", "_Sal._ Yes,", "As he who treads on flowers is from the adder", "Twined round their roots.", "", "_Sar._ Why, what wouldst have me do?", "", "_Sal._ Undo what you have done.", "", "_Sar._ Revoke my pardon?", "", "_Sal._ Replace the crown now tottering on your temples.", "", "_Sar._ That were tyrannical.", "", "_Sal._ But sure.", "", "_Sar._ We are so.", "What danger can they work upon the frontier?", "", "_Sal._ They are not there yet--never should they be so,", "Were I well listened to.", "", "_Sar._ Nay, I _have_ listened", "Impartially to thee--why not to them?", "", "_Sal._ You may know that hereafter; as it is,", "I take my leave to order forth the guard.", "", "_Sar._ And you will join us at the banquet?", "", "_Sal._ Sire,", "Dispense with me--I am no wassailer:", "Command me in all service save the Bacchant's.", "", "_Sar._ Nay, but 'tis fit to revel now and then.", "", "_Sal._ And fit that some should watch for those who revel", "Too oft. Am I permitted to depart?", "", "_Sar._ Yes----Stay a moment, my good Salemenes,", "My brother--my best subject--better Prince", "Than I am King. You should have been the monarch,", "And I--I know not what, and care not; but", "Think not I am insensible to all", "Thine honest wisdom, and thy rough yet kind,", "Though oft-reproving sufferance of my follies.", "If I have spared these men against thy counsel,", "That is, their lives--it is not that I doubt", "The advice was sound; but, let them live: we will not", "Cavil about their lives--so let them mend them.", "Their banishment will leave me still sound sleep,", "Which their death had not left me.", "", "_Sal._ Thus you run", "The risk to sleep for ever, to save traitors--", "A moment's pang now changed for years of crime.", "Still let them be made quiet.", "", "_Sar._ Tempt me not;", "My word is past.", "", "_Sal._ But it may be recalled.", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis royal.", "", "_Sal._ And should therefore be decisive.", "This half-indulgence of an exile serves", "But to provoke--a pardon should be full,", "Or it is none.", "", "_Sar._ And who persuaded me", "After I had repealed them, or at least", "Only dismissed them from our presence, who", "Urged me to send them to their satrapies?", "", "_Sal._ True; that I had forgotten; that is, Sire,", "If they e'er reached their Satrapies--why, then,", "Reprove me more for my advice.", "", "_Sar._ And if", "They do not reach them--look to it!--in safety,", "In safety, mark me--and security--", "Look to thine own.", "", "_Sal._ Permit me to depart;", "Their _safety_ shall be cared for.", "", "_Sar._ Get thee hence, then;", "And, prithee, think more gently of thy brother.", "", "_Sal._ Sire, I shall ever duly serve my sovereign.", " [_Exit_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sar._ (_solus_). That man is of a temper too severe;", "Hard but as lofty as the rock, and free", "From all the taints of common earth--while I", "Am softer clay, impregnated with flowers:", "But as our mould is, must the produce be.", "If I have erred this time, 'tis on the side", "Where Error sits most lightly on that sense,", "I know not what to call it; but it reckons", "With me ofttimes for pain, and sometimes pleasure;", "A spirit which seems placed about my heart", "To count its throbs, not quicken them, and ask", "Questions which mortal never dared to ask me,", "Nor Baal, though an oracular deity--", "Albeit his marble face majestical", "Frowns as the shadows of the evening dim", "His brows to changed expression, till at times", "I think the statue looks in act to speak.", "Away with these vain thoughts, I will be joyous--", "And here comes Joy's true herald.", "", " _Enter_ MYRRHA.", "", "_Myr._ King! the sky", "Is overcast, and musters muttering thunder,", "In clouds that seem approaching fast, and show", "In forkéd flashes a commanding tempest.", "Will you then quit the palace?", "", "_Sar._ Tempest, say'st thou?", "", "_Myr._ Aye, my good lord.", "", "_Sar._ For my own part, I should be", "Not ill content to vary the smooth scene,", "And watch the warring elements; but this", "Would little suit the silken garments and", "Smooth faces of our festive friends. Say, Myrrha,", "Art thou of those who dread the roar of clouds?", "", "_Myr._ In my own country we respect their voices", "As auguries of Jove.", "", "_Sar._ Jove!--aye, your Baal--", "Ours also has a property in thunder,", "And ever and anon some falling bolt", "Proves his divinity,--and yet sometimes", "Strikes his own altars.", "", "_Myr._ That were a dread omen.", "", "_Sar._ Yes--for the priests. Well, we will not go forth", "Beyond the palace walls to-night, but make", "Our feast within.", "", "_Myr._ Now, Jove be praised! that he", "Hath heard the prayer thou wouldst not hear. The Gods", "Are kinder to thee than thou to thyself,", "And flash this storm between thee and thy foes,", "To shield thee from them.", "", "_Sar._ Child, if there be peril,", "Methinks it is the same within these walls", "As on the river's brink.", "", "_Myr._ Not so; these walls", "Are high and strong, and guarded. Treason has", "To penetrate through many a winding way,", "And massy portal; but in the pavilion", "There is no bulwark.", "", "_Sar._ No, nor in the palace,", "Nor in the fortress, nor upon the top", "Of cloud-fenced Caucasus, where the eagle sits", "Nested in pathless clefts, if treachery be:", "Even as the arrow finds the airy king,", "The steel will reach the earthly. But be calm;", "The men, or innocent or guilty, are", "Banished, and far upon their way.", "", "_Myr._ They live, then?", "", "_Sar._ So sanguinary? _Thou!_", "", "_Myr._ I would not shrink", "From just infliction of due punishment", "On those who seek your life: were't otherwise,", "I should not merit mine. Besides, you heard", "The princely Salemenes.", "", "_Sar._ This is strange;", "The gentle and the austere are both against me,", "And urge me to revenge.", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis a Greek virtue.", "", "_Sar._ But not a kingly one--I'll none on't; or", "If ever I indulge in't, it shall be", "With kings--my equals.", "", "_Myr._ These men sought to be so.", "", "_Sar._ Myrrha, this is too feminine, and springs", "From fear----", "", "_Myr._ For you.", "", "_Sar._ No matter, still 'tis fear.", "I have observed your sex, once roused to wrath,", "Are timidly vindictive to a pitch", "Of perseverance, which I would not copy.", "I thought you were exempt from this, as from", "The childish helplessness of Asian women.", "", "_Myr._ My Lord, I am no boaster of my love,", "Nor of my attributes; I have shared your splendour,", "And will partake your fortunes. You may live", "To find one slave more true than subject myriads:", "But this the Gods avert! I am content", "To be beloved on trust for what I feel,", "Rather than prove it to you in your griefs,", "Which might not yield to any cares of mine.", "", "_Sar._ Grief cannot come where perfect love exists,", "Except to heighten it, and vanish from", "That which it could not scare away. Let's in--", "The hour approaches, and we must prepare", "To meet the invited guests who grace our feast.", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT III.", "", "SCENE I.--_The Hall of the Palace illuminated_--SARDANAPALUS", " _and his Guests at Table.--A storm without, and Thunder", " occasionally heard during the Banquet_.", "", "_Sar._ Fill full! why this is as it should be: here", "Is my true realm, amidst bright eyes and faces", "Happy as fair! Here sorrow cannot reach.", "", "_Zam._ Nor elsewhere--where the King is, pleasure sparkles.", "", "_Sar._ Is not this better now than Nimrod's huntings,", "Or my wild Grandam's chase in search of kingdoms", "She could not keep when conquered?", "", "_Alt._ Mighty though", "They were, as all thy royal line have been,", "Yet none of those who went before have reached", "The acmé of Sardanapalus, who", "Has placed his joy in peace--the sole true glory.", "", "_Sar._ And pleasure, good Altada, to which glory", "Is but the path. What is it that we seek?", "Enjoyment! We have cut the way short to it,", "And not gone tracking it through human ashes,", "Making a grave with every footstep.", "", "_Zam._ No;", "All hearts are happy, and all voices bless", "The King of peace--who holds a world in jubilee.", "", "_Sar._ Art sure of that? I have heard otherwise;", "Some say that there be traitors.", "", "_Zam._ Traitors they", "Who dare to say so!--'Tis impossible.", "What cause?", "", "_Sar._ What cause? true,--fill the goblet up;", "We will not think of them: there are none such,", "Or if there be, they are gone.", "", "_Alt._ Guests, to my pledge!", "Down on your knees, and drink a measure to", "The safety of the King--the monarch, say I?", "The God Sardanapalus!", " [ZAMES _and the Guests kneel, and exclaim_--", " Mightier than", "His father Baal, the God Sardanapalus!", " [_It thunders as they kneel; some start up in confusion_.", "", "_Zam._ Why do you rise, my friends? in that strong peal", "His father gods consented.", "", "_Myr._ Menaced, rather.", "King, wilt thou bear this mad impiety?", "", "_Sar._ Impiety!--nay, if the sires who reigned", "Before me can be Gods, I'll not disgrace", "Their lineage. But arise, my pious friends;", "Hoard your devotion for the Thunderer there:", "I seek but to be loved, not worshipped.", "", "_Alt._ Both--", "Both you must ever be by all true subjects.", "", "_Sar._ Methinks the thunders still increase: it is", "An awful night.", "", "_Myr._ Oh yes, for those who have", "No palace to protect their worshippers.", "", "_Sar._ That's true, my Myrrha; and could I convert", "My realm to one wide shelter for the wretched,", "I'd do it.", "", "_Myr._ Thou'rt no God, then--not to be", "Able to work a will so good and general,", "As thy wish would imply.", "", "_Sar._ And your Gods, then,", "Who can, and do not?", "", "_Myr._ Do not speak of that,", "Lest we provoke them.", "", "_Sar._ True--, they love not censure", "Better than mortals. Friends, a thought has struck me:", "Were there no temples, would there, think ye, be", "Air worshippers? that is, when it is angry,", "And pelting as even now.", "", "_Myr._ The Persian prays", "Upon his mountain.", "", "_Sar._ Yes, when the Sun shines.", "", "_Myr._ And I would ask if this your palace were", "Unroofed and desolate, how many flatterers", "Would lick the dust in which the King lay low?", "", "_Alt._ The fair Ionian is too sarcastic", "Upon a nation whom she knows not well;", "The Assyrians know no pleasure but their King's,", "And homage is their pride.", "", "_Sar._ Nay, pardon, guests,", "The fair Greek's readiness of speech.", "", "_Alt._ _Pardon!_ sire:", "We honour her of all things next to thee.", "Hark! what was that?", "", "_Zam._ That! nothing but the jar", "Of distant portals shaken by the wind.", "", "_Alt._ It sounded like the clash of--hark again!", "", "_Zam._ The big rain pattering on the roof.", "", "_Sar._ No more.", "Myrrha, my love, hast thou thy shell in order?", "Sing me a song of Sappho; her, thou know'st,", "Who in thy country threw----", "", " _Enter_ PANIA, _with his sword and garments bloody,", " and disordered. The guests rise in confusion_.", "", "_Pan._ (_to the Guards_). Look to the portals;", "And with your best speed to the walls without.", "Your arms! To arms! The King's in danger. Monarch", "Excuse this haste,--'tis faith.", "", "_Sar._ Speak on.", "", "_Pan._ It is", "As Salemenes feared; the faithless Satraps----", "", "_Sar._ You are wounded--give some wine. Take breath, good Pania.", "", "_Pan._ 'Tis nothing--a mere flesh wound. I am worn", "More with my speed to warn my sovereign,", "Than hurt in his defence.", "", "_Myr._ Well, Sir, the rebels?", "", "_Pan._ Soon as Arbaces and Beleses reached", "Their stations in the city, they refused", "To march; and on my attempt to use the power", "Which I was delegated with, they called", "Upon their troops, who rose in fierce defiance.", "", "_Myr._ All?", "", "_Pan._ Too many.", "", "_Sar._ Spare not of thy free speech,", "To spare mine ears--the truth.", "", "_Pan._ My own slight guard", "Were faithful, and what's left of it is still so.", "", "_Myr._ And are these all the force still faithful?", "", "_Pan._ No--", "The Bactrians, now led on by Salemenes,", "Who even then was on his way, still urged", "By strong suspicion of the Median chiefs,", "Are numerous, and make strong head against", "The rebels, fighting inch by inch, and forming", "An orb around the palace, where they mean", "To centre all their force, and save the King.", "(_He hesitates_.) I am charged to----", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis no time for hesitation.", "", "_Pan._ Prince Salemenes doth implore the King", "To arm himself, although but for a moment,", "And show himself unto the soldiers: his", "Sole presence in this instant might do more", "Than hosts can do in his behalf.", "", "_Sar._ What, ho!", "My armour there.", "", "_Myr._ And wilt thou?", "", "_Sar._ Will I not?", "Ho, there!--but seek not for the buckler: 'tis", "Too heavy:--a light cuirass and my sword.", "Where are the rebels?", "", "_Pan._ Scarce a furlong's length", "From the outward wall the fiercest conflict rages.", "", "_Sar._ Then I may charge on horseback. Sfero, ho!", "Order my horse out.--There is space enough", "Even in our courts, and by the outer gate,", "To marshal half the horsemen of Arabia.", " [_Exit_ SFERO _for the armour_.", "", "_Myr._ How I do love thee!", "", "_Sar._ I ne'er doubted it.", "", "_Myr._ But now I know thee.", "", "_Sar._ (_to his Attendant_). Bring down my spear too--", "Where's Salemenes?", "", "_Pan._ Where a soldier should be,", "In the thick of the fight.", "", "_Sar._ Then hasten to him----Is", "The path still open, and communication", "Left 'twixt the palace and the phalanx?", "", "_Pan._ 'Twas", "When I late left him, and I have no fear;", "Our troops were steady, and the phalanx formed.", "", "_Sar._ Tell him to spare his person for the present,", "And that I will not spare my own--and say,", "I come.", "", "_Pan._ There's victory in the very word. [_Exit_ PANIA.", "", "_Sar._ Altada--Zames--forth, and arm ye! There", "Is all in readiness in the armoury.", "See that the women are bestowed in safety", "In the remote apartments: let a guard", "Be set before them, with strict charge to quit", "The post but with their lives--command it, Zames.", "Altada, arm yourself, and return here;", "Your post is near our person.", " [_Exeunt_ ZAMES, ALTADA, _and all save_ MYRRHA.", "", " _Enter_ SFERO _and others with the King's Arms, etc._", "", "_Sfe._ King! your armour.", "", "_Sar._ (_arming himself_). Give me the cuirass--so: my baldric; now", "My sword: I had forgot the helm--where is it?", "That's well--no, 'tis too heavy; you mistake, too--", "It was not this I meant, but that which bears", "A diadem around it.", "", "_Sfe._ Sire, I deemed", "That too conspicuous from the precious stones", "To risk your sacred brow beneath--and trust me,", "This is of better metal, though less rich.", "", "_Sar._ You deemed! Are you too turned a rebel? Fellow!", "Your part is to obey: return, and--no--", "It is too late--I will go forth without it.", "", "_Sfe._ At least, wear this.", "", "_Sar._ Wear Caucasus! why, 'tis", "A mountain on my temples.", "", "_Sfe._ Sire, the meanest", "Soldier goes not forth thus exposed to battle.", "All men will recognise you--for the storm", "Has ceased, and the moon breaks forth in her brightness.", "", "_Sar._ I go forth to be recognised, and thus", "Shall be so sooner. Now--my spear! I'm armed.", " [_In going stops short, and turns to_ SFERO.", "Sfero--I had forgotten--bring the mirror.", "", "_Sfe._ The mirror, Sire?", "", "_Sar._ Yes, sir, of polished brass,", "Brought from the spoils of India--but be speedy.", " [_Exit_ SFERO.", "", "_Sar._ Myrrha, retire unto a place of safety.", "Why went you not forth with the other damsels?", "", "_Myr._ Because my place is here.", "", "_Sar._ And when I am gone----", "", "_Myr._ I follow.", "", "_Sar._ _You!_ to battle?", "", "_Myr._ If it were so,", "'Twere not the first Greek girl had trod the path.", "I will await here your _return_.", "", "_Sar._ The place", "Is spacious, and the first to be sought out,", "If they prevail; and, if it be so,", "And I return not----", "", "_Myr._ Still we meet again.", "", "_Sar._ How?", "", "_Myr._ In the spot where all must meet at last--", "In Hades! if there be, as I believe,", "A shore beyond the Styx; and if there be not,", "In ashes.", "", "_Sar._ Darest thou so much?", "", "_Myr._ I dare all things", "Except survive what I have loved, to be", "A rebel's booty: forth, and do your bravest.", "", " _Re-enter_ SFERO _with the mirror_.", "", "_Sar._ (_looking at himself_).", "This cuirass fits me well, the baldric better,", "And the helm not at all. Methinks I seem", " [_Flings away the helmet after trying it again_.", "Passing well in these toys; and now to prove them.", "Altada! Where's Altada?", "", "_Sfe._ Waiting, Sire,", "Without: he has your shield in readiness.", "", "_Sar._ True--I forgot--he is my shield-bearer", "By right of blood, derived from age to age.", "Myrrha, embrace me;--yet once more--once more--", "Love me, whate'er betide. My chiefest glory", "Shall be to make me worthier of your love.", "", "_Myr._ Go forth, and conquer!", " [_Exeunt_ SARDANAPALUS _and_ SFERO.", " Now, I am alone:", "All are gone forth, and of that all how few", "Perhaps return! Let him but vanquish, and", "Me perish! If he vanquish not, I perish;", "For I will not outlive him. He has wound", "About my heart, I know not how nor why.", "Not for that he is King; for now his kingdom", "Rocks underneath his throne, and the earth yawns", "To yield him no more of it than a grave;", "And yet I love him more. Oh, mighty Jove!", "Forgive this monstrous love for a barbarian,", "Who knows not of Olympus! yes, I love him", "Now--now--far more than----Hark--to the war shout!", "Methinks it nears me. If it should be so,", " [_She draws forth a small vial_.", "This cunning Colchian poison, which my father", "Learned to compound on Euxine shores, and taught me", "How to preserve, shall free me! It had freed me", "Long ere this hour, but that I loved until", "I half forgot I was a slave:--where all", "Are slaves save One, and proud of servitude,", "So they are served in turn by something lower", "In the degree of bondage: we forget", "That shackles worn like ornaments no less", "Are chains. Again that shout! and now the clash", "Of arms--and now--and now----", "", " _Enter_ ALTADA.", "", "_Alt._ Ho, Sfero, ho!", "", "_Myr._ He is not here; what wouldst thou with him? How", "Goes on the conflict?", "", "_Alt._ Dubiously and fiercely.", "", "_Myr._ And the King?", "", "_Alt._ Like a king. I must find Sfero,", "And bring him a new spear with his own helmet.", "He fights till now bare-headed, and by far", "Too much exposed. The soldiers knew his face,", "And the foe too; and in the moon's broad light,", "His silk tiara and his flowing hair", "Make him a mark too royal. Every arrow", "Is pointed at the fair hair and fair features,", "And the broad fillet which crowns both.", "", "_Myr._ Ye Gods,", "Who fulminate o'er my father's land, protect him!", "Were you sent by the King?", "", "_Alt._ By Salemenes,", "Who sent me privily upon this charge,", "Without the knowledge of the careless sovereign.", "The King! the King fights as he revels! ho!", "What, Sfero! I will seek the armoury--", "He must be there. [_Exit_ ALTADA.", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis no dishonour--no--", "'Tis no dishonour to have loved this man.", "I almost wish now, what I never wished", "Before--that he were Grecian. If Alcides", "Were shamed in wearing Lydian Omphale's", "She-garb, and wielding her vile distaff; surely", "He, who springs up a Hercules at once,", "Nursed in effeminate arts from youth to manhood,", "And rushes from the banquet to the battle,", "As though it were a bed of love, deserves", "That a Greek girl should be his paramour,", "And a Greek bard his minstrel--a Greek tomb", "His monument. How goes the strife, sir?", "", " _Enter an Officer_.", "", "_Officer_. Lost,", "Lost almost past recovery. Zames! Where", "Is Zames?", "", "_Myr._ Posted with the guard appointed", "To watch before the apartment of the women.", " [_Exit Officer_.", "", "_Myr._ (_sola_). He's gone; and told no more than that all's lost!", "What need have I to know more? In those words,", "Those little words, a kingdom and a king,", "A line of thirteen ages, and the lives", "Of thousands, and the fortune of all left", "With life, are merged; and I, too, with the great,", "Like a small bubble breaking with the wave", "Which bore it, shall be nothing. At the least,", "My fate is in my keeping: no proud victor", "Shall count me with his spoils.", "", " _Enter_ PANIA.", "", "_Pan._ Away with me,", "Myrrha, without delay; we must not lose", "A moment--all that's left us now.", "", "_Myr._ The King?", "", "_Pan._ Sent me here to conduct you hence, beyond", "The river, by a secret passage.", "", "_Myr._ Then", "He lives----", "", "_Pan._ And charged me to secure your life,", "And beg you to live on for his sake, till", "He can rejoin you.", "", "_Myr._ Will he then give way?", "", "_Pan._ Not till the last. Still, still he does whate'er", "Despair can do; and step by step disputes", "The very palace.", "", "_Myr._ They are here, then:--aye,", "Their shouts come ringing through the ancient halls,", "Never profaned by rebel echoes till", "This fatal night. Farewell, Assyria's line!", "Farewell to all of Nimrod! Even the name", "Is now no more.", "", "_Pan._ Away with me--away!", "", "_Myr._ No: I'll die here!--Away, and tell your King", "I loved him to the last.", "", " _Enter_ SARDANAPALUS _and_ SALEMENES _with Soldiers_.", " PANIA _quits_ MYRRHA, _and ranges himself with them_.", "", "_Sar._ Since it is thus,", "We'll die where we were born--in our own halls", "Serry your ranks--stand firm. I have despatched", "A trusty satrap for the guard of Zames,", "All fresh and faithful; they'll be here anon.", "All is not over,--Pania, look to Myrrha.", " [PANIA _returns towards_ MYRRHA.", "", "_Sal._ We have breathing time; yet once more charge, my friends--", "One for Assyria!", "", "_Sar._ Rather say for Bactria!", "My faithful Bactrians, I will henceforth be", "King of your nation, and we'll hold together", "This realm as province.", "", "_Sal._ Hark! they come--they come.", "", " _Enter_ BELESES _and_ ARBACES _with the Rebels_.", "", "_Arb._ Set on, we have them in the toil. Charge!", "charge!", "", "_Bel._ On! on!--Heaven fights for us, and with us--On!", "", " [_They charge the King and_ SALEMENES _with their troops,", " who defend themselves till the arrival of_", " ZAMES _with the Guard before mentioned.", " The Rebels are then driven off, and pursued by_", " SALEMENES, _etc. As the King is going to join the", " pursuit,_ BELESES _crosses him_.", "", "_Bel._ Ho! tyrant--_I_ will end this war.", "", "_Sar._ Even so,", "My warlike priest, and precious prophet, and", "Grateful and trusty subject: yield, I pray thee.", "I would reserve thee for a fitter doom,", "Rather than dip my hands in holy blood.", "", "_Bel._ Thine hour is come.", "", "_Sar._ No, thine.--I've lately read,", "Though but a young astrologer, the stars;", "And ranging round the zodiac, found thy fate", "In the sign of the Scorpion, which proclaims", "That thou wilt now be crushed.", "", "_Bel._ But not by thee.", " [_They fight;_ BELESES _is wounded and disarmed_.", "", "_Sar._ (_raising his sword to despatch him, exclaims_)--", "Now call upon thy planets, will they shoot", "From the sky to preserve their seer and credit?", "", " [_A party of Rebels enter and rescue_ BELESES.", " _They assail the King, who in turn, is", " rescued by a Party of his Soldiers, who drive", " the Rebels off_.", "", "The villain was a prophet after all.", "Upon them--ho! there--victory is ours.", " [_Exit in pursuit_.", "", "_Myr._ (_to Pan._)", "Pursue! Why stand'st thou here, and leavest the ranks", "Of fellow-soldiers conquering without thee?", "", "_Pan._ The King's command was not to quit thee.", "", "_Myr._ _Me!_", "Think not of me--a single soldier's arm", "Must not be wanting now. I ask no guard,", "I need no guard: what, with a world at stake,", "Keep watch upon a woman? Hence, I say,", "Or thou art shamed! Nay, then, _I_ will go forth,", "A feeble female, 'midst their desperate strife,", "And bid thee guard me _there_--where thou shouldst shield", "Thy sovereign. [_Exit_ MYRRHA.", "", "_Pan._ Yet stay, damsel!--She's gone.", "If aught of ill betide her, better I", "Had lost my life. Sardanapalus holds her", "Far dearer than his kingdom, yet he fights", "For that too; and can I do less than he,", "Who never flashed a scimitar till now?", "Myrrha, return, and I obey you, though", "In disobedience to the monarch. [_Exit_ PANIA.", "", " _Enter_ ALTADA _and_ SFERO _by an opposite door_.", "", "_Alt._ Myrrha!", "What, gone? yet she was here when the fight raged,", "And Pania also. Can aught have befallen them?", "", "_Sfe._ I saw both safe, when late the rebels fled;", "They probably are but retired to make", "Their way back to the harem.", "", "_Alt._ If the King", "Prove victor, as it seems even now he must,", "And miss his own Ionian, we are doomed", "To worse than captive rebels.", "", "_Sfe._ Let us trace them:", "She cannot be fled far; and, found, she makes", "A richer prize to our soft sovereign", "Than his recovered kingdom.", "", "_Alt._ Baal himself", "Ne'er fought more fiercely to win empire, than", "His silken son to save it: he defies", "All augury of foes or friends; and like", "The close and sultry summer's day, which bodes", "A twilight tempest, bursts forth in such thunder", "As sweeps the air and deluges the earth.", "The man's inscrutable.", "", "_Sfe._ Not more than others.", "All are the sons of circumstance: away--", "Let's seek the slave out, or prepare to be", "Tortured for his infatuation, and", "Condemned without a crime. [_Exeunt_.", "", " _Enter_ SALEMENES _and Soldiers, etc._", "", "_Sal._ The triumph is", "Flattering: they are beaten backward from the palace,", "And we have opened regular access", "To the troops stationed on the other side", "Euphrates, who may still be true; nay, must be,", "When they hear of our victory. But where", "Is the chief victor? where's the King?", "", " _Enter_ SARDANAPALUS, _cum suis, etc., and_ MYRRHA.", "", "_Sar._ Here, brother.", "", "_Sal._ Unhurt, I hope.", "", "_Sar._ Not quite; but let it pass.", "We've cleared the palace----", "", "_Sal._ And I trust the city.", "Our numbers gather; and I've ordered onward", "A cloud of Parthians, hitherto reserved,", "All fresh and fiery, to be poured upon them", "In their retreat, which soon will be a flight.", "", "_Sar._ It is already, or at least they marched", "Faster than I could follow with my Bactrians,", "Who spared no speed. I am spent: give me a seat.", "", "_Sal._ There stands the throne, Sire.", "", "_Sar._ Tis no place to rest on,", "For mind nor body: let me have a couch,", " [_They place a seat_.", "A peasant's stool, I care not what: so--now", "I breathe more freely.", "", "_Sal._ This great hour has proved", "The brightest and most glorious of your life.", "", "_Sar._ And the most tiresome. Where's my cupbearer?", "Bring me some water.", "", "_Sal._ (_smiling_) 'Tis the first time he", "Ever had such an order: even I,", "Your most austere of counsellors, would now", "Suggest a purpler beverage.", "", "_Sar._ Blood--doubtless.", "But there's enough of that shed; as for wine,", "I have learned to-night the price of the pure element:", "Thrice have I drank of it, and thrice renewed,", "With greater strength than the grape ever gave me,", "My charge upon the rebels. Where's the soldier", "Who gave me water in his helmet?", "", "_One of the Guards_. Slain, Sire!", "An arrow pierced his brain, while, scattering", "The last drops from his helm, he stood in act", "To place it on his brows.", "", "_Sar._ Slain! unrewarded!", "And slain to serve my thirst: that's hard, poor slave!", "Had he but lived, I would have gorged him with", "Gold: all the gold of earth could ne'er repay", "The pleasure of that draught; for I was parched", "As I am now. [_They bring water--he drinks_.", " I live again--from henceforth", "The goblet I reserve for hours of love,", "But war on water.", "", "_Sal._ And that bandage, Sire,", "Which girds your arm?", "", "_Sar._ A scratch from brave Beleses.", "", "_Myr._ Oh! he is wounded!", "", "_Sar._ Not too much of that;", "And yet it feels a little stiff and painful,", "Now I am cooler.", "", "_Myr._ You have bound it with----", "", "_Sar._ The fillet of my diadem: the first time", "That ornament was ever aught to me,", "Save an incumbrance.", "", "_Myr._ (_to the Attendants_). Summon speedily", "A leech of the most skilful: pray, retire:", "I will unbind your wound and tend it.", "", "_Sar._ Do so,", "For now it throbs sufficiently: but what", "Know'st thou of wounds? yet wherefore do I ask?", "Know'st thou, my brother, where I lighted on", "This minion?", "", "_Sal._ Herding with the other females,", "Like frightened antelopes.", "", "_Sar._ No: like the dam", "Of the young lion, femininely raging", "(And femininely meaneth furiously,", "Because all passions in excess are female,)", "Against the hunter flying with her cub,", "She urged on with her voice and gesture, and", "Her floating hair and flashing eyes, the soldiers,", "In the pursuit.", "", "_Sal._ Indeed!", "", "_Sar._ You see, this night", "Made warriors of more than me. I paused", "To look upon her, and her kindled cheek;", "Her large black eyes, that flashed through her long hair", "As it streamed o'er her; her blue veins that rose", "Along her most transparent brow; her nostril", "Dilated from its symmetry; her lips", "Apart; her voice that clove through all the din,", "As a lute pierceth through the cymbal's clash,", "Jarred but not drowned by the loud brattling; her", "Waved arms, more dazzling with their own born whiteness", "Than the steel her hand held, which she caught up", "From a dead soldier's grasp;--all these things made", "Her seem unto the troops a prophetess", "Of victory, or Victory herself,", "Come down to hail us hers.", "", "_Sal._ (_aside_). This is too much.", "Again the love-fit's on him, and all's lost,", "Unless we turn his thoughts. (_Aloud_.) But pray thee, Sire,", "Think of your wound--you said even now 'twas painful.", "", "_Sar._ That's true, too; but I must not think of it.", "", "_Sal._ I have looked to all things needful, and will now", "Receive reports of progress made in such", "Orders as I had given, and then return", "To hear your further pleasure.", "", "_Sar._ Be it so.", "", "_Sal._ (_in retiring_). Myrrha!", "", "_Myr._ Prince!", "", "_Sal._ You have shown a soul to-night,", "Which, were he not my sister's lord----But now", "I have no time: thou lovest the King?", "", "_Myr._ I love", "Sardanapalus.", "", "_Sal._ But wouldst have him King still?", "", "_Myr._ I would not have him less than what he should be.", "", "_Sal._ Well then, to have him King, and yours, and all", "He should, or should not be; to have him _live_,", "Let him not sink back into luxury.", "You have more power upon his spirit than", "Wisdom within these walls, or fierce rebellion", "Raging without: look well that he relapse not.", "", "_Myr._ There needed not the voice of Salemenes", "To urge me on to this: I will not fail.", "All that a woman's weakness can----", "", "_Sal._ Is power", "Omnipotent o'er such a heart as his:", "Exert it wisely. [_Exit_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sar._ Myrrha! what, at whispers", "With my stern brother? I shall soon be jealous.", "", "_Myr._ (_smiling_).", "You have cause, Sire; for on the earth there breathes not", "A man more worthy of a woman's love,", "A soldier's trust, a subject's reverence,", "A king's esteem--the whole world's admiration!", "", "_Sar._ Praise him, but not so warmly. I must not", "Hear those sweet lips grow eloquent in aught", "That throws me into shade; yet you speak truth.", "", "_Myr._ And now retire, to have your wound looked to,", "Pray lean on me.", "", "_Sar._ Yes, love! but not from pain.", " [_Exeunt omnes_.", "", "ACT IV.", "", "SCENE I.--SARDANAPALUS _discovered sleeping upon a", " Couch, and occasionally disturbed in his slumbers,", " with_ MYRRHA _watching_.", "", "_Myr._ (_sola, gazing_).", "I have stolen upon his rest, if rest it be,", "Which thus convulses slumber: shall I wake him?", "No, he seems calmer. Oh, thou God of Quiet!", "Whose reign is o'er sealed eyelids and soft dreams,", "Or deep, deep sleep, so as to be unfathomed,", "Look like thy brother, Death,--so still, so stirless--", "For then we are happiest, as it may be, we", "Are happiest of all within the realm", "Of thy stern, silent, and unwakening Twin.", "Again he moves--again the play of pain", "Shoots o'er his features, as the sudden gust", "Crisps the reluctant lake that lay so calm", "Beneath the mountain shadow; or the blast", "Ruffles the autumn leaves, that drooping cling", "Faintly and motionless to their loved boughs.", "I must awake him--yet not yet; who knows", "From what I rouse him? It seems pain; but if", "I quicken him to heavier pain? The fever", "Of this tumultuous night, the grief too of", "His wound, though slight, may cause all this, and shake", "Me more to see than him to suffer. No:", "Let Nature use her own maternal means,", "And I await to second, not disturb her.", "", "_Sar._ (_awakening_).", "Not so--although he multiplied the stars,", "And gave them to me as a realm to share", "From you and with you! I would not so purchase", "The empire of Eternity. Hence--hence--", "Old Hunter of the earliest brutes! and ye,", "Who hunted fellow-creatures as if brutes!", "Once bloody mortals--and now bloodier idols,", "If your priests lie not! And thou, ghastly Beldame!", "Dripping with dusky gore, and trampling on", "The carcasses of Inde--away! away!", "Where am I? Where the spectres? Where--No--that", "Is no false phantom: I should know it 'midst", "All that the dead dare gloomily raise up", "From their black gulf to daunt the living. Myrrha!", "", "_Myr._ Alas! thou art pale, and on thy brow the drops", "Gather like night dew. My beloved, hush--", "Calm thee. Thy speech seems of another world,", "And thou art lord of this. Be of good cheer;", "All will go well.", "", "_Sar._ Thy _hand_--so--'tis thy hand;", "'Tis flesh; grasp--clasp--yet closer, till I feel", "Myself that which I was.", "", "_Myr._ At least know me", "For what I am, and ever must be--thine.", "", "_Sar._ I know it now. I know this life again.", "Ah, Myrrha! I have been where we shall be.", "", "_Myr._ My lord!", "", "_Sar._ I've been i' the grave--where worms are lords", "And kings are----But I did not deem it so;", "I thought 'twas nothing.", "", "_Myr._ So it is; except", "Unto the timid, who anticipate", "That which may never be.", "", "_Sar._ Oh, Myrrha! if", "Sleep shows such things, what may not Death disclose?", "", "_Myr._ I know no evil Death can show, which Life", "Has not already shown to those who live", "Embodied longest. If there be indeed", "A shore where Mind survives, 'twill be as Mind", "All unincorporate: or if there flits", "A shadow of this cumbrous clog of clay.", "Which stalks, methinks, between our souls and heaven,", "And fetters us to earth--at least the phantom,", "Whate'er it have to fear, will not fear Death.", "", "_Sar._ I fear it not; but I have felt--have seen--", "A legion of the dead.", "", "_Myr._ And so have I.", "The dust we tread upon was once alive,", "And wretched. But proceed: what hast thou seen?", "Speak it, 'twill lighten thy dimmed mind.", "", "_Sar._ Methought----", "", "_Myr._ Yet pause, thou art tired--in pain--exhausted; all", "Which can impair both strength and spirit: seek", "Rather to sleep again.", "", "_Sar._ Not now--I would not", "Dream; though I know it now to be a dream", "What I have dreamt:--and canst thou bear to hear it?", "", "_Myr._ I can bear all things, dreams of life or death,", "Which I participate with you in semblance", "Or full reality.", "", "_Sar._ And this looked real,", "I tell you: after that these eyes were open,", "I saw them in their flight--for then they fled.", "", "_Myr._ Say on.", "", "_Sar._ I saw, that is, I dreamed myself", "Here--here--even where we are, guests as we were,", "Myself a host that deemed himself but guest,", "Willing to equal all in social freedom;", "But, on my right hand and my left, instead", "Of thee and Zames, and our customed meeting,", "Was ranged on my left hand a haughty, dark,", "And deadly face; I could not recognise it,", "Yet I had seen it, though I knew not where:", "The features were a Giant's, and the eye", "Was still, yet lighted; his long locks curled down", "On his vast bust, whence a huge quiver rose", "With shaft-heads feathered from the eagle's wing,", "That peeped up bristling through his serpent hair.", "I invited him to fill the cup which stood", "Between us, but he answered not; I filled it;", "He took it not, but stared upon me, till", "I trembled at the fixed glare of his eye:", "I frowned upon him as a king should frown;", "He frowned not in his turn, but looked upon me", "With the same aspect, which appalled me more,", "Because it changed not; and I turned for refuge", "To milder guests, and sought them on the right,", "Where thou wert wont to be. But---- [_He pauses_.", "", "_Myr._ What instead?", "", "_Sar._ In thy own chair--thy own place in the banquet--", "I sought thy sweet face in the circle--but", "Instead--a grey-haired, withered, bloody-eyed,", "And bloody-handed, ghastly, ghostly thing,", "Female in garb, and crowned upon the brow,", "Furrowed with years, yet sneering with the passion", "Of vengeance, leering too with that of lust,", "Sate:--my veins curdled.", "", "_Myr._ Is this all?", "", "_Sar._ Upon", "Her right hand--her lank, bird-like, right hand--stood", "A goblet, bubbling o'er with blood; and on", "Her left, another, filled with--what I saw not,", "But turned from it and her. But all along", "The table sate a range of crownéd wretches,", "Of various aspects, but of one expression.", "", "_Myr._ And felt you not this a mere vision?", "", "_Sar._ No:", "It was so palpable, I could have touched them.", "I turned from one face to another, in", "The hope to find at last one which I knew", "Ere I saw theirs: but no--all turned upon me,", "And stared, but neither ate nor drank, but stared,", "Till I grew stone, as they seemed half to be,", "Yet breathing stone, for I felt life in them,", "And life in me: there was a horrid kind", "Of sympathy between us, as if they", "Had lost a part of death to come to me,", "And I the half of life to sit by them.", "We were in an existence all apart", "From heaven or earth----And rather let me see", "Death all than such a being!", "", "_Myr._ And the end?", "", "_Sar._ At last I sate, marble, as they, when rose", "The Hunter and the Crone; and smiling on me--", "Yes, the enlarged but noble aspect of", "The Hunter smiled upon me--I should say,", "His lips, for his eyes moved not--and the woman's", "Thin lips relaxed to something like a smile.", "Both rose, and the crowned figures on each hand", "Rose also, as if aping their chief shades--", "Mere mimics even in death--but I sate still:", "A desperate courage crept through every limb,", "And at the last I feared them not, but laughed", "Full in their phantom faces. But then--then", "The Hunter laid his hand on mine: I took it,", "And grasped it--but it melted from my own;", "While he too vanished, and left nothing but", "The memory of a hero, for he looked so.", "", "_Myr._ And was: the ancestor of heroes, too,", "And thine no less.", "", "_Sar._ Aye, Myrrha, but the woman,", "The female who remained, she flew upon me,", "And burnt my lips up with her noisome kisses;", "And, flinging down the goblets on each hand,", "Methought their poisons flowed around us, till", "Each formed a hideous river. Still she clung;", "The other phantoms, like a row of statues,", "Stood dull as in our temples, but she still", "Embraced me, while I shrunk from her, as if,", "In lieu of her remote descendant, I", "Had been the son who slew her for her incest.", "Then--then--a chaos of all loathsome things", "Thronged thick and shapeless: I was dead, yet feeling--", "Buried, and raised again--consumed by worms,", "Purged by the flames, and withered in the air!", "I can fix nothing further of my thoughts,", "Save that I longed for thee, and sought for thee,", "In all these agonies,--and woke and found thee.", "", "_Myr._ So shalt thou find me ever at thy side,", "Here and hereafter, if the last may be.", "But think not of these things--the mere creations", "Of late events, acting upon a frame", "Unused by toil, yet over-wrought by toil--", "Such as might try the sternest.", "", "_Sar._ I am better.", "Now that I see thee once more, _what was seen_", "Seems nothing.", "", " _Enter_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sal._ Is the king so soon awake?", "", "_Sar._ Yes, brother, and I would I had not slept;", "For all the predecessors of our line", "Rose up, methought, to drag me down to them.", "My father was amongst them, too; but he,", "I know not why, kept from me, leaving me", "Between the hunter-founder of our race,", "And her, the homicide and husband-killer,", "Whom you call glorious.", "", "_Sal._ So I term you also,", "Now you have shown a spirit like to hers.", "By day-break I propose that we set forth,", "And charge once more the rebel crew, who still", "Keep gathering head, repulsed, but not quite quelled.", "", "_Sar._ How wears the night?", "", "_Sal._ There yet remain some hours", "Of darkness: use them for your further rest.", "", "_Sar._ No, not to-night, if 'tis not gone: methought", "I passed hours in that vision.", "", "_Myr._ Scarcely one;", "I watched by you: it was a heavy hour,", "But an hour only.", "", "_Sar._ Let us then hold council;", "To-morrow we set forth.", "", "_Sal._ But ere that time,", "I had a grace to seek.", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis granted.", "", "_Sal._ Hear it", "Ere you reply too readily; and 'tis", "For _your_ ear only.", "", "_Myr._ Prince, I take my leave.", " [Exit MYRRHA.", "", "_Sal._ That slave deserves her freedom.", "", "_Sar._ Freedom only!", "That slave deserves to share a throne.", "", "_Sal._ Your patience--", "'Tis not yet vacant, and 'tis of its partner", "I come to speak with you.", "", "_Sar._ How! of the Queen?", "", "_Sal._ Even so. I judged it fitting for their safety,", "That, ere the dawn, she sets forth with her children", "For Paphlagonia, where our kinsman Cotta", "Governs; and there, at all events, secure", "My nephews and your sons their lives, and with them", "Their just pretensions to the crown in case----", "", "_Sar._ I perish--as is probable: well thought--", "Let them set forth with a sure escort.", "", "_Sal._ That", "Is all provided, and the galley ready", "To drop down the Euphrates; but ere they", "Depart, will you not see----", "", "_Sar._ My sons? It may", "Unman my heart, and the poor boys will weep;", "And what can I reply to comfort them,", "Save with some hollow hopes, and ill-worn smiles?", "You know I cannot feign.", "", "_Sal._ But you can feel!", "At least, I trust so: in a word, the Queen", "Requests to see you ere you part--for ever.", "", "_Sar._ Unto what end? what purpose? I will grant", "Aught--all that she can ask--but such a meeting.", "", "_Sal._ You know, or ought to know, enough of women,", "Since you have studied them so steadily,", "That what they ask in aught that touches on", "The heart, is dearer to their feelings or", "Their fancy, than the whole external world.", "I think as you do of my sister's wish;", "But 'twas her wish--she is my sister--you", "Her husband--will you grant it?", "", "_Sar._ 'Twill be useless:", "But let her come.", "", "_Sal._ I go. [_Exit_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sar._ We have lived asunder", "Too long to meet again--and _now_ to meet!", "Have I not cares enow, and pangs enow,", "To bear alone, that we must mingle sorrows,", "Who have ceased to mingle love?", "", " _Re-enter_ SALEMENES _and_ ZARINA.", "", "_Sal._ My sister! Courage:", "Shame not our blood with trembling, but remember", "From whence we sprung. The Queen is present, Sire.", "", "_Zar._ I pray thee, brother, leave me.", "", "_Sal._ Since you ask it.", " [_Exit_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Zar._ Alone with him! How many a year has passed,", "Though we are still so young, since we have met,", "Which I have worn in widowhood of heart.", "He loved me not: yet he seems little changed--", "Changed to me only--would the change were mutual!", "He speaks not--scarce regards me--not a word,", "Nor look--yet he _was_ soft of voice and aspect,", "Indifferent, not austere. My Lord!", "", "_Sar._ Zarina!", "", "_Zar._ No, _not_ Zarina--do not say Zarina.", "That tone--That word--annihilate long years,", "And things which make them longer.", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis too late", "To think of these past dreams. Let's not reproach--", "That is, reproach me not--for the _last_ time----", "", "_Zar._ And _first_, I ne'er reproached you.", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis most true;", "And that reproof comes heavier on my heart", "Than----But our hearts are not in our own power.", "", "_Zar._ Nor hands; but I gave both.", "", "_Sar._ Your brother said", "It was your will to see me, ere you went", "From Nineveh with----(_He hesitates_.)", "", "_Zar._ Our children: it is true.", "I wish to thank you that you have not divided", "My heart from all that's left it now to love--", "Those who are yours and mine, who look like you,", "And look upon me as you looked upon me", "Once----but _they_ have not changed.", "", "_Sar._ Nor ever will.", "I fain would have them dutiful.", "", "_Zar._ I cherish", "Those infants, not alone from the blind love", "Of a fond mother, but as a fond woman.", "They are now the only tie between us.", "", "_Sar._ Deem not", "I have not done you justice: rather make them", "Resemble your own line than their own Sire.", "I trust them with you--to you: fit them for", "A throne, or, if that be denied----You have heard", "Of this night's tumults?", "", "_Zar._ I had half forgotten,", "And could have welcomed any grief save yours,", "Which gave me to behold your face again.", "", "_Sar._ The throne--I say it not in fear--but 'tis", "In peril: they perhaps may never mount it:", "But let them not for this lose sight of it.", "I will dare all things to bequeath it them;", "But if I fail, then they must win it back", "Bravely--and, won, wear it wisely, not as I", "Have wasted down my royalty.", "", "_Zar._ They ne'er", "Shall know from me of aught but what may honour", "Their father's memory.", "", "_Sar._ Rather let them hear", "The truth from you than from a trampling world.", "If they be in adversity, they'll learn", "Too soon the scorn of crowds for crownless Princes,", "And find that all their father's sins are theirs.", "My boys!--I could have borne it were I childless.", "", "_Zar._ Oh! do not say so--do not poison all", "My peace left, by unwishing that thou wert", "A father. If thou conquerest, they shall reign,", "And honour him who saved the realm for them,", "So little cared for as his own; and if----", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis lost, all Earth will cry out, \"thank your father!\"", "And they will swell the echo with a curse.", "", "_Zar._ That they shall never do; but rather honour", "The name of him, who, dying like a king,", "In his last hours did more for his own memory", "Than many monarchs in a length of days,", "Which date the flight of time, but make no annals.", "", "_Sar._ Our annals draw perchance unto their close;", "But at the least, whate'er the past, their end", "Shall be like their beginning--memorable.", "", "_Zar._ Yet, be not rash--be careful of your life,", "Live but for those who love.", "", "_Sar._ And who are they?", "A slave, who loves from passion--I'll not say", "Ambition--she has seen thrones shake, and loves;", "A few friends who have revelled till we are", "As one, for they are nothing if I fall;", "A brother I have injured--children whom", "I have neglected, and a spouse----", "", "_Zar._ Who loves.", "", "_Sar._ And pardons?", "", "_Zar._ I have never thought of this,", "And cannot pardon till I have condemned.", "", "_Sar._ My wife!", "", "_Zar._ Now blessings on thee for that word!", "I never thought to hear it more--from thee.", "", "_Sar._ Oh! thou wilt hear it from my subjects. Yes--", "These slaves whom I have nurtured, pampered, fed,", "And swoln with peace, and gorged with plenty, till", "They reign themselves--all monarchs in their mansions--", "Now swarm forth in rebellion, and demand", "His death, who made their lives a jubilee;", "While the few upon whom I have no claim", "Are faithful! This is true, yet monstrous.", "", "_Zar._ 'Tis", "Perhaps too natural; for benefits", "Turn poison in bad minds.", "", "_Sar._ And good ones make", "Good out of evil. Happier than the bee,", "Which hives not but from wholesome flowers.", "", "_Zar._ Then reap", "The honey, nor inquire whence 'tis derived.", "Be satisfied--you are not all abandoned.", "", "_Sar._ My life insures me that. How long, bethink you,", "Were not I yet a king, should I be mortal;", "That is, where mortals _are_, not where they must be?", "", "_Zar._ I know not. But yet live for my--that is,", "Your children's sake!", "", "_Sar._ My gentle, wronged Zarina!", "I am the very slave of Circumstance", "And Impulse--borne away with every breath!", "Misplaced upon the throne--misplaced in life.", "I know not what I could have been, but feel", "I am not what I should be--let it end.", "But take this with thee: if I was not formed", "To prize a love like thine, a mind like thine,", "Nor dote even on thy beauty--as I've doted", "On lesser charms, for no cause save that such", "Devotion was a duty, and I hated", "All that looked like a chain for me or others", "(This even Rebellion must avouch); yet hear", "These words, perhaps among my last--that none", "E'er valued more thy virtues, though he knew not", "To profit by them--as the miner lights", "Upon a vein of virgin ore, discovering", "That which avails him nothing: he hath found it,", "But 'tis not his--but some superior's, who", "Placed him to dig, but not divide the wealth", "Which sparkles at his feet; nor dare he lift", "Nor poise it, but must grovel on, upturning", "The sullen earth.", "", "_Zar._ Oh! if thou hast at length", "Discovered that my love is worth esteem,", "I ask no more--but let us hence together,", "And _I_--let me say _we_--shall yet be happy.", "Assyria is not all the earth--we'll find", "A world out of our own--and be more blessed", "Than I have ever been, or thou, with all", "An empire to indulge thee.", "", " _Enter_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sal._ I must part ye--", "The moments, which must not be lost, are passing.", "", "_Zar._ Inhuman brother! wilt thou thus weigh out", "Instants so high and blest?", "", "_Sal._ Blest!", "", "_Zar._ He hath been", "So gentle with me, that I cannot think", "Of quitting.", "", "_Sal._ So--this feminine farewell", "Ends as such partings end, in _no_ departure.", "I thought as much, and yielded against all", "My better bodings. But it must not be.", "", "_Zar._ Not be?", "", "_Sal._ Remain, and perish----", "", "_Zar._ With my husband----", "", "_Sal._ And children.", "", "_Zar._ Alas!", "", "_Sal._ Hear me, sister, like", "_My_ sister:--all's prepared to make your safety", "Certain, and of the boys too, our last hopes;", "'Tis not a single question of mere feeling,", "Though that were much--but 'tis a point of state:", "The rebels would do more to seize upon", "The offspring of their sovereign, and so crush----", "", "_Zar._ Ah! do not name it.", "", "_Sal._ Well, then, mark me: when", "They are safe beyond the Median's grasp, the rebels", "Have missed their chief aim--the extinction of", "The line of Nimrod. Though the present King", "Fall, his sons live--for victory and vengeance.", "", "_Zar._ But could not I remain, alone?", "", "_Sal._ What! leave", "Your children, with two parents and yet orphans--", "In a strange land--so young, so distant?", "", "_Zar._ No--", "My heart will break.", "", "_Sal._ Now you know all--decide.", "", "_Sar._ Zarina, he hath spoken well, and we", "Must yield awhile to this necessity.", "Remaining here, you may lose all; departing,", "You save the better part of what is left,", "To both of us, and to such loyal hearts", "As yet beat in these kingdoms.", "", "_Sal._ The time presses.", "", "_Sar._ Go, then. If e'er we meet again, perhaps", "I may be worthier of you--and, if not,", "Remember that my faults, though not atoned for,", "Are _ended_. Yet, I dread thy nature will", "Grieve more above the blighted name and ashes", "Which once were mightiest in Assyria--than----", "But I grow womanish again, and must not;", "I must learn sternness now. My sins have all", "Been of the softer order----_hide_ thy tears--", "I do not bid thee _not_ to shed them--'twere", "Easier to stop Euphrates at its source", "Than one tear of a true and tender heart--", "But let me not behold them; they unman me", "Here when I had remanned myself. My brother,", "Lead her away.", "", "_Zar._ Oh, God! I never shall", "Behold him more!", "", "_Sal._ (_striving to conduct her_).", " Nay, sister, I _must_ be obeyed.", "", "_Zar._ I must remain--away! you shall not hold me.", "What, shall he die alone?--_I_ live alone?", "", "_Sal._ He shall _not die alone_; but lonely you", "Have lived for years.", "", "_Zar._ That's false! I knew _he_ lived,", "And lived upon his image--let me go!", "", "_Sal._ (_conducting her off the stage_).", "Nay, then, I must use some fraternal force,", "Which you will pardon.", "", "_Zar._ Never. Help me! Oh!", "Sardanapalus, wilt thou thus behold me", "Torn from thee?", "", "_Sal._ Nay--then all is lost again,", "If that this moment is not gained.", "", "_Zar._ My brain turns--", "My eyes fail--where is he? [_She faints_.", "", "_Sar._ (_advancing_). No--set her down;", "She's dead--and you have slain her.", "", "_Sal._ 'Tis the mere", "Faintness of o'erwrought passion: in the air", "She will recover. Pray, keep back.-- I must", "Avail myself of this sole moment to", "Bear her to where her children are embarked,", "I' the royal galley on the river.", " [SALEMENES _bears her off_.", "", "_Sar._ (_solus_). This, too--", "And this too must I suffer--I, who never", "Inflicted purposely on human hearts", "A voluntary pang! But that is false--", "She loved me, and I loved her.--Fatal passion!", "Why dost thou not expire at _once_ in hearts", "Which thou hast lighted up at once? Zarina!", "I must pay dearly for the desolation", "Now brought upon thee. Had I never loved", "But thee, I should have been an unopposed", "Monarch of honouring nations. To what gulfs", "A single deviation from the track", "Of human duties leads even those who claim", "The homage of mankind as their born due,", "And find it, till they forfeit it themselves!", "", " _Enter_ MYRRHA.", "", "_Sar._ _You_ here! Who called you?", "", "_Myr._ No one--but I heard", "Far off a voice of wail and lamentation,", "And thought----", "", "_Sar._ It forms no portion of your duties", "To enter here till sought for.", "", "_Myr._ Though I might,", "Perhaps, recall some softer words of yours", "(Although they _too were chiding_), which reproved me,", "Because I ever dreaded to intrude;", "Resisting my own wish and your injunction", "To heed no time nor presence, but approach you", "Uncalled for:--I retire.", "", "_Sar._ Yet stay--being here.", "I pray you pardon me: events have soured me", "Till I wax peevish--heed it not: I shall", "Soon be myself again.", "", "_Myr._ I wait with patience,", "What I shall see with pleasure.", "", "_Sar._ Scarce a moment", "Before your entrance in this hall, Zarina,", "Queen of Assyria, departed hence.", "", "_Myr._ Ah!", "", "_Sar._ Wherefore do you start?", "", "_Myr._ Did I do so?", "", "_Sar._ 'Twas well you entered by another portal,", "Else you had met. That pang at least is spared her!", "", "_Myr._ I know to feel for her.", "", "_Sar._ That is too much,", "And beyond nature--'tis nor mutual", "Nor possible. You cannot pity her,", "Nor she aught but----", "", "_Myr._ Despise the favourite slave?", "Not more than I have ever scorned myself.", "", "_Sar._ Scorned! what, to be the envy of your sex,", "And lord it o'er the heart of the World's lord?", "", "_Myr._ Were you the lord of twice ten thousand worlds--", "As you are like to lose the one you swayed--", "I did abase myself as much in being", "Your paramour, as though you were a peasant--", "Nay, more, if that the peasant were a Greek.", "", "_Sar._ You talk it well----", "", "_Myr._ And truly.", "", "_Sar._ In the hour", "Of man's adversity all things grow daring", "Against the falling; but as I am not", "Quite fall'n, nor now disposed to bear reproaches,", "Perhaps because I merit them too often,", "Let us then part while peace is still between us.", "", "_Myr._ Part!", "", "_Sar._ Have not all past human beings parted,", "And must not all the present one day part?", "", "_Myr._ Why?", "", "_Sar._ For your safety, which I will have looked to,", "With a strong escort to your native land;", "And such gifts, as, if you had not been all", "A Queen, shall make your dowry worth a kingdom.", "", "_Myr._ I pray you talk not thus.", "", "_Sar._ The Queen is gone:", "You need not shame to follow. I would fall", "Alone--I seek no partners but in pleasure.", "", "_Myr._ And I no pleasure but in parting not.", "You shall not force me from you.", "", "_Sar._ Think well of it--", "It soon may be too late.", "", "_Myr._ So let it be;", "For then you cannot separate me from you.", "", "_Sar._ And will not; but I thought you wished it.", "", "_Myr._ I!", "", "_Sar._ You spoke of your abasement.", "", "_Myr._ And I feel it", "Deeply--more deeply than all things but love.", "", "_Sar._ Then fly from it.", "", "_Myr._ 'Twill not recall the past--", "'Twill not restore my honour, nor my heart.", "No--here I stand or fall. If that you conquer,", "I live to joy in your great triumph: should", "Your lot be different, I'll not weep, but share it.", "You did not doubt me a few hours ago.", "", "_Sar._ Your courage never--nor your love till now;", "And none could make me doubt it save yourself.", "Those words----", "", "_Myr._ Were words. I pray you, let the proofs", "Be in the past acts you were pleased to praise", "This very night, and in my further bearing,", "Beside, wherever you are borne by fate.", "", "_Sar._ I am content: and, trusting in my cause,", "Think we may yet be victors and return", "To peace--the only victory I covet.", "To me war is no glory--conquest no", "Renown. To be forced thus to uphold my right", "Sits heavier on my heart than all the wrongs", "These men would bow me down with. Never, never", "Can I forget this night, even should I live", "To add it to the memory of others.", "I thought to have made mine inoffensive rule", "An era of sweet peace 'midst bloody annals,", "A green spot amidst desert centuries,", "On which the Future would turn back and smile,", "And cultivate, or sigh when it could not", "Recall Sardanapalus' golden reign.", "I thought to have made my realm a paradise,", "And every moon an epoch of new pleasures.", "I took the rabble's shouts for love--the breath", "Of friends for truth--the lips of woman for", "My only guerdon--so they are, my Myrrha: [_He kisses her_.", "Kiss me. Now let them take my realm and life!", "They shall have both, but never _thee!_", "", "_Myr._ No, never!", "Man may despoil his brother man of all", "That's great or glittering--kingdoms fall, hosts yield,", "Friends fail--slaves fly--and all betray--and, more", "Than all, the most indebted--but a heart", "That loves without self-love! 'Tis here--now prove it.", "", " _Enter_ SALEMENES.", "", "_Sal._ I sought you--How! _she_ here again?", "", "_Sar._ Return not", "_Now_ to reproof: methinks your aspect speaks", "Of higher matter than a woman's presence.", "", "_Sal._ The only woman whom it much imports me", "At such a moment now is safe in absence--", "The Queen's embarked.", "", "_Sar._ And well? say that much.", "", "_Sal._ Yes.", "Her transient weakness has passed o'er; at least,", "It settled into tearless silence: her", "Pale face and glittering eye, after a glance", "Upon her sleeping children, were still fixed", "Upon the palace towers as the swift galley", "Stole down the hurrying stream beneath the starlight;", "But she said nothing.", "", "_Sar._ Would I felt no more", "Than she has said!", "", "_Sal._ 'Tis now too late to feel.", "Your feelings cannot cancel a sole pang:", "To change them, my advices bring sure tidings", "That the rebellious Medes and Chaldees, marshalled", "By their two leaders, are already up", "In arms again; and, serrying their ranks,", "Prepare to attack: they have apparently", "Been joined by other Satraps.", "", "_Sar._ What! more rebels?", "Let us be first, then.", "", "_Sal._ That were hardly prudent", "Now, though it was our first intention. If", "By noon to-morrow we are joined by those", "I've sent for by sure messengers, we shall be", "In strength enough to venture an attack,", "Aye, and pursuit too; but, till then, my voice", "Is to await the onset.", "", "_Sar._ I detest", "That waiting; though it seems so safe to fight", "Behind high walls, and hurl down foes into", "Deep fosses, or behold them sprawl on spikes", "Strewed to receive them, still I like it not--", "My soul seems lukewarm; but when I set on them,", "Though they were piled on mountains, I would have", "A pluck at them, or perish in hot blood!--", "Let me then charge.", "", "_Sal._ You talk like a young soldier.", "", "_Sar._ I am no soldier, but a man: speak not", "Of soldiership, I loathe the word, and those", "Who pride themselves upon it; but direct me", "Where I may pour upon them.", "", "_Sal._ You must spare", "To expose your life too hastily; 'tis not", "Like mine or any other subject's breath:", "The whole war turns upon it--with it; this", "Alone creates it, kindles, and may quench it--", "Prolong it--end it.", "", "_Sar._ Then let us end both!", "'Twere better thus, perhaps, than prolong either;", "I'm sick of one, perchance of both.", " [_A trumpet sounds without_.", "", "_Sal._ Hark!", "", "_Sar._ Let us", "Reply, not listen.", "", "_Sal._ And your wound!", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis bound--", "'Tis healed--I had forgotten it. Away!", "A leech's lancet would have scratched me deeper;", "The slave that gave it might be well ashamed", "To have struck so weakly.", "", "_Sal._ Now, may none this hour", "Strike with a better aim!", "", "_Sar._ Aye, if we conquer;", "But if not, they will only leave to me", "A task they might have spared their king. Upon them!", " [_Trumpet sounds again_.", "", "_Sal._ I am with you.", "", "_Sar._ Ho, my arms! again, my arms!", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT V.", "", "SCENE I.-_The same Hall in the Palace_.", "", " MYRRHA _and_ BALEA.", "", "_Myr._ (_at a window_)", "The day at last has broken. What a night", "Hath ushered it! How beautiful in heaven!", "Though varied with a transitory storm,", "More beautiful in that variety!", "How hideous upon earth! where Peace and Hope,", "And Love and Revel, in an hour were trampled", "By human passions to a human chaos,", "Not yet resolved to separate elements--", "'Tis warring still! And can the sun so rise,", "So bright, so rolling back the clouds into", "Vapours more lovely than the unclouded sky,", "With golden pinnacles, and snowy mountains,", "And billows purpler than the Ocean's, making", "In heaven a glorious mockery of the earth,", "So like we almost deem it permanent;", "So fleeting, we can scarcely call it aught", "Beyond a vision, 'tis so transiently", "Scattered along the eternal vault: and yet", "It dwells upon the soul, and soothes the soul,", "And blends itself into the soul, until", "Sunrise and sunset form the haunted epoch", "Of Sorrow and of Love; which they who mark not,", "Know not the realms where those twin genii", "(Who chasten and who purify our hearts,", "So that we would not change their sweet rebukes", "For all the boisterous joys that ever shook", "The air with clamour) build the palaces", "Where their fond votaries repose and breathe", "Briefly;--but in that brief cool calm inhale", "Enough of heaven to enable them to bear", "The rest of common, heavy, human hours,", "And dream them through in placid sufferance,", "Though seemingly employed like all the rest", "Of toiling breathers in allotted tasks", "Of pain or pleasure, _two_ names for _one_ feeling,", "Which our internal, restless agony", "Would vary in the sound, although the sense", "Escapes our highest efforts to be happy.", "", "_Bal._ You muse right calmly: and can you so watch", "The sunrise which may be our last?", "", "_Myr._ It is", "Therefore that I so watch it, and reproach", "Those eyes, which never may behold it more,", "For having looked upon it oft, too oft,", "Without the reverence and the rapture due", "To that which keeps all earth from being as fragile", "As I am in this form. Come, look upon it,", "The Chaldee's God, which, when I gaze upon,", "I grow almost a convert to your Baal.", "", "_Bal._ As now he reigns in heaven, so once on earth", "He swayed.", "", "_Myr._ He sways it now far more, then; never", "Had earthly monarch half the power and glory", "Which centres in a single ray of his.", "", "_Bal._ Surely he is a God!", "", "_Myr._ So we Greeks deem too;", "And yet I sometimes think that gorgeous orb", "Must rather be the abode of Gods than one", "Of the immortal sovereigns. Now he breaks", "Through all the clouds, and fills my eyes with light", "That shuts the world out. I can look no more.", "", "_Bal._ Hark! heard you not a sound?", "", "_Myr._ No, 'twas mere fancy;", "They battle it beyond the wall, and not", "As in late midnight conflict in the very", "Chambers: the palace has become a fortress", "Since that insidious hour; and here, within", "The very centre, girded by vast courts", "And regal halls of pyramid proportions,", "Which must be carried one by one before", "They penetrate to where they then arrived,", "We are as much shut in even from the sound", "Of peril as from glory.", "", "_Bal._ But they reached", "Thus far before.", "", "_Myr._ Yes, by surprise, and were", "Beat back by valour: now at once we have", "Courage and vigilance to guard us.", "", "_Bal._ May they", "Prosper!", "", "_Myr._ That is the prayer of many, and", "The dread of more: it is an anxious hour;", "I strive to keep it from my thoughts. Alas!", "How vainly!", "", "_Bal._ It is said the King's demeanour", "In the late action scarcely more appalled", "The rebels than astonished his true subjects.", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis easy to astonish or appal", "The vulgar mass which moulds a horde of slaves;", "But he did bravely.", "", "_Bal._ Slew he not Beleses?", "I heard the soldiers say he struck him down.", "", "_Myr._ The wretch was overthrown, but rescued to", "Triumph, perhaps, o'er one who vanquished him", "In fight, as he had spared him in his peril;", "And by that heedless pity risked a crown.", "", "_Bal._ Hark!", "", "_Myr._ You are right; some steps approach, but slowly.", "", " _Enter Soldiers, bearing in_ SALEMENES _wounded, with a", " broken javelin in his side: they seat him upon one of", " the couches which furnish the Apartment_.", "", "_Myr._ Oh, Jove!", "", "_Bal._ Then all is over.", "", "_Sal._ That is false.", "Hew down the slave who says so, if a soldier.", "", "_Myr._ Spare him--he's none: a mere court butterfly,", "That flutter in the pageant of a monarch.", "", "_Sal._ Let him live on, then.", "", "_Myr._ So wilt thou, I trust.", "", "_Sal._ I fain would live this hour out, and the event,", "But doubt it. Wherefore did ye bear me here?", "", "_Sol._ By the King's order. When the javelin struck you,", "You fell and fainted: 'twas his strict command", "To bear you to this hall.", "", "_Sal._ 'Twas not ill done:", "For seeming slain in that cold dizzy trance,", "The sight might shake our soldiers--but--'tis vain,", "I feel it ebbing!", "", "_Myr._ Let me see the wound;", "I am not quite skilless: in my native land", "'Tis part of our instruction. War being constant,", "We are nerved to look on such things.", "", "_Sol._ Best extract", "The javelin.", "", "_Myr._ Hold! no, no, it cannot be.", "", "_Sal._ I am sped, then!", "", "_Myr._ With the blood that fast must follow", "The extracted weapon, I do fear thy life.", "", "_Sal._ And I _not_ death. Where was the King when you", "Conveyed me from the spot where I was stricken?", "", "_Sol._ Upon the same ground, and encouraging", "With voice and gesture the dispirited troops", "Who had seen you fall, and faltered back.", "", "_Sal._ Whom heard ye", "Named next to the command?", "", "_Sol._ I did not hear.", "", "_Sal._ Fly, then, and tell him, 'twas my last request", "That Zames take my post until the junction,", "So hoped for, yet delayed, of Ofratanes,", "Satrap of Susa. Leave me here: our troops", "Are not so numerous as to spare your absence.", "", "_Sol._ But Prince----", "", "_Sal._ Hence, I say! Here's a courtier and", "A woman, the best chamber company.", "As you would not permit me to expire", "Upon the field, I'll have no idle soldiers", "About my sick couch. Hence! and do my bidding!", " [_Exeunt the Soldiers_.", "", "_Myr._ Gallant and glorious Spirit! must the earth", "So soon resign thee?", "", "_Sal._ Gentle Myrrha, 'tis", "The end I would have chosen, had I saved", "The monarch or the monarchy by this;", "As 'tis, I have not outlived them.", "", "_Myr._ You wax paler.", "", "_Sal._ Your hand; this broken weapon but prolongs", "My pangs, without sustaining life enough", "To make me useful: I would draw it forth", "And my life with it, could I but hear how", "The fight goes.", "", " _Enter_ SARDANAPALUS _and Soldiers_.", "", "_Sar._ My best brother!", "", "_Sal._ And the battle", "Is lost?", "", "_Sar._ (_despondingly_). You see _me here_.", "", "_Sal._ I'd rather see you _thus!_", " [_He draws out the weapon from the wound, and dies_.", "", "_Sar._ And _thus_ I will be seen; unless the succour,", "The last frail reed of our beleagured hopes,", "Arrive with Ofratanes.", "", "_Myr._ Did you not", "Receive a token from your dying brother,", "Appointing Zames chief?", "", "_Sar._ I did.", "", "_Myr._ Where's Zames?", "", "_Sar._ Dead.", "", "_Myr._ And Altada?", "", "_Sar._ Dying.", "", "_Myr._ Pania? Sfero?", "", "_Sar._ Pania yet lives; but Sfero's fled or captive.", "I am alone.", "", "_Myr._ And is all lost?", "", "_Sar._ Our walls,", "Though thinly manned, may still hold out against", "Their present force, or aught save treachery:", "But i' the field----", "", "_Myr._ I thought 'twas the intent", "Of Salemenes not to risk a sally", "Till ye were strengthened by the expected succours.", "", "_Sar._ _I_ over-ruled him.", "", "_Myr._ Well, the _fault's_ a brave one.", "", "_Sar._ But fatal. Oh, my brother! I would give", "These realms, of which thou wert the ornament,", "The sword and shield, the sole-redeeming honour,", "To call back----But I will not weep for thee;", "Thou shall be mourned for as thou wouldst be mourned.", "It grieves me most that thou couldst quit this life", "Believing that I could survive what thou", "Hast died for--our long royalty of race.", "If I redeem it, I will give thee blood", "Of thousands, tears of millions, for atonement,", "(The tears of all the good are thine already).", "If not, we meet again soon,--if the spirit", "Within us lives beyond:--thou readest mine,", "And dost me justice now. Let me once clasp", "That yet warm hand, and fold that throbless heart", " [_Embraces the body_.", "To this which beats so bitterly. Now, bear", "The body hence.", "", "_Sol._ Where?", "", "_Sar._ To my proper chamber.", "Place it beneath my canopy, as though", "The King lay there: when this is done, we will", "Speak further of the rites due to such ashes.", " [_Exeunt Soldiers with the body of_ SALEMENES.", "", " _Enter_ PANIA.", "", "_Sar._ Well, Pania! have you placed the guards, and issued", "The orders fixed on?", "", "_Pan._ Sire, I have obeyed.", "", "_Sar._ And do the soldiers keep their hearts up?", "", "_Pan._ Sire?", "", "_Sar._ I am answered! When a king asks twice, and has", "A question as an answer to _his_ question,", "It is a portent. What! they are disheartened?", "", "_Pan._ The death of Salemenes, and the shouts", "Of the exulting rebels on his fall,", "Have made them----", "", "_Sar._ _Rage_--not droop--it should have been.", "We'll find the means to rouse them.", "", "_Pan._ Such a loss", "Might sadden even a victory.", "", "_Sar._ Alas!", "Who can so feel it as I feel? but yet,", "Though cooped within these walls, they are strong, and we", "Have those without will break their way through hosts,", "To make their sovereign's dwelling what it was--", "A palace, not a prison--nor a fortress.", "", " _Enter an Officer, hastily_.", "", "_Sar._ Thy face seems ominous. Speak!", "", "_Offi._ I dare not.", "", "_Sar._ Dare not?", "While millions dare revolt with sword in hand!", "That's strange. I pray thee break that loyal silence", "Which loathes to shock its sovereign; we can hear", "Worse than thou hast to tell.", "", "_Pan._ Proceed--thou hearest.", "", "_Offi._ The wall which skirted near the river's brink", "Is thrown down by the sudden inundation", "Of the Euphrates, which now rolling, swoln", "From the enormous mountains where it rises,", "By the late rains of that tempestuous region,", "O'erfloods its banks, and hath destroyed the bulwark.", "", "_Pan._ That's a black augury! it has been said", "For ages, \"That the City ne'er should yield", "To man, until the River grew its foe.\"", "", "_Sar._ I can forgive the omen, not the ravage.", "How much is swept down of the wall?", "", "_Offi._ About", "Some twenty stadia.", "", "_Sar._ And all this is left", "Pervious to the assailants?", "", "_Offi._ For the present", "The River's fury must impede the assault;", "But when he shrinks into his wonted channel,", "And may be crossed by the accustomed barks,", "The palace is their own.", "", "_Sar._ That shall be never.", "Though men, and gods, and elements, and omens,", "Have risen up 'gainst one who ne'er provoked them,", "My father's house shall never be a cave", "For wolves to horde and howl in.", "", "_Pan._ With your sanction,", "I will proceed to the spot, and take such measures", "For the assurance of the vacant space", "As time and means permit.", "", "_Sar._ About it straight,", "And bring me back, as speedily as full", "And fair investigation may permit,", "Report of the true state of this irruption", "Of waters. [_Exeunt_ PANIA _and the Officer_.", "", "_Myr._ Thus the very waves rise up", "Against you.", "", "_Sar._ They are not my subjects, girl,", "And may be pardoned, since they can't be punished.", "", "_Myr._ I joy to see this portent shakes you not.", "", "_Sar._ I am past the fear of portents: they can tell me", "Nothing I have not told myself since midnight:", "Despair anticipates such things.", "", "_Myr._ Despair!", "", "_Sar._ No; not despair precisely. When we know", "All that can come, and how to meet it, our", "Resolves, if firm, may merit a more noble", "Word than this is to give it utterance.", "But what are words to us? we have well nigh done", "With them and all things.", "", "_Myr._ Save _one deed_--the last", "And greatest to all mortals; crowning act", "Of all that was, or is, or is to be--", "The only thing common to all mankind,", "So different in their births, tongues, sexes, natures,", "Hues, features, climes, times, feelings, intellects,", "Without one point of union save in this--", "To which we tend, for which we're born, and thread", "The labyrinth of mystery, called life.", "", "_Sar._ Our clue being well nigh wound out, let's be cheerful.", "They who have nothing more to fear may well", "Indulge a smile at that which once appalled;", "As children at discovered bugbears.", "", " _Re-enter_ PANIA.", "", "_Pan._ 'Tis", "As was reported: I have ordered there", "A double guard, withdrawing from the wall,", "Where it was strongest, the required addition", "To watch the breach occasioned by the waters.", "", "_Sar._ You have done your duty faithfully, and as", "My worthy Pania! further ties between us", "Draw near a close--I pray you take this key:", " [_Gives a key_.", "It opens to a secret chamber, placed", "Behind the couch in my own chamber--(Now", "Pressed by a nobler weight than e'er it bore--", "Though a long line of sovereigns have lain down", "Along its golden frame--as bearing for", "A time what late was Salemenes.)--Search", "The secret covert to which this will lead you;", "'Tis full of treasure; take it for yourself", "And your companions: there's enough to load ye,", "Though ye be many. Let the slaves be freed, too;", "And all the inmates of the palace, of", "Whatever sex, now quit it in an hour.", "Thence launch the regal barks, once formed for pleasure,", "And now to serve for safety, and embark.", "The river's broad and swoln, and uncommanded,", "(More potent than a king) by these besiegers.", "Fly! and be happy!", "", "_Pan._ Under your protection!", "So you accompany your faithful guard.", "", "_Sar._ No, Pania! that must not be; get thee hence,", "And leave me to my fate.", "", "_Pan._ 'Tis the first time", "I ever disobeyed: but now----", "", "_Sar._ So all men", "Dare beard me now, and Insolence within", "Apes Treason from without. Question no further;", "'Tis my command, my last command. Wilt _thou_", "Oppose it? _thou!_", "", "_Pan._ But yet--not yet.", "", "_Sar._ Well, then,", "Swear that you will obey when I shall give", "The signal.", "", "_Pan._ With a heavy but true heart,", "I promise.", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis enough. Now order here", "Faggots, pine-nuts, and withered leaves, and such", "Things as catch fire and blaze with one sole spark;", "Bring cedar, too, and precious drugs, and spices,", "And mighty planks, to nourish a tall pile;", "Bring frankincense and myrrh, too, for it is", "For a great sacrifice I build the pyre!", "And heap them round yon throne.", "", "_Pan._ My Lord!", "", "_Sar._ I have said it,", "And _you_ have sworn.", "", "_Pan._ And could keep my faith", "Without a vow. [_Exit_ PANIA.", "", "_Myr._ What mean you?", "", "_Sar._ You shall know", "Anon--what the whole earth shall ne'er forget.", "", " PANIA, _returning with a Herald_.", "", "_Pan._ My King, in going forth upon my duty,", "This herald has been brought before me, craving", "An audience.", "", "_Sar._ Let him speak.", "", "_Her._ The _King_ Arbaces----", "", "_Sar._ What, crowned already?--But, proceed.", "", "_Her._ Beleses,", "The anointed High-priest----", "", "_Sar._ Of what god or demon?", "With new kings rise new altars. But, proceed;", "You are sent to prate your master's will, and not", "Reply to mine.", "", "_Her._ And Satrap Ofratanes----", "", "_Sar._ Why, _he_ is _ours_.", "", "_Her._ (_showing a ring_). Be sure that he is now", "In the camp of the conquerors; behold", "His signet ring.", "", "_Sar._ 'Tis his. A worthy triad!", "Poor Salemenes! thou hast died in time", "To see one treachery the less: this man", "Was thy true friend and my most trusted subject.", "Proceed.", "", "_Her._ They offer thee thy life, and freedom", "Of choice to single out a residence", "In any of the further provinces,", "Guarded and watched, but not confined in person,", "Where thou shalt pass thy days in peace; but on", "Condition that the three young princes are", "Given up as hostages.", "", "_Sar._ (_ironically_). The generous Victors!", "", "_Her._ I wait the answer.", "", "_Sar._ Answer, slave! How long", "Have slaves decided on the doom of kings?", "", "_Her._ Since they were free.", "", "_Sar._ Mouthpiece of mutiny!", "Thou at the least shalt learn the penalty", "Of treason, though its proxy only. Pania!", "Let his head be thrown from our walls within", "The rebels' lines, his carcass down the river.", "Away with him! [PANIA _and the Guards seizing him_.", "", "_Pan._ I never yet obeyed", "Your orders with more pleasure than the present.", "Hence with him, soldiers! do not soil this hall", "Of royalty with treasonable gore;", "Put him to rest without.", "", "_Her._ A single word:", "My office, King, is sacred.", "", "_Sar._ And what's _mine_?", "That thou shouldst come and dare to ask of me", "To lay it down?", "", "_Her._ I but obeyed my orders,", "At the same peril if refused, as now", "Incurred by my obedience.", "", "_Sar._ So there are", "New monarchs of an hour's growth as despotic", "As sovereigns swathed in purple, and enthroned", "From birth to manhood!", "", "_Her._ My life waits your breath.", "Yours (I speak humbly)--but it may be--yours", "May also be in danger scarce less imminent:", "Would it then suit the last hours of a line", "Such as is that of Nimrod, to destroy", "A peaceful herald, unarmed, in his office;", "And violate not only all that man", "Holds sacred between man and man--but that", "More holy tie which links us with the Gods?", "", "_Sar._ He's right.--Let him go free.--My life's last act", "Shall not be one of wrath. Here, fellow, take", " [_Gives him a golden cup from a table near_.", "This golden goblet, let it hold your wine,", "And think of _me_; or melt it into ingots,", "And think of nothing but their weight and value.", "", "_Her._ I thank you doubly for my life, and this", "Most gorgeous gift, which renders it more precious.", "But must I bear no answer?", "", "_Sar._ Yes,--I ask", "An hour's truce to consider.", "", "_Her._ But an hour's?", "", "_Sar._ An hour's: if at the expiration of", "That time your masters hear no further from me,", "They are to deem that I reject their terms,", "And act befittingly.", "", "_Her._ I shall not fail", "To be a faithful legate of your pleasure.", "", "_Sar._ And hark! a word more.", "", "_Her._ I shall not forget it,", "Whate'er it be.", "", "_Sar._ Commend me to Beleses;", "And tell him, ere a year expire, I summon", "Him hence to meet me.", "", "_Her._ Where?", "", "_Sar._ At Babylon.", "At least from thence he will depart to meet me.", "", "_Her._ I shall obey you to the letter. [_Exit Herald_.", "", "_Sar._ Pania!--", "Now, my good Pania!--quick--with what I ordered.", "", "_Pan._ My Lord,--the soldiers are already charged.", "And see! they enter.", "", " _Soldiers enter, and form a Pile about the Throne, etc._", "", "_Sar._ Higher, my good soldiers,", "And thicker yet; and see that the foundation", "Be such as will not speedily exhaust", "Its own too subtle flame; nor yet be quenched", "With aught officious aid would bring to quell it.", "Let the throne form the _core_ of it; I would not", "Leave that, save fraught with fire unquenchable,", "To the new comers. Frame the whole as if", "'Twere to enkindle the strong tower of our", "Inveterate enemies. Now it bears an aspect!", "How say you, Pania, will this pile suffice", "For a King's obsequies?", "", "_Pan._ Aye, for a kingdom's.", "I understand you, now.", "", "_Sar._ And blame me?", "", "_Pan._ No--", "Let me but fire the pile, and share it with you.", "", "_Myr._ That _duty's_ mine.", "", "_Pan._ A woman's!", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis the soldier's", "Part to die _for_ his sovereign, and why not", "The woman's with her lover?", "", "_Pan._ 'Tis most strange!", "", "_Myr._ But not so rare, my Pania, as thou think'st it.", "In the mean time, live thou.--Farewell! the pile", "Is ready.", "", "_Pan._ I should shame to leave my sovereign", "With but a single female to partake", "His death.", "", "_Sar._ Too many far have heralded", "Me to the dust already. Get thee hence;", "Enrich thee.", "", "_Pan._ And live wretched!", "", "_Sar._ Think upon", "Thy vow:--'tis sacred and irrevocable.", "", "_Pan._ Since it is so, farewell.", "", "_Sar._ Search well my chamber,", "Feel no remorse at bearing off the gold;", "Remember, what you leave you leave the slaves", "Who slew me: and when you have borne away", "All safe off to your boats, blow one long blast", "Upon the trumpet as you quit the palace.", "The river's brink is too remote, its stream", "Too loud at present to permit the echo", "To reach distinctly from its banks. Then fly,--", "And as you sail, turn back; but still keep on", "Your way along the Euphrates: if you reach", "The land of Paphlagonia, where the Queen", "Is safe with my three sons in Cotta's court,", "Say what you _saw_ at parting, and request", "That she remember what I _said_ at one", "Parting more mournful still.", "", "_Pan._ That royal hand!", "Let me then once more press it to my lips;", "And these poor soldiers who throng round you, and", "Would fain die with you!", "", " [_The Soldiers and_ PANIA _throng round him,", " kissing his hand and the hem of his robe_.", "", "_Sar._ My best! my last friends!", "Let's not unman each other: part at once:", "All farewells should be sudden, when for ever,", "Else they make an eternity of moments,", "And clog the last sad sands of life with tears.", "Hence, and be happy: trust me, I am not", "_Now_ to be pitied; or far more for what", "Is past than present;--for the future, 'tis", "In the hands of the deities, if such", "There be: I shall know soon. Farewell--Farewell.", " [_Exeunt_ PANIA _and Soldiers_.", "", "_Myr._ These men were honest: it is comfort still", "That our last looks should be on loving faces.", "", "_Sar._ And _lovely_ ones, my beautiful!--but hear me!", "If at this moment,--for we now are on", "The brink,--thou feel'st an inward shrinking from", "This leap through flame into the future, say it:", "I shall not love thee less; nay, perhaps more,", "For yielding to thy nature: and there's time", "Yet for thee to escape hence.", "", "_Myr._ Shall I light", "One of the torches which lie heaped beneath", "The ever-burning lamp that burns without,", "Before Baal's shrine, in the adjoining hall?", "", "_Sar._ Do so. Is that thy answer?", "", "_Myr._ Thou shalt see.", " [_Exit_ MYRRHA.", "", "_Sar._ (_solus_). She's firm. My fathers! whom I will rejoin,", "It may be, purified by death from some", "Of the gross stains of too material being,", "I would not leave your ancient first abode", "To the defilement of usurping bondmen;", "If I have not kept your inheritance", "As ye bequeathed it, this bright part of it,", "Your treasure--your abode--your sacred relics", "Of arms, and records--monuments, and spoils,", "In which _they_ would have revelled, I bear with me", "To you in that absorbing element,", "Which most personifies the soul as leaving", "The least of matter unconsumed before", "Its fiery workings:--and the light of this", "Most royal of funereal pyres shall be", "Not a mere pillar formed of cloud and flame,", "A beacon in the horizon for a day,", "And then a mount of ashes--but a light", "To lesson ages, rebel nations, and", "Voluptuous princes. Time shall quench full many", "A people's records, and a hero's acts;", "Sweep empire after empire, like this first", "Of empires, into nothing; but even then", "Shall spare this deed of mine, and hold it up", "A problem few dare imitate, and none", "Despise--but, it may be, avoid the life", "Which led to such a consummation.", "", " MYRRHA _returns with a lighted Torch in one Hand,", " and a Cup in the other_.", "", "_Myr._ Lo!", "I've lit the lamp which lights us to the stars.", "", "_Sar._ And the cup?", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis my country's custom to", "Make a libation to the Gods.", "", "_Sar._ And mine", "To make libations amongst men. I've not", "Forgot the custom; and although alone,", "Will drain one draught in memory of many", "A joyous banquet past.", "", " [SARDANAPALUS _takes the cup, and after drinking", " and tinkling the reversed cup, as a drop falls,", " exclaims_--", "", " And this libation", "Is for the excellent Beleses.", "", "_Myr._ Why", "Dwells thy mind rather upon that man's name", "Than on his mate's in villany?", "", "_Sar._ The other", "Is a mere soldier, a mere tool, a kind", "Of human sword in a friend's hand; the other", "Is master-mover of his warlike puppet;", "But I dismiss them from my mind.--Yet pause,", "My Myrrha! dost thou truly follow me,", "Freely and fearlessly?", "", "_Myr._ And dost thou think", "A Greek girl dare not do for love, that which", "An Indian widow braves for custom?", "", "_Sar._ Then", "We but await the signal.", "", "_Myr._ It is long", "In sounding.", "", "_Sar._ Now, farewell; one last embrace.", "", "_Myr._ Embrace, but _not_ the last; there is one more.", "", "_Sar._ True, the commingling fire will mix our ashes.", "", "_Myr._ And pure as is my love to thee, shall they,", "Purged from the dross of earth, and earthly passion,", "Mix pale with thine. A single thought yet irks me.", "", "_Sar._ Say it.", "", "_Myr._ It is that no kind hand will gather", "The dust of both into one urn.", "", "_Sar._ The better:", "Rather let them be borne abroad upon", "The winds of heaven, and scattered into air,", "Than be polluted more by human hands", "Of slaves and traitors. In this blazing palace,", "And its enormous walls of reeking ruin,", "We leave a nobler monument than Egypt", "Hath piled in her brick mountains, o'er dead kings,", "Or _kine_--for none know whether those proud piles", "Be for their monarch, or their ox-god Apis:", "So much for monuments that have forgotten", "Their very record!", "", "_Myr._ Then farewell, thou earth!", "And loveliest spot of earth! farewell, Ionia!", "Be thou still free and beautiful, and far", "Aloof from desolation! My last prayer", "Was for thee, my last thoughts, save _one_, were of thee!", "", "_Sar._ And that?", "", "_Myr._ Is yours.", " [_The trumpet of_ PANIA _sounds without_.", "", "_Sar._ Hark!", "", "_Myr._ _Now_!", "", "_Sar._ Adieu, Assyria!", "I loved thee well, my own, my fathers' land,", "And better as my country than my kingdom.", "I sated thee with peace and joys; and this", "Is my reward! and now I owe thee nothing,", "Not even a grave. [_He mounts the pile_.", " Now, Myrrha!", "", "_Myr._ Art thou ready?", "", "_Sar._ As the torch in thy grasp.", " [MYRRHA _fires the pile_.", "", "_Myr._ 'Tis fired! I come.", "", " [_As_ MYRRHA _springs forward to throw herself into", " the flames, the Curtain falls_." ], "linecount": "3621" }, { "title": "The Two Foscari", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "ACT I.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Hall in the Ducal Palace_.", "", " _Enter_ LOREDANO _and_ BARBARIGO, _meeting_.", "", "_Lor._ WHERE is the prisoner?", "", "_Bar._ Reposing from", "The Question.", "", "_Lor._ The hour's past--fixed yesterday", "For the resumption of his trial.--Let us", "Rejoin our colleagues in the council, and", "Urge his recall.", "", "_Bar._ Nay, let him profit by", "A few brief minutes for his tortured limbs;", "He was o'erwrought by the Question yesterday,", "And may die under it if now repeated.", "", "_Lor._ Well?", "", "_Bar._ I yield not to you in love of justice,", "Or hate of the ambitious Foscari,", "Father and son, and all their noxious race;", "But the poor wretch has suffered beyond Nature's", "Most stoical endurance.", "", "_Lor._ Without owning", "His crime?", "", "_Bar._ Perhaps without committing any.", "But he avowed the letter to the Duke", "Of Milan, and his sufferings half atone for", "Such weakness.", "", "_Lor._ We shall see.", "", "_Bar._ You, Loredano,", "Pursue hereditary hate too far.", "", "_Lor._ How far?", "", "_Bar._ To extermination.", "", "_Lor._ When they are", "Extinct, you may say this.--Let's in to council.", "", "_Bar._ Yet pause--the number of our colleagues is not", "Complete yet; two are wanting ere we can", "Proceed.", "", "_Lor._ And the chief judge, the Doge?", "", "_Bar._ No--he,", "With more than Roman fortitude, is ever", "First at the board in this unhappy process", "Against his last and only son.", "", "_Lor._ True--true--", "His _last_.", "", "_Bar._ Will nothing move you?", "", "_Lor._ _Feels he_, think you?", "", "_Bar._ He shows it not.", "", "_Lor._ I have marked _that_--the wretch!", "", "_Bar._ But yesterday, I hear, on his return", "To the ducal chambers, as he passed the threshold", "The old man fainted.", "", "_Lor._ It begins to work, then.", "", "_Bar._ The work is half your own.", "", "_Lor._ And should be _all_ mine--", "My father and my uncle are no more.", "", "_Bar._ I have read their epitaph, which says they died", "By poison.", "", "_Lor._ When the Doge declared that he", "Should never deem himself a sovereign till", "The death of Peter Loredano, both", "The brothers sickened shortly:--he _is_ Sovereign.", "", "_Bar._ A wretched one.", "", "_Lor._ What should they be who make", "Orphans?", "", "_Bar._ But _did_ the Doge make you so?", "", "_Lor._ Yes.", "", "_Bar._ What solid proofs?", "", "_Lor._ When Princes set themselves", "To work in secret, proofs and process are", "Alike made difficult; but I have such", "Of the first, as shall make the second needless.", "", "_Bar._ But you will move by law?", "", "_Lor._ By all the laws", "Which he would leave us.", "", "_Bar._ They are such in this", "Our state as render retribution easier", "Than 'mongst remoter nations. Is it true", "That you have written in your books of commerce,", "(The wealthy practice of our highest nobles)", "\"Doge Foscari, my debtor for the deaths", "Of Marco and Pietro Loredano,", "My sire and uncle?\"", "", "_Lor._ It is written thus.", "", "_Bar._ And will you leave it unerased?", "", "_Lor._ Till balanced.", "", "_Bar._ And how?", "", " [_Two Senators pass over the stage, as in their way", " to \"the Hall of the Council of Ten.\"_", "", "_Lor._ You see the number is complete.", "Follow me. [_Exit_ LOREDANO.", "", "_Bar._ (_solus_). Follow _thee_! I have followed long", "Thy path of desolation, as the wave", "Sweeps after that before it, alike whelming", "The wreck that creaks to the wild winds, and wretch", "Who shrieks within its riven ribs, as gush", "The waters through them; but this son and sire", "Might move the elements to pause, and yet", "Must I on hardily like them--Oh! would", "I could as blindly and remorselessly!--", "Lo, where he comes!--Be still, my heart! they are", "Thy foes, must be thy victims: wilt thou beat", "For those who almost broke thee?", "", " _Enter Guards, with young_ FOSCARI _as Prisoner, etc._", "", "_Guard_. Let him rest.", "Signor, take time.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I thank thee, friend, I'm feeble;", "But thou mayst stand reproved.", "", "_Guard_. I'll stand the hazard.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ That's kind:--I meet some pity, but no mercy;", "This is the first.", "", "_Guard_. And might be the last, did they", "Who rule behold us.", "", "_Bar._ (_advancing to the Guard_). There is one who does:", "Yet fear not; I will neither be thy judge", "Nor thy accuser; though the hour is past,", "Wait their last summons--I am of \"the Ten,\"", "And waiting for that summons, sanction you", "Even by my presence: when the last call sounds,", "We'll in together.--Look well to the prisoner!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ What voice is that?--'Tis Barbarigo's! Ah!", "Our House's foe, and one of my few judges.", "", "_Bar._ To balance such a foe, if such there be,", "Thy father sits amongst thy judges.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ True,", "He judges.", "", "_Bar._ Then deem not the laws too harsh", "Which yield so much indulgence to a sire,", "As to allow his voice in such high matter", "As the state's safety--", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And his son's. I'm faint;", "Let me approach, I pray you, for a breath", "Of air, yon window which o'erlooks the waters.", "", "_Enter an Officer, who whispers_ BARBARIGO.", "", "_Bar._ (to the Guard). Let him approach. I must not speak with him", "Further than thus: I have transgressed my duty", "In this brief parley, and must now redeem it", "Within the Council Chamber. [_Exit_ BARBARIGO.", "", " [_Guard conducting_ JACOPO FOSCARI _to the window_.", "", "_Guard_. There, sir, 'tis", "Open.--How feel you?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Like a boy--Oh Venice!", "", "_Guard_. And your limbs?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Limbs! how often have they borne me", "Bounding o'er yon blue tide, as I have skimmed", "The gondola along in childish race,", "And, masqued as a young gondolier, amidst", "My gay competitors, noble as I,", "Raced for our pleasure, in the pride of strength;", "While the fair populace of crowding beauties,", "Plebeian as patrician, cheered us on", "With dazzling smiles, and wishes audible,", "And waving kerchiefs, and applauding hands,", "Even to the goal!--How many a time have I", "Cloven with arm still lustier, breast more daring,", "The wave all roughened; with a swimmer's stroke", "Flinging the billows back from my drenched hair,", "And laughing from my lip the audacious brine,", "Which kissed it like a wine-cup, rising o'er", "The waves as they arose, and prouder still", "The loftier they uplifted me; and oft,", "In wantonness of spirit, plunging down", "Into their green and glassy gulfs, and making", "My way to shells and sea-weed, all unseen", "By those above, till they waxed fearful; then", "Returning with my grasp full of such tokens", "As showed that I had searched the deep: exulting,", "With a far-dashing stroke, and, drawing deep", "The long-suspended breath, again I spurned", "The foam which broke around me, and pursued", "My track like a sea-bird.--I was a boy then.", "", "_Guard_. Be a man now: there never was more need", "Of manhood's strength.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ (_looking from the lattice_). My beautiful, my own,", "My only Venice--_this is breath_! Thy breeze,", "Thine Adrian sea-breeze, how it fans my face!", "Thy very winds feel native to my veins,", "And cool them into calmness! How unlike", "The hot gales of the horrid Cyclades,", "Which howled about my Candiote dungeon, and", "Made my heart sick.", "", "_Guard_. I see the colour comes", "Back to your cheek: Heaven send you strength to bear", "What more may be imposed!--I dread to think on't.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ They will not banish me again?--No--no,", "Let them wring on; I am strong yet.", "", "_Guard_. Confess,", "And the rack will be spared you.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I confessed", "Once--twice before: both times they exiled me.", "", "_Guard_. And the third time will slay you.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Let them do so,", "So I be buried in my birth-place: better", "Be ashes here than aught that lives elsewhere.", "", "_Guard_. And can you so much love the soil which hates you?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ The soil!--Oh no, it is the seed of the soil", "Which persecutes me: but my native earth", "Will take me as a mother to her arms.", "I ask no more than a Venetian grave,", "A dungeon, what they will, so it be here.", "", " _Enter an Officer_.", "", "_Offi._ Bring in the prisoner!", "", "_Guard_. Signor, you hear the order.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Aye, I am used to such a summons; 'tis", "The third time they have tortured me:--then lend me", "Thine arm. [_To the Guard_.", "", "_Offi._ Take mine, sir; 'tis my duty to", "Be nearest to your person.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ You!--you are he", "Who yesterday presided o'er my pangs--", "Away!--I'll walk alone.", "", "_Offi._ As you please, Signor;", "The sentence was not of my signing, but", "I dared not disobey the Council when", "They----", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Bade thee stretch me on their horrid engine.", "I pray thee touch me not--that is, just now;", "The time will come they will renew that order,", "But keep off from me till 'tis issued. As", "I look upon thy hands my curdling limbs", "Quiver with the anticipated wrenching,", "And the cold drops strain through my brow, as if----", "But onward--I have borne it--I can bear it.--", "How looks my father?", "", "_Offi._ With his wonted aspect.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ So does the earth, and sky, the blue of Ocean,", "The brightness of our city, and her domes,", "The mirth of her Piazza--even now", "Its merry hum of nations pierces here,", "Even here, into these chambers of the unknown", "Who govern, and the unknown and the unnumbered", "Judged and destroyed in silence,--all things wear", "The self-same aspect, to my very sire!", "Nothing can sympathise with Foscari,", "Not even a Foscari.--Sir, I attend you.", " [_Exeunt_ JACOPO FOSCARI, _Officer, etc._", "", " _Enter_ MEMMO _and another Senator_.", "", "_Mem._ He's gone--we are too late:--think you \"the Ten\"", "Will sit for any length of time to-day?", "", "_Sen._ They say the prisoner is most obdurate,", "Persisting in his first avowal; but", "More I know not.", "", "_Mem._ And that is much; the secrets", "Of yon terrific chamber are as hidden", "From us, the premier nobles of the state,", "As from the people.", "", "_Sen._ Save the wonted rumours,", "Which--like the tales of spectres, that are rife", "Near ruined buildings--never have been proved,", "Nor wholly disbelieved: men know as little", "Of the state's real acts as of the grave's", "Unfathomed mysteries.", "", "_Mem._ But with length of time", "We gain a step in knowledge, and I look", "Forward to be one day of the decemvirs.", "", "_Sen._ Or Doge?", "", "_Mem._ Why, no; not if I can avoid it.", "", "_Sen._ 'Tis the first station of the state, and may", "Be lawfully desired, and lawfully", "Attained by noble aspirants.", "", "_Mem._ To such", "I leave it; though born noble, my ambition", "Is limited: I'd rather be an unit", "Of an united and Imperial \"Ten,\"", "Than shine a lonely, though a gilded cipher.--", "Whom have we here? the wife of Foscari?", "", " _Enter_ MARINA, _with a female Attendant_.", "", "_Mar._ What, no one?--I am wrong, there still are two;", "But they are senators.", "", "_Mem._ Most noble lady,", "Command us.", "", "_Mar._ _I command_!--Alas! my life", "Has been one long entreaty, and a vain one.", "", "_Mem._ I understand thee, but I must not answer.", "", "_Mar._ (_fiercely_). True--none dare answer here save on the rack,", "Or question save those----", "", "_Mem._ (_interrupting her_). High-born dame! bethink thee", "Where thou now art.", "", "_Mar._ Where I now am!--It was", "My husband's father's palace.", "", "_Mem._ The Duke's palace.", "", "_Mar._ And his son's prison!--True, I have not forgot it;", "And, if there were no other nearer, bitterer", "Remembrances, would thank the illustrious Memmo", "For pointing out the pleasures of the place.", "", "_Mem._ Be calm!", "", "_Mar._ (_looking up towards heaven_). I am; but oh, thou eternal God!", "Canst _thou_ continue so, with such a world?", "", "_Mem._ Thy husband yet may be absolved.", "", "_Mar._ He is,", "In Heaven. I pray you, Signer Senator,", "Speak not of that; you are a man of office,", "So is the Doge; he has a son at stake", "Now, at this moment, and I have a husband,", "Or had; they are there within, or were at least", "An hour since, face to face, as judge and culprit:", "Will _he_ condemn _him_?", "", "_Mem._ I trust not.", "", "_Mar._ But if", "He does not, there are those will sentence both.", "", "_Mem._ They can.", "", "_Mar._ And with them power and will are one", "In wickedness;--my husband's lost!", "", "_Mem._ Not so;", "Justice is judge in Venice.", "", "_Mar._ If it were so,", "There now would be no Venice. But let it", "Live on, so the good die not, till the hour", "Of Nature's summons; but \"the Ten's\" is quicker,", "And we must wait on't. Ah! a voice of wail!", " [_A faint cry within_.", "", "_Sen._ Hark!", "", "_Mem._ 'Twas a cry of--", "", "_Mar._ No, no; not my husband's--", "Not Foscari's.", "", "_Mem._ The voice was--", "", "_Mar._ _Not his_: no.", "He shriek! No; that should be his father's part,", "Not his--not his--he'll die in silence.", " [_A faint groan again within_.", "", "_Mem._ What!", "Again?", "", "_Mar._ _His_ voice! it seemed so: I will not", "Believe it. Should he shrink, I cannot cease", "To love; but--no--no--no--it must have been", "A fearful pang, which wrung a groan from him.", "", "_Sen._ And, feeling for thy husband's wrongs, wouldst thou", "Have him bear more than mortal pain in silence?", "", "_Mar._ We all must bear our tortures. I have not", "Left barren the great house of Foscari,", "Though they sweep both the Doge and son from life;", "I have endured as much in giving life", "To those who will succeed them, as they can", "In leaving it: but mine were joyful pangs:", "And yet they wrung me till I _could_ have shrieked,", "But did not; for my hope was to bring forth", "Heroes, and would not welcome them with tears.", "", "_Mem._ All's silent now.", "", "_Mar._ Perhaps all's over; but", "I will not deem it: he hath nerved himself,", "And now defies them.", "", " _Enter an Officer hastily_.", "", "_Mem._ How now, friend, what seek you?", "", "_Offi._ A leech. The prisoner has fainted. [_Exit Officer_.", "", "_Mem._ Lady,", "'Twere better to retire.", "", "_Sen._ (_offering to assist her_), I pray thee do so.", "", "_Mar._ Off! _I_ will tend him.", "", "_Mem._ You! Remember, lady!", "Ingress is given to none within those chambers", "Except \"the Ten,\" and their familiars.", "", "_Mar._ Well,", "I know that none who enter there return", "As they have entered--many never; but", "They shall not balk my entrance.", "", "_Mem._ Alas! this", "Is but to expose yourself to harsh repulse,", "And worse suspense.", "", "_Mar._ Who shall oppose me?", "", "_Mem._ They", "Whose duty 'tis to do so.", "", "_Mar._ 'Tis _their_ duty", "To trample on all human feelings, all", "Ties which bind man to man, to emulate", "The fiends who will one day requite them in", "Variety of torturing! Yet I'll pass.", "", "_Mem._ It is impossible.", "", "_Mar._ That shall be tried.", "Despair defies even despotism: there is", "That in my heart would make its way through hosts", "With levelled spears; and think you a few jailors", "Shall put me from my path? Give me, then, way;", "This is the Doge's palace; I am wife", "Of the Duke's son, the _innocent_ Duke's son,", "And they shall hear this!", "", "_Mem._ It will only serve", "More to exasperate his judges.", "", "_Mar._ What", "Are _judges_ who give way to anger? they", "Who do so are assassins. Give me way. [_Exit_ MARINA.", "", "_Sen._ Poor lady!", "", "_Mem._ 'Tis mere desperation: she", "Will not be admitted o'er the threshold.", "", "_Sen._ And", "Even if she be so, cannot save her husband.", "But, see, the officer returns.", " [_The Officer passes over the stage with another person_.", "", "_Mem._ I hardly", "Thought that \"the Ten\" had even this touch of pity,", "Or would permit assistance to this sufferer.", "", "_Sen._ Pity! Is't pity to recall to feeling", "The wretch too happy to escape to Death", "By the compassionate trance, poor Nature's last", "Resource against the tyranny of pain?", "", "_Mem._ I marvel they condemn him not at once.", "", "_Sen._ That's not their policy: they'd have him live,", "Because he fears not death; and banish him,", "Because all earth, except his native land,", "To him is one wide prison, and each breath", "Of foreign air he draws seems a slow poison,", "Consuming but not killing.", "", "_Mem._ Circumstance", "Confirms his crimes, but he avows them not.", "", "_Sen._ None, save the Letter, which, he says, was written", "Addressed to Milan's duke, in the full knowledge", "That it would fall into the Senate's hands,", "And thus he should be re-conveyed to Venice.", "", "_Mem._ But as a culprit.", "", "_Sen._ Yes, but to his country;", "And that was all he sought,--so he avouches.", "", "_Mem._ The accusation of the bribes was proved.", "", "_Sen._ Not clearly, and the charge of homicide", "Has been annulled by the death-bed confession", "Of Nicolas Erizzo, who slew the late", "Chief of \"the Ten.\"", "", "_Mem._ Then why not clear him?", "", "_Sen._ That", "They ought to answer; for it is well known", "That Almoro Donato, as I said,", "Was slain by Erizzo for private vengeance.", "", "_Mem._ There must be more in this strange process than", "The apparent crimes of the accused disclose--", "But here come two of \"the Ten;\" let us retire.", " [_Exeunt_ MEMMO _and Senator_.", "", " _Enter_ LOREDANO _and_ BARBARIGO.", "", "_Bar._ (_addressing_ LOR.).", "That were too much: believe me, 'twas not meet", "The trial should go further at this moment.", "", "_Lor._ And so the Council must break up, and Justice", "Pause in her full career, because a woman", "Breaks in on our deliberations?", "", "_Bar._ No,", "That's not the cause; you saw the prisoner's state.", "", "_Lor._ And had he not recovered?", "", "_Bar._ To relapse", "Upon the least renewal.", "", "_Lor._ 'Twas not tried.", "", "_Bar._ 'Tis vain to murmur; the majority", "In council were against you.", "", "_Lor._ Thanks to _you_, sir,", "And the old ducal dotard, who combined", "The worthy voices which o'er-ruled my own.", "", "_Bar._ I am a judge; but must confess that part", "Of our stern duty, which prescribes the Question,", "And bids us sit and see its sharp infliction,", "Makes me wish--", "", "_Lor._ What?", "", "_Bar._ That _you_ would _sometimes_ feel,", "As I do always.", "", "_Lor._ Go to, you're a child,", "Infirm of feeling as of purpose, blown", "About by every breath, shook by a sigh,", "And melted by a tear--a precious judge", "For Venice! and a worthy statesman to", "Be partner in my policy.", "", "_Bar._ He shed", "No tears.", "", "_Lor._ He cried out twice.", "", "_Bar._ A Saint had done so,", "Even with the crown of Glory in his eye,", "At such inhuman artifice of pain", "As was forced on him; but he did not cry", "For pity; not a word nor groan escaped him,", "And those two shrieks were not in supplication,", "But wrung from pangs, and followed by no prayers.", "", "_Lor._ He muttered many times between his teeth,", "But inarticulately.", "", "_Bar._ That I heard not:", "You stood more near him.", "", "_Lor._ I did so.", "", "_Bar._ Methought,", "To my surprise too, you were touched with mercy,", "And were the first to call out for assistance", "When he was failing.", "", "_Lor._ I believed that swoon", "His last.", "", "_Bar._ And have I not oft heard thee name", "His and his father's death your nearest wish?", "", "_Lor._ If he dies innocent, that is to say,", "With his guilt unavowed, he'll be lamented.", "", "_Bar._ What, wouldst thou slay his memory?", "", "_Lor._ Wouldst thou have", "His state descend to his children, as it must,", "If he die unattainted?", "", "_Bar._ War with _them_ too?", "", "_Lor._ With all their house, till theirs or mine are nothing.", "", "_Bar._ And the deep agony of his pale wife,", "And the repressed convulsion of the high", "And princely brow of his old father, which", "Broke forth in a slight shuddering, though rarely,", "Or in some clammy drops, soon wiped away", "In stern serenity; these moved you not?", " [_Exit_ LOREDANO.", "He's silent in his hate, as Foscari", "Was in his suffering; and the poor wretch moved me", "More by his silence than a thousand outcries", "Could have effected. 'Twas a dreadful sight", "When his distracted wife broke through into", "The hall of our tribunal, and beheld", "What we could scarcely look upon, long used", "To such sights. I must think no more of this,", "Lest I forget in this compassion for", "Our foes, their former injuries, and lose", "The hold of vengeance Loredano plans", "For him and me; but mine would be content", "With lesser retribution than he thirsts for,", "And I would mitigate his deeper hatred", "To milder thoughts; but, for the present, Foscari", "Has a short hourly respite, granted at", "The instance of the elders of the Council,", "Moved doubtless by his wife's appearance in", "The hall, and his own sufferings.--Lo! they come:", "How feeble and forlorn! I cannot bear", "To look on them again in this extremity:", "I'll hence, and try to soften Loredano.", " [_Exit_ BARBARIGO.", "", "ACT II.", "", "SCENE I.--_A hall in the_ DOGE'S _Palace_.", "", " _The_ DOGE _and a Senator_.", "", "_Sen._ Is it your pleasure to sign the report", "Now, or postpone it till to-morrow?", "", "_Doge_. Now;", "I overlooked it yesterday: it wants", "Merely the signature. Give me the pen--", " [_The_ DOGE _sits down and signs the paper_.", "There, Signor.", "", "_Sen._ (_looking at the paper_). You have forgot; it is not signed.", "", "_Doge_. Not signed? Ah, I perceive my eyes begin", "To wax more weak with age. I did not see", "That I had dipped the pen without effect.", "", "_Sen._ (_dipping the pen into the ink, and placing the paper", "before the_ DOGE). Your hand, too, shakes, my Lord: allow me, thus--", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis done, I thank you.", "", "_Sen._ Thus the act confirmed", "By you and by \"the Ten\" gives peace to Venice.", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis long since she enjoyed it: may it be", "As long ere she resume her arms!", "", "_Sen._ 'Tis almost", "Thirty-four years of nearly ceaseless warfare", "With the Turk, or the powers of Italy;", "The state had need of some repose.", "", "_Doge_. No doubt:", "I found her Queen of Ocean, and I leave her", "Lady of Lombardy; it is a comfort", "That I have added to her diadem", "The gems of Brescia and Ravenna; Crema", "And Bergamo no less are hers; her realm", "By land has grown by thus much in my reign,", "While her sea-sway has not shrunk.", "", "_Sen._ 'Tis most true,", "And merits all our country's gratitude.", "", "_Doge_. Perhaps so.", "", "_Sen._ Which should be made manifest.", "", "_Doge_. I have not complained, sir.", "", "_Sen._ My good Lord, forgive me.", "", "_Doge_. For what?", "", "_Sen._ My heart bleeds for you.", "", "_Doge_. For me, Signor?", "", "_Sen._ And for your----", "", "_Doge_. Stop!", "", "_Sen._ It must have way, my Lord:", "I have too many duties towards you", "And all your house, for past and present kindness,", "Not to feel deeply for your son.", "", "_Doge_. Was this", "In your commission?", "", "_Sen._ What, my Lord?", "", "_Doge_. This prattle", "Of things you know not: but the treaty's signed;", "Return with it to them who sent you.", "", "_Sen._ I", "Obey. I had in charge, too, from the Council,", "That you would fix an hour for their reunion.", "", "_Doge_. Say, when they will--now, even at this moment,", "If it so please them: I am the State's servant.", "", "_Sen._ They would accord some time for your repose.", "", "_Doge_. I have no repose, that is, none which shall cause", "The loss of an hour's time unto the State.", "Let them meet when they will, I shall be found", "_Where_ I should be, and _what_ I have been ever.", " [_Exit Senator. The_ DOGE _remains in silence_.", "", " _Enter an Attendant_.", "", "_Att._ Prince!", "", "_Doge_. Say on.", "", "_Att._ The illustrious lady Foscari", "Requests an audience.", "", "_Doge_. Bid her enter. Poor", "Marina!", " [_Exit Attendant. The_ DOGE _remains in silence as before_.", "", " _Enter MARINA_.", "", "_Mar._ I have ventured, father, on", "Your privacy.", "", "_Doge_. I have none from you, my child.", "Command my time, when not commanded by", "The State.", "", "_Mar._ I wished to speak to you of _him_.", "", "_Doge_. Your husband?", "", "_Mar._ And your son.", "", "_Doge_. Proceed, my daughter!", "", "_Mar._ I had obtained permission from \"the Ten\"", "To attend my husband for a limited number", "Of hours.", "", "_Doge_. You had so.", "", "_Mar._ 'Tis revoked.", "", "_Doge_. By whom?", "", "_Mar._ \"The Ten.\"--When we had reached \"the Bridge of Sighs,\"", "Which I prepared to pass with Foscari,", "The gloomy guardian of that passage first", "Demurred: a messenger was sent back to", "\"The Ten;\"--but as the Court no longer sate,", "And no permission had been given in writing,", "I was thrust back, with the assurance that", "Until that high tribunal reassembled", "The dungeon walls must still divide us.", "", "_Doge_. True,", "The form has been omitted in the haste", "With which the court adjourned; and till it meets,", "'Tis dubious.", "", "_Mar._ Till it meets! and when it meets,", "They'll torture him again; and he and I", "Must purchase by renewal of the rack", "The interview of husband and of wife,", "The holiest tie beneath the Heavens!--Oh God!", "Dost thou see this?", "", "_Doge_. Child--child----", "", "_Mar._ (_abruptly_). Call _me_ not \"child!\"", "You soon will have no children--you deserve none--", "You, who can talk thus calmly of a son", "In circumstances which would call forth tears", "Of blood from Spartans! Though these did not weep", "Their boys who died in battle, is it written", "That they beheld them perish piecemeal, nor", "Stretched forth a hand to save them?", "", "_Doge_. You behold me:", "I cannot weep--I would I could; but if", "Each white hair on this head were a young life,", "This ducal cap the Diadem of earth,", "This ducal ring with which I wed the waves", "A talisman to still them--I'd give all", "For him.", "", "_Mar._ With less he surely might be saved.", "", "_Doge_. That answer only shows you know not Venice.", "Alas! how should you? she knows not herself,", "In all her mystery. Hear me--they who aim", "At Foscari, aim no less at his father;", "The sire's destruction would not save the son;", "They work by different means to the same end,", "And that is--but they have not conquered yet.", "", "_Mar._ But they have crushed.", "", "_Doge_. Nor crushed as yet--I live.", "", "_Mar._ And your son,--how long will he live?", "", "_Doge_. I trust,", "For all that yet is past, as many years", "And happier than his father. The rash boy,", "With womanish impatience to return,", "Hath ruined all by that detected letter:", "A high crime, which I neither can deny", "Nor palliate, as parent or as Duke:", "Had he but borne a little, little longer", "His Candiote exile, I had hopes--he has quenched them--", "He must return.", "", "_Mar._ To exile?", "", "_Doge_. I have said it.", "", "_Mar._ And can I not go with him?", "", "_Doge_. You well know", "This prayer of yours was twice denied before", "By the assembled \"Ten,\" and hardly now", "Will be accorded to a third request,", "Since aggravated errors on the part", "Of your Lord renders them still more austere.", "", "_Mar._ Austere? Atrocious! The old human fiends,", "With one foot in the grave, with dim eyes, strange", "To tears save drops of dotage, with long white", "And scanty hairs, and shaking hands, and heads", "As palsied as their hearts are hard, they counsel,", "Cabal, and put men's lives out, as if Life", "Were no more than the feelings long extinguished", "In their accurséd bosoms.", "", "_Doge_. You know not----", "", "_Mar._ I do--I do--and so should you, methinks--", "That these are demons: could it be else that", "Men, who have been of women born and suckled--", "Who have loved, or talked at least of Love--have given", "Their hands in sacred vows--have danced their babes", "Upon their knees, perhaps have mourned above them--", "In pain, in peril, or in death--who are,", "Or were, at least in seeming, human, could", "Do as they have done by yours, and you yourself--", "_You_, who abet them?", "", "_Doge_. I forgive this, for", "You know not what you say.", "", "_Mar._ _You_ know it well,", "And feel it nothing.", "", "_Doge_. I have borne so much,", "That words have ceased to shake me.", "", "_Mar._ Oh, no doubt!", "You have seen your son's blood flow, and your flesh shook not;", "And after that, what are a woman's words?", "No more than woman's tears, that they should shake you.", "", "_Doge_. Woman, this clamorous grief of thine, I tell thee,", "Is no more in the balance weighed with that", "Which----but I pity thee, my poor Marina!", "", "_Mar._ Pity my husband, or I cast it from me;", "Pity thy son! _Thou_ pity!--'tis a word", "Strange to thy heart--how came it on thy lips?", "", "_Doge_. I must bear these reproaches, though they wrong me.", "Couldst thou but read----", "", "_Mar._ 'Tis not upon thy brow,", "Nor in thine eyes, nor in thine acts,--where then", "Should I behold this sympathy? or shall?", "", "_Doge_ (_pointing downwards_). There.", "", "_Mar._ In the earth?", "", "_Doge_. To which I am tending: when", "It lies upon this heart, far lightlier, though", "Loaded with marble, than the thoughts which press it", "Now, you will know me better.", "", "_Mar._ Are you, then,", "Indeed, thus to be pitied?", "", "_Doge_. Pitied! None", "Shall ever use that base word, with which men", "Cloak their soul's hoarded triumph, as a fit one", "To mingle with my name; that name shall be,", "As far as _I_ have borne it, what it was", "When I received it.", "", "_Mar._ But for the poor children", "Of him thou canst not, or thou wilt not save,", "You were the last to bear it.", "", "_Doge_. Would it were so!", "Better for him he never had been born;", "Better for me.--I have seen our house dishonoured.", "", "_Mar._ That's false! A truer, nobler, trustier heart,", "More loving, or more loyal, never beat", "Within a human breast. I would not change", "My exiled, persecuted, mangled husband,", "Oppressed but not disgraced, crushed, overwhelmed,", "Alive, or dead, for Prince or Paladin", "In story or in fable, with a world", "To back his suit. Dishonoured!--_he_ dishonoured!", "I tell thee, Doge, 'tis Venice is dishonoured;", "His name shall be her foulest, worst reproach,", "For what he suffers, not for what he did.", "'Tis ye who are all traitors, Tyrant!--ye!", "Did you but love your Country like this victim", "Who totters back in chains to tortures, and", "Submits to all things rather than to exile,", "You'd fling yourselves before him, and implore", "His grace for your enormous guilt.", "", "_Doge_. He was", "Indeed all you have said. I better bore", "The deaths of the two sons Heaven took from me,", "Than Jacopo's disgrace.", "", "_Mar._ That word again?", "", "_Doge_. Has he not been condemned?", "", "_Mar._ Is none but guilt so?", "", "_Doge_. Time may restore his memory--I would hope so.", "He was my pride, my----but 'tis useless now--", "I am not given to tears, but wept for joy", "When he was born: those drops were ominous.", "", "_Mar._ I say he's innocent! And were he not so,", "Is our own blood and kin to shrink from us", "In fatal moments?", "", "_Doge_. I shrank not from him:", "But I have other duties than a father's;", "The state would not dispense me from those duties;", "Twice I demanded it, but was refused:", "They must then be fulfilled.", "", " _Enter an Attendant_.", "", "_Att._ A message from", "\"The Ten.\"", "", "_Doge_. Who bears it?", "", "_Att._ Noble Loredano.", "", "_Doge_. He!--but admit him. [_Exit Attendant_.", "", "_Mar._ Must I then retire?", "", "_Doge_. Perhaps it is not requisite, if this", "Concerns your husband, and if not----Well, Signor,", " [_To_ LOREDANO _entering_.", "Your pleasure?", "", "_Lor._ I bear that of \"the Ten.\"", "", "_Doge_. They", "Have chosen well their envoy.", "", "_Lor._ 'Tis _their_ choice", "Which leads me here.", "", "_Doge_. It does their wisdom honour,", "And no less to their courtesy.--Proceed.", "", "_Lor._ We have decided.", "", "_Doge_. We?", "", "_Lor._ \"The Ten\" in council.", "", "_Doge_. What! have they met again, and met without", "Apprising me?", "", "_Lor._ They wished to spare your feelings,", "No less than age.", "", "_Doge_. That's new--when spared they either?", "I thank them, notwithstanding.", "", "_Lor._ You know well", "That they have power to act at their discretion,", "With or without the presence of the Doge.", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis some years since I learned this, long before", "I became Doge, or dreamed of such advancement.", "You need not school me, Signor; I sate in", "That Council when you were a young patrician.", "", "_Lor._ True, in my father's time; I have heard him and", "The Admiral, his brother, say as much.", "Your Highness may remember them; they both", "Died suddenly.", "", "_Doge_. And if they did so, better", "So die than live on lingeringly in pain.", "", "_Lor._ No doubt: yet most men like to live their days out.", "", "_Doge_. And did not they?", "", "_Lor._ The Grave knows best: they died,", "As I said, suddenly.", "", "_Doge_. Is that so strange,", "That you repeat the word emphatically?", "", "_Lor._ So far from strange, that never was there death", "In my mind half so natural as theirs.", "Think _you_ not so?", "", "_Doge_. What should I think of mortals?", "", "_Lor._ That they have mortal foes.", "", "_Doge_. I understand you;", "Your sires were mine, and you are heir in all things.", "", "_Lor._ You best know if I should be so.", "", "_Doge_. I do.", "Your fathers were my foes, and I have heard", "Foul rumours were abroad; I have also read", "Their epitaph, attributing their deaths", "To poison. 'Tis perhaps as true as most", "Inscriptions upon tombs, and yet no less", "A fable.", "", "_Lor._ Who dares say so?", "", "_Doge_. I!----'Tis true", "Your fathers were mine enemies, as bitter", "As their son e'er can be, and I no less", "Was theirs; but I was _openly_ their foe:", "I never worked by plot in Council, nor", "Cabal in commonwealth, nor secret means", "Of practice against life by steel or drug.", "The proof is--your existence.", "", "_Lor._ I fear not.", "", "_Doge_. You have no cause, being what I am; but were I", "That you would have me thought, you long ere now", "Were past the sense of fear. Hate on; I care not.", "", "_Lor._ I never yet knew that a noble's life", "In Venice had to dread a Doge's frown,", "That is, by open means.", "", "_Doge_. But I, good Signor,", "Am, or at least _was_, more than a mere duke,", "In blood, in mind, in means; and that they know", "Who dreaded to elect me, and have since", "Striven all they dare to weigh me down: be sure,", "Before or since that period, had I held you", "At so much price as to require your absence,", "A word of mine had set such spirits to work", "As would have made you nothing. But in all things", "I have observed the strictest reverence;", "Not for the laws alone, for those _you_ have strained", "(I do not speak of _you_ but as a single", "Voice of the many) somewhat beyond what", "I could enforce for my authority,", "Were I disposed to brawl; but, as I said,", "I have observed with veneration, like", "A priest's for the High Altar, even unto", "The sacrifice of my own blood and quiet,", "Safety, and all save honour, the decrees,", "The health, the pride, and welfare of the State.", "And now, sir, to your business.", "", "_Lor._ 'Tis decreed,", "That, without further repetition of", "The Question, or continuance of the trial,", "Which only tends to show how stubborn guilt is,", "(\"The Ten,\" dispensing with the stricter law", "Which still prescribes the Question till a full", "Confession, and the prisoner partly having", "Avowed his crime in not denying that", "The letter to the Duke of Milan's his),", "James Foscari return to banishment,", "And sail in the same galley which conveyed him.", "", "_Mar._ Thank God! At least they will not drag him more", "Before that horrible tribunal. Would he", "But think so, to my mind the happiest doom,", "Not he alone, but all who dwell here, could", "Desire, were to escape from such a land.", "", "_Doge_. That is not a Venetian thought, my daughter.", "", "_Mar._ No, 'twas too human. May I share his exile?", "", "_Lor._ Of this \"the Ten\" said nothing.", "", "_Mar._ So I thought!", "That were too human, also. But it was not", "Inhibited?", "", "_Lor._ It was not named.", "", "_Mar. (to the Doge_). Then, father,", "Surely you can obtain or grant me thus much:", " [_To_ LOREDANO.", "And you, sir, not oppose my prayer to be", "Permitted to accompany my husband.", "", "_Doge_. I will endeavour.", "", "_Mar._ And you, Signor?", "", "_Lor._ Lady!", "'Tis not for me to anticipate the pleasure", "Of the tribunal.", "", "_Mar._ Pleasure! what a word", "To use for the decrees of----", "", "_Doge_. Daughter, know you", "In what a presence you pronounce these things?", "", "_Mar._ A Prince's and his subject's.", "", "_Lor._ Subject!", "", "_Mar._ Oh!", "It galls you:--well, you are his equal, as", "You think; but that you are not, nor would be,", "Were he a peasant:--well, then, you're a Prince,", "A princely noble; and what then am I?", "", "_Lor._ The offspring of a noble house.", "", "_Mar._ And wedded", "To one as noble. What, or whose, then, is", "The presence that should silence my free thoughts?", "", "_Lor._ The presence of your husband's Judges.", "", "_Doge_. And", "The deference due even to the lightest word", "That falls from those who rule in Venice.", "", "_Mar._ Keep", "Those maxims for your mass of scared mechanics,", "Your merchants, your Dalmatian and Greek slaves,", "Your tributaries, your dumb citizens,", "And masked nobility, your sbirri, and", "Your spies, your galley and your other slaves,", "To whom your midnight carryings off and drownings,", "Your dungeons next the palace roofs, or under", "The water's level; your mysterious meetings,", "And unknown dooms, and sudden executions,", "Your \"Bridge of Sighs,\" your strangling chamber, and", "Your torturing instruments, have made ye seem", "The beings of another and worse world!", "Keep such for them: I fear ye not. I know ye;", "Have known and proved your worst, in the infernal", "Process of my poor husband! Treat me as", "Ye treated him:--you did so, in so dealing", "With him. Then what have I to fear _from_ you,", "Even if I were of fearful nature, which", "I trust I am not?", "", "_Doge_. You hear, she speaks wildly.", "", "_Mar._ Not wisely, yet not wildly.", "", "_Lor._ Lady! words", "Uttered within these walls I bear no further", "Than to the threshold, saving such as pass", "Between the Duke and me on the State's service.", "Doge! have you aught in answer?", "", "_Doge_. Something from", "The Doge; it may be also from a parent.", "", "_Lor._ My mission _here_ is to the _Doge_.", "", "_Doge_. Then say", "The Doge will choose his own ambassador,", "Or state in person what is meet; and for", "The father----", "", "_Lor._ I remember _mine_.--Farewell!", "I kiss the hands of the illustrious Lady,", "And bow me to the Duke. [_Exit_ LOREDANO.", "", "_Mar._ Are you content?", "", "_Doge_. I am what you behold.", "", "_Mar._ And that's a mystery.", "", "_Doge_. All things are so to mortals; who can read them", "Save he who made? or, if they can, the few", "And gifted spirits, who have studied long", "That loathsome volume--man, and pored upon", "Those black and bloody leaves, his heart and brain,", "But learn a magic which recoils upon", "The adept who pursues it: all the sins", "We find in others, Nature made our own;", "All our advantages are those of Fortune;", "Birth, wealth, health, beauty, are her accidents,", "And when we cry out against Fate, 'twere well", "We should remember Fortune can take nought", "Save what she _gave_--the rest was nakedness,", "And lusts, and appetites, and vanities,", "The universal heritage, to battle", "With as we may, and least in humblest stations,", "Where Hunger swallows all in one low want,", "And the original ordinance, that man", "Must sweat for his poor pittance, keeps all passions", "Aloof, save fear of famine! All is low,", "And false, and hollow--clay from first to last,", "The Prince's urn no less than potter's vessel.", "Our Fame is in men's breath, our lives upon", "Less than their breath; our durance upon days", "Our days on seasons; our whole being on", "Something which is not _us_!--So, we are slaves,", "The greatest as the meanest--nothing rests", "Upon our will; the will itself no less", "Depends upon a straw than on a storm;", "And when we think we lead, we are most led,", "And still towards Death, a thing which comes as much", "Without our act or choice as birth, so that", "Methinks we must have sinned in some old world,", "And _this_ is Hell: the best is, that it is not", "Eternal.", "", "_Mar._ These are things we cannot judge", "On earth.", "", "_Doge_. And how then shall we judge each other,", "Who are all earth, and I, who am called upon", "To judge my son? I have administered", "My country faithfully--victoriously--", "I dare them to the proof, the _chart_ of what", "She was and is: my reign has doubled realms;", "And, in reward, the gratitude of Venice", "Has left, or is about to leave, _me_ single.", "", "_Mar._ And Foscari? I do not think of such things,", "So I be left with him.", "", "_Doge_. You shall be so;", "Thus much they cannot well deny.", "", "_Mar._ And if", "They should, I will fly with him.", "", "_Doge_. That can ne'er be.", "And whither would you fly?", "", "_Mar._ I know not, reck not--", "To Syria, Egypt, to the Ottoman--", "Any where, where we might respire unfettered,", "And live nor girt by spies, nor liable", "To edicts of inquisitors of state.", "", "_Doge_. What, wouldst thou have a renegade for husband,", "And turn him into traitor?", "", "_Mar._ He is none!", "The Country is the traitress, which thrusts forth", "Her best and bravest from her. Tyranny", "Is far the worst of treasons. Dost thou deem", "None rebels except subjects? The Prince who", "Neglects or violates his trust is more", "A brigand than the robber-chief.", "", "_Doge_. I cannot", "Charge me with such a breach of faith.", "", "_Mar_ No; thou", "Observ'st, obey'st such laws as make old Draco's", "A code of mercy by comparison.", "", "_Doge_. I found the law; I did not make it. Were I", "A subject, still I might find parts and portions", "Fit for amendment; but as Prince, I never", "Would change, for the sake of my house, the charter", "Left by our fathers.", "", "_Mar._ Did they make it for", "The ruin of their children?", "", "_Doge_. Under such laws, Venice", "Has risen to what she is--a state to rival", "In deeds, and days, and sway, and, let me add,", "In glory (for we have had Roman spirits", "Amongst us), all that history has bequeathed", "Of Rome and Carthage in their best times, when", "The people swayed by Senates.", "", "_Mar._ Rather say,", "Groaned under the stern Oligarchs.", "", "_Doge_. Perhaps so;", "But yet subdued the World: in such a state", "An individual, be he richest of", "Such rank as is permitted, or the meanest,", "Without a name, is alike nothing, when", "The policy, irrevocably tending", "To one great end, must be maintained in vigour.", "", "_Mar._ This means that you are more a Doge than father.", "", "_Doge_. It means, I am more citizen than either.", "If we had not for many centuries", "Had thousands of such citizens, and shall,", "I trust, have still such, Venice were no city.", "", "_Mar._ Accurséd be the city where the laws", "Would stifle Nature's!", "", "_Doge_. Had I as many sons", "As I have years, I would have given them all,", "Not without feeling, but I would have given them", "To the State's service, to fulfil her wishes,", "On the flood, in the field, or, if it must be,", "As it, alas! has been, to ostracism,", "Exile, or chains, or whatsoever worse", "She might decree.", "", "_Mar._ And this is Patriotism?", "To me it seems the worst barbarity.", "Let me seek out my husband: the sage \"Ten,\"", "With all its jealousy, will hardly war", "So far with a weak woman as deny me", "A moment's access to his dungeon.", "", "_Doge_. I'll", "So far take on myself, as order that", "You may be admitted.", "", "_Mar._ And what shall I say", "To Foscari from his father?", "", "_Doge_. That he obey", "The laws.", "", "_Mar._ And nothing more? Will you not see him", "Ere he depart? It may be the last time.", "", "_Doge_. The last!--my boy!--the last time I shall see", "My last of children! Tell him I will come. [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT III.", "", "SCENE I.--_The prison of_ JACOPO FOSCARI.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ (_solus_).", "No light, save yon faint gleam which shows me walls", "Which never echoed but to Sorrow's sounds,", "The sigh of long imprisonment, the step", "Of feet on which the iron clanked the groan", "Of Death, the imprecation of Despair!", "And yet for this I have returned to Venice,", "With some faint hope, 'tis true, that Time, which wears", "The marble down, had worn away the hate", "Of men's hearts; but I knew them not, and here", "Must I consume my own, which never beat", "For Venice but with such a yearning as", "The dove has for her distant nest, when wheeling", "High in the air on her return to greet", "Her callow brood. What letters are these which", " [_Approaching the wall_.", "Are scrawled along the inexorable wall?", "Will the gleam let me trace them? Ah! the names", "Of my sad predecessors in this place,", "The dates of their despair, the brief words of", "A grief too great for many. This stone page", "Holds like an epitaph their history;", "And the poor captive's tale is graven on", "His dungeon barrier, like the lover's record", "Upon the bark of some tall tree, which bears", "His own and his belovéd's name. Alas!", "I recognise some names familiar to me,", "And blighted like to mine, which I will add,", "Fittest for such a chronicle as this,", "Which only can be read, as writ, by wretches.", " [_He engraves his name_.", "", " _Enter a Familiar of \"the Ten.\"_", "", "_Fam._ I bring you food.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I pray you set it down;", "I am past hunger: but my lips are parched--", "The water!", "", "_Fam._ There.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ (_after drinking_). I thank you: I am better.", "", "_Fam._ I am commanded to inform you that", "Your further trial is postponed.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Till when?", "", "_Fam._ I know not.--It is also in my orders", "That your illustrious lady be admitted.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Ah! they relent, then--I had ceased to hope it:", "'Twas time.", "", " _Enter_ MARINA.", "", "_Mar._ My best belovéd!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ (_embracing her_). My true wife,", "And only friend! What happiness!", "", "_Mar._ We'll part", "No more.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ How! would'st thou share a dungeon?", "", "_Mar._ Aye,", "The rack, the grave, all--any thing with thee,", "But the tomb last of all, for there we shall", "Be ignorant of each other, yet I will", "Share that--all things except new separation;", "It is too much to have survived the first.", "How dost thou? How are those worn limbs? Alas!", "Why do I ask? Thy paleness----", "", "_Jac. Fos._ 'Tis the joy", "Of seeing thee again so soon, and so", "Without expectancy, has sent the blood", "Back to my heart, and left my cheeks like thine,", "For thou art pale too, my Marina!", "", "_Mar._ 'Tis", "The gloom of this eternal cell, which never", "Knew sunbeam, and the sallow sullen glare", "Of the familiar's torch, which seems akin", "To darkness more than light, by lending to", "The dungeon vapours its bituminous smoke,", "Which cloud whate'er we gaze on, even thine eyes--", "No, not thine eyes--they sparkle--how they sparkle!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And thine!--but I am blinded by the torch.", "", "_Mar._ As I had been without it. Couldst thou see here?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Nothing at first; but use and time had taught me", "Familiarity with what was darkness;", "And the grey twilight of such glimmerings as", "Glide through the crevices made by the winds", "Was kinder to mine eyes than the full Sun,", "When gorgeously o'ergilding any towers", "Save those of Venice; but a moment ere", "Thou earnest hither I was busy writing.", "", "_Mar._ What?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ My name: look, 'tis there--recorded next", "The name of him who here preceded me,--", "If dungeon dates say true.", "", "_Mar._ And what of him?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ These walls are silent of men's ends; they only", "Seem to hint shrewdly of them. Such stern walls", "Were never piled on high save o'er the dead,", "Or those who soon must be so.--_What of him?_", "Thou askest.--What of me? may soon be asked,", "With the like answer--doubt and dreadful surmise--", "Unless thou tell'st my tale.", "", "_Mar._ _I speak_ of thee!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And wherefore not? All then shall speak of me:", "The tyranny of silence is not lasting,", "And, though events be hidden, just men's groans", "Will burst all cerement, even a living grave's!", "I do not _doubt_ my memory, but my life;", "And neither do I fear.", "", "_Mar._ Thy life is safe.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And liberty?", "", "_Mar._ The mind should make its own!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ That has a noble sound; but 'tis a sound,", "A music most impressive, but too transient:", "The Mind is much, but is not all. The Mind", "Hath nerved me to endure the risk of death,", "And torture positive, far worse than death", "(If death be a deep sleep), without a groan,", "Or with a cry which rather shamed my judges", "Than me; but 'tis not all, for there are things", "More woful--such as this small dungeon, where", "I may breathe many years.", "", "_Mar._ Alas! and this", "Small dungeon is all that belongs to thee", "Of this wide realm, of which thy sire is Prince.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ That thought would scarcely aid me to endure it.", "My doom is common; many are in dungeons,", "But none like mine, so near their father's palace;", "But then my heart is sometimes high, and hope", "Will stream along those moted rays of light", "Peopled with dusty atoms, which afford", "Our only day; for, save the gaoler's torch,", "And a strange firefly, which was quickly caught", "Last night in yon enormous spider's net,", "I ne'er saw aught here like a ray. Alas!", "I know if mind may bear us up, or no,", "For I have such, and shown it before men;", "It sinks in solitude: my soul is social.", "", "_Mar._ I will be with thee.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Ah! if it were so!", "But _that_ they never granted--nor will grant,", "And I shall be alone: no men; no books--", "Those lying likenesses of lying men.", "I asked for even those outlines of their kind,", "Which they term annals, history, what you will,", "Which men bequeath as portraits, and they were", "Refused me,--so these walls have been my study,", "More faithful pictures of Venetian story,", "With all their blank, or dismal stains, than is", "The Hall not far from hence, which bears on high", "Hundreds of Doges, and their deeds and dates.", "", "_Mar._ I come to tell thee the result of their", "Last council on thy doom.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I know it--look!", "", " [_He points to his limbs, as referring to the Question", " which he had undergone_.", "", "_Mar._ No--no--no more of that: even they relent", "From that atrocity.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ What then?", "", "_Mar._ That you", "Return to Candia.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Then my last hope's gone.", "I could endure my dungeon, for 'twas Venice;", "I could support the torture, there was something", "In my native air that buoyed my spirits up", "Like a ship on the Ocean tossed by storms,", "But proudly still bestriding the high waves,", "And holding on its course; but _there_, afar,", "In that accurséd isle of slaves and captives,", "And unbelievers, like a stranded wreck,", "My very soul seemed mouldering in my bosom,", "And piecemeal I shall perish, if remanded.", "", "_Mar._ And _here_?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ At once--by better means, as briefer.", "What! would they even deny me my Sire's sepulchre,", "As well as home and heritage?", "", "_Mar._ My husband!", "I have sued to accompany thee hence,", "And not so hopelessly. This love of thine", "For an ungrateful and tyrannic soil", "Is Passion, and not Patriotism; for me,", "So I could see thee with a quiet aspect,", "And the sweet freedom of the earth and air,", "I would not cavil about climes or regions.", "This crowd of palaces and prisons is not", "A Paradise; its first inhabitants", "Were wretched exiles.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Well I know _how_ wretched!", "", "_Mar._ And yet you see how, from their banishment", "Before the Tartar into these salt isles,", "Their antique energy of mind, all that", "Remained of Rome for their inheritance,", "Created by degrees an ocean Rome;", "And shall an evil, which so often leads", "To good, depress thee thus?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Had I gone forth", "From my own land, like the old patriarchs, seeking", "Another region, with their flocks and herds;", "Had I been cast out like the Jews from Zion,", "Or like our fathers, driven by Attila", "From fertile Italy, to barren islets,", "I would have given some tears to my late country", "And many thoughts; but afterwards addressed", "Myself, with those about me, to create", "A new home and fresh state: perhaps I could", "Have borne this--though I know not.", "", "_Mar._ Wherefore not?", "It was the lot of millions, and must be", "The fate of myriads more.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Aye--we but hear", "Of the survivors' toil in their new lands,", "Their numbers and success; but who can number", "The hearts which broke in silence at that parting,", "Or after their departure; of that malady", "Which calls up green and native fields to view", "From the rough deep, with such identity", "To the poor exile's fevered eye, that he", "Can scarcely be restrained from treading them?", "That melody, which out of tones and tunes", "Collects such pasture for the longing sorrow", "Of the sad mountaineer, when far away", "From his snow canopy of cliffs and clouds,", "That he feeds on the sweet, but poisonous thought,", "And dies. You call this _weakness_! It is strength,", "I say,--the parent of all honest feeling.", "He who loves not his Country, can love nothing.", "", "_Mar._ Obey her, then: 'tis she that puts thee forth.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Aye, there it is; 'tis like a mother's curse", "Upon my soul--the mark is set upon me.", "The exiles you speak of went forth by nations,", "Their hands upheld each other by the way,", "Their tents were pitched together--I'm alone.", "", "_Mar._ You shall be so no more--I will go with thee.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ My best Marina!--and our children?", "", "_Mar._ They,", "I fear, by the prevention of the state's", "Abhorrent policy, (which holds all ties", "As threads, which may be broken at her pleasure),", "Will not be suffered to proceed with us.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And canst thou leave them?", "", "_Mar._ Yes--with many a pang!", "But--I _can_ leave them, children as they are,", "To teach you to be less a child. From this", "Learn you to sway your feelings, when exacted", "By duties paramount; and 'tis our first", "On earth to bear.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Have I not borne?", "", "_Mar._ Too much", "From tyrannous injustice, and enough", "To teach you not to shrink now from a lot,", "Which, as compared with what you have undergone", "Of late, is mercy.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Ah! you never yet", "Were far away from Venice, never saw", "Her beautiful towers in the receding distance,", "While every furrow of the vessel's track", "Seemed ploughing deep into your heart; you never", "Saw day go down upon your native spires", "So calmly with its gold and crimson glory,", "And after dreaming a disturbéd vision", "Of them and theirs, awoke and found them not.", "", "_Mar._ I will divide this with you. Let us think", "Of our departure from this much-loved city,", "(Since you must _love_ it, as it seems,) and this", "Chamber of state, her gratitude allots you.", "Our children will be cared for by the Doge,", "And by my uncles; we must sail ere night.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ That's sudden. Shall I not behold my father?", "", "_Mar._ You will.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Where?", "", "_Mar._ Here, or in the ducal chamber--", "He said not which. I would that you could bear", "Your exile as he bears it.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Blame him not.", "I sometimes murmur for a moment; but", "He could not now act otherwise. A show", "Of feeling or compassion on his part", "Would have but drawn upon his agéd head", "Suspicion from \"the Ten,\" and upon mine", "Accumulated ills.", "", "_Mar._ Accumulated!", "What pangs are those they have spared you?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ That of leaving", "Venice without beholding him or you,", "Which might have been forbidden now, as 'twas", "Upon my former exile.", "", "_Mar._ That is true,", "And thus far I am also the State's debtor,", "And shall be more so when I see us both", "Floating on the free waves--away--away--", "Be it to the earth's end, from this abhorred,", "Unjust, and----", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Curse it not. If I am silent,", "Who dares accuse my Country?", "", "_Mar._ Men and Angels!", "The blood of myriads reeking up to Heaven,", "The groans of slaves in chains, and men in dungeons,", "Mothers, and wives, and sons, and sires, and subjects,", "Held in the bondage of ten bald-heads; and", "Though last, not least, _thy silence! Couldst thou_ say", "Aught in its favour, who would praise like _thee_?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Let us address us then, since so it must be,", "To our departure. Who comes here?", "", " _Enter_ LOREDANO _attended by Familiars_.", "", "_Lor._ (_to the Familiars_). Retire,", "But leave the torch. [_Exeunt the two Familiars_.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Most welcome, noble Signor.", "I did not deem this poor place could have drawn", "Such presence hither.", "", "_Lor._ 'Tis not the first time", "I have visited these places.", "", "_Mar._ Nor would be", "The last, were all men's merits well rewarded.", "Came you here to insult us, or remain", "As spy upon us, or as hostage for us?", "", "_Lor._ Neither are of my office, noble Lady!", "I am sent hither to your husband, to", "Announce \"the Ten's\" decree.", "", "_Mar._ That tenderness", "Has been anticipated: it is known.", "", "_Lor._ As how?", "", "_Mar._ I have informed him, not so gently,", "Doubtless, as your nice feelings would prescribe,", "The indulgence of your colleagues; but he knew it.", "If you come for our thanks, take them, and hence!", "The dungeon gloom is deep enough without you,", "And full of reptiles, not less loathsome, though", "Their sting is honester.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I pray you, calm you:", "What can avail such words?", "", "_Mar._ To let him know", "That he is known.", "", "_Lor._ Let the fair dame preserve", "Her sex's privilege.", "", "_Mar._ I have some sons, sir,", "Will one day thank you better.", "", "_Lor._ You do well", "To nurse them wisely. Foscari--you know", "Your sentence, then?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Return to Candia?", "", "_Lor._ True--", "For life.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Not long.", "", "_Lor._ I said--for _life_.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And I", "Repeat--not long.", "", "_Lor._ A year's imprisonment", "In Canea--afterwards the freedom of", "The whole isle.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Both the same to me: the after", "Freedom as is the first imprisonment.", "Is't true my wife accompanies me?", "", "_Lor._ Yes,", "If she so wills it.", "", "_Mar._ Who obtained that justice?", "", "_Lor._ One who wars not with women.", "", "_Mar._ But oppresses", "Men: howsoever let him have _my_ thanks", "For the only boon I would have asked or taken", "From him or such as he is.", "", "_Lor._ He receives them", "As they are offered.", "", "_Mar._ May they thrive with him", "So much!--no more.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Is this, sir, your whole mission?", "Because we have brief time for preparation,", "And you perceive your presence doth disquiet", "This lady, of a house noble as yours.", "", "_Mar._ Nobler!", "", "_Lor._ How nobler?", "", "_Mar._ As more generous!", "We say the \"generous steed\" to express the purity", "Of his high blood. Thus much I've learnt, although", "Venetian (who see few steeds save of bronze),", "From those Venetians who have skirred the coasts", "Of Egypt and her neighbour Araby:", "And why not say as soon the \"_generous man_?\"", "If race be aught, it is in qualities", "More than in years; and mine, which is as old", "As yours, is better in its product, nay--", "Look not so stern--but get you back, and pore", "Upon your genealogic tree's most green", "Of leaves and most mature of fruits, and there", "Blush to find ancestors, who would have blushed", "For such a son--thou cold inveterate hater!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Again, Marina!", "", "_Mar._ Again! _still_, Marina.", "See you not, he comes here to glut his hate", "With a last look upon our misery?", "Let him partake it!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ That were difficult.", "", "_Mar._ Nothing more easy. He partakes it now--", "Aye, he may veil beneath a marble brow", "And sneering lip the pang, but he partakes it.", "A few brief words of truth shame the Devil's servants", "No less than Master; I have probed his soul", "A moment, as the Eternal Fire, ere long,", "Will reach it always. See how he shrinks from me!", "With death, and chains, and exile in his hand,", "To scatter o'er his kind as he thinks fit;", "They are his weapons, not his armour, for", "I have pierced him to the core of his cold heart.", "I care not for his frowns! We can but die,", "And he but live, for him the very worst", "Of destinies: each day secures him more", "His tempter's.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ This is mere insanity.", "", "_Mar._ It may be so; and _who_ hath made us _mad_?", "", "_Lor._ Let her go on; it irks not me.", "", "_Mar._ That's false!", "You came here to enjoy a heartless triumph", "Of cold looks upon manifold griefs! You came", "To be sued to in vain--to mark our tears,", "And hoard our groans--to gaze upon the wreck", "Which you have made a Prince's son--my husband;", "In short, to trample on the fallen--an office", "The hangman shrinks from, as all men from him!", "How have you sped? We are wretched, Signor, as", "Your plots could make, and vengeance could desire us,", "And how _feel you_?", "", "_Lor._ As rocks.", "", "_Mar._ By thunder blasted:", "They feel not, but no less are shivered. Come,", "Foscari; now let us go, and leave this felon,", "The sole fit habitant of such a cell,", "Which he has peopled often, but ne'er fitly", "Till he himself shall brood in it alone.", "", " _Enter the_ DOGE.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ My father!", "", "_Doge_ (_embracing him_). Jacopo! my son--my son!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ My father still! How long it is since I", "Have heard thee name my name--_our_ name!", "", "_Doge_. My boy!", "Couldst thou but know----", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I rarely, sir, have murmured.", "", "_Doge_. I feel too much thou hast not.", "", "_Mar._ Doge, look there!", " [_She points to_ LOREDANO.", "", "_Doge_. I see the man--what mean'st thou?", "", "_Mar._ Caution!", "", "_Lor._ Being", "The virtue which this noble lady most", "May practise, she doth well to recommend it.", "", "_Mar._ Wretch! 'tis no virtue, but the policy", "Of those who fain must deal perforce with vice:", "As such I recommend it, as I would", "To one whose foot was on an adder's path.", "", "_Doge_. Daughter, it is superfluous; I have long", "Known Loredano.", "", "_Lor._ You may know him better.", "", "_Mar._ Yes; _worse_ he could not.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Father, let not these", "Our parting hours be lost in listening to", "Reproaches, which boot nothing. Is it--is it,", "Indeed, our last of meetings?", "", "_Doge_. You behold", "These white hairs!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And I feel, besides, that mine", "Will never be so white. Embrace me, father!", "I loved you ever--never more than now.", "Look to my children--to your last child's children:", "Let them be all to you which he was once,", "And never be to you what I am now.", "May I not see _them_ also?", "", "_Mar._ No--not _here_.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ They might behold their parent any where.", "", "_Mar._ I would that they beheld their father in", "A place which would not mingle fear with love,", "To freeze their young blood in its natural current.", "They have fed well, slept soft, and knew not that", "Their sire was a mere hunted outlaw. Well,", "I know his fate may one day be their heritage,", "But let it only be their _heritage_,", "And not their present fee. Their senses, though", "Alive to love, are yet awake to terror;", "And these vile damps, too, and yon _thick green_ wave", "Which floats above the place where we now stand--", "A cell so far below the water's level,", "Sending its pestilence through every crevice,", "Might strike them: _this is not their_ atmosphere,", "However you--and you--and most of all,", "As worthiest--_you_, sir, noble Loredano!", "May breathe it without prejudice.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I had not", "Reflected upon this, but acquiesce.", "I shall depart, then, without meeting them?", "", "_Doge_. Not so: they shall await you in my chamber.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And must I leave them--_all_?", "", "_Lor._ You must.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Not one?", "", "_Lor._ They are the State's.", "", "_Mar._ I thought they had been mine.", "", "_Lor._ They are, in all maternal things.", "", "_Mar._ That is,", "In all things painful. If they're sick, they will", "Be left to me to tend them; should they die,", "To me to bury and to mourn; but if", "They live, they'll make you soldiers, senators,", "Slaves, exiles--what _you_ will; or if they are", "Females with portions, brides and _bribes_ for nobles!", "Behold the State's care for its sons and mothers!", "", "_Lor._ The hour approaches, and the wind is fair.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ How know you that here, where the genial wind", "Ne'er blows in all its blustering freedom?", "", "_Lor._ 'Twas so", "When I came here. The galley floats within", "A bow-shot of the \"Riva di Schiavoni.\"", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Father! I pray you to precede me, and", "Prepare my children to behold their father.", "", "_Doge_. Be firm, my son!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I will do my endeavour.", "", "_Mar._ Farewell! at least to this detested dungeon,", "And him to whose good offices you owe", "In part your past imprisonment.", "", "_Lor._ And present", "Liberation.", "", "_Doge_. He speaks truth.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ No doubt! but 'tis", "Exchange of chains for heavier chains I owe him.", "He knows this, or he had not sought to change them,", "But I reproach not.", "", "_Lor._ The time narrows, Signor.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Alas! I little thought so lingeringly", "To leave abodes like this: but when I feel", "That every step I take, even from this cell,", "Is one away from Venice, I look back", "Even on these dull damp walls, and----", "", "_Doge_. Boy! no tears.", "", "_Mar._ Let them flow on: he wept not on the rack", "To shame him, and they cannot shame him now.", "They will relieve his heart--that too kind heart--", "And I will find an hour to wipe away", "Those tears, or add my own. I could weep now,", "But would not gratify yon wretch so far.", "Let us proceed. Doge, lead the way.", "", "_Lor._ (_to the Familiar_). The torch, there!", "", "_Mar._ Yes, light us on, as to a funeral pyre,", "With Loredano mourning like an heir.", "", "_Doge_. My son, you are feeble; take this hand.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Alas!", "Must youth support itself on age, and I", "Who ought to be the prop of yours?", "", "_Lor._ Take mine.", "", "_Mar._ Touch it not, Foscari; 'twill sting you. Signor,", "Stand off! be sure, that if a grasp of yours", "Would raise us from the gulf wherein we are plunged,", "No hand of ours would stretch itself to meet it.", "Come, Foscari, take the hand the altar gave you;", "It could not save, but will support you ever. [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT IV.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Hall in the Ducal Palace_.", "", " _Enter_ LOREDANO _and_ BARBARIGO.", "", "_Bar._ And have you confidence in such a project?", "", "_Lor._ I have.", "", "_Bar._ 'Tis hard upon his years.", "", "_Lor._ Say rather", "Kind to relieve him from the cares of State.", "", "_Bar._ 'Twill break his heart.", "", "_Lor._ Age has no heart to break.", "He has seen his son's half broken, and, except", "A start of feeling in his dungeon, never", "Swerved.", "", "_Bar._ In his countenance, I grant you, never;", "But I have seen him sometimes in a calm", "So desolate, that the most clamorous grief", "Had nought to envy him within. Where is he?", "", "_Lor._ In his own portion of the palace, with", "His son, and the whole race of Foscaris.", "", "_Bar._ Bidding farewell.", "", "_Lor._ A last! as, soon, he shall", "Bid to his Dukedom.", "", "_Bar._ When embarks the son?", "", "_Lor._ Forthwith--when this long leave is taken. 'Tis", "Time to admonish them again.", "", "_Bar._ Forbear;", "Retrench not from their moments.", "", "_Lor._ Not I, now", "We have higher business for our own. This day", "Shall be the last of the old Doge's reign,", "As the first of his son's last banishment,", "And that is vengeance.", "", "_Bar._ In my mind, too deep.", "", "_Lor._ 'Tis moderate--not even life for life, the rule", "Denounced of retribution from all time;", "They owe me still my father's and my uncle's.", "", "_Bar._ Did not the Doge deny this strongly?", "", "_Lor._ Doubtless.", "", "_Bar._ And did not this shake your suspicion?", "", "_Lor._ No.", "", "_Bar._ But if this deposition should take place", "By our united influence in the Council,", "It must be done with all the deference", "Due to his years, his station, and his deeds.", "", "_Lor._ As much of ceremony as you will,", "So that the thing be done. You may, for aught", "I care, depute the Council on their knees,", "(Like Barbarossa to the Pope,) to beg him", "To have the courtesy to abdicate.", "", "_Bar._ What if he will not?", "", "_Lor._ We'll elect another,", "And make him null.", "", "_Bar._ But will the laws uphold us?", "", "_Lor._ What laws?--\"The Ten\" are laws; and if they were not,", "I will be legislator in this business.", "", "_Bar._ At your own peril?", "", "_Lor._ There is none, I tell you,", "Our powers are such.", "", "_Bar._ But he has twice already", "Solicited permission to retire,", "And twice it was refused.", "", "_Lor._ The better reason", "To grant it the third time.", "", "_Bar._ Unasked?", "", "_Lor._ It shows", "The impression of his former instances:", "If they were from his heart, he may be thankful:", "If not, 'twill punish his hypocrisy.", "Come, they are met by this time; let us join them,", "And be _thou_ fixed in purpose for this once.", "I have prepared such arguments as will not", "Fail to move them, and to remove him: since", "Their thoughts, their objects, have been sounded, do not", "_You_, with your wonted scruples, teach us pause,", "And all will prosper.", "", "_Bar._ Could I but be certain", "This is no prelude to such persecution", "Of the sire as has fallen upon the son,", "I would support you.", "", "_Lor._ He is safe, I tell you;", "His fourscore years and five may linger on", "As long as he can drag them: 'tis his throne", "Alone is aimed at.", "", "_Bar._ But discarded Princes", "Are seldom long of life.", "", "_Lor._ And men of eighty", "More seldom still.", "", "_Bar._ And why not wait these few years?", "", "_Lor._ Because we have waited long enough, and he", "Lived longer than enough. Hence! in to council!", " [_Exeunt_ LOREDANO _and_ BARBARIGO.", "", " _Enter_ MEMMO _and a Senator_.", "", "_Sen._ A summons to \"the Ten!\" why so?", "", "_Mem._ \"The Ten\"", "Alone can answer; they are rarely wont", "To let their thoughts anticipate their purpose", "By previous proclamation. We are summoned--", "That is enough.", "", "_Sen._ For them, but not for us;", "I would know why.", "", "_Mem._ You will know why anon,", "If you obey: and, if not, you no less", "Will know why you should have obeyed.", "", "_Sen._ I mean not", "To oppose them, _but_----", "", "_Mem._ In Venice \"_but_\"'s a traitor.", "But me no \"_buts_\" unless you would pass o'er", "The Bridge which few repass.", "", "_Sen._ I am silent.", "", "_Mem._ Why", "Thus hesitate? \"The Ten\" have called in aid", "Of their deliberation five and twenty", "Patricians of the Senate--you are one,", "And I another; and it seems to me", "Both honoured by the choice or chance which leads us", "To mingle with a body so august.", "", "_Sen._ Most true. I say no more.", "", "_Mem._ As we hope, Signor,", "And all may honestly, (that is, all those", "Of noble blood may,) one day hope to be", "Decemvir, it is surely for the Senate's", "Chosen delegates, a school of wisdom, to", "Be thus admitted, though as novices,", "To view the mysteries.", "", "_Sen._ Let us view them: they,", "No doubt, are worth it.", "", "_Mem._ Being worth our lives", "If we divulge them, doubtless they are worth", "Something, at least to you or me.", "", "_Sen._ I sought not", "A place within the sanctuary; but being", "Chosen, however reluctantly so chosen,", "I shall fulfil my office.", "", "_Mem._ Let us not", "Be latest in obeying \"the Ten's\" summons.", "", "_Sen._ All are not met, but I am of your thought", "So far--let's in.", "", "_Mem._ The earliest are most welcome", "In earnest councils--we will not be least so. [_Exeunt_.", "", " _Enter the_ DOGE, JACOPO FOSCARI, _and_ MARINA.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Ah, father! though I must and will depart,", "Yet--yet--I pray you to obtain for me", "That I once more return unto my home,", "Howe'er remote the period. Let there be", "A point of time, as beacon to my heart,", "With any penalty annexed they please,", "But let me still return.", "", "_Doge_. Son Jacopo,", "Go and obey our Country's will: 'tis not", "For us to look beyond.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ But still I must", "Look back. I pray you think of me.", "", "_Doge_. Alas!", "You ever were my dearest offspring, when", "They were more numerous, nor can be less so", "Now you are last; but did the State demand", "The exile of the disinterréd ashes", "Of your three goodly brothers, now in earth,", "And their desponding shades came flitting round", "To impede the act, I must no less obey", "A duty, paramount to every duty.", "", "_Mar._ My husband! let us on: this but prolongs", "Our sorrow.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ But we are not summoned yet;", "The galley's sails are not unfurled:--who knows?", "The wind may change.", "", "_Mar._ And if it do, it will not", "Change _their_ hearts, or your lot: the galley's oars", "Will quickly clear the harbour.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ O, ye Elements!", "Where are your storms?", "", "_Mar._ In human breasts. Alas!", "Will nothing calm you?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Never yet did mariner", "Put up to patron saint such prayers for prosperous", "And pleasant breezes, as I call upon you,", "Ye tutelar saints of my own city! which", "Ye love not with more holy love than I,", "To lash up from the deep the Adrian waves,", "And waken Auster, sovereign of the Tempest!", "Till the sea dash me back on my own shore", "A broken corse upon the barren Lido,", "Where I may mingle with the sands which skirt", "The land I love, and never shall see more!", "", "_Mar._ And wish you this with _me_ beside you?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ No--", "No--not for thee, too good, too kind! May'st thou", "Live long to be a mother to those children", "Thy fond fidelity for a time deprives", "Of such support! But for myself alone,", "May all the winds of Heaven howl down the Gulf,", "And tear the vessel, till the mariners,", "Appalled, turn their despairing eyes on me,", "As the Phenicians did on Jonah, then", "Cast me out from amongst them, as an offering", "To appease the waves. The billow which destroys me", "Will be more merciful than man, and bear me", "Dead, but _still bear_ me to a native grave,", "From fishers' hands, upon the desolate strand,", "Which, of its thousand wrecks, hath ne'er received", "One lacerated like the heart which then", "Will be.--But wherefore breaks it not? why live I?", "", "_Mar._ To man thyself, I trust, with time, to master", "Such useless passion. Until now thou wert", "A sufferer, but not a loud one: why", "What is this to the things thou hast borne in silence--", "Imprisonment and actual torture?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Double,", "Triple, and tenfold torture! But you are right,", "It must be borne. Father, your blessing.", "", "_Doge_. Would", "It could avail thee! but no less thou hast it.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Forgive----", "", "_Doge_. What?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ My poor mother, for my birth,", "And me for having lived, and you yourself", "(As I forgive you), for the gift of life,", "Which you bestowed upon me as my sire.", "", "_Mar._ What hast thou done?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Nothing. I cannot charge", "My memory with much save sorrow: but", "I have been so beyond the common lot", "Chastened and visited, I needs must think", "That I was wicked. If it be so, may", "What I have undergone here keep me from", "A like hereafter!", "", "_Mar._ Fear not: _that's_ reserved", "For your oppressors.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Let me hope not.", "", "_Mar._ Hope not?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I cannot wish them _all_ they have inflicted.", "", "_Mar._ _All!_ the consummate fiends! A thousandfold", "May the worm which never dieth feed upon them!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ They may repent.", "", "_Mar._ And if they do, Heaven will not", "Accept the tardy penitence of demons.", "", " _Enter an Officer and Guards_.", "", "_Offi._ Signor! the boat is at the shore--the wind", "Is rising--we are ready to attend you.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ And I to be attended. Once more, father,", "Your hand!", "", "_Doge_. Take it. Alas! how thine own trembles!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ No--you mistake; 'tis yours that shakes, my father.", "Farewell!", "", "_Doge_. Farewell! Is there aught else?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ No--nothing.", " [_To the Officer_.", "Lend me your arm, good Signor.", "", "_Offi._ You turn pale--", "Let me support you--paler--ho! some aid there!", "Some water!", "", "_Mar._ Ah, he is dying!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Now, I'm ready--", "My eyes swim strangely--where's the door?", "", "_Mar._ Away!", "Let me support him--my best love! Oh, God!", "How faintly beats this heart--this pulse!", "", "_Jac. Fos._ The light!", "_Is_ it the light?--I am faint.", " [_Officer presents him with water_.", "", "_Offi._ He will be better,", "Perhaps, in the air.", "", "_Jac. Fos._ I doubt not. Father--wife--", "Your hands!", "", "_Mar._ There's death in that damp, clammy grasp.", "Oh, God!--My Foscari, how fare you?", "", "_Jac. Fos._ Well! [_He dies_.", "", "_Offi._ He's gone!", "", "_Doge_. He's free.", "", "_Mar._ No--no, he is not dead;", "There must be life yet in that heart--he could not", "Thus leave me.", "", "_Doge_. Daughter!", "", "_Mar._ Hold thy peace, old man!", "I am no daughter now--thou hast no son.", "Oh, Foscari!", "", "_Offi._ We must remove the body.", "", "_Mar._ Touch it not, dungeon miscreants! your base office", "Ends with his life, and goes not beyond murder,", "Even by your murderous laws. Leave his remains", "To those who know to honour them.", "", "_Offi._ I must", "Inform the Signory, and learn their pleasure.", "", "_Doge_. Inform the Signory from _me_, the Doge,", "They have no further power upon those ashes:", "While he lived, he was theirs, as fits a subject--", "Now he is _mine_--my broken-hearted boy! [_Exit Officer_.", "", "_Mar._ And I must live!", "", "_Doge_. Your children live, Marina.", "", "_Mar._ My children! true--they live, and I must live", "To bring them up to serve the State, and die", "As died their father. Oh! what best of blessings", "Were barrenness in Venice! Would my mother", "Had been so!", "", "_Doge_. My unhappy children!", "", "_Mar._ What!", "_You_ feel it then at last--_you!_--Where is now", "The Stoic of the State?", "", "_Doge_ (_throwing himself down by the body_). _Here!_", "", "_Mar._ Aye, weep on!", "I thought you had no tears--you hoarded them", "Until they are useless; but weep on! he never", "Shall weep more--never, never more.", "", " _Enter_ LOREDANO _and_ BARBARIGO.", "", "_Lor._ What's here?", "", "_Mar._ Ah! the Devil come to insult the dead! Avaunt!", "Incarnate Lucifer! 'tis holy ground.", "A martyr's ashes now lie there, which make it", "A shrine. Get thee back to thy place of torment!", "", "_Bar._ Lady, we knew not of this sad event,", "But passed here merely on our path from council.", "", "_Mar._ Pass on.", "", "_Lor._ We sought the Doge.", "", "_Mar._ (_pointing to the Doge, who is still on the ground", "by his son's body_) He's busy, look,", "About the business _you_ provided for him.", "Are ye content?", "", "_Bar._ We will not interrupt", "A parent's sorrows.", "", "_Mar._ No, ye only make them,", "Then leave them.", "", "_Doge_ (_rising_). Sirs, I am ready.", "", "_Bar._ No--not now.", "", "_Lor._ Yet 'twas important.", "", "_Doge_. If 'twas so, I can", "Only repeat--I am ready.", "", "_Bar._ It shall not be", "Just now, though Venice tottered o'er the deep", "Like a frail vessel. I respect your griefs.", "", "_Doge_. I thank you. If the tidings which you bring", "Are evil, you may say them; nothing further", "Can touch me more than him thou look'st on there;", "If they be good, say on; you need not _fear_", "That they can _comfort_ me.", "", "_Bar._ I would they could!", "", "_Doge_. I spoke not to _you_, but to Loredano.", "_He_ understands me.", "", "_Mar._ Ah! I thought it would be so.", "", "_Doge_. What mean you?", "", "_Mar._ Lo! there is the blood beginning", "To flow through the dead lips of Foscari--", "The body bleeds in presence of the assassin.", " [_To_ LOREDANO.", "Thou cowardly murderer by law, behold", "How Death itself bears witness to thy deeds!", "", "_Doge_. My child! this is a phantasy of grief.", "Bear hence the body. Signors, if it please you,", "Within an hour I'll hear you.", "", " [_Exeunt_ DOGE, MARINA, _and attendants with the", " body_. _Manent_ LOREDANO _and_ BARBARIGO.", "", "_Bar._ He must not", "Be troubled now.", "", "_Lor._ He said himself that nought", "Could give him trouble farther.", "", "_Bar._ These are words;", "But Grief is lonely, and the breaking in", "Upon it barbarous.", "", "_Lor._ Sorrow preys upon", "Its solitude, and nothing more diverts it", "From its sad visions of the other world,", "Than calling it at moments back to this.", "The busy have no time for tears.", "", "_Bar._ And therefore", "You would deprive this old man of all business?", "", "_Lor._ The thing's decreed. The Giunta and \"the Ten\"", "Have made it law--who shall oppose that law?", "", "_Bar._ Humanity!", "", "_Lor._ Because his son is dead?", "", "_Bar._ And yet unburied.", "", "_Lor._ Had we known this when", "The act was passing, it might have suspended", "Its passage, but impedes it not--once passed.", "", "_Bar._ I'll not consent.", "", "_Lor._ You have consented to", "All that's essential--leave the rest to me.", "", "_Bar._ Why press his abdication now?", "", "_Lor._ The feelings", "Of private passion may not interrupt", "The public benefit; and what the State", "Decides to-day must not give way before", "To-morrow for a natural accident.", "", "_Bar._ You have a son.", "", "_Lor._ I _have_--and _had_ a father.", "", "_Bar._ Still so inexorable?", "", "_Lor._ Still.", "", "_Bar._ But let him", "Inter his son before we press upon him", "This edict.", "", "_Lor._ Let him call up into life", "My sire and uncle--I consent. Men may,", "Even agéd men, be, or appear to be,", "Sires of a hundred sons, but cannot kindle", "An atom of their ancestors from earth.", "The victims are not equal; he has seen", "His sons expire by natural deaths, and I", "My sires by violent and mysterious maladies.", "I used no poison, bribed no subtle master", "Of the destructive art of healing, to", "Shorten the path to the eternal cure.", "His sons--and he had four--are dead, without", "_My_ dabbling in vile drugs.", "", "_Bar._ And art thou sure", "He dealt in such?", "", "_Lor._ Most sure.", "", "_Bar._ And yet he seems", "All openness.", "", "_Lor._ And so he seemed not long", "Ago to Carmagnuola.", "", "_Bar._ The attainted", "And foreign traitor?", "", "_Lor._ Even so: when _he_,", "After the very night in which \"the Ten\"", "(Joined with the Doge) decided his destruction,", "Met the great Duke at daybreak with a jest,", "Demanding whether he should augur him", "\"The good day or good night?\" his Doge-ship answered,", "\"That he in truth had passed a night of vigil,", "In which\" (he added with a gracious smile)", "\"There often has been question about you.\"", "'Twas true; the question was the death resolved", "Of Carmagnuola, eight months ere he died;", "And the old Doge, who knew him doomed, smiled on him", "With deadly cozenage, eight long months beforehand--", "Eight months of such hypocrisy as is", "Learnt but in eighty years. Brave Carmagnuola", "Is dead; so is young Foscari and his brethren--", "I never _smiled_ on _them_.", "", "_Bar._ Was Carmagnuola", "Your friend?", "", "_Lor._ He was the safeguard of the city.", "In early life its foe, but in his manhood,", "Its saviour first, then victim.", "", "_Bar._ Ah! that seems", "The penalty of saving cities. He", "Whom we now act against not only saved", "Our own, but added others to her sway.", "", "_Lor._ The Romans (and we ape them) gave a crown", "To him who took a city: and they gave", "A crown to him who saved a citizen", "In battle: the rewards are equal. Now,", "If we should measure forth the cities taken", "By the Doge Foscari, with citizens", "Destroyed by him, or _through_ him, the account", "Were fearfully against him, although narrowed", "To private havoc, such as between him", "And my dead father.", "", "_Bar._ Are you then thus fixed?", "", "_Lor._ Why, what should change me?", "", "_Bar._ That which changes me.", "But you, I know, are marble to retain", "A feud. But when all is accomplished, when", "The old man is deposed, his name degraded,", "His sons all dead, his family depressed,", "And you and yours triumphant, shall you sleep?", "", "_Lor._ More soundly.", "", "_Bar._ That's an error, and you'll find it", "Ere you sleep with your fathers.", "", "_Lor._ They sleep not", "In their accelerated graves, nor will", "Till Foscari fills his. Each night I see them", "Stalk frowning round my couch, and, pointing towards", "The ducal palace, marshal me to vengeance.", "", "_Bar._ Fancy's distemperature! There is no passion", "More spectral or fantastical than Hate;", "Not even its opposite, Love, so peoples air", "With phantoms, as this madness of the heart.", "", " _Enter an Officer_.", "", "_Lor._ Where go you, sirrah?", "", "_Offi._ By the ducal order", "To forward the preparatory rites", "For the late Foscari's interment.", "", "_Bar._ Their", "Vault has been often opened of late years.", "", "_Lor._ 'Twill be full soon, and may be closed for ever!", "", "_Offi._ May I pass on?", "", "_Lor._ You may.", "", "_Bar._ How bears the Doge", "This last calamity?", "", "_Offi._ With desperate firmness.", "In presence of another he says little,", "But I perceive his lips move now and then;", "And once or twice I heard him, from the adjoining", "Apartment, mutter forth the words--\"My son!\"", "Scarce audibly. I must proceed. [_Exit Officer_.", "", "_Bar._ This stroke", "Will move all Venice in his favour.", "", "_Lor._ Right!", "We must be speedy: let us call together", "The delegates appointed to convey", "The Council's resolution.", "", "_Bar._ I protest", "Against it at this moment.", "", "_Lor._ As you please--", "I'll take their voices on it ne'ertheless,", "And see whose most may sway them, yours or mine.", " [_Exeunt_ BARBARIGO _and_ LOREDANO.", "", "ACT V.", "", "SCENE I.--_The_ DOGE'S _Apartment_.", "", " _The_ DOGE _and Attendants_.", "", "_Att._ My Lord, the deputation is in waiting;", "But add, that if another hour would better", "Accord with your will, they will make it theirs.", "", "_Doge_. To me all hours are like. Let them approach.", " [_Exit Attendant_.", "", "_An Officer_. Prince! I have done your bidding.", "", "_Doge_. What command?", "", "_Offi._ A melancholy one--to call the attendance", "Of----", "", "_Doge_. True--true--true: I crave your pardon. I", "Begin to fail in apprehension, and", "Wax very old--old almost as my years.", "Till now I fought them off, but they begin", "To overtake me.", "", " _Enter the Deputation, consisting of six of the Signory", " and the Chief of the Ten_.", "", " Noble men, your pleasure!", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. In the first place, the Council doth condole", "With the Doge on his late and private grief.", "", "_Doge_. No more--no more of that.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Will not the Duke", "Accept the homage of respect?", "", "_Doge_. I do", "Accept it as 'tis given--proceed.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. \"The Ten,\"", "With a selected giunta from the Senate", "Of twenty-five of the best born patricians,", "Having deliberated on the state", "Of the Republic, and the o'erwhelming cares", "Which, at this moment, doubly must oppress", "Your years, so long devoted to your Country,", "Have judged it fitting, with all reverence,", "Now to solicit from your wisdom (which", "Upon reflection must accord in this),", "The resignation of the ducal ring,", "Which you have worn so long and venerably:", "And to prove that they are not ungrateful, nor", "Cold to your years and services, they add", "An appanage of twenty hundred golden", "Ducats, to make retirement not less splendid", "Than should become a Sovereign's retreat.", "", "_Doge_. Did I hear rightly?", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Need I say again?", "", "_Doge_. No.--Have you done?", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. I have spoken. Twenty four", "Hours are accorded you to give an answer.", "", "_Doge_. I shall not need so many seconds.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. We", "Will now retire.", "", "_Doge_. Stay! four and twenty hours", "Will alter nothing which I have to say.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Speak!", "", "_Doge_. When I twice before reiterated", "My wish to abdicate, it was refused me:", "And not alone refused, but ye exacted", "An oath from me that I would never more", "Renew this instance. I have sworn to die", "In full exertion of the functions, which", "My Country called me here to exercise,", "According to my honour and my conscience--", "I cannot break _my_ oath.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Reduce us not", "To the alternative of a decree,", "Instead of your compliance.", "", "_Doge_. Providence", "Prolongs my days to prove and chasten me;", "But ye have no right to reproach my length", "Of days, since every hour has been the Country's.", "I am ready to lay down my life for her,", "As I have laid down dearer things than life:", "But for my dignity--I hold it of", "The _whole_ Republic: when the _general_ will", "Is manifest, then you shall all be answered.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. We grieve for such an answer; but it cannot", "Avail you aught.", "", "_Doge_. I can submit to all things,", "But nothing will advance; no, not a moment.", "What you decree--decree.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. With this, then, must we", "Return to those who sent us?", "", "_Doge_. You have heard me.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. With all due reverence we retire.", " [_Exeunt the Deputation, etc._", "", " _Enter an Attendant_.", "", "_Att._ My Lord,", "The noble dame Marina craves an audience.", "", "_Doge_. My time is hers.", "", " _Enter_ MARINA.", "", "_Mar._ My Lord, if I intrude--", "Perhaps you fain would be alone?", "", "_Doge_. Alone!", "Alone, come all the world around me, I", "Am now and evermore. But we will bear it.", "", "_Mar._ We will, and for the sake of those who are,", "Endeavour----Oh, my husband!", "", "_Doge_. Give it way:", "I cannot comfort thee.", "", "_Mar._ He might have lived,", "So formed for gentle privacy of life,", "So loving, so beloved; the native of", "Another land, and who so blest and blessing", "As my poor Foscari? Nothing was wanting", "Unto his happiness and mine save not", "To be Venetian.", "", "_Doge_. Or a Prince's son.", "", "_Mar._ Yes; all things which conduce to other men's", "Imperfect happiness or high ambition,", "By some strange destiny, to him proved deadly.", "The Country and the People whom he loved,", "The Prince of whom he was the elder born,", "And----", "", "_Doge_. Soon may be a Prince no longer.", "", "_Mar._ How?", "", "_Doge_. They have taken my son from me, and now aim", "At my too long worn diadem and ring.", "Let them resume the gewgaws!", "", "_Mar._ Oh, the tyrants!", "In such an hour too!", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis the fittest time;", "An hour ago I should have felt it.", "", "_Mar._ And", "Will you not now resent it?--Oh, for vengeance!", "But he, who, had he been enough protected,", "Might have repaid protection in this moment,", "Cannot assist his father.", "", "_Doge_. Nor should do so", "Against his Country, had he a thousand lives", "Instead of that----", "", "_Mar._ They tortured from him. This", "May be pure patriotism. I am a woman:", "To me my husband and my children were", "Country and home. I loved _him_--how I loved him!", "I have seen him pass through such an ordeal as", "The old martyrs would have shrunk from: he is gone,", "And I, who would have given my blood for him,", "Have nought to give but tears! But could I compass", "The retribution of his wrongs!--Well, well!", "I have sons, who shall be men.", "", "_Doge_. Your grief distracts you.", "", "_Mar._ I thought I could have borne it, when I saw him", "Bowed down by such oppression; yes, I thought", "That I would rather look upon his corse", "Than his prolonged captivity:--I am punished", "For that thought now. Would I were in his grave!", "", "_Doge_. I must look on him once more.", "", "_Mar._ Come with me!", "", "_Doge_. Is he----", "", "_Mar._ Our bridal bed is now his bier,", "", "_Doge_. And he is in his shroud!", "", "_Mar._ Come, come, old man!", " [_Exeunt the_ DOGE _and_ MARINA.", "", " _Enter_ BARBARIGO _and_ LOREDANO.", "", "_Bar._ (_to an Attendant_). Where is the Doge?", "", "_Att._ This instant retired hence,", "With the illustrious lady his son's widow.", "", "_Lor._ Where?", "", "_Att._ To the chamber where the body lies.", "", "_Bar._ Let us return, then.", "", "_Lor._ You forget, you cannot.", "We have the implicit order of the Giunta", "To await their coming here, and join them in", "Their office: they'll be here soon after us.", "", "_Bar._ And will they press their answer on the Doge?", "", "_Lor._ 'Twas his own wish that all should be done promptly.", "He answered quickly, and must so be answered;", "His dignity is looked to, his estate", "Cared for--what would he more?", "", "_Bar._ Die in his robes:", "He could not have lived long; but I have done", "My best to save his honours, and opposed", "This proposition to the last, though vainly.", "Why would the general vote compel me hither?", "", "_Lor._ 'Twas fit that some one of such different thoughts", "From ours should be a witness, lest false tongues", "Should whisper that a harsh majority", "Dreaded to have its acts beheld by others.", "", "_Bar._ And not less, I must needs think, for the sake", "Of humbling me for my vain opposition.", "You are ingenious, Loredano, in", "Your modes of vengeance, nay, poetical,", "A very Ovid in the art of _hating_;", "'Tis thus (although a secondary object,", "Yet hate has microscopic eyes), to you", "I owe, by way of foil to the more zealous,", "This undesired association in", "Your Giunta's duties.", "", "_Lor._ How!--_my_ Giunta!", "", "_Bar._ _Yours!_", "They speak your language, watch your nod, approve", "Your plans, and do your work. Are they not _yours?_", "", "_Lor._ You talk unwarily. 'Twere best they hear not", "This from you.", "", "_Bar._ Oh! they'll hear as much one day", "From louder tongues than mine; they have gone beyond", "Even their exorbitance of power: and when", "This happens in the most contemned and abject", "States, stung humanity will rise to check it.", "", "_Lor._ You talk but idly.", "", "_Bar._ That remains for proof.", "Here come our colleagues.", "", " _Enter the Deputation as before_.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Is the Duke aware", "We seek his presence?", "", "_Att._ He shall be informed.", " [_Exit Attendant_.", "", "_Bar._ The Duke is with his son.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. If it be so,", "We will remit him till the rites are over.", "Let us return. 'Tis time enough to-morrow.", "", "_Lor._ (_aside to Bar_.) Now the rich man's hell-fire upon your tongue,", "Unquenched, unquenchable! I'll have it torn", "From its vile babbling roots, till you shall utter", "Nothing but sobs through blood, for this! Sage Signors,", "I pray ye be not hasty. [_Aloud to the others_.", "", "_Bar._ But be human!", "", "_Lor._ See, the Duke comes!", "", " _Enter the_ DOGE.", "", "_Doge_. I have obeyed your summons.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. We come once more to urge our past request.", "", "_Doge_. And I to answer.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. What?", "", "_Doge_. My only answer.", "You have heard it.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Hear _you_ then the last decree,", "Definitive and absolute!", "", "_Doge_. To the point--", "To the point! I know of old the forms of office,", "And gentle preludes to strong acts.--Go on!", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. You are no longer Doge; you are released", "From your imperial oath as Sovereign;", "Your ducal robes must be put off; but for", "Your services, the State allots the appanage", "Already mentioned in our former congress.", "Three days are left you to remove from hence,", "Under the penalty to see confiscated", "All your own private fortune.", "", "_Doge_. That last clause,", "I am proud to say, would not enrich the treasury.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Your answer, Duke!", "", "_Lor._ Your answer, Francis Foscari!", "", "_Doge_. If I could have foreseen that my old age", "Was prejudicial to the State, the Chief", "Of the Republic never would have shown", "Himself so far ungrateful, as to place", "His own high dignity before his Country;", "But this _life_ having been so many years", "_Not_ useless to that Country, I would fain", "Have consecrated my last moments to her.", "But the decree being rendered, I obey.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. If you would have the three days named extended,", "We willingly will lengthen them to eight,", "As sign of our esteem.", "", "_Doge_. Not eight hours, Signor,", "Not even eight minutes--there's the ducal ring,", " [_Taking off his ring and cap_.", "And there the ducal diadem! And so", "The Adriatic's free to wed another.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Yet go not forth so quickly.", "", "_Doge_. I am old, sir,", "And even to move but slowly must begin", "To move betimes. Methinks I see amongst you", "A face I know not.--Senator! your name,", "You, by your garb, Chief of the Forty!", "", "_Mem._ Signor,", "I am the son of Marco Memmo.", "", "_Doge_. Ah!", "Your father was my friend.--But _sons_ and _fathers!_--", "What, ho! my servants there!", "", "_Atten._ My Prince!", "", "_Doge_. No Prince--", "There are the princes of the Prince!", " [_Pointing to the Ten's Deputation_", " --Prepare", "To part from hence upon the instant.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Why", "So rashly? 'twill give scandal.", "", "_Doge_ (_to the Ten_). Answer that;", "It is your province.", " [_To the Servants_.", " --Sirs, bestir yourselves:", "There is one burthen which I beg you bear", "With care, although 'tis past all farther harm--", "But I will look to that myself.", "", "_Bar._ He means", "The body of his son.", "", "_Doge_. And call Marina,", "My daughter!", "", " _Enter_ MARINA.", "", "_Doge_. Get thee ready, we must mourn", "Elsewhere.", "", "_Mar._ And everywhere.", "", "_Doge_. True; but in freedom,", "Without these jealous spies upon the great.", "Signers, you may depart: what would you more?", "We are going; do you fear that we shall bear", "The palace with us? Its _old_ walls, ten times", "As _old_ as I am, and I'm very old,", "Have served you, so have I, and I and they", "Could tell a tale; but I invoke them not", "To fall upon you! else they would, as erst", "The pillars of stone Dagon's temple on", "The Israelite and his Philistine foes.", "Such power I do believe there might exist", "In such a curse as mine, provoked by such", "As you; but I curse not. Adieu, good Signers!", "May the next Duke be better than the present!", "", "_Lor._ The _present_ Duke is Paschal Malipiero.", "", "_Doge_. Not till I pass the threshold of these doors.", "", "_Lor._ Saint Mark's great bell is soon about to toll", "For his inauguration.", "", "_Doge_. Earth and Heaven!", "Ye will reverberate this peal; and I", "Live to hear this!--the first Doge who e'er heard", "Such sound for his successor: happier he,", "My attainted predecessor, stern Faliero--", "This insult at the least was spared him.", "", "_Lor._ What!", "Do you regret a traitor?", "", "_Doge_. No--I merely", "Envy the dead.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. My Lord, if you indeed", "Are bent upon this rash abandonment", "Of the State's palace, at the least retire", "By the private staircase, which conducts you towards", "The landing-place of the canal.", "", "_Doge_. No. I", "Will now descend the stairs by which I mounted", "To sovereignty--the Giants' Stairs, on whose", "Broad eminence I was invested Duke.", "My services have called me up those steps,", "The malice of my foes will drive me down them.", "_There_ five and thirty years ago was I", "Installed, and traversed these same halls, from which", "I never thought to be divorced except", "A corse--a corse, it might be, fighting for them--", "But not pushed hence by fellow-citizens.", "But come; my son and I will go together--", "He to his grave, and I to pray for mine.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. What! thus in public?", "", "_Doge_. I was publicly", "Elected, and so will I be deposed.", "Marina! art thou willing?", "", "_Mar._ Here's my arm!", "", "_Doge_. And here my _staff_: thus propped will I go forth.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. It must not be--the people will perceive it.", "", "_Doge_. The people,--There's no people, you well know it,", "Else you dare not deal thus by them or me.", "There is a _populace_, perhaps, whose looks", "May shame you; but they dare not groan nor curse you,", "Save with their hearts and eyes.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. You speak in passion,", "Else----", "", "_Doge_. You have reason. I have spoken much", "More than my wont: it is a foible which", "Was not of mine, but more excuses you,", "Inasmuch as it shows, that I approach", "A dotage which may justify this deed", "Of yours, although the law does not, nor will.", "Farewell, sirs!", "", "_Bar._ You shall not depart without", "An escort fitting past and present rank.", "We will accompany, with due respect,", "The Doge unto his private palace. Say!", "My brethren, will we not?", "", "_Different voices_. Aye!--Aye!", "", "_Doge_. You shall not", "Stir--in my train, at least. I entered here", "As Sovereign--I go out as citizen", "By the same portals, but as citizen.", "All these vain ceremonies are base insults,", "Which only ulcerate the heart the more,", "Applying poisons there as antidotes.", "Pomp is for Princes--I am none!--That's false,", "I _am_, but only to these gates.--Ah!", "", "_Lor._ Hark!", " [_The great bell of St. Mark's tolls_.", "", "_Bar._ The bell!", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. St. Mark's, which tolls for the election", "Of Malipiero.", "", "_Doge_. Well I recognise", "The sound! I heard it once, but once before,", "And that is five and thirty years ago;", "Even _then_ I _was not young_.", "", "_Bar._ Sit down, my Lord!", "You tremble.", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis the knell of my poor boy!", "My heart aches bitterly.", "", "_Bar._ I pray you sit.", "", "_Doge_. No; my seat here has been a throne till now.", "Marina! let us go.", "", "_Mar._ Most readily.", "", "_Doge_. (_walks a few steps, then stops_).", "I feel athirst--will no one bring me here", "A cup of water?", "", "_Bar._ I----", "", "_Mar._ And I----", "", "_Lor._ And I----", " [_The Doge takes a goblet from the hand of_ LOREDANO.", "", "_Doge_. I take _yours_, Loredano, from the hand", "Most fit for such an hour as this.", "", "_Lor._ Why so?", "", "_Doge_. 'Tis said that our Venetian crystal has", "Such pure antipathy to poisons as", "To burst, if aught of venom touches it.", "You bore this goblet, and it is not broken.", "", "_Lor._ Well, sir!", "", "_Doge_. Then it is false, or you are true.", "For my own part, I credit neither; 'tis", "An idle legend.", "", "_Mar._ You talk wildly, and", "Had better now be seated, nor as yet", "Depart. Ah! now you look as looked my husband!", "", "_Bar._ He sinks!--support him!--quick--a chair--support him!", "", "_Doge_. The bell tolls on!--let's hence--my brain's on fire!", "", "_Bar._ I do beseech you, lean upon us!", "", "_Doge_. No!", "A Sovereign should die standing. My poor boy!", "Off with your arms!--_That bell!_", " [_The_ DOGE _drops down and dies_.", "", "_Mar._ My God! My God!", "", "_Bar._ (_to Lor._). Behold! your work's completed!", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Is there then", "No aid? Call in assistance!", "", "_Att._ 'Tis all over.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. If it be so, at least his obsequies", "Shall be such as befits his name and nation,", "His rank and his devotion to the duties", "Of the realm, while his age permitted him", "To do himself and them full justice. Brethren,", "Say, shall it not be so?", "", "_Bar._ He has not had", "The misery to die a subject where", "He reigned: then let his funeral rites be princely.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. We are agreed, then?", "", "_All, except Lor., answer,_ Yes.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Heaven's peace be with him!", "", "_Mar._ Signers, your pardon: this is mockery.", "Juggle no more with that poor remnant, which,", "A moment since, while yet it had a soul,", "(A soul by whom you have increased your Empire,", "And made your power as proud as was his glory),", "You banished from his palace and tore down", "From his high place, with such relentless coldness;", "And now, when he can neither know these honours,", "Nor would accept them if he could, you, Signors,", "Purpose, with idle and superfluous pomp,", "To make a pageant over what you trampled.", "A princely funeral will be your reproach,", "And not his honour.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Lady, we revoke not", "Our purposes so readily.", "", "_Mar._ I know it,", "As far as touches torturing the living.", "I thought the dead had been beyond even _you_,", "Though (some, no doubt) consigned to powers which may", "Resemble that you exercise on earth.", "Leave him to me; you would have done so for", "His dregs of life, which you have kindly shortened:", "It is my last of duties, and may prove", "A dreary comfort in my desolation.", "Grief is fantastical, and loves the dead,", "And the apparel of the grave.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Do you", "Pretend still to this office?", "", "_Mar._ I do, Signor.", "Though his possessions have been all consumed", "In the State's service, I have still my dowry,", "Which shall be consecrated to his rites,", "And those of---- [_She stops with agitation_.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Best retain it for your children.", "", "_Mar._ Aye, they are fatherless, I thank you.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. We", "Cannot comply with your request. His relics", "Shall be exposed with wonted pomp, and followed", "Unto their home by the new Doge, not clad", "As _Doge_, but simply as a senator.", "", "_Mar._ I have heard of murderers, who have interred", "Their victims; but ne'er heard, until this hour,", "Of so much splendour in hypocrisy", "O'er those they slew. I've heard of widows' tears--", "Alas! I have shed some--always thanks to you!", "I've heard of _heirs_ in sables--you have left none", "To the deceased, so you would act the part", "Of such. Well, sirs, your will be done! as one day,", "I trust, Heaven's will be done too!", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. Know you, Lady,", "To whom ye speak, and perils of such speech?", "", "_Mar._ I know the former better than yourselves;", "The latter--like yourselves; and can face both.", "Wish you more funerals?", "", "_Bar._ Heed not her rash words;", "Her circumstances must excuse her bearing.", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. We will not note them down.", "", "_Bar._ (_turning to Lor., who is writing upon his tablets_).", " What art thou writing,", "With such an earnest brow, upon thy tablets?", "", "_Lor._ (_pointing to the Doge's body_). That _he_ has paid me!", "", "_Chief of the Ten_. What debt did he owe you?", "", "_Lor._ A long and just one; Nature's debt and _mine_.", " [_Curtain falls_" ], "linecount": "2624" }, { "title": "Cain: A Mystery", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "ACT I.", "", "SCENE I.--_The Land without Paradise.--Time, Sunrise_.", "", " ADAM, EVE, CAIN, ABEL, ADAH, ZILLAH, _offering a Sacrifice_.", "", "_Adam_. God, the Eternal! Infinite! All-wise!--", "Who out of darkness on the deep didst make", "Light on the waters with a word--All Hail!", "Jehovah! with returning light--All Hail!", "", "_Eve_. God! who didst name the day, and separate", "Morning from night, till then divided never--", "Who didst divide the wave from wave, and call", "Part of thy work the firmament--All Hail!", "", "_Abel_. God! who didst call the elements into", "Earth, ocean, air and fire--and with the day", "And night, and worlds which these illuminate,", "Or shadow, madest beings to enjoy them,", "And love both them and thee--All Hail! All Hail!", "", "_Adah_. God! the Eternal parent of all things!", "Who didst create these best and beauteous beings,", "To be belovéd, more than all, save thee--", "Let me love thee and them:--All Hail! All Hail!", "", "_Zillah_. Oh, God! who loving, making, blessing all,", "Yet didst permit the Serpent to creep in,", "And drive my father forth from Paradise,", "Keep us from further evil:--Hail! All Hail!", "", "_Adam_. Son Cain! my first-born--wherefore art thou silent?", "", "_Cain_. Why should I speak?", "", "_Adam_. To pray.", "", "_Cain_. Have ye not prayed?", "", "_Adam_. We have, most fervently.", "", "_Cain_. And loudly: I", "Have heard you.", "", "_Adam_. So will God, I trust.", "", "_Abel_. Amen!", "", "_Adam_. But thou my eldest born? art silent still?", "", "_Cain_. 'Tis better I should be so.", "", "_Adam_. Wherefore so?", "", "_Cain_. I have nought to ask.", "", "_Adam_. Nor aught to thank for?", "", "_Cain_. No.", "", "_Adam_. Dost thou not _live_?", "", "_Cain_. Must I not die?", "", "_Eve_. Alas!", "The fruit of our forbidden tree begins", "To fall.", "", "_Adam_. And we must gather it again.", "Oh God! why didst thou plant the tree of knowledge?", "", "_Cain_. And wherefore plucked ye not the tree of life?", "Ye might have then defied him.", "", "_Adam_. Oh! my son,", "Blaspheme not: these are Serpent's words.", "", "_Cain_. Why not?", "The snake spoke _truth_; it _was_ the Tree of Knowledge;", "It _was_ the Tree of Life: knowledge is good,", "And Life is good; and how can both be evil?", "", "_Eve_. My boy! thou speakest as I spoke in sin,", "Before thy birth: let me not see renewed", "My misery in thine. I have repented.", "Let me not see my offspring fall into", "The snares beyond the walls of Paradise,", "Which even in Paradise destroyed his parents.", "Content thee with what _is_. Had we been so,", "Thou now hadst been contented.--Oh, my son!", "", "_Adam_. Our orisons completed, let us hence,", "Each to his task of toil--not heavy, though", "Needful: the earth is young, and yields us kindly", "Her fruits with little labour.", "", "_Eve_. Cain--my son--", "Behold thy father cheerful and resigned--", "And do as he doth. [_Exeunt_ ADAM _and_ EVE.", "", "_Zillah_. Wilt thou not, my brother?", "", "_Abel_. Why wilt thou wear this gloom upon thy brow,", "Which can avail thee nothing, save to rouse", "The Eternal anger?", "", "_Adah_. My belovéd Cain", "Wilt thou frown even on me?", "", "_Cain_. No, Adah! no;", "I fain would be alone a little while.", "Abel, I'm sick at heart; but it will pass;", "Precede me, brother--I will follow shortly.", "And you, too, sisters, tarry not behind;", "Your gentleness must not be harshly met:", "I'll follow you anon.", "", "_Adah_. If not, I will", "Return to seek you here.", "", "_Abel_. The peace of God", "Be on your spirit, brother!", " [_Exeunt_ ABEL, ZILLAH, _and_ ADAH.", "", "_Cain_ (_solus_). And this is", "Life?--Toil! and wherefore should I toil?--because", "My father could not keep his place in Eden?", "What had _I_ done in this?--I was unborn:", "I sought not to be born; nor love the state", "To which that birth has brought me. Why did he", "Yield to the Serpent and the woman? or", "Yielding--why suffer? What was there in this?", "The tree was planted, and why not for him?", "If not, why place him near it, where it grew", "The fairest in the centre? They have but", "One answer to all questions, \"'Twas _his_ will,", "And _he_ is good.\" How know I that? Because", "He is all-powerful, must all-good, too, follow?", "I judge but by the fruits--and they are bitter--", "Which I must feed on for a fault not mine.", "Whom have we here?--A shape like to the angels", "Yet of a sterner and a sadder aspect", "Of spiritual essence: why do I quake?", "Why should I fear him more than other spirits,", "Whom I see daily wave their fiery swords", "Before the gates round which I linger oft,", "In Twilight's hour, to catch a glimpse of those", "Gardens which are my just inheritance,", "Ere the night closes o'er the inhibited walls", "And the immortal trees which overtop", "The Cherubim-defended battlements?", "If I shrink not from these, the fire-armed angels,", "Why should I quail from him who now approaches?", "Yet--he seems mightier far than them, nor less", "Beauteous, and yet not all as beautiful", "As he hath been, and might be: sorrow seems", "Half of his immortality. And is it", "So? and can aught grieve save Humanity?", "He cometh.", "", " _Enter_ LUCIFER.", "", "_Lucifer_. Mortal!", "", "_Cain_. Spirit, who art thou?", "", "_Lucifer_. Master of spirits.", "", "_Cain_. And being so, canst thou", "Leave them, and walk with dust?", "", "_Lucifer_. I know the thoughts", "Of dust, and feel for it, and with you.", "", "_Cain_. How!", "You know my thoughts?", "", "_Lucifer_. They are the thoughts of all", "Worthy of thought;--'tis your immortal part", "Which speaks within you.", "", "_Cain_. What immortal part?", "This has not been revealed: the Tree of Life", "Was withheld from us by my father's folly,", "While that of Knowledge, by my mother's haste,", "Was plucked too soon; and all the fruit is Death!", "", "_Lucifer_. They have deceived thee; thou shalt live.", "", "_Cain_. I live,", "But live to die; and, living, see no thing", "To make death hateful, save an innate clinging,", "A loathsome, and yet all invincible", "Instinct of life, which I abhor, as I", "Despise myself, yet cannot overcome--", "And so I live. Would I had never lived!", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou livest--and must live for ever. Think not", "The Earth, which is thine outward cov'ring, is", "Existence--it will cease--and thou wilt be--", "No less than thou art now.", "", "_Cain_. No _less_! and why", "No more?", "", "_Lucifer_. It may be thou shalt be as we.", "", "_Cain_. And ye?", "", "_Lucifer_. Are everlasting.", "", "_Cain_. Are ye happy?", "", "_Lucifer_. We are mighty.", "", "_Cain_. Are ye happy?", "", "_Lucifer_. No: art thou?", "", "_Cain_. How should I be so? Look on me!", "", "_Lucifer_. Poor clay!", "And thou pretendest to be wretched! Thou!", "", "_Cain_. I am:--and thou, with all thy might, what art thou?", "", "_Lucifer_. One who aspired to be what made thee, and", "Would not have made thee what thou art.", "", "_Cain_. Ah!", "Thou look'st almost a god; and----", "", "_Lucifer_. I am none:", "And having failed to be one, would be nought", "Save what I am. He conquered; let him reign!", "", "_Cain_. Who?", "", "_Lucifer_. Thy Sire's maker--and the Earth's.", "", "_Cain_. And Heaven's,", "And all that in them is. So I have heard", "His Seraphs sing; and so my father saith.", "", "_Lucifer_. They say--what they must sing and say, on pain", "Of being that which I am,--and thou art--", "Of spirits and of men.", "", "_Cain_. And what is that?", "", "_Lucifer_. Souls who dare use their immortality--", "Souls who dare look the Omnipotent tyrant in", "His everlasting face, and tell him that", "His evil is not good! If he has made,", "As he saith--which I know not, nor believe--", "But, if he made us--he cannot unmake:", "We are immortal!--nay, he'd _have_ us so,", "That he may torture:--let him! He is great--", "But, in his greatness, is no happier than", "We in our conflict! Goodness would not make", "Evil; and what else hath he made? But let him", "Sit on his vast and solitary throne--", "Creating worlds, to make eternity", "Less burthensome to his immense existence", "And unparticipated solitude;", "Let him crowd orb on orb: he is alone", "Indefinite, Indissoluble Tyrant;", "Could he but crush himself, 'twere the best boon", "He ever granted: but let him reign on!", "And multiply himself in misery!", "Spirits and Men, at least we sympathise--", "And, suffering in concert, make our pangs", "Innumerable, more endurable,", "By the unbounded sympathy of all", "With all! But _He_! so wretched in his height,", "So restless in his wretchedness, must still", "Create, and re-create--perhaps he'll make", "One day a Son unto himself--as he", "Gave you a father--and if he so doth,", "Mark me! that Son will be a sacrifice!", "", "_Cain_. Thou speak'st to me of things which long have swum", "In visions through my thought: I never could", "Reconcile what I saw with what I heard.", "My father and my mother talk to me", "Of serpents, and of fruits and trees: I see", "The gates of what they call their Paradise", "Guarded by fiery-sworded Cherubim,", "Which shut them out--and me: I feel the weight", "Of daily toil, and constant thought: I look", "Around a world where I seem nothing, with", "Thoughts which arise within me, as if they", "Could master all things--but I thought alone", "This misery was _mine_. My father is", "Tamed down; my mother has forgot the mind", "Which made her thirst for knowledge at the risk", "Of an eternal curse; my brother is", "A watching shepherd boy, who offers up", "The firstlings of the flock to him who bids", "The earth yield nothing to us without sweat;", "My sister Zillah sings an earlier hymn", "Than the birds' matins; and my Adah--my", "Own and belovéd--she, too, understands not", "The mind which overwhelms me: never till", "Now met I aught to sympathise with me.", "'Tis well--I rather would consort with spirits.", "", "_Lucifer_. And hadst thou not been fit by thine own soul", "For such companionship, I would not now", "Have stood before thee as I am: a serpent", "Had been enough to charm ye, as before.", "", "_Cain_. Ah! didst _thou_ tempt my mother?", "", "_Lucifer_. I tempt none,", "Save with the truth: was not the Tree, the Tree", "Of Knowledge? and was not the Tree of Life", "Still fruitful? Did _I_ bid her pluck them not?", "Did I plant things prohibited within", "The reach of beings innocent, and curious", "By their own innocence? I would have made ye", "Gods; and even He who thrust ye forth, so thrust ye", "Because \"ye should not eat the fruits of life,", "And become gods as we.\" Were those his words?", "", "_Cain_. They were, as I have heard from those who heard them,", "In thunder.", "", "_Lucifer_. Then who was the Demon? He", "Who would not let ye live, or he who would", "Have made ye live for ever, in the joy", "And power of Knowledge?", "", "_Cain_. Would they had snatched both", "The fruits, or neither!", "", "_Lucifer_. One is yours already,", "The other may be still.", "", "_Cain_. How so?", "", "_Lucifer_. By being", "Yourselves, in your resistance. Nothing can", "Quench the mind, if the mind will be itself", "And centre of surrounding things--'tis made", "To sway.", "", "_Cain_. But didst thou tempt my parents?", "", "_Lucifer_. I?", "Poor clay--what should I tempt them for, or how?", "", "_Cain_. They say the Serpent was a spirit.", "", "_Lucifer_. Who", "Saith that? It is not written so on high:", "The proud One will not so far falsify,", "Though man's vast fears and little vanity", "Would make him cast upon the spiritual nature", "His own low failing. The snake _was_ the snake--", "No more; and yet not less than those he tempted,", "In nature being earth also--_more_ in _wisdom_,", "Since he could overcome them, and foreknew", "The knowledge fatal to their narrow joys.", "Think'st thou I'd take the shape of things that die?", "", "_Cain_. But the thing had a demon?", "", "_Lucifer_. He but woke one", "In those he spake to with his forky tongue.", "I tell thee that the Serpent was no more", "Than a mere serpent: ask the Cherubim", "Who guard the tempting tree. When thousand ages", "Have rolled o'er your dead ashes, and your seed's,", "The seed of the then world may thus array", "Their earliest fault in fable, and attribute", "To me a shape I scorn, as I scorn all", "That bows to him, who made things but to bend", "Before his sullen, sole eternity;", "But we, who see the truth, must speak it. Thy", "Fond parents listened to a creeping thing,", "And fell. For what should spirits tempt them? What", "Was there to envy in the narrow bounds", "Of Paradise, that spirits who pervade", "Space----but I speak to thee of what thou know'st not,", "With all thy Tree of Knowledge.", "", "_Cain_. But thou canst not", "Speak aught of Knowledge which I would not know,", "And do not thirst to know, and bear a mind", "To know.", "", "_Lucifer_. And heart to look on?", "", "_Cain_. Be it proved.", "", "_Lucifer_. Darest thou look on Death?", "", "_Cain_. He has not yet", "Been seen.", "", "_Lucifer_. But must be undergone.", "", "_Cain_. My father", "Says he is something dreadful, and my mother", "Weeps when he's named; and Abel lifts his eyes", "To Heaven, and Zillah casts hers to the earth,", "And sighs a prayer; and Adah looks on me,", "And speaks not.", "", "_Lucifer_. And thou?", "", "_Cain_. Thoughts unspeakable", "Crowd in my breast to burning, when I hear", "Of this almighty Death, who is, it seems,", "Inevitable. Could I wrestle with him?", "I wrestled with the lion, when a boy,", "In play, till he ran roaring from my gripe.", "", "_Lucifer_. It has no shape; but will absorb all things", "That bear the form of earth-born being.", "", "_Cain_. Ah!", "I thought it was a being: who could do", "Such evil things to beings save a being?", "", "_Lucifer_. Ask the Destroyer.", "", "_Cain_. Who?", "", "_Lucifer_. The Maker--Call him", "Which name thou wilt: he makes but to destroy.", "", "_Cain_. I knew not that, yet thought it, since I heard", "Of Death: although I know not what it is--", "Yet it seems horrible. I have looked out", "In the vast desolate night in search of him;", "And when I saw gigantic shadows in", "The umbrage of the walls of Eden, chequered", "By the far-flashing of the Cherubs' swords,", "I watched for what I thought his coming; for", "With fear rose longing in my heart to know", "What 'twas which shook us all--but nothing came.", "And then I turned my weary eyes from off", "Our native and forbidden Paradise,", "Up to the lights above us, in the azure,", "Which are so beautiful: shall they, too, die?", "", "_Lucifer_. Perhaps--but long outlive both thine and thee.", "", "_Cain_. I'm glad of that: I would not have them die--", "They are so lovely. What is Death? I fear,", "I feel, it is a dreadful thing; but what,", "I cannot compass: 'tis denounced against us,", "Both them who sinned and sinned not, as an ill--", "What ill?", "", "_Lucifer_. To be resolved into the earth.", "", "_Cain_. But shall I know it?", "", "_Lucifer_. As I know not death,", "I cannot answer.", "", "_Cain_. Were I quiet earth,", "That were no evil: would I ne'er had been", "Aught else but dust!", "", "_Lucifer_. That is a _grovelling_ wish,", "Less than thy father's--for he wished to know!", "", "_Cain_. But not to live--or wherefore plucked he not", "The Life-tree?", "", "_Lucifer_. He was hindered.", "", "_Cain_. Deadly error!", "Not to snatch first that fruit:--but ere he plucked", "The knowledge, he was ignorant of Death.", "Alas! I scarcely now know what it is,", "And yet I fear it--fear I know not what!", "", "_Lucifer_. And I, who know all things, fear nothing; see", "What is true knowledge.", "", "_Cain_. Wilt thou teach me all?", "", "_Lucifer_. Aye, upon one condition.", "", "_Cain_. Name it.", "", "_Lucifer_. That", "Thou dost fall down and worship me--thy Lord.", "", "_Cain_. Thou art not the Lord my father worships.", "", "_Lucifer_. No.", "", "_Cain_. His equal?", "", "_Lucifer_. No;--I have nought in common with him!", "Nor would: I would be aught above--beneath--", "Aught save a sharer or a servant of", "His power. I dwell apart; but I am great:--", "Many there are who worship me, and more", "Who shall--be thou amongst the first.", "", "_Cain_. I never", "As yet have bowed unto my father's God.", "Although my brother Abel oft implores", "That I would join with him in sacrifice:--", "Why should I bow to thee?", "", "_Lucifer_. Hast thou ne'er bowed", "To him?", "", "_Cain_. Have I not said it?--need I say it?", "Could not thy mighty knowledge teach thee that?", "", "_Lucifer_. He who bows not to him has bowed to me.", "", "_Cain_. But I will bend to neither.", "", "_Lucifer_. Ne'er the less,", "Thou art my worshipper; not worshipping", "Him makes thee mine the same.", "", "_Cain_. And what is that?", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou'lt know here--and hereafter.", "", "_Cain_. Let me but", "Be taught the mystery of my being.", "", "_Lucifer_. Follow", "Where I will lead thee.", "", "_Cain_. But I must retire", "To till the earth--for I had promised----", "", "_Lucifer_. What?", "", "_Cain_. To cull some first-fruits.", "", "_Lucifer_. Why?", "", "_Cain_. To offer up", "With Abel on an altar.", "", "_Lucifer_. Said'st thou not", "Thou ne'er hadst bent to him who made thee?", "", "_Cain_. Yes--", "But Abel's earnest prayer has wrought upon me;", "The offering is more his than mine--and Adah----", "", "_Lucifer_. Why dost thou hesitate?", "", "_Cain_. She is my sister,", "Born on the same day, of the same womb; and", "She wrung from me, with tears, this promise; and", "Rather than see her weep, I would, methinks,", "Bear all--and worship aught.", "", "_Lucifer_. Then follow me!", "", "_Cain_. I will.", "", " _Enter_ ADAH.", "", "_Adah_. My brother, I have come for thee;", "It is our hour of rest and joy--and we", "Have less without thee. Thou hast laboured not", "This morn; but I have done thy task: the fruits", "Are ripe, and glowing as the light which ripens:", "Come away.", "", "_Cain_. Seest thou not?", "", "_Adah_. I see an angel;", "We have seen many: will he share our hour", "Of rest?--he is welcome.", "", "_Cain_. But he is not like", "The angels we have seen.", "", "_Adah_. Are there, then, others?", "But he is welcome, as they were: they deigned", "To be our guests--will he?", "", "_Cain_ (_to Lucifer_). Wilt thou?", "", "_Lucifer_. I ask", "Thee to be mine.", "", "_Cain_. I must away with him.", "", "_Adah_. And leave us?", "", "_Cain_. Aye.", "", "_Adah_. And _me_?", "", "_Cain_. Belovéd Adah!", "", "_Adah_. Let me go with thee.", "", "_Lucifer_. No, she must not.", "", "_Adah_. Who", "Art thou that steppest between heart and heart?", "", "_Cain_. He is a God.", "", "_Adah_. How know'st thou?", "", "_Cain_. He speaks like", "A God.", "", "_Adah_. So did the Serpent, and it lied.", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou errest, Adah!--was not the Tree that", "Of Knowledge?", "", "_Adah_. Aye--to our eternal sorrow.", "", "_Lucifer_. And yet that grief is knowledge--so he lied not:", "And if he did betray you, 'twas with Truth;", "And Truth in its own essence cannot be", "But good.", "", "_Adah_. But all we know of it has gathered", "Evil on ill; expulsion from our home,", "And dread, and toil, and sweat, and heaviness;", "Remorse of that which was--and hope of that", "Which cometh not. Cain! walk not with this Spirit.", "Bear with what we have borne, and love me--I", "Love thee.", "", "_Lucifer_. More than thy mother, and thy sire?", "", "_Adah_. I do. Is that a sin, too?", "", "_Lucifer_. No, not yet;", "It one day will be in your children.", "", "_Adah_. What!", "Must not my daughter love her brother Enoch?", "", "_Lucifer_. Not as thou lovest Cain.", "", "_Adah_. Oh, my God!", "Shall they not love and bring forth things that love", "Out of their love? have they not drawn their milk", "Out of this bosom? was not he, their father,", "Born of the same sole womb, in the same hour", "With me? did we not love each other? and", "In multiplying our being multiply", "Things which will love each other as we love", "Them?--And as I love thee, my Cain! go not", "Forth with this spirit; he is not of ours.", "", "_Lucifer_. The sin I speak of is not of my making,", "And cannot be a sin in you--whate'er", "It seem in those who will replace ye in", "Mortality.", "", "_Adah_. What is the sin which is not", "Sin in itself? Can circumstance make sin", "Or virtue?--if it doth, we are the slaves", "Of----", "", "_Lucifer_. Higher things than ye are slaves: and higher", "Than them or ye would be so, did they not", "Prefer an independency of torture", "To the smooth agonies of adulation,", "In hymns and harpings, and self-seeking prayers,", "To that which is omnipotent, because", "It is omnipotent, and not from love,", "But terror and self-hope.", "", "_Adah_. Omnipotence", "Must be all goodness.", "", "_Lucifer_. Was it so in Eden?", "", "_Adah_. Fiend! tempt me not with beauty; thou art fairer", "Than was the Serpent, and as false.", "", "_Lucifer_. As true.", "Ask Eve, your mother: bears she not the knowledge", "Of good and evil?", "", "_Adah_. Oh, my mother! thou", "Hast plucked a fruit more fatal to thine offspring", "Than to thyself; thou at the least hast passed", "Thy youth in Paradise, in innocent", "And happy intercourse with happy spirits:", "But we, thy children, ignorant of Eden,", "Are girt about by demons, who assume", "The words of God, and tempt us with our own", "Dissatisfied and curious thoughts--as thou", "Wert worked on by the snake, in thy most flushed", "And heedless, harmless wantonness of bliss.", "I cannot answer this immortal thing", "Which stands before me; I cannot abhor him;", "I look upon him with a pleasing fear,", "And yet I fly not from him: in his eye", "There is a fastening attraction which", "Fixes my fluttering eyes on his; my heart", "Beats quick; he awes me, and yet draws me near,", "Nearer and nearer:--Cain--Cain--save me from him!", "", "_Cain_. What dreads my Adah? This is no ill spirit.", "", "_Adah_. He is not God--nor God's: I have beheld", "The Cherubs and the Seraphs; he looks not", "Like them.", "", "_Cain_. But there are spirits loftier still--", "The archangels.", "", "_Lucifer_. And still loftier than the archangels.", "", "_Adah_. Aye--but not blesséd.", "", "_Lucifer_. If the blessedness", "Consists in slavery--no.", "", "_Adah_. I have heard it said,", "The Seraphs _love most_--Cherubim _know most_--", "And this should be a Cherub--since he loves not.", "", "_Lucifer_. And if the higher knowledge quenches love,", "What must _he be_ you cannot love when known?", "Since the all-knowing Cherubim love least,", "The Seraphs' love can be but ignorance:", "That they are not compatible, the doom", "Of thy fond parents, for their daring, proves.", "Choose betwixt Love and Knowledge--since there is", "No other choice: your sire hath chosen already:", "His worship is but fear.", "", "_Adah_. Oh, Cain! choose Love.", "", "_Cain_. For thee, my Adah, I choose not--It was", "Born with me--but I love nought else.", "", "_Adah_. Our parents?", "", "_Cain_. Did they love us when they snatched from the Tree", "That which hath driven us all from Paradise?", "", "_Adah_. We were not born then--and if we had been,", "Should we not love them--and our children, Cain?", "", "_Cain_. My little Enoch! and his lisping sister!", "Could I but deem them happy, I would half", "Forget----but it can never be forgotten", "Through thrice a thousand generations! never", "Shall men love the remembrance of the man", "Who sowed the seed of evil and mankind", "In the same hour! They plucked the tree of science", "And sin--and, not content with their own sorrow,", "Begot _me_--_thee_--and all the few that are,", "And all the unnumbered and innumerable", "Multitudes, millions, myriads, which may be,", "To inherit agonies accumulated", "By ages!--and _I_ must be sire of such things!", "Thy beauty and thy love--my love and joy,", "The rapturous moment and the placid hour,", "All we love in our children and each other,", "But lead them and ourselves through many years", "Of sin and pain--or few, but still of sorrow,", "Interchecked with an instant of brief pleasure,", "To Death--the unknown! Methinks the Tree of Knowledge", "Hath not fulfilled its promise:--if they sinned,", "At least they ought to have known all things that are", "Of knowledge--and the mystery of Death.", "What do they know?--that they are miserable.", "What need of snakes and fruits to teach us that?", "", "_Adah_. I am not wretched, Cain, and if thou", "Wert happy----", "", "_Cain_. Be thou happy, then, alone--", "I will have nought to do with happiness,", "Which humbles me and mine.", "", "_Adah_. Alone I could not,", "Nor _would_ be happy; but with those around us", "I think I could be so, despite of Death,", "Which, as I know it not, I dread not, though", "It seems an awful shadow--if I may", "Judge from what I have heard.", "", "_Lucifer_. And thou couldst not", "_Alone_, thou say'st, be happy?", "", "_Adah_. Alone! Oh, my God!", "Who could be happy and alone, or good?", "To me my solitude seems sin; unless", "When I think how soon I shall see my brother,", "His brother, and our children, and our parents.", "", "_Lucifer_. Yet thy God is alone; and is he happy?", "Lonely, and good?", "", "_Adah_. He is not so; he hath", "The angels and the mortals to make happy,", "And thus becomes so in diffusing joy.", "What else can joy be, but the spreading joy?", "", "_Lucifer_. Ask of your sire, the exile fresh from Eden;", "Or of his first-born son: ask your own heart;", "It is not tranquil.", "", "_Adah_. Alas! no! and you--", "Are you of Heaven?", "", "_Lucifer_. If I am not, enquire", "The cause of this all-spreading happiness", "(Which you proclaim) of the all-great and good", "Maker of life and living things; it is", "His secret, and he keeps it. _We_ must bear,", "And some of us resist--and both in vain,", "His Seraphs say: but it is worth the trial,", "Since better may not be without: there is", "A wisdom in the spirit, which directs", "To right, as in the dim blue air the eye", "Of you, young mortals, lights at once upon", "The star which watches, welcoming the morn.", "", "_Adah_. It is a beautiful star; I love it for", "Its beauty.", "", "_Lucifer_. And why not adore?", "", "_Adah_. Our father", "Adores the Invisible only.", "", "_Lucifer_. But the symbols", "Of the Invisible are the loveliest", "Of what is visible; and yon bright star", "Is leader of the host of Heaven.", "", "_Adah_. Our father", "Saith that he has beheld the God himself", "Who made him and our mother.", "", "_Lucifer_. Hast _thou_ seen him?", "", "_Adah_. Yes--in his works.", "", "_Lucifer_. But in his being?", "", "_Adah_. No--", "Save in my father, who is God's own image;", "Or in his angels, who are like to thee--", "And brighter, yet less beautiful and powerful", "In seeming: as the silent sunny noon,", "All light, they look upon us; but thou seem'st", "Like an ethereal night, where long white clouds", "Streak the deep purple, and unnumbered stars", "Spangle the wonderful mysterious vault", "With things that look as if they would be suns;", "So beautiful, unnumbered, and endearing,", "Not dazzling, and yet drawing us to them,", "They fill my eyes with tears, and so dost thou.", "Thou seem'st unhappy: do not make us so,", "And I will weep for thee.", "", "_Lucifer_. Alas! those tears!", "Couldst thou but know what oceans will be shed----", "", "_Adah_. By me?", "", "_Lucifer_. By all.", "", "_Adah_. What all?", "", "_Lucifer_. The million millions--", "The myriad myriads--the all-peopled earth--", "The unpeopled earth--and the o'er-peopled Hell,", "Of which thy bosom is the germ.", "", "_Adah_. O Cain!", "This spirit curseth us.", "", "_Cain_. Let him say on;", "Him will I follow.", "", "_Adah_. Whither?", "", "_Lucifer_. To a place", "_Whence_ he shall come back to thee in an hour;", "But in that hour see things of many days.", "", "_Adah_. How can that be?", "", "_Lucifer_. Did not your Maker make", "Out of old worlds this new one in few days?", "And cannot I, who aided in this work,", "Show in an hour what he hath made in many,", "Or hath destroyed in few?", "", "_Cain_. Lead on.", "", "_Adah_. Will he,", "In sooth, return within an hour?", "", "_Lucifer_. He shall.", "With us acts are exempt from time, and we", "Can crowd eternity into an hour,", "Or stretch an hour into eternity:", "We breathe not by a mortal measurement--", "But that's a mystery. Cain, come on with me.", "", "_Adah_. Will he return?", "", "_Lucifer_. Aye, woman! he alone", "Of mortals from that place (the first and last", "Who shall return, save ONE), shall come back to thee,", "To make that silent and expectant world", "As populous as this: at present there", "Are few inhabitants.", "", "_Adah_. Where dwellest thou?", "", "_Lucifer_. Throughout all space. Where should I dwell? Where are", "Thy God or Gods--there am I: all things are", "Divided with me: Life and Death--and Time--", "Eternity--and heaven and earth--and that", "Which is not heaven nor earth, but peopled with", "Those who once peopled or shall people both--", "These are my realms! so that I do divide", "_His_, and possess a kingdom which is not", "_His_. If I were not that which I have said,", "Could I stand here? His angels are within", "Your vision.", "", "_Adah_. So they were when the fair Serpent", "Spoke with our mother first.", "", "_Lucifer_. Cain! thou hast heard.", "If thou dost long for knowledge, I can satiate", "That thirst; nor ask thee to partake of fruits", "Which shall deprive thee of a single good", "The Conqueror has left thee. Follow me.", "", "_Cain_. Spirit, I have said it.", " [_Exeunt_ LUCIFER _and_ CAIN.", "", "_Adah_ (_follows exclaiming_). Cain! my brother! Cain!", "", "ACT II.", "", "SCENE I.--_The Abyss of Space_.", "", "_Cain_. I tread on air, and sink not--yet I fear", "To sink.", "", "_Lucifer_. Have faith in me, and thou shalt be", "Borne on the air, of which I am the Prince.", "", "_Cain_. Can I do so without impiety?", "", "_Lucifer_. Believe--and sink not! doubt--and perish! thus", "Would run the edict of the other God,", "Who names me Demon to his angels; they", "Echo the sound to miserable things,", "Which, knowing nought beyond their shallow senses,", "Worship the _word_ which strikes their ear, and deem", "Evil or good what is proclaimed to them", "In their abasement. I will have none such:", "Worship or worship not, thou shalt behold", "The worlds beyond thy little world, nor be", "Amerced for doubts beyond thy little life,", "With torture of _my_ dooming. There will come", "An hour, when, tossed upon some water-drops,", "A man shall say to a man, \"Believe in me,", "And walk the waters;\" and the man shall walk", "The billows and be safe. _I_ will not say,", "Believe in _me_, as a conditional creed", "To save thee; but fly with me o'er the gulf", "Of space an equal flight, and I will show", "What thou dar'st not deny,--the history", "Of past--and present, and of future worlds.", "", "_Cain_. Oh God! or Demon! or whate'er thou art,", "Is yon our earth?", "", "_Lucifer_. Dost thou not recognise", "The dust which formed your father?", "", "_Cain_. Can it be?", "Yon small blue circle, swinging in far ether,", "With an inferior circlet purpler it still,", "Which looks like that which lit our earthly night?", "Is this our Paradise? Where are its walls,", "And they who guard them?", "", "_Lucifer_. Point me out the site", "Of Paradise.", "", "_Cain_. How should I? As we move", "Like sunbeams onward, it grows small and smaller,", "And as it waxes little, and then less,", "Gathers a halo round it, like the light", "Which shone the roundest of the stars, when I", "Beheld them from the skirts of Paradise:", "Methinks they both, as we recede from them,", "Appear to join the innumerable stars", "Which are around us; and, as we move on,", "Increase their myriads.", "", "_Lucifer_. And if there should be", "Worlds greater than thine own--inhabited", "By greater things--and they themselves far more", "In number than the dust of thy dull earth,", "Though multiplied to animated atoms,", "All living--and all doomed to death--and wretched,", "What wouldst thou think?", "", "_Cain_. I should be proud of thought", "Which knew such things.", "", "_Lucifer_. But if that high thought were", "Linked to a servile mass of matter--and,", "Knowing such things, aspiring to such things,", "And science still beyond them, were chained down", "To the most gross and petty paltry wants,", "All foul and fulsome--and the very best", "Of thine enjoyments a sweet degradation,", "A most enervating and filthy cheat", "To lure thee on to the renewal of", "Fresh souls and bodies, all foredoomed to be", "As frail, and few so happy----", "", "_Cain_. Spirit! I", "Know nought of Death, save as a dreadful thing", "Of which I have heard my parents speak, as of", "A hideous heritage I owe to them", "No less than life--a heritage not happy,", "If I may judge, till now. But, Spirit! if", "It be as thou hast said (and I within", "Feel the prophetic torture of its truth),", "Here let me die: for to give birth to those", "Who can but suffer many years, and die--", "Methinks is merely propagating Death,", "And multiplying murder.", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou canst not", "_All_ die--there is what must survive.", "", "_Cain_. The Other", "Spake not of this unto my father, when", "He shut him forth from Paradise, with death", "Written upon his forehead. But at least", "Let what is mortal of me perish, that", "I may be in the rest as angels are.", "", "_Lucifer_. _I_ am angelic: wouldst thou be as I am?", "", "_Cain_. I know not what thou art: I see thy power,", "And see thou show'st me things beyond _my_ power,", "Beyond all power of my born faculties,", "Although inferior still to my desires", "And my conceptions.", "", "_Lucifer_. What are they which dwell", "So humbly in their pride, as to sojourn", "With worms in clay?", "", "_Cain_. And what art thou who dwellest", "So haughtily in spirit, and canst range", "Nature and immortality--and yet", "Seem'st sorrowful?", "", "_Lucifer_. I seem that which I am;", "And therefore do I ask of thee, if thou", "Wouldst be immortal?", "", "_Cain_. Thou hast said, I must be", "Immortal in despite of me. I knew not", "This until lately--but since it must be,", "Let me, or happy or unhappy, learn", "To anticipate my immortality.", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou didst before I came upon thee.", "", "_Cain_. How?", "", "_Lucifer_. By suffering.", "", "_Cain_. And must torture be immortal?", "", "_Lucifer_. We and thy sons will try. But now, behold!", "Is it not glorious?", "", "_Cain_. Oh thou beautiful", "And unimaginable ether! and", "Ye multiplying masses of increased", "And still-increasing lights! what are ye? what", "Is this blue wilderness of interminable", "Air, where ye roll along, as I have seen", "The leaves along the limpid streams of Eden?", "Is your course measured for ye? Or do ye", "Sweep on in your unbounded revelry", "Through an aërial universe of endless", "Expansion--at which my soul aches to think--", "Intoxicated with eternity?", "Oh God! Oh Gods! or whatsoe'er ye are!", "How beautiful ye are! how beautiful", "Your works, or accidents, or whatsoe'er", "They may be! Let me die, as atoms die,", "(If that they die), or know ye in your might", "And knowledge! My thoughts are not in this hour", "Unworthy what I see, though my dust is;", "Spirit! let me expire, or see them nearer.", "", "_Lucifer_. Art thou not nearer? look back to thine earth!", "", "_Cain_. Where is it? I see nothing save a mass", "Of most innumerable lights.", "", "_Lucifer_. Look there!", "", "_Cain_. I cannot see it.", "", "_Lucifer_. Yet it sparkles still.", "", "_Cain_. That!--yonder!", "", "_Lucifer_. Yea.", "", "_Cain_. And wilt thou tell me so?", "Why, I have seen the fire-flies and fire-worms", "Sprinkle the dusky groves and the green banks", "In the dim twilight, brighter than yon world", "Which bears them.", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou hast seen both worms and worlds,", "Each bright and sparkling--what dost think of them?", "", "_Cain_. That they are beautiful in their own sphere,", "And that the night, which makes both beautiful,", "The little shining fire-fly in its flight,", "And the immortal star in its great course,", "Must both be guided.", "", "_Lucifer_. But by whom or what?", "", "_Cain_. Show me.", "", "_Lucifer_. Dar'st thou behold?", "", "_Cain_. How know I what", "I _dare_ behold? As yet, thou hast shown nought", "I dare not gaze on further.", "", "_Lucifer_. On, then, with me.", "Wouldst thou behold things mortal or immortal?", "", "_Cain_. Why, what are things?", "", "_Lucifer_. _Both_ partly: but what doth", "Sit next thy heart?", "", "_Cain_. The things I see.", "", "_Lucifer_. But what", "_Sate_ nearest it?", "", "_Cain_. The things I have not seen,", "Nor ever shall--the mysteries of Death.", "", "_Lucifer_. What, if I show to thee things which have died,", "As I have shown thee much which cannot die?", "", "_Cain_. Do so.", "", "_Lucifer_. Away, then! on our mighty wings!", "", "_Cain_. Oh! how we cleave the blue! The stars fade from us!", "The earth! where is my earth? Let me look on it,", "For I was made of it.", "", "_Lucifer_. 'Tis now beyond thee,", "Less, in the universe, than thou in it;", "Yet deem not that thou canst escape it; thou", "Shalt soon return to earth, and all its dust:", "'Tis part of thy eternity, and mine.", "", "_Cain_. Where dost thou lead me?", "", "_Lucifer_. To what was before thee!", "The phantasm of the world; of which thy world", "Is but the wreck.", "", "_Cain_. What! is it not then new?", "", "_Lucifer_. No more than life is; and that was ere thou", "Or _I_ were, or the things which seem to us", "Greater than either: many things will have", "No end; and some, which would pretend to have", "Had no beginning, have had one as mean", "As thou; and mightier things have been extinct", "To make way for much meaner than we can", "Surmise; for _moments_ only and the _space_", "Have been and must be all _unchangeable_.", "But changes make not death, except to clay;", "But thou art clay--and canst but comprehend", "That which was clay, and such thou shall behold.", "", "_Cain_. Clay--Spirit--what thou wilt--I can survey.", "", "_Lucifer_. Away, then!", "", "_Cain_. But the lights fade from me fast,", "And some till now grew larger as we approached,", "And wore the look of worlds.", "", "_Lucifer_. And such they are.", "", "_Cain_. And Edens in them?", "", "_Lucifer_. It may be.", "", "_Cain_. And men?", "", "_Lucifer_. Yea, or things higher.", "", "_Cain_. Aye! and serpents too?", "", "_Lucifer_. Wouldst thou have men without them? must no reptiles", "Breathe, save the erect ones?", "", "_Cain_. How the lights recede!", "Where fly we?", "", "_Lucifer_. To the world of phantoms, which", "Are beings past, and shadows still to come.", "", "_Cain_. But it grows dark, and dark--the stars are gone!", "", "_Lucifer_. And yet thou seest.", "", "_Cain_. 'Tis a fearful light!", "No sun--no moon--no lights innumerable--", "The very blue of the empurpled night", "Fades to a dreary twilight--yet I see", "Huge dusky masses; but unlike the worlds", "We were approaching, which, begirt with light,", "Seemed full of life even when their atmosphere", "Of light gave way, and showed them taking shapes", "Unequal, of deep valleys and vast mountains;", "And some emitting sparks, and some displaying", "Enormous liquid plains, and some begirt", "With luminous belts, and floating moons, which took,", "Like them, the features of fair earth:--instead,", "All here seems dark and dreadful.", "", "_Lucifer_. But distinct.", "Thou seekest to behold Death, and dead things?", "", "_Cain_. I seek it not; but as I know there are", "Such, and that my sire's sin makes him and me,", "And all that we inherit, liable", "To such, I would behold, at once, what I", "Must one day see perforce.", "", "_Lucifer_. Behold!", "", "_Cain_. 'Tis darkness!", "", "_Lucifer_. And so it shall be ever--but we will", "Unfold its gates!", "", "_Cain_. Enormous vapours roll", "Apart--what's this?", "", "_Lucifer_. Enter!", "", "_Cain_. Can I return?", "", "_Lucifer_. Return! be sure: how else should Death be peopled?", "Its present realm is thin to what it will be,", "Through thee and thine.", "", "_Cain_. The clouds still open wide", "And wider, and make widening circles round us!", "", "_Lucifer_. Advance!", "", "_Cain_. And thou!", "", "_Lucifer_. Fear not--without me thou", "Couldst not have gone beyond thy world. On! on!", " [_They disappear through the clouds_.", "", "SCENE II.--_Hades_.", "", " _Enter_ LUCIFER _and_ CAIN.", "", "_Cain_. How silent and how vast are these dim worlds!", "For they seem more than one, and yet more peopled", "Than the huge brilliant luminous orbs which swung", "So thickly in the upper air, that I", "Had deemed them rather the bright populace", "Of some all unimaginable Heaven,", "Than things to be inhabited themselves,", "But that on drawing near them I beheld", "Their swelling into palpable immensity", "Of matter, which seemed made for life to dwell on,", "Rather than life itself. But here, all is", "So shadowy, and so full of twilight, that", "It speaks of a day past.", "", "_Lucifer_. It is the realm", "Of Death.--Wouldst have it present?", "", "_Cain_. Till I know", "That which it really is, I cannot answer.", "But if it be as I have heard my father", "Deal out in his long homilies, 'tis a thing--", "Oh God! I dare not think on't! Curséd be", "He who invented Life that leads to Death!", "Or the dull mass of life, that, being life,", "Could not retain, but needs must forfeit it--", "Even for the innocent!", "", "_Lucifer_. Dost thou curse thy father?", "", "_Cain_. Cursed he not me in giving me my birth?", "Cursed he not me before my birth, in daring", "To pluck the fruit forbidden?", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou say'st well:", "The curse is mutual 'twixt thy sire and thee--", "But for thy sons and brother?", "", "_Cain_. Let them share it", "With me, their sire and brother! What else is", "Bequeathed to me? I leave them my inheritance!", "Oh, ye interminable gloomy realms", "Of swimming shadows and enormous shapes,", "Some fully shown, some indistinct, and all", "Mighty and melancholy--what are ye?", "Live ye, or have ye lived?", "", "_Lucifer_. Somewhat of both.", "", "_Cain_. Then what is Death?", "", "_Lucifer_. What? Hath not he who made ye", "Said 'tis another life?", "", "_Cain_. Till now he hath", "Said nothing, save that all shall die.", "", "_Lucifer_. Perhaps", "He one day will unfold that further secret.", "", "_Cain_. Happy the day!", "", "_Lucifer_. Yes; happy! when unfolded,", "Through agonies unspeakable, and clogged", "With agonies eternal, to innumerable", "Yet unborn myriads of unconscious atoms,", "All to be animated for this only!", "", "_Cain_. What are these mighty phantoms which I see", "Floating around me?--They wear not the form", "Of the Intelligences I have seen", "Round our regretted and unentered Eden;", "Nor wear the form of man as I have viewed it", "In Adam's and in Abel's, and in mine,", "Nor in my sister-bride's, nor in my children's:", "And yet they have an aspect, which, though not", "Of men nor angels, looks like something, which,", "If not the last, rose higher than the first,", "Haughty, and high, and beautiful, and full", "Of seeming strength, but of inexplicable", "Shape; for I never saw such. They bear not", "The wing of Seraph, nor the face of man,", "Nor form of mightiest brute, nor aught that is", "Now breathing; mighty yet and beautiful", "As the most beautiful and mighty which", "Live, and yet so unlike them, that I scarce", "Can call them living.", "", "_Lucifer_. Yet they lived.", "", "_Cain_. Where?", "", "_Lucifer_. Where", "Thou livest.", "", "_Cain_. When?", "", "_Lucifer_. On what thou callest earth", "They did inhabit.", "", "_Cain_. Adam is the first.", "", "_Lucifer_. Of thine, I grant thee--but too mean to be", "The last of these.", "", "_Cain_. And what are they?", "", "_Lucifer_. That which", "Thou shalt be.", "", "_Cain_. But what _were_ they?", "", "_Lucifer_. Living, high,", "Intelligent, good, great, and glorious things,", "As much superior unto all thy sire", "Adam could e'er have been in Eden, as", "The sixty-thousandth generation shall be,", "In its dull damp degeneracy, to", "Thee and thy son;--and how weak they are, judge", "By thy own flesh.", "", "_Cain_. Ah me! and did _they_ perish?", "", "_Lucifer_. Yes, from their earth, as thou wilt fade from thine.", "", "_Cain_. But was _mine_ theirs?", "", "_Lucifer_. It was.", "", "_Cain_. But not as now.", "It is too little and too lowly to", "Sustain such creatures.", "", "_Lucifer_. True, it was more glorious.", "", "_Cain_. And wherefore did it fall?", "", "_Lucifer_. Ask him who fells.", "", "_Cain_. But how?", "", "_Lucifer_. By a most crushing and inexorable", "Destruction and disorder of the elements,", "Which struck a world to chaos, as a chaos", "Subsiding has struck out a world: such things,", "Though rare in time, are frequent in eternity.--", "Pass on, and gaze upon the past.", "", "_Cain_. 'Tis awful!", "", "_Lucifer_. And true. Behold these phantoms! they were once", "Material as thou art.", "", "_Cain_. And must I be", "Like them?", "", "_Lucifer_. Let He who made thee answer that.", "I show thee what thy predecessors are,", "And what they _were_ thou feelest, in degree", "Inferior as thy petty feelings and", "Thy pettier portion of the immortal part", "Of high intelligence and earthly strength.", "What ye in common have with what they had", "Is Life, and what ye _shall_ have--Death: the rest", "Of your poor attributes is such as suits", "Reptiles engendered out of the subsiding", "Slime of a mighty universe, crushed into", "A scarcely-yet shaped planet, peopled with", "Things whose enjoyment was to be in blindness--", "A Paradise of Ignorance, from which", "Knowledge was barred as poison. But behold", "What these superior beings are or were;", "Or, if it irk thee, turn thee back and till", "The earth, thy task--I'll waft thee there in safety.", "", "_Cain_. No: I'll stay here.", "", "_Lucifer_. How long?", "", "_Cain_. For ever! Since", "I must one day return here from the earth,", "I rather would remain; I am sick of all", "That dust has shown me--let me dwell in shadows.", "", "_Lucifer_. It cannot be: thou now beholdest as", "A vision that which is reality.", "To make thyself fit for this dwelling, thou", "Must pass through what the things thou seest have passed--", "The gates of Death.", "", "_Cain_. By what gate have we entered", "Even now?", "", "_Lucifer_. By mine! But, plighted to return,", "My spirit buoys thee up to breathe in regions", "Where all is breathless save thyself. Gaze on;", "But do not think to dwell here till thine hour", "Is come!", "", "_Cain_. And these, too--can they ne'er repass", "To earth again?", "", "_Lucifer_. _Their_ earth is gone for ever--", "So changed by its convulsion, they would not", "Be conscious to a single present spot", "Of its new scarcely hardened surface--'twas--", "Oh, what a beautiful world it _was_!", "", "_Cain_. And is!", "It is not with the earth, though I must till it,", "I feel at war--but that I may not profit", "By what it bears of beautiful, untoiling,", "Nor gratify my thousand swelling thoughts", "With knowledge, nor allay my thousand fears", "Of Death and Life.", "", "_Lucifer_. What thy world is, thou see'st,", "But canst not comprehend the shadow of", "That which it was.", "", "_Cain_. And those enormous creatures,", "Phantoms inferior in intelligence", "(At least so seeming) to the things we have passed,", "Resembling somewhat the wild habitants", "Of the deep woods of earth, the hugest which", "Roar nightly in the forest, but ten-fold", "In magnitude and terror; taller than", "The cherub-guarded walls of Eden--with", "Eyes flashing like the fiery swords which fence them--", "And tusks projecting like the trees stripped of", "Their bark and branches--what were they?", "", "_Lucifer_. That which", "The Mammoth is in thy world;--but these lie", "By myriads underneath its surface.", "", "_Cain_. But", "None on it?", "", "_Lucifer_. No: for thy frail race to war", "With them would render the curse on it useless--", "'Twould be destroyed so early.", "", "_Cain_. But why _war_?", "", "_Lucifer_. You have forgotten the denunciation", "Which drove your race from Eden--war with all things,", "And death to all things, and disease to most things,", "And pangs, and bitterness; these were the fruits", "Of the forbidden tree.", "", "_Cain_. But animals--", "Did they, too, eat of it, that they must die?", "", "_Lucifer_. Your Maker told ye, _they_ were made for you,", "As you for him.--You would not have their doom", "Superior to your own? Had Adam not", "Fallen, all had stood.", "", "_Cain_. Alas! the hopeless wretches!", "They too must share my sire's fate, like his sons;", "Like them, too, without having shared the apple;", "Like them, too, without the so dear-bought _knowledge_!", "It was a lying tree--for we _know_ nothing.", "At least it _promised knowledge_ at the _price_", "Of death--but _knowledge_ still: but what _knows_ man?", "", "_Lucifer_. It may be death leads to the _highest_ knowledge;", "And being of all things the sole thing certain,", "At least leads to the _surest_ science: therefore", "The Tree was true, though deadly.", "", "_Cain_. These dim realms!", "I see them, but I know them not.", "", "_Lucifer_. Because", "Thy hour is yet afar, and matter cannot", "Comprehend spirit wholly--but 'tis something", "To know there are such realms.", "", "_Cain_. We knew already", "That there was Death.", "", "_Lucifer_. But not what was beyond it.", "", "_Cain_. Nor know I now.", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou knowest that there is", "A state, and many states beyond thine own--", "And this thou knewest not this morn.", "", "_Cain_. But all", "Seems dim and shadowy.", "", "_Lucifer_. Be content; it will", "Seem clearer to thine immortality.", "", "_Cain_. And yon immeasurable liquid space", "Of glorious azure which floats on beyond us,", "Which looks like water, and which I should deem", "The river which flows out of Paradise", "Past my own dwelling, but that it is bankless", "And boundless, and of an ethereal hue--", "What is it?", "", "_Lucifer_. There is still some such on earth,", "Although inferior, and thy children shall", "Dwell near it--'tis the phantasm of an Ocean.", "", "_Cain_. 'Tis like another world; a liquid sun--", "And those inordinate creatures sporting o'er", "Its shining surface?", "", "_Lucifer_. Are its inhabitants,", "The past Leviathans.", "", "_Cain_. And yon immense", "Serpent, which rears his dripping mane and vasty", "Head, ten times higher than the haughtiest cedar,", "Forth from the abyss, looking as he could coil", "Himself around the orbs we lately looked on--", "Is he not of the kind which basked beneath", "The Tree in Eden?", "", "_Lucifer_. Eve, thy mother, best", "Can tell what shape of serpent tempted her.", "", "_Cain_. This seems too terrible. No doubt the other", "Had more of beauty.", "", "_Lucifer_. Hast thou ne'er beheld him?", "", "_Cain_. Many of the same kind (at least so called)", "But never that precisely, which persuaded", "The fatal fruit, nor even of the same aspect.", "", "_Lucifer_. Your father saw him not?", "", "_Cain_. No: 'twas my mother", "Who tempted him--she tempted by the serpent.", "", "_Lucifer_. Good man! whene'er thy wife, or thy sons' wives,", "Tempt thee or them to aught that's new or strange,", "Be sure thou seest first who hath tempted _them_!", "", "_Cain_. Thy precept comes too late: there is no more", "For serpents to tempt woman to.", "", "_Lucifer_. But there", "Are some things still which woman may tempt man to,", "And man tempt woman:--let thy sons look to it!", "My counsel is a kind one; for 'tis even", "Given chiefly at my own expense; 'tis true,", "'Twill not be followed, so there's little lost.", "", "_Cain_. I understand not this.", "", "_Lucifer_. The happier thou!--", "Thy world and thou are still too young! Thou thinkest", "Thyself most wicked and unhappy--is it", "Not so?", "", "_Cain_. For crime, I know not; but for pain,", "I have felt much.", "", "_Lucifer_. First-born of the first man!", "Thy present state of sin--and thou art evil,", "Of sorrow--and thou sufferest, are both Eden", "In all its innocence compared to what", "_Thou_ shortly may'st be; and that state again,", "In its redoubled wretchedness, a Paradise", "To what thy sons' sons' sons, accumulating", "In generations like to dust (which they", "In fact but add to), shall endure and do.--", "Now let us back to earth!", "", "_Cain_. And wherefore didst thou", "Lead me here only to inform me this?", "", "_Lucifer_. Was not thy quest for knowledge?", "", "_Cain_. Yes--as being", "The road to happiness!", "", "_Lucifer_. If truth be so,", "Thou hast it.", "", "_Cain_. Then my father's God did well", "When he prohibited the fatal Tree.", "", "_Lucifer_. But had done better in not planting it.", "But ignorance of evil doth not save", "From evil; it must still roll on the same,", "A part of all things.", "", "_Cain_. Not of all things. No--", "I'll not believe it--for I thirst for good.", "", "_Lucifer_. And who and what doth not? _Who_ covets evil", "For its own bitter sake?--_None_--nothing! 'tis", "The leaven of all life, and lifelessness.", "", "_Cain_. Within those glorious orbs which we behold,", "Distant, and dazzling, and innumerable,", "Ere we came down into this phantom realm,", "Ill cannot come: they are too beautiful.", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou hast seen them from afar.", "", "_Cain_. And what of that?", "Distance can but diminish glory--they,", "When nearer, must be more ineffable.", "", "_Lucifer_. Approach the things of earth most beautiful,", "And judge their beauty near.", "", "_Cain_. I have done this--", "The loveliest thing I know is loveliest nearest.", "", "_Lucifer_. Then there must be delusion.--What is that", "Which being nearest to thine eyes is still", "More beautiful than beauteous things remote?", "", "_Cain_. My sister Adah.--All the stars of heaven,", "The deep blue noon of night, lit by an orb", "Which looks a spirit, or a spirit's world--", "The hues of twilight--the Sun's gorgeous coming--", "His setting indescribable, which fills", "My eyes with pleasant tears as I behold", "Him sink, and feel my heart float softly with him", "Along that western paradise of clouds--", "The forest shade, the green bough, the bird's voice--", "The vesper bird's, which seems to sing of love,", "And mingles with the song of Cherubim,", "As the day closes over Eden's walls;--", "All these are nothing, to my eyes and heart,", "Like Adah's face: I turn from earth and heaven", "To gaze on it.", "", "_Lucifer_. 'Tis fair as frail mortality,", "In the first dawn and bloom of young creation,", "And earliest embraces of earth's parents,", "Can make its offspring; still it is delusion.", "", "_Cain_. You think so, being not her brother.", "", "_Lucifer_. Mortal!", "My brotherhood's with those who have no children.", "", "_Cain_. Then thou canst have no fellowship with us.", "", "_Lucifer_. It may be that thine own shall be for me.", "But if thou dost possess a beautiful", "Being beyond all beauty in thine eyes,", "Why art thou wretched?", "", "_Cain_. Why do I exist?", "Why art _thou_ wretched? why are all things so?", "Ev'n he who made us must be, as the maker", "Of things unhappy! To produce destruction", "Can surely never be the task of joy,", "And yet my sire says he's omnipotent:", "Then why is Evil--he being Good? I asked", "This question of my father; and he said,", "Because this Evil only was the path", "To Good. Strange Good, that must arise from out", "Its deadly opposite. I lately saw", "A lamb stung by a reptile: the poor suckling", "Lay foaming on the earth, beneath the vain", "And piteous bleating of its restless dam;", "My father plucked some herbs, and laid them to", "The wound; and by degrees the helpless wretch", "Resumed its careless life, and rose to drain", "The mother's milk, who o'er it tremulous", "Stood licking its reviving limbs with joy.", "Behold, my son! said Adam, how from Evil", "Springs Good!", "", "_Lucifer_. What didst thou answer?", "", "_Cain_. Nothing; for", "He is my father: but I thought, that 'twere", "A better portion for the animal", "Never to have been _stung at all_, than to", "Purchase renewal of its little life", "With agonies unutterable, though", "Dispelled by antidotes.", "", "_Lucifer_. But as thou saidst", "Of all belovéd things thou lovest her", "Who shared thy mother's milk, and giveth hers", "Unto thy children----", "", "_Cain_. Most assuredly:", "What should I be without her?", "", "_Lucifer_. What am I?", "", "_Cain_. Dost thou love nothing?", "", "_Lucifer_. What does thy God love?", "", "_Cain_. All things, my father says; but I confess", "I see it not in their allotment here.", "", "_Lucifer_. And, therefore, thou canst not see if _I_ love", "Or no--except some vast and general purpose,", "To which particular things must melt like snows.", "", "_Cain_. Snows! what are they?", "", "_Lucifer_. Be happier in not knowing", "What thy remoter offspring must encounter;", "But bask beneath the clime which knows no winter.", "", "_Cain_. But dost thou not love something like thyself?", "", "_Lucifer_. And dost thou love _thyself_?", "", "_Cain_. Yes, but love more", "What makes my feelings more endurable,", "And is more than myself, because I love it!", "", "_Lucifer_. Thou lovest it, because 'tis beautiful,", "As was the apple in thy mother's eye;", "And when it ceases to be so, thy love", "Will cease, like any other appetite.", "", "_Cain_. Cease to be beautiful! how can that be?", "", "_Lucifer_. With time.", "", "_Cain_. But time has passed, and hitherto", "Even Adam and my mother both are fair:", "Not fair like Adah and the Seraphim--", "But very fair.", "", "_Lucifer_. All that must pass away", "In them and her.", "", "_Cain_. I'm sorry for it; but", "Cannot conceive my love for her the less:", "And when her beauty disappears, methinks", "He who creates all beauty will lose more", "Than me in seeing perish such a work.", "", "_Lucifer_. I pity thee who lovest what must perish.", "", "_Cain_. And I thee who lov'st nothing.", "", "_Lucifer_. And thy brother--", "Sits he not near thy heart?", "", "_Cain_. Why should he not?", "", "_Lucifer_. Thy father loves him well--so does thy God.", "", "_Cain_. And so do I.", "", "_Lucifer_. 'Tis well and meekly done.", "", "_Cain_. Meekly!", "", "_Lucifer_. He is the second born of flesh,", "And is his mother's favourite.", "", "_Cain_. Let him keep", "Her favour, since the Serpent was the first", "To win it.", "", "_Lucifer_. And his father's?", "", "_Cain_. What is that", "To me? should I not love that which all love?", "", "_Lucifer_. And the Jehovah--the indulgent Lord,", "And bounteous planter of barred Paradise--", "He, too, looks smilingly on Abel.", "", "_Cain_. I", "Ne'er saw him, and I know not if he smiles.", "", "_Lucifer_. But you have seen his angels.", "", "_Cain_. Rarely.", "", "_Lucifer_. But", "Sufficiently to see they love your brother:", "_His_ sacrifices are acceptable.", "", "_Cain_. So be they! wherefore speak to me of this?", "", "_Lucifer_. Because thou hast thought of this ere now.", "", "_Cain_. And if", "I _have_ thought, why recall a thought that----", " (_he pauses as agitated_)--Spirit!", "_Here_ we are in _thy_ world; speak not of _mine_.", "Thou hast shown me wonders: thou hast shown me those", "Mighty Pre-Adamites who walked the earth", "Of which ours is the wreck: thou hast pointed out", "Myriads of starry worlds, of which our own", "Is the dim and remote companion, in", "Infinity of life: thou hast shown me shadows", "Of that existence with the dreaded name", "Which my sire brought us--Death; thou hast shown me much", "But not all: show me where Jehovah dwells,", "In his especial Paradise--or _thine_:", "Where is it?", "", "_Lucifer_. _Here_, and o'er all space.", "", "_Cain_. But ye", "Have some allotted dwelling--as all things;", "Clay has its earth, and other worlds their tenants;", "All temporary breathing creatures their", "Peculiar element; and things which have", "Long ceased to breathe _our_ breath, have theirs, thou say'st;", "And the Jehovah and thyself have thine--", "Ye do not dwell together?", "", "_Lucifer_. No, we reign", "Together; but our dwellings are asunder.", "", "_Cain_. Would there were only one of ye! perchance", "An unity of purpose might make union", "In elements which seem now jarred in storms.", "How came ye, being Spirits wise and infinite,", "To separate? Are ye not as brethren in", "Your essence--and your nature, and your glory?", "", "_Lucifer_. Art not thou Abel's brother?", "", "_Cain_. We are brethren,", "And so we shall remain; but were it not so,", "Is spirit like to flesh? can it fall out--", "Infinity with Immortality?", "Jarring and turning space to misery--", "For what?", "", "_Lucifer_. To reign.", "", "_Cain_. Did ye not tell me that", "Ye are both eternal?", "", "_Lucifer_. Yea!", "", "_Cain_. And what I have seen--", "Yon blue immensity, is boundless?", "", "_Lucifer_. Aye.", "_Cain_. And cannot ye both _reign_, then?--is there not", "Enough?--why should ye differ?", "", "_Lucifer_. We _both_ reign.", "", "_Cain_. But one of you makes evil.", "", "_Lucifer_. Which?", "", "_Cain_. Thou! for", "If thou canst do man good, why dost thou not?", "", "_Lucifer_. And why not he who made? _I_ made ye not;", "Ye are _his_ creatures, and not mine.", "", "_Cain_. Then leave us", "_His_ creatures, as thou say'st we are, or show me", "Thy dwelling, or _his_ dwelling.", "", "_Lucifer_. I could show thee", "Both; but the time will come thou shalt see one", "Of them for evermore.", "", "_Cain_. And why not now?", "", "_Lucifer_. Thy human mind hath scarcely grasp to gather", "The little I have shown thee into calm", "And clear thought: and _thou_ wouldst go on aspiring", "To the great double Mysteries! the _two Principles_!", "And gaze upon them on their secret thrones!", "Dust! limit thy ambition; for to see", "Either of these would be for thee to perish!", "", "_Cain_. And let me perish, so I see them!", "", "_Lucifer_. There", "The son of her who snatched the apple spake!", "But thou wouldst only perish, and not see them;", "That sight is for the other state.", "", "_Cain_. Of Death?", "", "_Lucifer_. That is the prelude.", "", "_Cain_. Then I dread it less,", "Now that I know it leads to something definite.", "", "_Lucifer_. And now I will convey thee to thy world,", "Where thou shall multiply the race of Adam,", "Eat, drink, toil, tremble, laugh, weep, sleep--and die!", "", "_Cain_. And to what end have I beheld these things", "Which thou hast shown me?", "", "_Lucifer_. Didst thou not require", "Knowledge? And have I not, in what I showed,", "Taught thee to know thyself?", "", "_Cain_. Alas! I seem", "Nothing.", "", "_Lucifer_. And this should be the human sum", "Of knowledge, to know mortal nature's nothingness;", "Bequeath that science to thy children, and", "'Twill spare them many tortures.", "", "_Cain_. Haughty spirit!", "Thou speak'st it proudly; but thyself, though proud,", "Hast a superior.", "", "_Lucifer_. No! By heaven, which he", "Holds, and the abyss, and the immensity", "Of worlds and life, which I hold with him--No!", "I have a Victor--true; but no superior.", "Homage he has from all--but none from me:", "I battle it against him, as I battled", "In highest Heaven--through all Eternity,", "And the unfathomable gulfs of Hades,", "And the interminable realms of space,", "And the infinity of endless ages,", "All, all, will I dispute! And world by world,", "And star by star, and universe by universe,", "Shall tremble in the balance, till the great", "Conflict shall cease, if ever it shall cease,", "Which it ne'er shall, till he or I be quenched!", "And what can quench our immortality,", "Or mutual and irrevocable hate?", "He as a conqueror will call the conquered", "_Evil_; but what will be the _Good_ he gives?", "Were I the victor, _his_ works would be deemed", "The only evil ones. And you, ye new", "And scarce-born mortals, what have been his gifts", "To you already, in your little world?", "", "_Cain_. But few; and some of those but bitter.", "", "_Lucifer_. Back", "With me, then, to thine earth, and try the rest", "Of his celestial boons to you and yours.", "Evil and Good are things in their own essence,", "And not made good or evil by the Giver;", "But if he gives you good--so call him; if", "Evil springs from _him_, do not name it _mine_,", "Till ye know better its true fount; and judge", "Not by words, though of Spirits, but the fruits", "Of your existence, such as it must be.", "_One good_ gift has the fatal apple given,--", "Your _reason_:--let it not be overswayed", "By tyrannous threats to force you into faith", "'Gainst all external sense and inward feeling:", "Think and endure,--and form an inner world", "In your own bosom--where the outward fails;", "So shall you nearer be the spiritual", "Nature, and war triumphant with your own.", " [_They disappear_.", "", "ACT III.", "", "SCENE I.--_The Earth, near Eden, as in Act I_.", "", " _Enter_ CAIN _and_ ADAH.", "", "_Adah_. Hush! tread softly, Cain!", "", "_Cain_. I will--but wherefore?", "", "_Adah_. Our little Enoch sleeps upon yon bed", "Of leaves, beneath the cypress.", "", "_Cain_. Cypress! 'tis", "A gloomy tree, which looks as if it mourned", "O'er what it shadows; wherefore didst thou choose it", "For our child's canopy?", "", "_Adah_. Because its branches", "Shut out the sun like night, and therefore seemed", "Fitting to shadow slumber.", "", "_Cain_. Aye, the last--", "And longest; but no matter--lead me to him.", " [_They go up to the child_.", "How lovely he appears! his little cheeks,", "In their pure incarnation, vying with", "The rose leaves strewn beneath them.", "", "_Adah_. And his lips, too,", "How beautifully parted! No; you shall not", "Kiss him, at least not now: he will awake soon--", "His hour of mid-day rest is nearly over;", "But it were pity to disturb him till", "'Tis closed.", "", "_Cain_. You have said well; I will contain", "My heart till then. He smiles, and sleeps!--sleep on,", "And smile, thou little, young inheritor", "Of a world scarce less young: sleep on, and smile!", "Thine are the hours and days when both are cheering", "And innocent! _thou_ hast not plucked the fruit--", "Thou know'st not thou art naked! Must the time", "Come thou shalt be amerced for sins unknown,", "Which were not thine nor mine? But now sleep on!", "His cheeks are reddening into deeper smiles,", "And shining lids are trembling o'er his long", "Lashes, dark as the cypress which waves o'er them;", "Half open, from beneath them the clear blue", "Laughs out, although in slumber. He must dream--", "Of what? Of Paradise!--Aye! dream of it,", "My disinherited boy! 'Tis but a dream;", "For never more thyself, thy sons, nor fathers,", "Shall walk in that forbidden place of joy!", "", "_Adah_. Dear Cain! Nay, do not whisper o'er our son", "Such melancholy yearnings o'er the past:", "Why wilt thou always mourn for Paradise?", "Can we not make another?", "", "_Cain_. Where?", "", "_Adah_. Here, or", "Where'er thou wilt: where'er thou art, I feel not", "The want of this so much regretted Eden.", "Have I not thee--our boy--our sire, and brother,", "And Zillah--our sweet sister, and our Eve,", "To whom we owe so much besides our birth?", "", "_Cain_. Yes--Death, too, is amongst the debts we owe her.", "", "_Adah_. Cain! that proud Spirit, who withdrew thee hence,", "Hath saddened thine still deeper. I had hoped", "The promised wonders which thou hast beheld,", "Visions, thou say'st, of past and present worlds,", "Would have composed thy mind into the calm", "Of a contented knowledge; but I see", "Thy guide hath done thee evil: still I thank him,", "And can forgive him all, that he so soon", "Hath given thee back to us.", "", "_Cain_. So soon?", "", "_Adah_. 'Tis scarcely", "Two hours since ye departed: two _long_ hours", "To _me_, but only _hours_ upon the sun.", "", "_Cain_. And yet I have approached that sun, and seen", "Worlds which he once shone on, and never more", "Shall light; and worlds he never lit: methought", "Years had rolled o'er my absence.", "", "_Adah_. Hardly hours.", "", "_Cain_. The mind then hath capacity of time,", "And measures it by that which it beholds,", "Pleasing or painful; little or almighty.", "I had beheld the immemorial works", "Of endless beings; skirred extinguished worlds;", "And, gazing on eternity, methought", "I had borrowed more by a few drops of ages", "From its immensity: but now I feel", "My littleness again. Well said the Spirit,", "That I was nothing!", "", "_Adah_. Wherefore said he so?", "Jehovah said not that.", "", "_Cain_. No: _he_ contents him", "With making us the _nothing_ which we are;", "And after flattering dust with glimpses of", "Eden and Immortality, resolves", "It back to dust again--for what?", "", "_Adah_. Thou know'st--", "Even for our parents' error.", "", "_Cain_. What is that", "To us? they sinned, then _let them_ die!", "", "_Adah_. Thou hast not spoken well, nor is that thought", "Thy own, but of the Spirit who was with thee.", "Would _I_ could die for them, so _they_ might live!", "", "_Cain_. Why, so say I--provided that one victim", "Might satiate the Insatiable of life,", "And that our little rosy sleeper there", "Might never taste of death nor human sorrow,", "Nor hand it down to those who spring from him.", "", "_Adah_. How know we that some such atonement one day", "May not redeem our race?", "", "_Cain_. By sacrificing", "The harmless for the guilty? what atonement", "Were there? why, _we_ are innocent: what have we", "Done, that we must be victims for a deed", "Before our birth, or need have victims to", "Atone for this mysterious, nameless sin--", "If it be such a sin to seek for knowledge?", "", "_Adah_. Alas! thou sinnest now, my Cain: thy words", "Sound impious in mine ears.", "", "_Cain_. Then leave me!", "", "_Adah_. Never,", "Though thy God left thee.", "", "_Cain_. Say, what have we here?", "", "_Adah_. Two altars, which our brother Abel made", "During thine absence, whereupon to offer", "A sacrifice to God on thy return.", "", "_Cain_. And how knew _he_, that _I_ would be so ready", "With the burnt offerings, which he daily brings", "With a meek brow, whose base humility", "Shows more of fear than worship--as a bribe", "To the Creator?", "", "_Adah_. Surely, 'tis well done.", "", "_Cain_. One altar may suffice; _I_ have no offering.", "", "_Adah_. The fruits of the earth, the early, beautiful,", "Blossom and bud--and bloom of flowers and fruits--", "These are a goodly offering to the Lord,", "Given with a gentle and a contrite spirit.", "", "_Cain_. I have toiled, and tilled, and sweaten in the sun,", "According to the curse:--must I do more?", "For what should I be gentle? for a war", "With all the elements ere they will yield", "The bread we eat? For what must I be grateful?", "For being dust, and grovelling in the dust,", "Till I return to dust? If I am nothing--", "For nothing shall I be an hypocrite,", "And seem well-pleased with pain? For what should I", "Be contrite? for my father's sin, already", "Expiate with what we all have undergone,", "And to be more than expiated by", "The ages prophesied, upon our seed.", "Little deems our young blooming sleeper, there,", "The germs of an eternal misery", "To myriads is within him! better 'twere", "I snatched him in his sleep, and dashed him 'gainst", "The rocks, than let him live to----", "", "_Adah_. Oh, my God!", "Touch not the child--my child! _thy_ child! Oh, Cain!", "", "_Cain_. Fear not! for all the stars, and all the power", "Which sways them, I would not accost yon infant", "With ruder greeting than a father's kiss.", "", "_Adah_. Then, why so awful in thy speech?", "", "_Cain_. I said,", "'Twere better that he ceased to live, than give", "Life to so much of sorrow as he must", "Endure, and, harder still, bequeath; but since", "That saying jars you, let us only say--", "'Twere better that he never had been born.", "", "_Adah_. Oh, do not say so! Where were then the joys,", "The mother's joys of watching, nourishing,", "And loving him? Soft! he awakes. Sweet Enoch!", " [_She goes to the child_.", "Oh, Cain! look on him; see how full of life,", "Of strength, of bloom, of beauty, and of joy--", "How like to me--how like to thee, when gentle--", "For _then_ we are _all_ alike; is't not so, Cain?", "Mother, and sire, and son, our features are", "Reflected in each other; as they are", "In the clear waters, when _they_ are _gentle_, and", "When _thou_ art _gentle_. Love us, then, my Cain!", "And love thyself for our sakes, for we love thee.", "Look! how he laughs and stretches out his arms,", "And opens wide his blue eyes upon thine,", "To hail his father; while his little form", "Flutters as winged with joy. Talk not of pain!", "The childless cherubs well might envy thee", "The pleasures of a parent! Bless him, Cain!", "As yet he hath no words to thank thee, but", "His heart will, and thine own too.", "", "_Cain_. Bless thee, boy!", "If that a mortal blessing may avail thee,", "To save thee from the Serpent's curse!", "", "_Adah_. It shall.", "Surely a father's blessing may avert", "A reptile's subtlety.", "", "_Cain_. Of that I doubt;", "But bless him ne'er the less.", "", "_Adah_. Our brother comes.", "", "_Cain_. Thy brother Abel.", "", " _Enter_ ABEL.", "", "_Abel_. Welcome, Cain! My brother,", "The peace of God be on thee!", "", "_Cain_. Abel, hail!", "", "_Abel_. Our sister tells me that thou hast been wandering,", "In high communion with a Spirit, far", "Beyond our wonted range. Was he of those", "We have seen and spoken with, like to our father?", "", "_Cain_. No.", "", "_Abel_. Why then commune with him? he may be", "A foe to the Most High.", "", "_Cain_. And friend to man.", "Has the Most High been so--if so you term him?", "", "_Abel_. _Term him!_ your words are strange to-day, my brother.", "My sister Adah, leave us for awhile--", "We mean to sacrifice.", "", "_Adah_. Farewell, my Cain;", "But first embrace thy son. May his soft spirit,", "And Abel's pious ministry, recall thee", "To peace and holiness! [_Exit_ ADAH, _with her child_.", "", "_Abel_. Where hast thou been?", "", "_Cain_. I know not.", "", "_Abel_. Nor what thou hast seen?", "", "_Cain_. The dead--", "The Immortal--the Unbounded--the Omnipotent--", "The overpowering mysteries of space--", "The innumerable worlds that were and are--", "A whirlwind of such overwhelming things,", "Suns, moons, and earths, upon their loud-voiced spheres", "Singing in thunder round me, as have made me", "Unfit for mortal converse: leave me, Abel.", "", "_Abel_. Thine eyes are flashing with unnatural light--", "Thy cheek is flushed with an unnatural hue--", "Thy words are fraught with an unnatural sound--", "What may this mean?", "", "_Cain_. It means--I pray thee, leave me.", "", "_Abel_. Not till we have prayed and sacrificed together.", "", "_Cain_. Abel, I pray thee, sacrifice alone--", "Jehovah loves thee well.", "", "_Abel_. _Both_ well, I hope.", "", "_Cain_. But thee the better: I care not for that;", "Thou art fitter for his worship than I am;", "Revere him, then--but let it be alone--", "At least, without me.", "", "_Abel_. Brother, I should ill", "Deserve the name of our great father's son,", "If, as my elder, I revered thee not,", "And in the worship of our God, called not", "On thee to join me, and precede me in", "Our priesthood--'tis thy place.", "", "_Cain_. But I have ne'er", "Asserted it.", "", "_Abel_. The more my grief; I pray thee", "To do so now: thy soul seems labouring in", "Some strong delusion; it will calm thee.", "", "_Cain_. No;", "Nothing can calm me more. _Calm!_ say I? Never", "Knew I what calm was in the soul, although", "I have seen the elements stilled. My Abel, leave me!", "Or let me leave thee to thy pious purpose.", "", "_Abel_. Neither; we must perform our task together.", "Spurn me not.", "", "_Cain_. If it must be so----well, then,", "What shall I do?", "", "_Abel_. Choose one of those two altars.", "", "_Cain_. Choose for me: they to me are so much turf", "And stone.", "", "_Abel_. Choose thou!", "", "_Cain_. I have chosen.", "", "_Abel_. 'Tis the highest,", "And suits thee, as the elder. Now prepare", "Thine offerings.", "", "_Cain_. Where are thine?", "", "_Abel_. Behold them here--", "The firstlings of the flock, and fat thereof--", "A shepherd's humble offering.", "", "_Cain_. I have no flocks;", "I am a tiller of the ground, and must", "Yield what it yieldeth to my toil--its fruit:", " [_He gathers fruits_.", "Behold them in their various bloom and ripeness.", " [_They dress their altars, and kindle aflame upon them_.", "", "_Abel_. My brother, as the elder, offer first", "Thy prayer and thanksgiving with sacrifice.", "", "_Cain_. No--I am new to this; lead thou the way,", "And I will follow--as I may.", "", "_Abel_ (_kneeling_). Oh, God!", "Who made us, and who breathed the breath of life", "Within our nostrils, who hath blessed us,", "And spared, despite our father's sin, to make", "His children all lost, as they might have been,", "Had not thy justice been so tempered with", "The mercy which is thy delight, as to", "Accord a pardon like a Paradise,", "Compared with our great crimes:--Sole Lord of light!", "Of good, and glory, and eternity!", "Without whom all were evil, and with whom", "Nothing can err, except to some good end", "Of thine omnipotent benevolence!", "Inscrutable, but still to be fulfilled!", "Accept from out thy humble first of shepherds'", "First of the first-born flocks--an offering,", "In itself nothing--as what offering can be", "Aught unto thee?--but yet accept it for", "The thanksgiving of him who spreads it in", "The face of thy high heaven--bowing his own", "Even to the dust, of which he is--in honour", "Of thee, and of thy name, for evermore!", "", "_Cain_ (_standing erect during this speech_).", "Spirit whate'er or whosoe'er thou art,", "Omnipotent, it may be--and, if good,", "Shown in the exemption of thy deeds from evil;", "Jehovah upon earth! and God in heaven!", "And it may be with other names, because", "Thine attributes seem many, as thy works:--", "If thou must be propitiated with prayers,", "Take them! If thou must be induced with altars,", "And softened with a sacrifice, receive them;", "Two beings here erect them unto thee.", "If thou lov'st blood, the shepherd's shrine, which smokes", "On my right hand, hath shed it for thy service", "In the first of his flock, whose limbs now reek", "In sanguinary incense to thy skies;", "Or, if the sweet and blooming fruits of earth,", "And milder seasons, which the unstained turf", "I spread them on now offers in the face", "Of the broad sun which ripened them, may seem", "Good to thee--inasmuch as they have not", "Suffered in limb or life--and rather form", "A sample of thy works, than supplication", "To look on ours! If a shrine without victim,", "And altar without gore, may win thy favour,", "Look on it! and for him who dresseth it,", "He is--such as thou mad'st him; and seeks nothing", "Which must be won by kneeling: if he's evil,", "Strike him! thou art omnipotent, and may'st--", "For what can he oppose? If he be good,", "Strike him, or spare him, as thou wilt! since all", "Rests upon thee; and Good and Evil seem", "To have no power themselves, save in thy will--", "And whether that be good or ill I know not,", "Not being omnipotent, nor fit to judge", "Omnipotence--but merely to endure", "Its mandate; which thus far I have endured.", "", " [_The fire upon the altar of_ ABEL _kindles into a column", " of the brightest flame, and ascends to heaven;", " while a whirlwind throws down the altar of_", " CAIN, _and scatters the fruits abroad", " upon the earths_", "", "_Abel_ (_kneeling_).", "Oh, brother, pray! Jehovah's wroth with thee.", "", "_Cain_. Why so?", "", "_Abel_. Thy fruits are scattered on the earth.", "", "_Cain_. From earth they came, to earth let them return;", "Their seed will bear fresh fruit there ere the summer:", "Thy burnt flesh-offering prospers better; see", "How Heaven licks up the flames, when thick with blood!", "", "_Abel_. Think not upon my offering's acceptance,", "But make another of thine own--before", "It is too late.", "", "_Cain_. I will build no more altars,", "Nor suffer any----", "", "_Abel_ (_rising_). Cain! what meanest thou?", "", "_Cain_. To cast down yon vile flatterer of the clouds,", "The smoky harbinger of thy dull prayers--", "Thine altar, with its blood of lambs and kids,", "Which fed on milk, to be destroyed in blood.", "", "_Abel_ (_opposing him_).", "Thou shalt not:--add not impious works to impious", "Words! let that altar stand--'tis hallowed now", "By the immortal pleasure of Jehovah,", "In his acceptance of the victims.", "", "_Cain_. _His_!", "_His pleasure!_ what was his high pleasure in", "The fumes of scorching flesh and smoking blood,", "To the pain of the bleating mothers, which", "Still yearn for their dead offspring? or the pangs", "Of the sad ignorant victims underneath", "Thy pious knife? Give way! this bloody record", "Shall not stand in the sun, to shame creation!", "", "_Abel_. Brother, give back! thou shalt not touch my altar", "With violence: if that thou wilt adopt it,", "To try another sacrifice, 'tis thine.", "", "_Cain_. Another sacrifice! Give way, or else", "That sacrifice may be----", "", "_Abel_. What mean'st thou?", "", "_Cain_. Give--", "Give way!--thy God loves blood!--then look to it:--", "Give way, ere he hath _more_!", "", "_Abel_. In _his_ great name,", "I stand between thee and the shrine which hath", "Had his acceptance.", "", "_Cain_. If thou lov'st thyself,", "Stand back till I have strewed this turf along", "Its native soil:--else----", "", "_Abel_ (_opposing him_). I love God far more", "Than life.", "", "_Cain_ (_striking him with a brand, on the temples, which", "he snatches from the altar_). Then take thy life unto thy God,", "Since he loves lives.", "", "_Abel_ (_falls_). What hast thou done--my brother?", "", "_Cain_. Brother!", "", "_Abel_. Oh, God! receive thy servant! and", "Forgive his slayer, for he knew not what", "He did--Cain, give me--give me thy hand; and tell", "Poor Zillah--", "", "_Cain_ (_after a moment's stupefaction_).", " _My_ hand! 'tis all red, and with----", "What? [_A long pause.--Looking slowly round_.", " Where am I? alone! Where's Abel? where", "Cain? Can it be that I am he? My brother,", "Awake!--why liest thou so long on the green earth?", "'Tis not the hour of slumber:--why so pale?", "What hast thou!--thou wert full of life this morn!", "Abel! I pray thee, mock me not! I smote", "Too fiercely, but not fatally. Ah, why", "Wouldst thou oppose me? This is mockery;", "And only done to daunt me:--'twas a blow--", "And but a blow. Stir--stir--nay, only stir!", "Why, so--that's well!--thou breathest! breathe upon me!", "Oh God! Oh God!", "", "_Abel_ (_very faintly_). What's he who speaks of God?", "", "_Cain_. Thy murderer.", "", "_Abel_. Then may God forgive him! Cain,", "Comfort poor Zillah:--she has but one brother", "Now. [ABEL _dies_.", "", "_Cain_. And I none!--Who makes me brotherless?", "His eyes are open! then he is not dead!", "Death is like sleep; and sleep shuts down our lids.", "His lips, too, are apart; why then he breathes;", "And yet I feel it not.--His heart!--his heart!--", "Let me see, doth it beat? methinks----No!--no!", "This is a vision, else I am become", "The native of another and worse world.", "The earth swims round me:--what is this?--'tis wet;", " [_Puts his hand to his brow, and then looks at it_.", "And yet there are no dews! 'Tis blood--my blood--", "My brother's and my own! and shed by me!", "Then what have I further to do with life,", "Since I have taken life from my own flesh?", "But he can not be dead!--Is silence death?", "No; he will wake; then let me watch by him.", "Life cannot be so slight, as to be quenched", "Thus quickly!--he hath spoken to me since--", "What shall I say to him?--My brother!--No:", "He will not answer to that name; for brethren", "Smite not each other. Yet--yet--speak to me.", "Oh! for a word more of that gentle voice,", "That I may bear to hear my own again!", "", " _Enter_ ZILLAH.", "", "_Zillah_. I heard a heavy sound; what can it be?", "'Tis Cain; and watching by my husband. What", "Dost thou there, brother? Doth he sleep? Oh, Heaven!", "What means this paleness, and yon stream?--No, no!", "It is not blood; for who would shed his blood?", "Abel! what's this?--who hath done this? He moves not;", "He breathes not: and his hands drop down from mine", "With stony lifelessness! Ah! cruel Cain!", "Why camest thou not in time to save him from", "This violence? Whatever hath assailed him,", "Thou wert the stronger, and shouldst have stepped in", "Between him and aggression! Father!--Eve!--", "Adah!--come hither! Death is in the world!", " [_Exit_ ZILLAH, _calling on her Parents, etc._", "", "_Cain_ (_solus_). And who hath brought him there?--I--who abhor", "The name of Death so deeply, that the thought", "Empoisoned all my life, before I knew", "His aspect--I have led him here, and given", "My brother to his cold and still embrace,", "As if he would not have asserted his", "Inexorable claim without my aid.", "I am awake at last--a dreary dream", "Had maddened me;--but _he_ shall ne'er awake!", "", " _Enter_ ADAM, EVE, ADAH, _and_ ZILLAH.", "", "_Adam_. A voice of woe from Zillah brings me here--", "What do I see?--'Tis true!--My son!--my son!", "Woman, behold the Serpent's work, and thine! [_To_ EVE.", "", "_Eve_. Oh! speak not of it now: the Serpent's fangs", "Are in my heart! My best beloved, Abel!", "Jehovah! this is punishment beyond", "A mother's sin, to take _him_ from me!", "", "_Adam_. Who,", "Or what hath done this deed?--speak, Cain, since thou", "Wert present; was it some more hostile angel,", "Who walks not with Jehovah? or some wild", "Brute of the forest?", "", "_Eve_. Ah! a livid light", "Breaks through, as from a thunder-cloud! yon brand", "Massy and bloody! snatched from off the altar,", "And black with smoke, and red with----", "", "_Adam_. Speak, my son!", "Speak, and assure us, wretched as we are,", "That we are not more miserable still.", "", "_Adah_. Speak, Cain! and say it was not _thou_!", "", "_Eve_. It was!", "I see it now--he hangs his guilty head,", "And covers his ferocious eye with hands", "Incarnadine!", "", "_Adah_. Mother, thou dost him wrong--", "Cain! clear thee from this horrible accusal,", "Which grief wrings from our parent.", "", "_Eve_. Hear, Jehovah!", "May the eternal Serpent's curse be on him!", "For he was fitter for his seed than ours.", "May all his days be desolate! May----", "", "_Adah_. Hold!", "Curse him not, mother, for he is thy son--", "Curse him not, mother, for he is my brother,", "And my betrothed.", "", "_Eve_. He hath left thee no brother--", "Zillah no husband--me _no son!_ for thus", "I curse him from my sight for evermore!", "All bonds I break between us, as he broke", "That of his nature, _in yon_----Oh Death! Death!", "Why didst thou not take _me_, who first incurred thee?", "Why dost thou not so now?", "", "_Adam_. Eve! let not this,", "Thy natural grief, lead to impiety!", "A heavy doom was long forespoken to us;", "And now that it begins, let it be borne", "In such sort as may show our God, that we", "Are faithful servants to his holy will.", "", "_Eve_ (_pointing to Cain_).", "_His will!_ the will of yon Incarnate Spirit", "Of Death, whom I have brought upon the earth", "To strew it with the dead. May all the curses", "Of life be on him! and his agonies", "Drive him forth o'er the wilderness, like us", "From Eden, till his children do by him", "As he did by his brother! May the swords", "And wings of fiery Cherubim pursue him", "By day and night--snakes spring up in his path--", "Earth's fruits be ashes in his mouth--the leaves", "On which he lays his head to sleep be strewed", "With scorpions! May his dreams be of his victim!", "His waking a continual dread of Death!", "May the clear rivers turn to blood as he", "Stoops down to stain them with his raging lip!", "May every element shun or change to him!", "May he live in the pangs which others die with!", "And Death itself wax something worse than Death", "To him who first acquainted him with man!", "Hence, fratricide! henceforth that word is _Cain_,", "Through all the coming myriads of mankind,", "Who shall abhor thee, though thou wert their sire!", "May the grass wither from thy feet! the woods", "Deny thee shelter! earth a home! the dust", "A grave! the sun his light! and heaven her God!", " [_Exit_ EVE.", "", "_Adam_. Cain! get thee forth: we dwell no more together.", "Depart! and leave the dead to me--I am", "Henceforth alone--we never must meet more.", "", "_Adah_. Oh, part not with him thus, my father: do not", "Add thy deep curse to Eve's upon his head!", "", "_Adam_. I curse him not: his spirit be his curse.", "Come, Zillah!", "", "_Zillah_. I must watch my husband's corse.", "", "_Adam_. We will return again, when he is gone", "Who hath provided for us this dread office.", "Come, Zillah!", "", "_Zillah_. Yet one kiss on yon pale clay,", "And those lips once so warm--my heart! my heart!", " [_Exeunt_ ADAM _and_ ZILLAH _weeping_.", "", "_Adah_. Cain! thou hast heard, we must go forth. I am ready,", "So shall our children be. I will bear Enoch,", "And you his sister. Ere the sun declines", "Let us depart, nor walk the wilderness", "Under the cloud of night.--Nay, speak to me.", "To _me--thine own_.", "", "_Cain_. Leave me!", "", "_Adah_. Why, all have left thee.", "", "_Cain_. And wherefore lingerest thou? Dost thou not fear", "To dwell with one who hath done this?", "", "_Adah_. I fear", "Nothing except to leave thee, much as I", "Shrink from the deed which leaves thee brotherless.", "I must not speak of this--it is between thee", "And the great God.", "", "_A Voice from within exclaims_. Cain! Cain!", "", "_Adah_. Hear'st thou that voice?", "", "_The Voice within_. Cain! Cain!", "", "_Adah_. It soundeth like an angel's tone.", "", " _Enter the_ ANGEL _of the Lord_.", "", "_Angel_. Where is thy brother Abel?", "", "_Cain_. Am I then", "My brother's keeper?", "", "_Angel_. Cain! what hast thou done?", "The voice of thy slain brother's blood cries out,", "Even from the ground, unto the Lord!--Now art thou", "Cursed from the earth, which opened late her mouth", "To drink thy brother's blood from thy rash hand.", "Henceforth, when thou shalt till the ground, it shall not", "Yield thee her strength; a fugitive shalt thou", "Be from this day, and vagabond on earth!", "", "_Adah_. This punishment is more than he can bear.", "Behold thou drivest him from the face of earth,", "And from the face of God shall he be hid.", "A fugitive and vagabond on earth,", "'Twill come to pass, that whoso findeth him", "Shall slay him.", "", "_Cain_. Would they could! but who are they", "Shall slay me? Where are these on the lone earth", "As yet unpeopled?", "", "_Angel_. Thou hast slain thy brother,", "And who shall warrant thee against thy son?", "", "_Adah_. Angel of Light! be merciful, nor say", "That this poor aching breast now nourishes", "A murderer in my boy, and of his father.", "", "_Angel_. Then he would but be what his father is.", "Did not the milk of Eve give nutriment", "To him thou now seest so besmeared with blood?", "The fratricide might well engender parricides.--", "But it shall not be so--the Lord thy God", "And mine commandeth me to set his seal", "On Cain, so that he may go forth in safety.", "Who slayeth Cain, a sevenfold vengeance shall", "Be taken on his head. Come hither!", "", "_Cain_. What", "Wouldst thou with me?", "", "_Angel_. To mark upon thy brow", "Exemption from such deeds as thou hast done.", "", "_Cain_. No, let me die!", "", "_Angel_. It must not be.", " [_The_ ANGEL _sets the mark on_ CAIN'S _brow_.", "", "_Cain_. It burns", "My brow, but nought to that which is within it!", "Is there more? let me meet it as I may.", "", "_Angel_. Stern hast thou been and stubborn from the womb,", "As the ground thou must henceforth till; but he", "Thou slew'st was gentle as the flocks he tended.", "", "_Cain_. After the fall too soon was I begotten;", "Ere yet my mother's mind subsided from", "The Serpent, and my sire still mourned for Eden.", "That which I am, I am; I did not seek", "For life, nor did I make myself; but could I", "With my own death redeem him from the dust--", "And why not so? let him return to day,", "And I lie ghastly! so shall be restored", "By God the life to him he loved; and taken", "From me a being I ne'er loved to bear.", "", "_Angel_. Who shall heal murder? what is done, is done;", "Go forth! fulfil thy days! and be thy deeds", "Unlike the last! [_The_ ANGEL _disappears_.", "", "_Adah_. He's gone, let us go forth;", "I hear our little Enoch cry within", "Our bower.", "", "_Cain_. Ah! little knows he what he weeps for!", "And I who have shed blood cannot shed tears!", "But the four rivers would not cleanse my soul.", "Think'st thou my boy will bear to look on me?", "", "_Adah_. If I thought that he would not, I would----", "", "_Cain_ (_interrupting her_). No,", "No more of threats: we have had too many of them:", "Go to our children--I will follow thee.", "", "_Adah_. I will not leave thee lonely with the dead--", "Let us depart together.", "", "_Cain_. Oh! thou dead", "And everlasting witness! whose unsinking", "Blood darkens earth and heaven! what thou _now_ art", "I know not! but if _thou_ seest what _I_ am,", "I think thou wilt forgive him, whom his God", "Can ne'er forgive, nor his own soul.--Farewell!", "I must not, dare not touch what I have made thee.", "I, who sprung from the same womb with thee, drained", "The same breast, clasped thee often to my own,", "In fondness brotherly and boyish, I", "Can never meet thee more, nor even dare", "To do that for thee, which thou shouldst have done", "For me--compose thy limbs into their grave--", "The first grave yet dug for mortality.", "But who hath dug that grave? Oh, earth! Oh, earth!", "For all the fruits thou hast rendered to me, I", "Give thee back this.--Now for the wilderness!", " [ADAH _stoops down and kisses the body of_ ABEL.", "", "_Adah_. A dreary, and an early doom, my brother,", "Has been thy lot! Of all who mourn for thee,", "I alone must not weep. My office is", "Henceforth to dry up tears, and not to shed them;", "But yet of all who mourn, none mourn like me,", "Not only for thyself, but him who slew thee.", "Now, Cain! I will divide thy burden with thee.", "", "_Cain_. Eastward from Eden will we take our way;", "'Tis the most desolate, and suits my steps.", "", "_Adah_. Lead! thou shalt be my guide, and may our God", "Be thine! Now let us carry forth our children.", "", "_Cain_. And _he_ who lieth there was childless! I", "Have dried the fountain of a gentle race,", "Which might have graced his recent marriage couch,", "And might have tempered this stern blood of mine,", "Uniting with our children Abel's offspring!", "O Abel!", "", "_Adah_. Peace be with him!", "", "_Cain_. But with _me!_----", " [_Exeunt_." ], "linecount": "2255" }, { "title": "Heaven and Earth", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "PART I.", "", "SCENE I.--_A woody and mountainous district near Mount", " Ararat.--Time, midnight_.", "", " _Enter_ ANAH _and_ AHOLIBAMAH.", "", "_Anah_. OUR father sleeps: it is the hour when they", "Who love us are accustomed to descend", "Through the deep clouds o'er rocky Ararat:--", "How my heart beats!", "", "_Aho._ Let us proceed upon", "Our invocation.", "", "_Anah_. But the stars are hidden.", "I tremble.", "", "_Aho._ So do I, but not with fear", "Of aught save their delay.", "", "_Anah_. My sister, though", "I love Azaziel more than----oh, too much!", "What was I going to say? my heart grows impious.", "", "_Aho._ And where is the impiety of loving", "Celestial natures?", "", "_Anah_. But, Aholibamah,", "I love our God less since his angel loved me:", "This cannot be of good; and though I know not", "That I do wrong, I feel a thousand fears", "Which are not ominous of right.", "", "_Aho._ Then wed thee", "Unto some son of clay, and toil and spin!", "There's Japhet loves thee well, hath loved thee long:", "Marry, and bring forth dust!", "", "_Anah_. I should have loved", "Azaziel not less were he mortal; yet", "I am glad he is not. I cannot outlive him.", "And when I think that his immortal wings", "Will one day hover o'er the sepulchre", "Of the poor child of clay which so adored him,", "As he adores the Highest, death becomes", "Less terrible; but yet I pity him:", "His grief will be of ages, or at least", "Mine would be such for him, were I the Seraph,", "And he the perishable.", "", "_Aho._ Rather say,", "That he will single forth some other daughter", "Of earth, and love her as he once loved Anah.", "", "_Anah_. And if it should be so, and she loved him,", "Better thus than that he should weep for me.", "", "_Aho._ If I thought thus of Samiasa's love,", "All Seraph as he is, I'd spurn him from me.", "But to our invocation!--'Tis the hour.", "", "_Anah_.", " Seraph!", " From thy sphere!", " Whatever star contain thy glory;", " In the eternal depths of heaven", " Albeit thou watchest with \"the seven,\"", " Though through space infinite and hoary", " Before thy bright wings worlds be driven,", " Yet hear!", " Oh! think of her who holds thee dear!", " And though she nothing is to thee,", " Yet think that thou art all to her.", " Thou canst not tell,--and never be", " Such pangs decreed to aught save me,--", " The bitterness of tears.", " Eternity is in thine years,", " Unborn, undying beauty in thine eyes;", " With me thou canst not sympathise,", " Except in love, and there thou must", " Acknowledge that more loving dust", " Ne'er wept beneath the skies.", " Thou walk'st thy many worlds, thou see'st", " The face of him who made thee great,", " As he hath made me of the least", " Of those cast out from Eden's gate:", " Yet, Seraph dear!", " Oh hear!", " For thou hast loved me, and I would not die", " Until I know what I must die in knowing,", " That thou forget'st in thine eternity", " Her whose heart Death could not keep from o'er-flowing", " For thee, immortal essence as thou art!", " Great is their love who love in sin and fear;", " And such, I feel, are waging in my heart", " A war unworthy: to an Adamite", " Forgive, my Seraph! that such thoughts appear,", " For sorrow is our element;", " Delight", " An Eden kept afar from sight,", " Though sometimes with our visions blent.", " The hour is near", " Which tells me we are not abandoned quite.--", " Appear! Appear!", " Seraph!", " My own Azaziel! be but here,", " And leave the stars to their own light!", "", "_Aho._", " Samiasa!", " Wheresoe'er", " Thou rulest in the upper air--", " Or warring with the spirits who may dare", " Dispute with him", " Who made all empires, empire; or recalling", " Some wandering star, which shoots through the abyss,", " Whose tenants dying, while their world is falling,", " Share the dim destiny of clay in this;", " Or joining with the inferior cherubim,", " Thou deignest to partake their hymn--", " Samiasa!", " I call thee, I await thee, and I love thee.", " Many may worship thee, that will I not:", " If that thy spirit down to mine may move thee,", " Descend and share my lot!", " Though I be formed of clay,", " And thou of beams", " More bright than those of day", " On Eden's streams,", " Thine immortality can not repay", " With love more warm than mine", " My love. There is a ray", " In me, which, though forbidden yet to shine,", " I feel was lighted at thy God's and thine.", " It may be hidden long: death and decay", " Our mother Eve bequeathed us--but my heart", " Defies it: though this life must pass away,", " Is _that_ a cause for thee and me to part?", " Thou art immortal--so am I: I feel--", " I feel my immortality o'ersweep", " All pains, all tears, all fears, and peal,", " Like the eternal thunders of the deep,", " Into my ears this truth--\"Thou liv'st for ever!\"", " But if it be in joy", " I know not, nor would know;", " That secret rests with the Almighty giver,", " Who folds in clouds the fonts of bliss and woe.", " But thee and me he never can destroy;", " Change us he may, but not o'erwhelm; we are", " Of as eternal essence, and must war", " With him if he will war with us; with _thee_", " I can share all things, even immortal sorrow;", " For thou hast ventured to share life with _me_,", " And shall _I_ shrink from thine eternity?", " No! though the serpent's sting should pierce me thorough,", " And thou thyself wert like the serpent, coil", " Around me still! and I will smile,", " And curse thee not; but hold", " Thee in as warm a fold", " As----but descend, and prove", " A mortal's love", " For an immortal. If the skies contain", " More joy than thou canst give and take, remain!", "", "_Anah_. Sister! sister! I view them winging", "Their bright way through the parted night.", "", "_Aho._ The clouds from off their pinions flinging,", "As though they bore to-morrow's light.", "", "_Anah_. But if our father see the sight!", "", "_Aho._ He would but deem it was the moon", "Rising unto some sorcerer's tune", "An hour too soon.", "", "_Anah_. They come! _he_ comes!--Azaziel!", "", "_Aho._ Haste", "To meet them! Oh! for wings to bear", "My spirit, while they hover there,", " To Samiasa's breast!", "", "_Anah_. Lo! they have kindled all the west,", "Like a returning sunset;--lo!", " On Ararat's late secret crest", "A mild and many-coloured bow,", "The remnant of their flashing path,", "Now shines! and now, behold! it hath", "Returned to night, as rippling foam,", " Which the Leviathan hath lashed", "From his unfathomable home,", "When sporting on the face of the calm deep,", " Subsides soon after he again hath dashed", "Down, down, to where the Ocean's fountains sleep.", "", "_Aho._ They have touched earth! Samiasa!", "", "_Anah_. My Azaziel!", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "SCENE II.--_Enter_ IRAD _and_ JAPHET.", "", "_Irad_. Despond not: wherefore wilt thou wander thus", "To add thy silence to the silent night,", "And lift thy tearful eye unto the stars?", "They cannot aid thee.", "", "_Japh._ But they soothe me--now", "Perhaps she looks upon them as I look.", "Methinks a being that is beautiful", "Becometh more so as it looks on beauty,", "The eternal beauty of undying things.", "Oh, Anah!", "", "_Irad_. But she loves thee not.", "", "_Japh._ Alas!", "", "_Irad_. And proud Aholibamah spurns me also.", "", "_Japh._ I feel for thee too.", "", "_Irad_. Let her keep her pride,", "Mine hath enabled me to bear her scorn:", "It may be, time too will avenge it.", "", "_Japh._ Canst thou", "Find joy in such a thought?", "", "_Irad_. Nor joy nor sorrow.", "I loved her well; I would have loved her better,", "Had love been met with love: as 'tis, I leave her", "To brighter destinies, if so she deems them.", "", "_Japh._ What destinies?", "", "_Irad_. I have some cause to think", "She loves another.", "", "_Japh._ Anah!", "", "_Irad_. No; her sister.", "", "_Japh._ What other?", "", "_Irad_. That I know not; but her air,", "If not her words, tells me she loves another.", "", "_Japh._ Aye, but not Anah: she but loves her God.", "", "_Irad_. Whate'er she loveth, so she loves thee not,", "What can it profit thee?", "", "_Japh._ True, nothing; but", "I love.", "", "_Irad_. And so did I.", "", "_Japh._ And now thou lov'st not,", "Or think'st thou lov'st not, art thou happier?", "", "_Irad_. Yes.", "", "_Japh._ I pity thee.", "", "_Irad_. Me! why?", "", "_Japh._ For being happy,", "Deprived of that which makes my misery.", "", "_Irad_. I take thy taunt as part of thy distemper,", "And would not feel as thou dost for more shekels", "Than all our father's herds would bring, if weighed", "Against the metal of the sons of Cain--", "The yellow dust they try to barter with us,", "As if such useless and discoloured trash,", "The refuse of the earth, could be received", "For milk, and wool, and flesh, and fruits, and all", "Our flocks and wilderness afford.--Go, Japhet,", "Sigh to the stars, as wolves howl to the moon--", "I must back to my rest.", "", "_Japh._ And so would I", "If I could rest.", "", "_Irad_. Thou wilt not to our tents then?", "", "_Japh._ No, Irad; I will to the cavern, whose", "Mouth they say opens from the internal world,", "To let the inner spirits of the earth", "Forth when they walk its surface.", "", "_Irad_. Wherefore so?", "What wouldst thou there?", "", "_Japh._ Soothe further my sad spirit", "With gloom as sad: it is a hopeless spot,", "And I am hopeless.", "", "_Irad_. But 'tis dangerous;", "Strange sounds and sights have peopled it with terrors.", "I must go with thee.", "", "_Japh._ Irad, no; believe me", "I feel no evil thought, and fear no evil.", "", "_Irad_. But evil things will be thy foe the more", "As not being of them: turn thy steps aside,", "Or let mine be with thine.", "", "_Japh._ No, neither, Irad;", "I must proceed alone.", "", "_Irad_. Then peace be with thee!", " [_Exit_ IRAD.", "", "_Japh._ (_solus_).", "Peace! I have sought it where it should be found,", "In love--with love, too, which perhaps deserved it;", "And, in its stead, a heaviness of heart,", "A weakness of the spirit, listless days,", "And nights inexorable to sweet sleep", "Have come upon me. Peace! what peace? the calm", "Of desolation, and the stillness of", "The untrodden forest, only broken by", "The sweeping tempest through its groaning boughs;", "Such is the sullen or the fitful state", "Of my mind overworn. The Earth's grown wicked,", "And many signs and portents have proclaimed", "A change at hand, and an o'erwhelming doom", "To perishable beings. Oh, my Anah!", "When the dread hour denounced shall open wide", "The fountains of the deep, how mightest thou", "Have lain within this bosom, folded from", "The elements; this bosom, which in vain", "Hath beat for thee, and then will beat more vainly,", "While thine--Oh, God! at least remit to her", "Thy wrath! for she is pure amidst the failing", "As a star in the clouds, which cannot quench,", "Although they obscure it for an hour. My Anah!", "How would I have adored thee, but thou wouldst not;", "And still would I redeem thee--see thee live", "When Ocean is earth's grave, and, unopposed", "By rock or shallow, the Leviathan,", "Lord of the shoreless sea and watery world,", "Shall wonder at his boundlessness of realm. [_Exit_ JAPHET.", "", " _Enter_ NOAH _and_ SHEM.", "", "_Noah_. Where is thy brother Japhet?", "", "_Shem_. He went forth,", "According to his wont, to meet with Irad,", "He said; but, as I fear, to bend his steps", "Towards Anah's tents, round which he hovers nightly,", "Like a dove round and round its pillaged nest;", "Or else he walks the wild up to the cavern", "Which opens to the heart of Ararat.", "", "_Noah_. What doth he there? It is an evil spot", "Upon an earth all evil; for things worse", "Than even wicked men resort there: he", "Still loves this daughter of a fated race,", "Although he could not wed her if she loved him,", "And that she doth not. Oh, the unhappy hearts", "Of men! that one of my blood, knowing well", "The destiny and evil of these days,", "And that the hour approacheth, should indulge", "In such forbidden yearnings! Lead the way;", "He must be sought for!", "", "_Shem_. Go not forward, father:", "I will seek Japhet.", "", "_Noah_. Do not fear for me:", "All evil things are powerless on the man", "Selected by Jehovah.--Let us on.", "", "_Shem_. To the tents of the father of the sisters?", "", "_Noah_. No; to the cavern of the Caucasus.", " [_Exeunt_ NOAH _and_ SHEM.", "", "SCENE III.--_The mountains.--A cavern, and the rocks", " of Caucasus_.", "", "_Japh._ (_solus_). Ye wilds, that look eternal; and thou cave,", "Which seem'st unfathomable; and ye mountains,", "So varied and so terrible in beauty;", "Here, in your rugged majesty of rocks", "And toppling trees that twine their roots with stone", "In perpendicular places, where the foot", "Of man would tremble, could he reach them--yes,", "Ye look eternal! Yet, in a few days,", "Perhaps even hours, ye will be changed, rent, hurled", "Before the mass of waters; and yon cave,", "Which seems to lead into a lower world,", "Shall have its depths searched by the sweeping wave,", "And dolphins gambol in the lion's den!", "And man----Oh, men! my fellow-beings! Who", "Shall weep above your universal grave,", "Save I? Who shall be left to weep? My kinsmen,", "Alas! what am I better than ye are,", "That I must live beyond ye? Where shall be", "The pleasant places where I thought of Anah", "While I had hope? or the more savage haunts,", "Scarce less beloved, where I despaired for her?", "And can it be!--Shall yon exulting peak,", "Whose glittering top is like a distant star,", "Lie low beneath the boiling of the deep?", "No more to have the morning sun break forth,", "And scatter back the mists in floating folds", "From its tremendous brow? no more to have", "Day's broad orb drop behind its head at even,", "Leaving it with a crown of many hues?", "No more to be the beacon of the world,", "For angels to alight on, as the spot", "Nearest the stars? And can those words \"_no more_\"", "Be meant for thee, for all things, save for us,", "And the predestined creeping things reserved", "By my sire to Jehovah's bidding? May", "_He_ preserve _them_, and I _not_ have the power", "To snatch the loveliest of earth's daughters from", "A doom which even some serpent, with his mate,", "Shall 'scape to save his kind to be prolonged,", "To hiss and sting through some emerging world,", "Reeking and dank from out the slime, whose ooze", "Shall slumber o'er the wreck of this, until", "The salt morass subside into a sphere", "Beneath the sun, and be the monument,", "The sole and undistinguished sepulchre,", "Of yet quick myriads of all life? How much", "Breath will be stilled at once! All beauteous world!", "So young, so marked out for destruction, I", "With a cleft heart look on thee day by day,", "And night by night, thy numbered days and nights.", "I cannot save thee, cannot save even her", "Whose love had made me love thee more; but as", "A portion of thy dust, I cannot think", "Upon thy coming doom without a feeling", "Such as--Oh God! and canst thou-- [_He pauses_.", "", " [_A rushing sound from the cavern is heard, and shouts", " of laughter--afterwards a Spirit passes_.", "", "_Japh._ In the name", "Of the Most High, what art thou?", "", "_Spirit_ (_laughs_). Ha! ha! ha!", "", "_Japh._ By all that earth holds holiest, speak!", "", "_Spirit_ (_laughs_). Ha! ha!", "", "_Japh._ By the approaching deluge! by the earth", "Which will be strangled by the ocean! by", "The deep which will lay open all her fountains!", "The heaven which will convert her clouds to seas,", "And the Omnipotent who makes and crushes!", "Thou unknown, terrible, and indistinct,", "Yet awful Thing of Shadows, speak to me!", "Why dost thou laugh that horrid laugh?", "", "_Spirit_. Why weep'st thou?", "", "_Japh._ For earth and all her children.", "", "_Spirit_. Ha! ha! ha!", " [_Spirit vanishes_.", "", "_Japh._ How the fiend mocks the tortures of a world,", "The coming desolation of an orb,", "On which the sun shall rise and warm no life!", "How the earth sleeps! and all that in it is", "Sleep too upon the very eve of death!", "Why should they wake to meet it? What are here,", "Which look like death in life, and speak like things", "Born ere this dying world? They come like clouds!", " [_Various Spirits pass from the cavern_.", "", "_Spirit_.", " Rejoice!", " The abhorréd race", " Which could not keep in Eden their high place,", " But listened to the voice", " Of knowledge without power,", " Are nigh the hour,", " Of Death!", " Not slow, not single, not by sword, nor sorrow,", " Nor years, nor heart-break, nor Time's sapping motion,", " Shall they drop off. Behold their last to-morrow!", " Earth shall be Ocean!", " And no breath,", " Save of the winds, be on the unbounded wave!", " Angels shall tire their wings, but find no spot:", " Not even a rock from out the liquid grave", " Shall lift its point to save,", " Or show the place where strong Despair hath died,", " After long looking o'er the ocean wide", " For the expected ebb which cometh not:", " All shall be void,", " Destroyed!", " Another element shall be the lord", " Of life, and the abhorred", " Children of dust be quenched; and of each hue", " Of earth nought left but the unbroken blue;", " And of the variegated mountain", " Shall nought remain", " Unchanged, or of the level plain;", " Cedar and pine shall lift their tops in vain:", " All merged within the universal fountain,", " Man, earth, and fire, shall die,", " And sea and sky", " Look vast and lifeless in the eternal eye.", " Upon the foam", " Who shall erect a home?", "", "_Japh._ (_coming forward_).", " My sire!", " Earth's seed shall not expire;", " Only the evil shall be put away", " From day.", " Avaunt! ye exulting demons of the waste!", " Who howl your hideous joy", " When God destroys whom you dare not destroy:", " Hence! haste!", " Back to your inner caves!", " Until the waves", " Shall search you in your secret place,", " And drive your sullen race", " Forth, to be rolled upon the tossing winds,", " In restless wretchedness along all space!", "", "_Spirit_.", " Son of the saved!", " When thou and thine have braved", " The wide and warring element;", " When the great barrier of the deep is rent,", " Shall thou and thine be good or happy?--No!", " Thy new world and new race shall be of woe--", " Less goodly in their aspect, in their years", " Less than the glorious giants, who", " Yet walk the world in pride,", " The Sons of Heaven by many a mortal bride.", " Thine shall be nothing of the past, save tears!", " And art thou not ashamed", " Thus to survive,", " And eat, and drink, and wive?", " With a base heart so far subdued and tamed,", " As even to hear this wide destruction named,", " Without such grief and courage, as should rather", " Bid thee await the world-dissolving wave,", " Than seek a shelter with thy favoured father,", " And build thy city o'er the drowned earth's grave?", " Who would outlive their kind,", " Except the base and blind?", " Mine", " Hateth thine", " As of a different order in the sphere,", " But not our own.", " There is not one who hath not left a throne", " Vacant in heaven to dwell in darkness here,", " Rather than see his mates endure alone.", " Go, wretch! and give", " A life like thine to other wretches--live!", " And when the annihilating waters roar", " Above what they have done,", " Envy the giant patriarchs then no more,", " And scorn thy sire as the surviving one!", " Thyself for being his son!", "", " _Chorus of Spirits issuing from the cavern_.", "", " Rejoice!", " No more the human voice", " Shall vex our joys in middle air", " With prayer;", " No more", " Shall they adore;", " And we, who ne'er for ages have adored", " The prayer-exacting Lord,", " To whom the omission of a sacrifice", " Is vice;", " We, we shall view the deep's salt sources poured", " Until one element shall do the work", " Of all in chaos; until they,", " The creatures proud of their poor clay,", " Shall perish, and their bleached bones shall lurk", " In caves, in dens, in clefts of mountains, where", " The deep shall follow to their latest lair;", " Where even the brutes, in their despair,", " Shall cease to prey on man and on each other,", " And the striped tiger shall lie down to die", " Beside the lamb, as though he were his brother;", " Till all things shall be as they were,", " Silent and uncreated, save the sky:", " While a brief truce", " Is made with Death, who shall forbear", " The little remnant of the past creation,", " To generate new nations for his use;", " This remnant, floating o'er the undulation", " Of the subsiding deluge, from its slime,", " When the hot sun hath baked the reeking soil", " Into a world, shall give again to Time", " New beings--years, diseases, sorrow, crime--", " With all companionship of hate and toil,", " Until----", "", "_Japh._ (_Interrupting them_).", " The eternal Will", " Shall deign to expound this dream", " Of good and evil; and redeem", " Unto himself all times, all things;", " And, gathered under his almighty wings,", " Abolish Hell!", " And to the expiated Earth", " Restore the beauty of her birth,", " Her Eden in an endless paradise,", " Where man no more can fall as once he fell,", " And even the very demons shall do well!", "", "_Spirits_. And when shall take effect this wondrous spell?", "", "_Japh._ When the Redeemer cometh; first in pain,", " And then in glory.", "", "_Spirit_. Meantime still struggle in the mortal chain,", " Till Earth wax hoary;", " War with yourselves, and Hell, and Heaven, in vain,", " Until the clouds look gory", " With the blood reeking from each battle-plain;", " New times, new climes, new arts, new men; but still,", " The same old tears, old crimes, and oldest ill,", " Shall be amongst your race in different forms;", " But the same moral storms", " Shall oversweep the future, as the waves", " In a few hours the glorious giants' graves.", "", " _Chorus of Spirits_.", "", " Brethren, rejoice!", " Mortal, farewell!", "Hark! hark! already we can hear the voice", " Of growing Ocean's gloomy swell;", " The winds, too, plume their piercing wings;", " The clouds have nearly filled their springs;", "The fountains of the great deep shall be broken,", " And heaven set wide her windows; while mankind", "View, unacknowledged, each tremendous token--", " Still, as they were from the beginning, blind.", " We hear the sound they cannot hear,", " The mustering thunders of the threatening sphere;", " Yet a few hours their coming is delayed;", " Their flashing banners, folded still on high,", " Yet undisplayed,", " Save to the Spirit's all-pervading eye.", " Howl! howl! oh Earth!", "Thy death is nearer than thy recent birth;", "Tremble, ye mountains, soon to shrink below", " The Ocean's overflow!", "The wave shall break upon your cliffs; and shells,", " The little shells, of ocean's least things be", "Deposed where now the eagle's offspring dwells--", " How shall he shriek o'er the remorseless sea!", "And call his nestlings up with fruitless yell,", "Unanswered, save by the encroaching swell;--", "While man shall long in vain for his broad wings,", " The wings which could not save:--", "Where could he rest them, while the whole space brings", " Nought to his eye beyond the deep, his grave?", " Brethren, rejoice!", " And loudly lift each superhuman voice--", " All die,", " Save the slight remnant of Seth's seed--", " The seed of Seth,", " Exempt for future sorrow's sake from death.", " But of the sons of Cain", " None shall remain;", " And all his goodly daughters", " Must lie beneath the desolating waters;", " Or, floating upward, with their long hair laid", " Along the wave, the cruel heaven upbraid,", " Which would not spare", " Beings even in death so fair.", " It is decreed,", " All die!", " And to the universal human cry", " The universal silence shall succeed!", " Fly, brethren, fly!", " But still rejoice!", " We fell!", " They fall!", " So perish all", "These petty foes of Heaven who shrink from Hell!", " [_The Spirits disappear, soaring upwards_.", "", "_Japh._ (_solus_).", "God hath proclaimed the destiny of earth;", "My father's ark of safety hath announced it;", "The very demons shriek it from their caves;", "The scroll of Enoch prophesied it long", "In silent books, which, in their silence, say", "More to the mind than thunder to the ear:", "And yet men listened not, nor listen; but", "Walk darkling to their doom: which, though so nigh,", "Shakes them no more in their dim disbelief,", "Than their last cries shall shake the Almighty purpose,", "Or deaf obedient Ocean, which fulfils it.", "No sign yet hangs its banner in the air;", "The clouds are few, and of their wonted texture;", "The Sun will rise upon the Earth's last day", "As on the fourth day of creation, when", "God said unto him, \"Shine!\" and he broke forth", "Into the dawn, which lighted not the yet", "Unformed forefather of mankind--but roused", "Before the human orison the earlier", "Made and far sweeter voices of the birds,", "Which in the open firmament of heaven", "Have wings like angels, and like them salute", "Heaven first each day before the Adamites:", "Their matins now draw nigh--the east is kindling--", "And they will sing! and day will break! Both near,", "So near the awful close! For these must drop", "Their outworn pinions on the deep; and day,", "After the bright course of a few brief morrows,--", "Aye, day will rise; but upon what?--a chaos,", "Which was ere day; and which, renewed, makes Time", "Nothing! for, without life, what are the hours?", "No more to dust than is Eternity", "Unto Jehovah, who created both.", "Without him, even Eternity would be", "A void: without man, Time, as made for man,", "Dies with man, and is swallowed in that deep", "Which has no fountain; as his race will be", "Devoured by that which drowns his infant world.--", "What have we here? Shapes of both earth and air?", "No--_all_ of heaven, they are so beautiful.", "I cannot trace their features; but their forms,", "How lovelily they move along the side", "Of the grey mountain, scattering its mist!", "And after the swart savage spirits, whose", "Infernal immortality poured forth", "Their impious hymn of triumph, they shall be", "Welcome as Eden. It may be they come", "To tell me the reprieve of our young world,", "For which I have so often prayed.--They come!", "Anah! oh, God! and with her----", "", " _Enter_ SAMIASA, AZAZIEL, ANAH, _and_ AHOLIBAMAH.", "", "_Anah_. Japhet!", "", "_Sam._ Lo!", "A son of Adam!", "", "_Aza._ What doth the earth-born here,", "While all his race are slumbering?", "", "_Japh._ Angel! what", "Dost thou on earth when thou should'st be on high?", "", "_Aza._ Know'st thou not, or forget'st thou, that a part", "Of our great function is to guard thine earth?", "", "_Japh._ But all good angels have forsaken earth,", "Which is condemned; nay, even the evil fly", "The approaching chaos. Anah! Anah! my", "In vain, and long, and still to be, beloved!", "Why walk'st thou with this Spirit, in those hours", "When no good Spirit longer lights below?", "", "_Anah_. Japhet, I cannot answer thee; yet, yet", "Forgive me----", "", "_Japh._ May the Heaven, which soon no more", "Will pardon, do so! for thou art greatly tempted.", "", "_Aho._ Back to thy tents, insulting son of Noah!", "We know thee not.", "", "_Japh._ The hour may come when thou", "May'st know me better; and thy sister know", "Me still the same which I have ever been.", "", "_Sam._ Son of the patriarch, who hath ever been", "Upright before his God, whate'er thy gifts,", "And thy words seem of sorrow, mixed with wrath,", "How have Azaziel, or myself, brought on thee", "Wrong?", "", "_Japh._ Wrong! the greatest of all wrongs! but, thou", "Say'st well, though she be dust--I did not, could not,", "Deserve her. Farewell, Anah! I have said", "That word so often! but now say it, ne'er", "To be repeated. Angel! or whate'er", "Thou art, or must be soon, hast thou the power", "To save this beautiful--_these_ beautiful", "Children of Cain?", "", "_Aza._ From what?", "", "_Japh._ And is it so,", "That ye too know not? Angels! angels! ye", "Have shared man's sin, and, it may be, now must", "Partake his punishment; or, at the least,", "My sorrow.", "", "_Sam._ Sorrow! I ne'er thought till now", "To hear an Adamite speak riddles to me.", "", "_Japh._ And hath not the Most High expounded them?", "Then ye are lost as they are lost.", "", "_Aho._ So be it!", "If they love as they are loved, they will not shrink", "More to be mortal, than I would to dare", "An immortality of agonies", "With Samiasa!", "", "_Anah_. Sister! sister! speak not", "Thus.", "", "_Aza._ Fearest thou, my Anah?", "", "_Anah_. Yes, for thee:", "I would resign the greater remnant of", "This little life of mine, before one hour", "Of thine eternity should know a pang.", "", "_Japh._ It is for _him_, then! for the Seraph thou", "Hast left me! That is nothing, if thou hast not", "Left thy God too! for unions like to these,", "Between a mortal and an immortal, cannot", "Be happy or be hallowed. We are sent", "Upon the earth to toil and die; and they", "Are made to minister on high unto", "The Highest: but if he can _save_ thee, soon", "The hour will come in which celestial aid", "Alone can do so.", "", "_Anah_. Ah! he speaks of Death.", "", "_Sam._ Of death to _us_! and those who are with us!", "But that the man seems full of sorrow, I", "Could smile.", "", "_Japh._ I grieve not for myself, nor fear.", "I am safe, not for my own deserts, but those", "Of a well-doing sire, who hath been found", "Righteous enough to save his children. Would", "His power was greater of redemption! or", "That by exchanging my own life for hers,", "Who could alone have made mine happy, she,", "The last and loveliest of Cain's race, could share", "The ark which shall receive a remnant of", "The seed of Seth!", "", "_Aho._ And dost thou think that we,", "With Cain's, the eldest born of Adam's, blood", "Warm in our veins,--strong Cain! who was begotten", "In Paradise,--would mingle with Seth's children?", "Seth, the last offspring of old Adam's dotage?", "No, not to save all Earth, were Earth in peril!", "Our race hath always dwelt apart from thine", "From the beginning, and shall do so ever.", "", "_Japh._ I did not speak to thee, Aholibamah!", "Too much of the forefather whom thou vauntest", "Has come down in that haughty blood which springs", "From him who shed the first, and that a brother's!", "But thou, my Anah! let me call thee mine,", "Albeit thou art not; 'tis a word I cannot", "Part with, although I must from thee. My Anah!", "Thou who dost rather make me dream that Abel", "Had left a daughter, whose pure pious race", "Survived in thee, so much unlike thou art", "The rest of the stem Cainites, save in beauty,", "For all of them are fairest in their favour----", "", "_Aho._ (_interrupting him_).", "And would'st thou have her like our father's foe", "In mind, in soul? If _I_ partook thy thought,", "And dreamed that aught of _Abel_ was in _her_!--", "Get thee hence, son of Noah; thou makest strife.", "", "_Japh._ Offspring of Cain, thy father did so!", "", "_Aho._ But", "He slew not Seth: and what hast thou to do", "With other deeds between his God and him?", "", "_Japh._ Thou speakest well: his God hath judged him, and", "I had not named his deed, but that thyself", "Didst seem to glory in him, nor to shrink", "From what he had done.", "", "_Aho._ He was our father's father;", "The eldest born of man, the strongest, bravest,", "And most enduring:--Shall I blush for him", "From whom we had our being? Look upon", "Our race; behold their stature and their beauty,", "Their courage, strength, and length of days----", "", "_Japh._ They are numbered.", "", "_Aho._ Be it so! but while yet their hours endure,", "I glory in my brethren and our fathers.", "", "_Japh._ My sire and race but glory in their God,", "Anah! and thou?----", "", "_Anah_. Whate'er our God decrees,", "The God of Seth as Cain, I must obey,", "And will endeavour patiently to obey.", "But could I dare to pray in his dread hour", "Of universal vengeance (if such should be),", "It would not be to live, alone exempt", "Of all my house. My sister! oh, my sister!", "What were the world, or other worlds, or all", "The brightest future, without the sweet past--", "Thy love, my father's, all the life, and all", "The things which sprang up with me, like the stars,", "Making my dim existence radiant with", "Soft lights which were not mine? Aholibamah!", "Oh! if there should be mercy--seek it, find it:", "I abhor Death, because that thou must die.", "", "_Aho._ What, hath this dreamer, with his father's ark,", "The bugbear he hath built to scare the world,", "Shaken _my_ sister? Are _we_ not the loved", "Of Seraphs? and if we were not, must we", "Cling to a son of Noah for our lives?", "Rather than thus----But the enthusiast dreams", "The worst of dreams, the fantasies engendered", "By hopeless love and heated vigils. Who", "Shall shake these solid mountains, this firm earth,", "And bid those clouds and waters take a shape", "Distinct from that which we and all our sires", "Have seen them wear on their eternal way?", "Who shall do this?", "", "_Japh._ He whose one word produced them.", "", "_Aho._ Who _heard_ that word?", "", "_Japh._ The universe, which leaped", "To life before it. Ah! smilest thou still in scorn?", "Turn to thy Seraphs: if they attest it not,", "They are none.", "", "_Sam._ Aholibamah, own thy God!", "", "_Aho._ I have ever hailed our Maker, Samiasa,", "As thine, and mine: a God of Love, not Sorrow.", "", "_Japh._ Alas! what else is Love but Sorrow? Even", "He who made earth in love had soon to grieve", "Above its first and best inhabitants.", "", "_Aho._ 'Tis said so.", "", "_Japh._ It is even so.", "", " _Enter_ NOAH _and_ SHEM.", "", "_Noah_. Japhet! What", "Dost thou here with these children of the wicked?", "Dread'st thou not to partake their coming doom?", "", "_Japh._ Father, it cannot be a sin to seek", "To save an earth-born being; and behold,", "These are not of the sinful, since they have", "The fellowship of angels.", "", "_Noah_. These are they, then,", "Who leave the throne of God, to take them wives", "From out the race of Cain; the sons of Heaven,", "Who seek Earth's daughters for their beauty?", "", "_Aza._ Patriarch!", "Thou hast said it.", "", "_Noah_. Woe, woe, woe to such communion!", "Has not God made a barrier between Earth", "And Heaven, and limited each, kind to kind?", "", "_Sam._ Was not man made in high Jehovah's image?", "Did God not love what he had made? And what", "Do we but imitate and emulate", "His love unto created love?", "", "_Noah_. I am", "But man, and was not made to judge mankind,", "Far less the sons of God; but as our God", "Has deigned to commune with me, and reveal", "_His_ judgments, I reply, that the descent", "Of Seraphs from their everlasting seat", "Unto a perishable and perishing,", "Even on the very _eve_ of _perishing_?--world,", "Cannot be good.", "", "_Aza._ What! though it were to save?", "", "_Noah_. Not ye in all your glory can redeem", "What he who made you glorious hath condemned.", "Were your immortal mission safety, 'twould", "Be general, not for two, though beautiful;", "And beautiful they are, but not the less", "Condemned.", "", "_Japh._ Oh, father! say it not.", "", "_Noah_. Son! son!", "If that thou wouldst avoid their doom, forget", "That they exist: they soon shall cease to be,", "While thou shalt be the sire of a new world,", "And better.", "", "_Japh._ Let me die with _this_, and _them_!", "", "_Noah_. Thou _shouldst_ for such a thought, but shalt not: he", "Who _can_, redeems thee.", "", "_Sam._ And why him and thee,", "More than what he, thy son, prefers to both?", "", "_Noah_. Ask him who made thee greater than myself", "And mine, but not less subject to his own", "Almightiness. And lo! his mildest and", "Least to be tempted messenger appears!", "", " _Enter_ RAPHAEL _the Archangel_.", "", "_Raph._", " Spirits!", " Whose seat is near the throne,", " What do ye here?", " Is thus a Seraph's duty to be shown,", " Now that the hour is near", " When Earth must be alone?", " Return!", " Adore and burn,", " In glorious homage with the elected \"Seven.\"", " Your place is Heaven.", "", "_Sam._", " Raphael!", " The first and fairest of the sons of God,", " How long hath this been law,", " That Earth by angels must be left untrod?", " Earth! which oft saw", " Jehovah's footsteps not disdain her sod!", " The world he loved, and made", " For love; and oft have we obeyed", " His frequent mission with delighted pinions:", " Adoring him in his least works displayed;", " Watching this youngest star of his dominions;", " And, as the latest birth of his great word,", " Eager to keep it worthy of our Lord.", " Why is thy brow severe?", " And wherefore speak'st thou of destruction near?", "", "_Raph._", " Had Samiasa and Azaziel been", " In their true place, with the angelic choir,", " Written in fire", " They would have seen", " Jehovah's late decree,", " And not enquired their Maker's breath of me:", " But ignorance must ever be", " A part of sin;", " And even the Spirits' knowledge shall grow less", " As they wax proud within;", " For Blindness is the first-born of Excess.", " When all good angels left the world, ye stayed,", " Stung with strange passions, and debased", " By mortal feelings for a mortal maid:", " But ye are pardoned thus far, and replaced", " With your pure equals. Hence! away! away!", " Or stay,", " And lose Eternity by that delay!", "", "_Aza._", " And thou! if Earth be thus forbidden", " In the decree", " To us until this moment hidden,", " Dost thou not err as we", " In being here?", "", "_Raph._", " I came to call ye back to your fit sphere,", " In the great name and at the word of God,", " Dear, dearest in themselves, and scarce less dear--", " That which I came to do: till now we trod", " Together the eternal space; together", " Let us still walk the stars. True, Earth must die!", " Her race, returned into her womb, must wither,", " And much which she inherits: but oh! why", " Cannot this Earth be made, or be destroyed,", " Without involving ever some vast void", " In the immortal ranks? immortal still", " In their immeasurable forfeiture.", " Our brother Satan fell; his burning will", " Rather than longer worship dared endure!", " But ye who still are pure!", " Seraphs! less mighty than that mightiest one,--", " Think how he was undone!", " And think if tempting man can compensate", " For Heaven desired too late?", " Long have I warred,", " Long must I war", " With him who deemed it hard", " To be created, and to acknowledge him", " Who midst the cherubim", " Made him as suns to a dependent star,", " Leaving the archangels at his right hand dim.", " I loved him--beautiful he was: oh, Heaven!", " Save _his_ who made, what beauty and what power", " Was ever like to Satan's! Would the hour", " In which he fell could ever be forgiven!", " The wish is impious: but, oh ye!", " Yet undestroyed, be warned! Eternity", " With him, or with his God, is in your choice:", " He hath not tempted you; he cannot tempt", " The angels, from his further snares exempt:", " But man hath listened to his voice,", " And ye to woman's--beautiful she is,", " The serpent's voice less subtle than her kiss.", " The snake but vanquished dust; but she will draw", " A second host from heaven, to break Heaven's law.", " Yet, yet, oh fly!", " Ye cannot die;", " But they", " Shall pass away,", " While ye shall fill with shrieks the upper sky", " For perishable clay,", " Whose memory in your immortality", " Shall long outlast the Sun which gave them day.", " Think how your essence differeth from theirs", " In all but suffering! why partake", " The agony to which they must be heirs--", " Born to be ploughed with years, and sown with cares,", " And reaped by Death, lord of the human soil?", " Even had their days been left to toil their path", " Through time to dust, unshortened by God's wrath,", " Still they are Evil's prey, and Sorrow's spoil.", "", "_Aho._", " Let them fly!", " I hear the voice which says that all must die,", " Sooner than our white-bearded patriarchs died;", " And that on high", " An ocean is prepared,", " While from below", " The deep shall rise to meet Heaven's overflow--", " Few shall be spared,", " It seems; and, of that few, the race of Cain", " Must lift their eyes to Adam's God in vain.", " Sister! since it is so,", " And the eternal Lord", " In vain would be implored", " For the remission of one hour of woe,", " Let us resign even what we have adored,", " And meet the wave, as we would meet the sword,", " If not unmoved, yet undismayed,", " And wailing less for us than those who shall", " Survive in mortal or immortal thrall,", " And, when the fatal waters are allayed,", " Weep for the myriads who can weep no more.", " Fly, Seraphs! to your own eternal shore,", " Where winds nor howl, nor waters roar.", " Our portion is to die,", " And yours to live for ever:", " But which is best, a dead Eternity,", " Or living, is but known to the great Giver.", " Obey him, as we shall obey;", " I would not keep this life of mine in clay", " An hour beyond his will;", " Nor see ye lose a portion of his grace,", " For all the mercy which Seth's race", " Find still.", " Fly!", " And as your pinions bear ye back to Heaven,", " Think that my love still mounts with thee on high,", " Samiasa!", " And if I look up with a tearless eye,", " 'Tis that an angel's bride disdains to weep,--", " Farewell! Now rise, inexorable deep!", "", "_Anah_.", " And must we die?", " And must I lose thee too,", " Azaziel?", " Oh, my heart! my heart!", " Thy prophecies were true!", " And yet thou wert so happy too!", " The blow, though not unlocked for, falls as new:", " But yet depart!", " Ah! why?", " Yet let me not retain thee--fly!", " My pangs can be but brief; but thine would be", " Eternal, if repulsed from Heaven for me.", " Too much already hast thou deigned", " To one of Adam's race!", " Our doom is sorrow: not to us alone,", " But to the Spirits who have not disdained", " To love us, cometh anguish with disgrace.", " The first who taught us knowledge hath been hurled", " From his once archangelic throne", " Into some unknown world:", " And thou, Azaziel! No--", " Thou shall not suffer woe", " For me. Away! nor weep!", " Thou canst not weep; but yet", " May'st suffer more, not weeping: then forget", " Her, whom the surges of the all-strangling deep", " Can bring no pang like this. Fly! fly!", " Being gone, 'twill be less difficult to die.", "", "_Japh._", " Oh say not so!", " Father! and thou, archangel, thou!", " Surely celestial mercy lurks below", " That pure severe serenity of brow:", " Let them not meet this sea without a shore,", " Save in our ark, or let me be no more!", "", "_Noah_.", " Peace, child of passion, peace!", " If not within thy heart, yet with thy tongue", " Do God no wrong!", " Live as he wills it--die, when he ordains,", " A righteous death, unlike the seed of Cain's.", " Cease, or be sorrowful in silence; cease", " To weary Heaven's ear with thy selfish plaint.", " Wouldst thou have God commit a sin for thee?", " Such would it be", " To alter his intent", " For a mere mortal sorrow. Be a man!", " And bear what Adam's race must bear, and can.", "", "_Japh._", " Aye, father! but when they are gone,", " And we are all alone,", " Floating upon the azure desert, and", " The depth beneath us hides our own dear land,", " And dearer, silent friends and brethren, all", " Buried in its immeasurable breast,", " Who, who, our tears, our shrieks, shall then command?", " Can we in Desolation's peace have rest?", " Oh God! be thou a God, and spare", " Yet while 'tis time!", " Renew not Adam's fall:", " Mankind were then but twain,", " But they are numerous now as are the waves", " And the tremendous rain,", " Whose drops shall be less thick than would their graves,", " Were graves permitted to the seed of Cain.", "", "_Noah_. Silence, vain boy! each word of thine's a crime.", "Angel! forgive this stripling's fond despair.", "", "_Raph._ Seraphs! these mortals speak in passion: Ye!", "Who are, or should be, passionless and pure,", "May now return with me.", "", "_Sam._ It may not be:", "We have chosen, and will endure.", "", "_Raph._ Say'st thou?", "", "_Aza._ He hath said it, and I say, Amen!", "", "_Raph._", " Again!", " Then from this hour,", " Shorn as ye are of all celestial power,", " And aliens from your God,", " Farewell!", "", "_Japh._ Alas! where shall they dwell?", "Hark, hark! Deep sounds, and deeper still,", " Are howling from the mountain's bosom:", "There's not a breath of wind upon the hill,", " Yet quivers every leaf, and drops each blossom:", "Earth groans as if beneath a heavy load.", "", "_Noah_. Hark, hark! the sea-birds cry!", " In clouds they overspread the lurid sky,", "And hover round the mountain, where before", " Never a white wing, wetted by the wave,", " Yet dared to soar,", " Even when the waters waxed too fierce to brave.", " Soon it shall be their only shore,", " And then, no more!", "", "_Japh._ The sun! the sun!", "He riseth, but his better light is gone;", " And a black circle, bound", " His glaring disk around,", "Proclaims Earth's last of summer days hath shone!", " The clouds return into the hues of night,", "Save where their brazen-coloured edges streak", "The verge where brighter morns were wont to break.", "", "_Noah_. And lo! yon flash of light,", "The distant thunder's harbinger, appears!", " It cometh! hence, away!", "Leave to the elements their evil prey!", "Hence to where our all-hallowed ark uprears", " Its safe and wreckless sides!", "", "_Japh._ Oh, father, stay!", "Leave not my Anah to the swallowing tides!", "", "_Noah_. Must we not leave all life to such? Begone!", "", "_Japh._ Not I.", "", "_Noah_. Then die", " With them!", "How darest thou look on that prophetic sky,", "And seek to save what all things now condemn,", " In overwhelming unison", " With just Jehovah's wrath!", "", "_Japh._ Can rage and justice join in the same path?", "", "_Noah_. Blasphemer! darest thou murmur even now!", "", "_Raph._ Patriarch, be still a father! smooth thy brow:", "Thy son, despite his folly, shall not sink:", "He knows not what he says, yet shall not drink", " With sobs the salt foam of the swelling waters;", "But be, when passion passeth, good as thou,", " Nor perish like Heaven's children with man's daughters.", "", "_Aho._ The tempest cometh; heaven and earth unite", " For the annihilation of all life.", " Unequal is the strife", "Between our strength and the Eternal Might!", "", "_Sam._ But ours is with thee; we will bear ye far", " To some untroubled star,", "Where thou, and Anah, shalt partake our lot:", " And if thou dost not weep for thy lost earth,", "Our forfeit Heaven shall also be forgot.", "", "_Anah_. Oh! my dear father's tents, my place of birth,", "And mountains, land, and woods! when ye are not,", "Who shall dry up my tears?", "", "_Aza._ Thy spirit-lord.", "Fear not; though we are shut from Heaven,", "Yet much is ours, whence we can not be driven.", "", "_Raph._ Rebel! thy words are wicked, as thy deeds", "Shall henceforth be but weak: the flaming sword,", "Which chased the first-born out of Paradise,", "Still flashes in the angelic hands.", "", "_Aza._ It cannot slay us: threaten dust with death,", "And talk of weapons unto that which bleeds.", "What are thy swords in our immortal eyes?", "", "_Raph._ The moment cometh to approve thy strength;", " And learn at length", "How vain to war with what thy God commands:", "Thy former force was in thy faith.", "", " _Enter Mortals, flying for refuge_.", "", " _Chorus of Mortals_.", "", "The heavens and earth are mingling--God! oh God!", "What have we done? Yet spare!", "Hark! even the forest beasts howl forth their prayer!", " The dragon crawls from out his den,", " To herd, in terror, innocent with men;", "And the birds scream their agony through air.", "Yet, yet, Jehovah! yet withdraw thy rod", "Of wrath, and pity thine own world's despair!", "Hear not man only but all nature plead!", "", "_Raph._ Farewell, thou earth! ye wretched sons of clay,", "I cannot, must not, aid you. 'Tis decreed!", " [_Exit_ RAPHAEL.", "", "_Japh._ Some clouds sweep on as vultures for their prey,", "While others, fixed as rocks, await the word", "At which their wrathful vials shall be poured.", "No azure more shall robe the firmament,", " Nor spangled stars be glorious: Death hath risen:", "In the Sun's place a pale and ghastly glare", "Hath wound itself around the dying air.", "", "_Aza._ Come, Anah! quit this chaos-founded prison,", "To which the elements again repair,", "To turn it into what it was: beneath", "The shelter of these wings thou shall be safe,", "As was the eagle's nestling once within", "Its mother's.--Let the coming chaos chafe", "With all its elements! Heed not their din!", "A brighter world than this, where thou shalt breathe", "Ethereal life, will we explore:", "These darkened clouds are not the only skies.", "", " [AZAZIEL _and_ SAMIASA _fly off, and disappear", " with_ ANAH _and_ AHOLIBAMAH.", "", "_Japh._ They are gone! They have disappeared amidst the roar", "Of the forsaken world; and never more,", "Whether they live, or die with all Earth's life,", "Now near its last, can aught restore", "Anah unto these eyes.", "", " _Chorus of Mortals_.", "", "Oh son of Noah! mercy on thy kind!", "What! wilt thou leave us all--all--_all_ behind?", "While safe amidst the elemental strife,", "Thou sitt'st within thy guarded ark?", "", "_A Mother_ (_offering her infant to_ JAPHET).", " Oh, let this child embark!", " I brought him forth in woe,", " But thought it joy", " To see him to my bosom clinging so.", " Why was he born?", " What hath he done--", " My unweaned son--", " To move Jehovah's wrath or scorn?", " What is there in this milk of mine, that Death", " Should stir all Heaven and Earth up to destroy", " My boy,", " And roll the waters o'er his placid breath?", " Save him, thou seed of Seth!", " Or curséd be--with him who made", " Thee and thy race, for which we are betrayed!", "", "_Japh._ Peace! 'tis no hour for curses, but for prayer!", "", " _Chorus of Mortals_.", "", " For prayer!!!", " And where", " Shall prayer ascend,", "When the swoln clouds unto the mountains bend", " And burst,", "And gushing oceans every barrier rend,", " Until the very deserts know no thirst?", " Accursed", "Be he who made thee and thy sire!", "We deem our curses vain; we must expire;", " But as we know the worst,", "Why should our hymns be raised, our knees be bent", "Before the implacable Omnipotent,", "Since we must fall the same?", "If he hath made Earth, let it be his shame,", " To make a world for torture.--Lo! they come,", "The loathsome waters, in their rage!", " And with their roar make wholesome nature dumb!", " The forest's trees (coeval with the hour", "When Paradise upsprung,", " Ere Eve gave Adam knowledge for her dower,", "Or Adam his first hymn of slavery sung),", " So massy, vast, yet green in their old age,", " Are overtopped,", "Their summer blossoms by the surges lopped,", "Which rise, and rise, and rise.", "Vainly we look up to the lowering skies--", " They meet the seas,", "And shut out God from our beseeching eyes.", " Fly, son of Noah, fly! and take thine ease,", "In thine allotted ocean-tent;", "And view, all floating o'er the element,", "The corpses of the world of thy young days:", " Then to Jehovah raise", " Thy song of praise!", "", "_A Mortal_.", " Blesséd are the dead", " Who die in the Lord!", "And though the waters be o'er earth outspread,", " Yet, as _his_ word,", " Be the decree adored!", "He gave me life--he taketh but", " The breath which is his own:", "And though these eyes should be for ever shut,", " Nor longer this weak voice before his throne", " Be heard in supplicating tone,", " Still blessed be the Lord,", " For what is past,", " For that which is:", " For all are his,", " From first to last--", "Time--Space--Eternity--Life--Death--", " The vast known and immeasurable unknown.", "He made, and can unmake;", " And shall I, for a little gasp of breath,", "Blaspheme and groan?", " No; let me die, as I have lived, in faith,", "Nor quiver, though the Universe may quake!", "", " _Chorus of Mortals_.", "", " Where shall we fly?", " Not to the mountains high;", "For now their torrents rush, with double roar,", " To meet the Ocean, which, advancing still,", " Already grasps each drowning hill,", "Nor leaves an unsearched cave.", "", " _Enter a Woman_.", "", "_Woman_.", " Oh, save me, save!", "Our valley is no more:", " My father and my father's tent,", "My brethren and my brethren's herds,", " The pleasant trees that o'er our noonday bent,", "And sent forth evening songs from sweetest birds,", "The little rivulet which freshened all", " Our pastures green,", " No more are to be seen.", "When to the mountain cliff I climbed this morn,", " I turned to bless the spot,", " And not a leaf appeared about to fall;--", " And now they are not!--", "Why was I born?", "", "_Japh._", " To die! in youth to die!", " And happier in that doom,", " Than to behold the universal tomb,", " Which I", " Am thus condemned to weep above in vain.", " Why, when all perish, why must I remain?", "", " [_The waters rise; Men fly in every direction; many", " are overtaken by the waves: the Chorus of", " Mortals disperses in search of safety up the", " mountains:_ JAPHET _remains upon a rock, while", " the Ark floats towards him in the distance_." ], "linecount": "1335" }, { "title": "Werner; or, the Inheritance", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "ACT I.", "", "SCENE I.--_The Hall of a decayed Palace near a small", " Town on the Northern Frontier of Silesia--the Night", " tempestuous_.", "", " WERNER _and_ JOSEPHINE, _his Wife_.", "", "_Jos._ My love, be calmer!", "", "_Wer._ I am calm.", "", "_Jos._ To me--", "Yes, but not to thyself: thy pace is hurried,", "And no one walks a chamber like to ours,", "With steps like thine, when his heart is at rest.", "Were it a garden, I should deem thee happy,", "And stepping with the bee from flower to flower;", "But _here!_", "", "_Wer._ 'Tis chill; the tapestry lets through", "The wind to which it waves: my blood is frozen.", "", "_Jos._ Ah, no!", "", "_Wer._ (_smiling_). Why! wouldst thou have it so?", "", "_Jos._ I would", "Have it a healthful current.", "", "_Wer._ Let it flow", "Until 'tis spilt or checked--how soon, I care not.", "", "_Jos._ And am I nothing in thy heart?", "", "_Wer._ All--all.", "", "_Jos._ Then canst thou wish for that which must break mine?", "", "_Wer._ (_approaching her slowly_).", "But for _thee_ I had been--no matter what--", "But much of good and evil; what I am,", "Thou knowest; what I might or should have been,", "Thou knowest not: but still I love thee, nor", "Shall aught divide us.", " [WERNER _walks on abruptly, and then approaches_ JOSEPHINE.", " The storm of the night,", "Perhaps affects me; I'm a thing of feelings,", "And have of late been sickly, as, alas!", "Thou know'st by sufferings more than mine, my Love!", "In watching me.", "", "_Jos._ To see thee well is much--", "To see thee happy----", "", "_Wer._ Where hast thou seen such?", "Let me be wretched with the rest!", "", "_Jos._ But think", "How many in this hour of tempest shiver", "Beneath the biting wind and heavy rain,", "Whose every drop bows them down nearer earth,", "Which hath no chamber for them save beneath", "Her surface.", "", "_Wer._ And that's not the worst: who cares", "For chambers? rest is all. The wretches whom", "Thou namest--aye, the wind howls round them, and", "The dull and dropping rain saps in their bones", "The creeping marrow. I have been a soldier,", "A hunter, and a traveller, and am", "A beggar, and should know the thing thou talk'st of.", "", "_Jos._ And art thou not now sheltered from them all?", "_Wer._ Yes. And from these alone.", "", "_Jos._ And that is something.", "", "_Wer._ True--to a peasant.", "", "_Jos._ Should the nobly born", "Be thankless for that refuge which their habits", "Of early delicacy render more", "Needful than to the peasant, when the ebb", "Of fortune leaves them on the shoals of life?", "", "_Wer._ It is not that, thou know'st it is not: we", "Have borne all this, I'll not say patiently,", "Except in thee--but we have borne it.", "", "_Jos._ Well?", "", "_Wer._ Something beyond our outward sufferings (though", "These were enough to gnaw into our souls)", "Hath stung me oft, and, more than ever, _now_.", "When, but for this untoward sickness, which", "Seized me upon this desolate frontier, and", "Hath wasted, not alone my strength, but means,", "And leaves us--no! this is beyond me!--but", "For this I had been happy--_thou_ been happy--", "The splendour of my rank sustained--my name--", "My father's name--been still upheld; and, more", "Than those----", "", "_Jos._ (_abruptly_). My son--our son--our Ulric,", "Been clasped again in these long-empty arms,", "And all a mother's hunger satisfied.", "Twelve years! he was but eight then:--beautiful", "He was, and beautiful he must be now,", "My Ulric! my adored!", "", "_Wer._ I have been full oft", "The chase of Fortune; now she hath o'ertaken", "My spirit where it cannot turn at bay,--", "Sick, poor, and lonely.", "", "_Jos._ Lonely! my dear husband?", "", "_Wer._ Or worse--involving all I love, in this", "Far worse than solitude. _Alone_, I had died,", "And all been over in a nameless grave.", "", "_Jos._ And I had not outlived thee; but pray take", "Comfort! We have struggled long; and they who strive", "With Fortune win or weary her at last,", "So that they find the goal or cease to feel", "Further. Take comfort,--we shall find our boy.", "", "_Wer._ We were in sight of him, of every thing", "Which could bring compensation for past sorrow--", "And to be baffled thus!", "", "_Jos._ We are not baffled.", "", "_Wer._ Are we not penniless?", "", "_Jos._ We ne'er were wealthy.", "", "_Wer._ But I was born to wealth, and rank, and power;", "Enjoyed them, loved them, and, alas! abused them,", "And forfeited them by my father's wrath,", "In my o'er-fervent youth: but for the abuse", "Long-sufferings have atoned. My father's death", "Left the path open, yet not without snares.", "This cold and creeping kinsman, who so long", "Kept his eye on me, as the snake upon", "The fluttering bird, hath ere this time outstept me,", "Become the master of my rights, and lord", "Of that which lifts him up to princes in", "Dominion and domain.", "", "_Jos._ Who knows? our son", "May have returned back to his grandsire, and", "Even now uphold thy rights for thee?", "", "_Wer._ 'Tis hopeless.", "Since his strange disappearance from my father's,", "Entailing, as it were, my sins upon", "Himself, no tidings have revealed his course.", "I parted with him to his grandsire, on", "The promise that his anger would stop short", "Of the third generation; but Heaven seems", "To claim her stern prerogative, and visit", "Upon my boy his father's faults and follies.", "", "_Jos._ I must hope better still,--at least we have yet", "Baffled the long pursuit of Stralenheim.", "", "_Wer._ We should have done, but for this fatal sickness;--", "More fatal than a mortal malady,", "Because it takes not life, but life's sole solace:", "Even now I feel my spirit girt about", "By the snares of this avaricious fiend:--", "How do I know he hath not tracked us here?", "", "_Jos._ He does not know thy person; and his spies,", "Who so long watched thee, have been left at Hamburgh.", "Our unexpected journey, and this change", "Of name, leaves all discovery far behind:", "None hold us here for aught save what we seem.", "", "_Wer._ Save what we seem! save what we _are_--sick beggars,", "Even to our very hopes.--Ha! ha!", "", "_Jos._ Alas!", "That bitter laugh!", "", "_Wer._ _Who_ would read in this form", "The high soul of the son of a long line?", "_Who_, in this garb, the heir of princely lands?", "_Who_, in this sunken, sickly eye, the pride", "Of rank and ancestry? In this worn cheek", "And famine-hollowed brow, the Lord of halls", "Which daily feast a thousand vassals?", "", "_Jos._ You", "Pondered not thus upon these worldly things,", "My Werner! when you deigned to choose for bride", "The foreign daughter of a wandering exile.", "", "_Wer._ An exile's daughter with an outcast son,", "Were a fit marriage: but I still had hopes", "To lift thee to the state we both were born for.", "Your father's house was noble, though decayed;", "And worthy by its birth to match with ours.", "", "_Jos._ Your father did not think so, though 'twas noble;", "But had my birth been all my claim to match", "With thee, I should have deemed it what it is.", "", "_Wer._ And what is that in thine eyes?", "", "_Jos._ All which it", "Has done in our behalf,--nothing.", "", "_Wer._ How,--nothing?", "", "_Jos._ Or worse; for it has been a canker in", "Thy heart from the beginning: but for this,", "We had not felt our poverty but as", "Millions of myriads feel it--cheerfully;", "But for these phantoms of thy feudal fathers,", "Thou mightst have earned thy bread, as thousands earn it;", "Or, if that seem too humble, tried by commerce,", "Or other civic means, to amend thy fortunes.", "", "_Wer._ (_ironically_). And been an Hanseatic burgher? Excellent!", "", "_Jos._ Whate'er thou mightest have been, to me thou art", "What no state high or low can ever change,", "My heart's first choice;--which chose thee, knowing neither", "Thy birth, thy hopes, thy pride; nought, save thy sorrows:", "While they last, let me comfort or divide them:", "When they end--let mine end with them, or thee!", "", "_Wer._ My better angel! Such I have ever found thee;", "This rashness, or this weakness of my temper,", "Ne'er raised a thought to injure thee or thine.", "Thou didst not mar my fortunes: my own nature", "In youth was such as to unmake an empire,", "Had such been my inheritance; but now,", "Chastened, subdued, out-worn, and taught to know", "Myself,--to lose this for our son and thee!", "Trust me, when, in my two-and-twentieth spring,", "My father barred me from my father's house,", "The last sole scion of a thousand sires", "(For I was then the last), it hurt me less", "Than to behold my boy and my boy's mother", "Excluded in their innocence from what", "My faults deserved-exclusion; although then", "My passions were all living serpents, and", "Twined like the Gorgon's round me.", " [_A loud knocking is heard_.", "", "_Jos._ Hark!", "", "_Wer._ A knocking!", "", "_Jos._ Who can it be at this lone hour? We have", "Few visitors.", "", "_Wer._ And poverty hath none,", "Save those who come to make it poorer still.", "Well--I am prepared.", "", " [WERNER _puts his hand into his bosom, as if", " to search for some weapon_.", "", "_Jos._ Oh! do not look so. I", "Will to the door. It cannot be of import", "In this lone spot of wintry desolation:--", "The very desert saves man from mankind.", " [_She goes to the door_.", "", " _Enter_ IDENSTEIN.", "", "_Iden._ A fair good evening to my fair hostess", "And worthy----What's your name, my friend?", "", "_Wer._ Are you", "Not afraid to demand it?", "", "_Iden._ Not afraid?", "Egad! I am afraid. You look as if", "I asked for something better than your name,", "By the face you put on it.", "", "_Wer._ Better, sir!", "", "_Iden._ Better or worse, like matrimony: what", "Shall I say more? You have been a guest this month", "Here in the prince's palace--(to be sure,", "His Highness had resigned it to the ghosts", "And rats these twelve years--but 'tis still a palace)--", "I say you have been our lodger, and as yet", "We do not know your name.", "", "_Wer._ My name is Werner.", "", "_Iden._ A goodly name, a very worthy name,", "As e'er was gilt upon a trader's board:", "I have a cousin in the lazaretto", "Of Hamburgh, who has got a wife who bore", "The same. He is an officer of trust,", "Surgeon's assistant (hoping to be surgeon),", "And has done miracles i' the way of business.", "Perhaps you are related to my relative?", "", "_Wer._ To yours?", "", "_Jos._ Oh, yes; we are, but distantly.", "(_Aside to_ WERNER.) Cannot you humour the dull gossip till", "We learn his purpose?", "", "_Iden._ Well, I'm glad of that;", "I thought so all along, such natural yearnings", "Played round my heart:--blood is not water, cousin;", "And so let's have some wine, and drink unto", "Our better acquaintance: relatives should be", "Friends.", "", "_Wer._ You appear to have drunk enough already;", "And if you have not, I've no wine to offer,", "Else it were yours: but this you know, or should know:", "You see I am poor, and sick, and will not see", "That I would be alone; but to your business!", "What brings you here?", "", "_Iden._ Why, what should bring me here?", "", "_Wer._ I know not, though I think that I could guess", "That which will send you hence.", "", "_Jos._ (_aside_). Patience, dear Werner!", "", "_Iden._ You don't know what has happened, then?", "", "_Jos._ How should we?", "", "_Iden._ The river has o'erflowed.", "", "_Jos._ Alas! we have known", "That to our sorrow for these five days; since", "It keeps us here.", "", "_Iden._ But what you don't know is,", "That a great personage, who fain would cross", "Against the stream and three postilions' wishes,", "Is drowned below the ford, with five post-horses,", "A monkey, and a mastiff--and a valet.", "", "_Jos._ Poor creatures! are you sure?", "", "_Iden._ Yes, of the monkey,", "And the valet, and the cattle; but as yet", "We know not if his Excellency's dead", "Or no; your noblemen are hard to drown,", "As it is fit that men in office should be;", "But what is certain is, that he has swallowed", "Enough of the Oder to have burst two peasants;", "And now a Saxon and Hungarian traveller,", "Who, at their proper peril, snatched him from", "The whirling river, have sent on to crave", "A lodging, or a grave, according as", "It may turn out with the live or dead body.", "", "_Jos._ And where will you receive him? here, I hope,", "If we can be of service--say the word.", "", "_Iden._ Here? no; but in the Prince's own apartment,", "As fits a noble guest:--'tis damp, no doubt,", "Not having been inhabited these twelve years;", "But then he comes from a much damper place,", "So scarcely will catch cold in't, if he be", "Still liable to cold--and if not, why", "He'll be worse lodged to-morrow: ne'ertheless,", "I have ordered fire and all appliances", "To be got ready for the worst--that is,", "In case he should survive.", "", "_Jos._ Poor gentleman!", "I hope he will, with all my heart.", "", "_Wer._ Intendant,", "Have you not learned his name? (_Aside to his wife_.) My Josephine,", "Retire: I'll sift this fool. [_Exit_ JOSEPHINE.", "", "_Iden._ His name? oh Lord!", "Who knows if he hath now a name or no?", "'Tis time enough to ask it when he's able", "To give an answer; or if not, to put", "His heir's upon his epitaph. Methought", "Just now you chid me for demanding names?", "", "_Wer._ True, true, I did so: you say well and wisely.", "", " _Enter_ GABOR.", "", "_Gab._ If I intrude, I crave----", "", "_Iden._ Oh, no intrusion!", "This is the palace; this a stranger like", "Yourself; I pray you make yourself at home:", "But where's his Excellency? and how fares he?", "", "_Gab._ Wetly and wearily, but out of peril:", "He paused to change his garments in a cottage", "(Where I doffed mine for these, and came on hither),", "And has almost recovered from his drenching.", "He will be here anon.", "", "_Iden._ What ho, there! bustle!", "Without there, Herman, Weilburg, Peter, Conrad!", " [_Gives directions to different servants who enter_.", "A nobleman sleeps here to-night--see that", "All is in order in the damask chamber--", "Keep up the stove--I will myself to the cellar--", "And Madame Idenstein (my consort, stranger,)", "Shall furnish forth the bed-apparel; for,", "To say the truth, they are marvellous scant of this", "Within the palace precincts, since his Highness", "Left it some dozen years ago. And then", "His Excellency will sup, doubtless?", "", "_Gab._ Faith!", "I cannot tell; but I should think the pillow", "Would please him better than the table, after", "His soaking in your river: but for fear", "Your viands should be thrown away, I mean", "To sup myself, and have a friend without", "Who will do honour to your good cheer with", "A traveller's appetite.", "", "_Iden._ But are you sure", "His Excellency----But his name: what is it?", "", "_Gab._ I do not know.", "", "_Iden._ And yet you saved his life.", "", "_Gab._ I helped my friend to do so.", "", "_Iden._ Well, that's strange,", "To save a man's life whom you do not know.", "", "_Gab._ Not so; for there are some I know so well,", "I scarce should give myself the trouble.", "", "_Iden._ Pray,", "Good friend, and who may you be?", "", "_Gab._ By my family,", "Hungarian.", "", "_Iden._ Which is called?", "", "_Gab._ It matters little.", "", "_Iden._ (_aside_). I think that all the world are grown anonymous,", "Since no one cares to tell me what he's called!", "Pray, has his Excellency a large suite?", "", "_Gab._ Sufficient.", "", "_Iden._ How many?", "", "_Gab._ I did not count them.", "We came up by mere accident, and just", "In time to drag him through his carriage window.", "", "_Iden._ Well, what would I give to save a great man!", "No doubt you'll have a swingeing sum as recompense.", "", "_Gab._ Perhaps.", "", "_Iden._ Now, how much do you reckon on?", "", "_Gab._ I have not yet put up myself to sale:", "In the mean time, my best reward would be", "A glass of your Hockcheimer--a _green_ glass,", "Wreathed with rich grapes and Bacchanal devices,", "O'erflowing with the oldest of your vintage:", "For which I promise you, in case you e'er", "Run hazard of being drowned, (although I own", "It seems, of all deaths, the least likely for you,)", "I'll pull you out for nothing. Quick, my friend,", "And think, for every bumper I shall quaff,", "A wave the less may roll above your head.", "", "_Iden._ (_aside_). I don't much like this fellow--close and dry", "He seems,--two things which suit me not; however,", "Wine he shall have; if that unlocks him not,", "I shall not sleep to-night for curiosity. [_Exit_ IDENSTEIN.", "", "_Gab._ (_to_ WERNER). This master of the ceremonies is", "The intendant of the palace, I presume:", "'Tis a fine building, but decayed.", "", "_Wer._ The apartment", "Designed for him you rescued will be found", "In fitter order for a sickly guest.", "", "_Gab._ I wonder then you occupied it not,", "For you seem delicate in health.", "", "_Wer._ (_quickly_). Sir!", "", "_Gab._ Pray", "Excuse me: have I said aught to offend you?", "", "_Wer._ Nothing: but we are strangers to each other.", "", "_Gab._ And that's the reason I would have us less so:", "I thought our bustling guest without had said", "You were a chance and passing guest, the counterpart", "Of me and my companions.", "", "_Wer._ Very true.", "", "_Gab._ Then, as we never met before, and never,", "It may be, may again encounter, why,", "I thought to cheer up this old dungeon here", "(At least to me) by asking you to share", "The fare of my companions and myself.", "", "_Wer._ Pray, pardon me; my health----", "", "_Gab._ Even as you please.", "I have been a soldier, and perhaps am blunt", "In bearing.", "", "_Wer._ I have also served, and can", "Requite a soldier's greeting.", "", "_Gab._ In what service?", "The Imperial?", "", "_Wer._ (_quickly, and then interrupting himself_).", " I commanded--no--I mean", "I served; but it is many years ago,", "When first Bohemia raised her banner 'gainst", "The Austrian.", "", "_Gab._ Well, that's over now, and peace", "Has turned some thousand gallant hearts adrift", "To live as they best may: and, to say truth,", "Some take the shortest.", "", "_Wer._ What is that?", "", "_Gab._ Whate'er", "They lay their hands on. All Silesia and", "Lusatia's woods are tenanted by bands", "Of the late troops, who levy on the country", "Their maintenance: the Chatelains must keep", "Their castle walls--beyond them 'tis but doubtful", "Travel for your rich Count or full-blown Baron.", "My comfort is that, wander where I may,", "I've little left to lose now.", "", "_Wer._ And I--nothing.", "", "_Gab._ That's harder still. You say you were a soldier.", "", "_Wer._ I was.", "", "_Gab._ You look one still. All soldiers are", "Or should be comrades, even though enemies.", "Our swords when drawn must cross, our engines aim", "(While levelled) at each other's hearts; but when", "A truce, a peace, or what you will, remits", "The steel into its scabbard, and lets sleep", "The spark which lights the matchlock, we are brethren.", "You are poor and sickly--I am not rich, but healthy;", "I want for nothing which I cannot want;", "You seem devoid of this--wilt share it?", " [GABOR _pulls out his purse_.", "", "_Wer._ Who", "Told you I was a beggar?", "", "_Gab._ You yourself,", "In saying you were a soldier during peace-time.", "", "_Wer._ (_looking at him with suspicion_). You know me not.", "", "_Gab._ I know no man, not even", "Myself: how should I then know one I ne'er", "Beheld till half an hour since?", "", "_Wer._ Sir, I thank you.", "Your offer's noble were it to a friend,", "And not unkind as to an unknown stranger,", "Though scarcely prudent; but no less I thank you.", "I am a beggar in all save his trade;", "And when I beg of any one, it shall be", "Of him who was the first to offer what", "Few can obtain by asking. Pardon me. [_Exit_ WERNER.", "", "_Gab._ (_solus_). A goodly fellow by his looks, though worn", "As most good fellows are, by pain or pleasure,", "Which tear life out of us before our time;", "I scarce know which most quickly: but he seems", "To have seen better days, as who has not", "Who has seen yesterday?--But here approaches", "Our sage intendant, with the wine: however,", "For the cup's sake I'll bear the cupbearer.", "", " _Enter_ IDENSTEIN.", "", "_Iden._ 'Tis here! the _supernaculum!_ twenty years", "Of age, if 'tis a day.", "", "_Gab._ Which epoch makes", "Young women and old wine; and 'tis great pity,", "Of two such excellent things, increase of years,", "Which still improves the one, should spoil the other.", "Fill full--Here's to our hostess!--your fair wife!", " [_Takes the glass_.", "", "_Iden._ Fair!--Well, I trust your taste in wine is equal", "To that you show for beauty; but I pledge you", "Nevertheless.", "", "_Gab._ Is not the lovely woman", "I met in the adjacent hall, who, with", "An air, and port, and eye, which would have better", "Beseemed this palace in its brightest days", "(Though in a garb adapted to its present", "Abandonment), returned my salutation--", "Is not the same your spouse?", "", "_Iden._ I would she were!", "But you're mistaken:--that's the stranger's wife.", "", "_Gab._ And by her aspect she might be a Prince's;", "Though time hath touched her too, she still retains", "Much beauty, and more majesty.", "", "_Iden._ And that", "Is more than I can say for Madame Idenstein,", "At least in beauty: as for majesty,", "She has some of its properties which might", "Be spared--but never mind!", "", "_Gab._ I don't. But who", "May be this stranger? He too hath a bearing", "Above his outward fortunes.", "", "_Iden._ There I differ.", "He's poor as Job, and not so patient; but", "Who he may be, or what, or aught of him,", "Except his name (and that I only learned", "To-night), I know not.", "", "_Gab._ But how came he here?", "", "_Iden._ In a most miserable old caleche,", "About a month since, and immediately", "Fell sick, almost to death. He should have died.", "", "_Gab._ Tender and true!--but why?", "", "_Iden._ Why, what is life", "Without a living? He has not a stiver.", "", "_Gab._ In that case, I much wonder that a person", "Of your apparent prudence should admit", "Guests so forlorn into this noble mansion.", "", "_Iden._ That's true: but pity, as you know, _does_ make", "One's heart commit these follies; and besides,", "They had some valuables left at that time,", "Which paid their way up to the present hour;", "And so I thought they might as well be lodged", "Here as at the small tavern, and I gave them", "The run of some of the oldest palace rooms.", "They served to air them, at the least as long", "As they could pay for firewood.", "", "_Gab._ Poor souls!", "", "_Iden._ Aye,", "Exceeding poor.", "", "_Gab._ And yet unused to poverty,", "If I mistake not. Whither were they going?", "", "_Iden._ Oh! Heaven knows where, unless to Heaven itself.", "Some days ago that looked the likeliest journey", "For Werner.", "", "_Gab._ Werner! I have heard the name.", "But it may be a feigned one.", "", "_Iden._ Like enough!", "But hark! a noise of wheels and voices, and", "A blaze of torches from without. As sure", "As destiny, his Excellency's come.", "I must be at my post; will you not join me,", "To help him from his carriage, and present", "Your humble duty at the door?", "", "_Gab._ I dragged him", "From out that carriage when he would have given", "His barony or county to repel", "The rushing river from his gurgling throat.", "He has valets now enough: they stood aloof then,", "Shaking their dripping ears upon the shore,", "All roaring \"Help!\" but offering none; and as", "For _duty_ (as you call it)--I did mine _then_,", "Now do _yours_. Hence, and bow and cringe him here!", "", "_Iden._ _I_ cringe!--but I shall lose the opportunity--", "Plague take it! he'll be _here_, and I _not there!_", " [_Exit_ IDENSTEIN _hastily_.", "", " _Re-enter_ WERNER.", "", "_Wer._ (_to himself_). I heard a noise of wheels and voices. How", "All sounds now jar me! [_Perceiving_ GABOR.", " Still here! Is he not", "A spy of my pursuer's? His frank offer", "So suddenly, and to a stranger, wore", "The aspect of a secret enemy;", "For friends are slow at such.", "", "_Gab._ Sir, you seem rapt;", "And yet the time is not akin to thought.", "These old walls will be noisy soon. The baron,", "Or count (or whatsoe'er this half drowned noble", "May be), for whom this desolate village and", "Its lone inhabitants show more respect", "Than did the elements, is come.", "", "_Iden._ (_without_). This way--", "This way, your Excellency:--have a care,", "The staircase is a little gloomy, and", "Somewhat decayed; but if we had expected", "So high a guest--Pray take my arm, my Lord!", "", " _Enter_ STRALENHEIM, IDENSTEIN, _and Attendants--partly", " his own, and partly Retainers of the Domain of which_", " IDENSTEIN _is Intendant_.", "", "_Stral._ I'll rest here a moment.", "", "_Iden._ (_to the servants_). Ho! a chair!", "Instantly, knaves. [STRALENHEIM _sits down_.", "", "_Wer._ (_aside_). Tis he!", "", "_Stral._ I'm better now.", "Who are these strangers?", "", "_Iden._ Please you, my good Lord,", "One says he is no stranger.", "", "_Wer._ (_aloud and hastily_). _Who_ says that?", " [_They look at him with surprise_.", "", "_Iden._ Why, no one spoke _of you_, or _to you_!--but", "Here's one his Excellency may be pleased", "To recognise. [_Pointing to_ GABOR.", "", "_Gab._ I seek not to disturb", "His noble memory.", "", "_Stral._ I apprehend", "This is one of the strangers to whose aid", "I owe my rescue. Is not that the other?", " [_Pointing to_ WERNER.", "My state when I was succoured must excuse", "My uncertainty to whom I owe so much.", "", "_Iden._ He!--no, my Lord! he rather wants for rescue", "Than can afford it. 'Tis a poor sick man,", "Travel-tired, and lately risen from a bed", "From whence he never dreamed to rise.", "", "_Stral._ Methought", "That there were two.", "", "_Gab._ There were, in company;", "But, in the service rendered to your Lordship,", "I needs must say but _one_, and he is absent.", "The chief part of whatever aid was rendered", "Was _his_: it was his fortune to be first.", "My will was not inferior, but his strength", "And youth outstripped me; therefore do not waste", "Your thanks on me. I was but a glad second", "Unto a nobler principal.", "", "_Stral._ Where is he?", "", "_An Atten._ My Lord, he tarried in the cottage where", "Your Excellency rested for an hour,", "And said he would be here to-morrow.", "", "_Stral._ Till", "That hour arrives, I can but offer thanks,", "And then----", "", "_Gab._ I seek no more, and scarce deserve", "So much. My comrade may speak for himself.", "", "_Stral._ (_fixing his eyes upon_ WERNER: _then aside_).", " It cannot be! and yet he must be looked to.", "'Tis twenty years since I beheld him with", "These eyes; and, though my agents still have kept", "_Theirs_ on him, policy has held aloof", "My own from his, not to alarm him into", "Suspicion of my plan. Why did I leave", "At Hamburgh those who would have made assurance", "If this be he or no? I thought, ere now,", "To have been lord of Siegendorf, and parted", "In haste, though even the elements appear", "To fight against me, and this sudden flood", "May keep me prisoner here till----", " [_He pauses and looks at_ WERNER: _then resumes_.", " This man must", "Be watched. If it is he, he is so changed,", "His father, rising from his grave again,", "Would pass by him unknown. I must be wary:", "An error would spoil all.", "", "_Iden._ Your Lordship seems", "Pensive. Will it not please you to pass on?", "", "_Stral._ 'Tis past fatigue, which gives my weighed-down spirit", "An outward show of thought. I will to rest.", "", "_Iden._ The Prince's chamber is prepared, with all", "The very furniture the Prince used when", "Last here, in its full splendour.", " (_Aside_). Somewhat tattered,", "And devilish damp, but fine enough by torch-light;", "And that's enough for your right noble blood", "Of twenty quarterings upon a hatchment;", "So let their bearer sleep 'neath something like one", "Now, as he one day will for ever lie.", "", "_Stral._ (_rising and turning to_ GABOR).", "Good night, good people! Sir, I trust to-morrow", "Will find me apter to requite your service.", "In the meantime I crave your company", "A moment in my chamber.", "", "_Gab._ I attend you.", "", "_Stral_, (_after a few steps, pauses, and calls_ WERNER).", "Friend!", "", "_Wer._ Sir!", "", "_Iden._ _Sir!_ Lord--oh Lord! Why don't you say", "His Lordship, or his Excellency? Pray,", "My Lord, excuse this poor man's want of breeding:", "He hath not been accustomed to admission", "To such a presence.", "", "_Stral._ (_to_ IDENSTEIN). Peace, intendant!", "", "_Iden._ Oh!", "I am dumb.", "", "_Stral._ (_to_ WERNER). Have you been long here?", "", "_Wer._ Long?", "", "_Stral._ I sought", "An answer, not an echo.", "", "_Wer._ You may seek", "Both from the walls. I am not used to answer", "Those whom I know not.", "", "_Stral._ Indeed! Ne'er the less,", "You might reply with courtesy to what", "Is asked in kindness.", "", "_Wer._ When I know it such", "I will requite--that is, _reply_--in unison.", "", "_Stral._ The intendant said, you had been detained by sickness--", "If I could aid you--journeying the same way?", "", "_Wer._ (_quickly_). I am not journeying the same way!", "", "_Stral._ How know ye", "That, ere you know my route?", "", "_Wer._ Because there is", "But one way that the rich and poor must tread", "Together. You diverged from that dread path", "Some hours ago, and I some days: henceforth", "Our roads must lie asunder, though they tend", "All to one home.", "", "_Stral._ Your language is above", "Your station.", "", "_Wer._ (_bitterly_). Is it?", "", "_Stral._ Or, at least, beyond", "Your garb.", "", "_Wer._ 'Tis well that it is not beneath it,", "As sometimes happens to the better clad.", "But, in a word, what would you with me?", "", "_Stral._ (_startled_). I?", "", "_Wer._ Yes--you! You know me not, and question me,", "And wonder that I answer not--not knowing", "My inquisitor. Explain what you would have,", "And then I'll satisfy yourself, or me.", "", "_Stral._ I knew not that you had reasons for reserve.", "", "_Wer._ Many have such:--Have you none?", "", "_Stral._ None which can", "Interest a mere stranger.", "", "_Wer._ Then forgive", "The same unknown and humble stranger, if", "He wishes to remain so to the man", "Who can have nought in common with him.", "", "_Stral._ Sir,", "I will not balk your humour, though untoward:", "I only meant you service--but good night!", "Intendant, show the way! (_To_ GABOR.) Sir, you will with me?", " [_Exeunt_ STRALENHEIM _and Attendants_; IDENSTEIN _and_ GABOR.", "", "_Wer._ (_solus_). 'Tis he! I am taken in the toils. Before", "I quitted Hamburg, Giulio, his late steward,", "Informed me, that he had obtained an order", "From Brandenburg's elector, for the arrest", "Of Kruitzner (such the name I then bore) when", "I came upon the frontier; the free city", "Alone preserved my freedom--till I left", "Its walls--fool that I was to quit them! But", "I deemed this humble garb, and route obscure,", "Had baffled the slow hounds in their pursuit.", "What's to be done? He knows me not by person;", "Nor could aught, save the eye of apprehension,", "Have recognised _him_, after twenty years--", "We met so rarely and so coldly in", "Our youth. But those about him! Now I can", "Divine the frankness of the Hungarian, who", "No doubt is a mere tool and spy of Stralenheim's,", "To sound and to secure me. Without means!", "Sick, poor--begirt too with the flooding rivers,", "Impassable even to the wealthy, with", "All the appliances which purchase modes", "Of overpowering peril, with men's lives,--", "How can I hope! An hour ago methought", "My state beyond despair; and now, 'tis such,", "The past seems paradise. Another day,", "And I'm detected,--on the very eve", "Of honours, rights, and my inheritance,", "When a few drops of gold might save me still", "In favouring an escape.", "", "_Enter_ IDENSTEIN _and_ FRITZ _in conversation_.", "", "_Fritz_. Immediately.", "", "_Iden._ I tell you, 'tis impossible.", "", "_Fritz_. It must", "Be tried, however; and if one express", "Fail, you must send on others, till the answer", "Arrives from Frankfort, from the commandant.", "", "_Iden._ I will do what I can.", "", "_Fritz_. And recollect", "To spare no trouble; you will be repaid", "Tenfold.", "", "_Iden._ The Baron is retired to rest?", "", "_Fritz_. He hath thrown himself into an easy chair", "Beside the fire, and slumbers; and has ordered", "He may not be disturbed until eleven,", "When he will take himself to bed.", "", "_Iden._ Before", "An hour is past I'll do my best to serve him.", "", "_Fritz_. Remember! [_Exit_ FRITZ.", "", "_Iden._ The devil take these great men! they", "Think all things made for them. Now here must I", "Rouse up some half a dozen shivering vassals", "From their scant pallets, and, at peril of", "Their lives, despatch them o'er the river towards", "Frankfort. Methinks the Baron's own experience", "Some hours ago might teach him fellow-feeling:", "But no, \"it _must_\" and there's an end. How now?", "Are you there, Mynheer Werner?", "", "_Wer._ You have left", "Your noble guest right quickly.", "", "_Iden._ Yes--he's dozing,", "And seems to like that none should sleep besides.", "Here is a packet for the Commandant", "Of Frankfort, at all risks and all expenses;", "But I must not lose time: Good night! [_Exit_ IDEN.", "", "_Wer._ \"To Frankfort!\"", "So, so, it thickens! Aye, \"the Commandant!\"", "This tallies well with all the prior steps", "Of this cool, calculating fiend, who walks", "Between me and my father's house. No doubt", "He writes for a detachment to convey me", "Into some secret fortress.--Sooner than", "This----", " [WERNER _looks around, and snatches up a knife lying", " on a table in a recess_.", " Now I am master of myself at least.", "Hark,--footsteps! How do I know that Stralenheim", "Will wait for even the show of that authority", "Which is to overshadow usurpation?", "That he suspects me 's certain. I'm alone--", "He with a numerous train: I weak--he strong", "In gold, in numbers, rank, authority.", "I nameless, or involving in my name", "Destruction, till I reach my own domain;", "He full-blown with his titles, which impose", "Still further on these obscure petty burghers", "Than they could do elsewhere. Hark! nearer still!", "I'll to the secret passage, which communicates", "With the----No! all is silent--'twas my fancy!--", "Still as the breathless interval between", "The flash and thunder:--I must hush my soul", "Amidst its perils. Yet I will retire,", "To see if still be unexplored the passage", "I wot of: it will serve me as a den", "Of secrecy for some hours, at the worst.", " [WERNER _draws a panel, and exit, closing it after him_.", "", " _Enter_ GABOR _and_ JOSEPHINE.", "", "_Gab._ Where is your husband?", "", "_Jos._ _Here_, I thought: I left him", "Not long since in his chamber. But these rooms", "Have many outlets, and he may be gone", "To accompany the Intendant.", "", "_Gab._ Baron Stralenheim", "Put many questions to the Intendant on", "The subject of your lord, and, to be plain,", "I have my doubts if he means well.", "", "_Jos._ Alas!", "What can there be in common with the proud", "And wealthy Baron, and the unknown Werner?", "", "_Gab._ That you know best.", "", "_Jos._ Or, if it were so, how", "Come you to stir yourself in his behalf,", "Rather than that of him whose life you saved?", "", "_Gab._ I helped to save him, as in peril; but", "I did not pledge myself to serve him in", "Oppression. I know well these nobles, and", "Their thousand modes of trampling on the poor.", "I have proved them; and my spirit boils up when", "I find them practising against the weak:--", "This is my only motive.", "", "_Jos._ It would be", "Not easy to persuade my consort of", "Your good intentions.", "", "_Gab._ Is he so suspicious?", "", "_Jos._ He was not once; but time and troubles have", "Made him what you beheld.", "", "_Gab._ I'm sorry for it.", "Suspicion is a heavy armour, and", "With its own weight impedes more than protects.", "Good night! I trust to meet with him at day-break.", " [_Exit_ GABOR.", "", " _Re-enter_ IDENSTEIN _and some Peasants_.", " JOSEPHINE _retires up the Hall_.", "", "_First Peasant_. But if I'm drowned?", "", "_Iden._ Why, you will be well paid for 't,", "And have risked more than drowning for as much,", "I doubt not.", "", "_Second Peasant_. But our wives and families?", "", "_Iden._ Cannot be worse off than they are, and may", "Be better.", "", "_Third Peasant_. I have neither, and will venture.", "", "_Iden._ That's right. A gallant carle, and fit to be", "A soldier. I'll promote you to the ranks", "In the Prince's body-guard--if you succeed:", "And you shall have besides, in sparkling coin,", "Two thalers.", "", "_Third Peasant_. No more!", "", "_Iden._ Out upon your avarice!", "Can that low vice alloy so much ambition?", "I tell thee, fellow, that two thalers in", "Small change will subdivide into a treasure.", "Do not five hundred thousand heroes daily", "Risk lives and souls for the tithe of one thaler?", "When had you half the sum?", "", "_Third Peasant_. Never--but ne'er", "The less I must have three.", "", "_Iden._ Have you forgot", "Whose vassal you were born, knave?", "", "_Third Peasant_. No--the Prince's,", "And not the stranger's.", "", "_Iden._ Sirrah! in the Prince's", "Absence, I am sovereign; and the Baron is", "My intimate connection;--\"Cousin Idenstein!", "(Quoth he) you'll order out a dozen villains.\"", "And so, you villains! troop--march--march, I say;", "And if a single dog's ear of this packet", "Be sprinkled by the Oder--look to it!", "For every page of paper, shall a hide", "Of yours be stretched as parchment on a drum,", "Like Ziska's skin, to beat alarm to all", "Refractory vassals, who can not effect", "Impossibilities.--Away, ye earth-worms!", " [_Exit, driving them out_.", "", "_Jos._ (_coming forward_).", "I fain would shun these scenes, too oft repeated,", "Of feudal tyranny o'er petty victims;", "I cannot aid, and will not witness such.", "Even here, in this remote, unnamed, dull spot,", "The dimmest in the district's map, exist", "The insolence of wealth in poverty", "O'er something poorer still--the pride of rank", "In servitude, o'er something still more servile;", "And vice in misery affecting still", "A tattered splendour. What a state of being!", "In Tuscany, my own dear sunny land,", "Our nobles were but citizens and merchants,", "Like Cosmo. We had evils, but not such", "As these; and our all-ripe and gushing valleys", "Made poverty more cheerful, where each herb", "Was in itself a meal, and every vine", "Rained, as it were, the beverage which makes glad", "The heart of man; and the ne'er unfelt sun", "(But rarely clouded, and when clouded, leaving", "His warmth behind in memory of his beams)", "Makes the worn mantle, and the thin robe, less", "Oppressive than an emperor's jewelled purple.", "But, here! the despots of the north appear", "To imitate the ice-wind of their clime,", "Searching the shivering vassal through his rags,", "To wring his soul--as the bleak elements", "His form. And 'tis to be amongst these sovereigns", "My husband pants! and such his pride of birth--", "That twenty years of usage, such as no", "Father born in a humble state could nerve", "His soul to persecute a son withal,", "Hath changed no atom of his early nature;", "But I, born nobly also, from my father's", "Kindness was taught a different lesson. Father!", "May thy long-tried and now rewarded spirit", "Look down on us and our so long desired", "Ulric! I love my son, as thou didst me!", "What's that? Thou, Werner! can it be? and thus?", "", " _Enter_ WERNER _hastily, with the knife in his hand,", " by the secret panel, which he closes hurriedly after him_.", "", "_Wer._ (_not at first recognising her_).", "Discovered! then I'll stab--(_recognising her_). Ah! Josephine", "Why art thou not at rest?", "", "_Jos._ What rest? My God!", "What doth this mean?", "", "_Wer._ (_showing a rouleau_).", " Here's _gold_--_gold_, Josephine,", "Will rescue us from this detested dungeon.", "", "_Jos._ And how obtained?--that knife!", "", "_Wer._ 'Tis bloodless--_yet_.", "Away--we must to our chamber.", "", "_Jos._ But whence comest thou?", "", "_Wer._ Ask not! but let us think where we shall go--", "This--this will make us way--(_showing the gold_)--I'll fit them now.", "", "_Jos._ I dare not think thee guilty of dishonour.", "", "_Wer._ Dishonour!", "", "_Jos._ I have said it.", "", "_Wer._ Let us hence:", "'Tis the last night, I trust, that we need pass here.", "", "_Jos._ And not the worst, I hope.", "", "_Wer._ Hope! I make _sure_.", "But let us to our chamber.", "", "_Jos._ Yet one question--", "What hast thou _done_?", "", "_Wer._ (_fiercely_). Left one thing _undone_, which", "Had made all well: let me not think of it!", "Away!", "", "_Jos._ Alas that I should doubt of thee!", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT II.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Hall in the same Palace_.", "", " _Enter_ IDENSTEIN _and Others_.", "", "_Iden._ Fine doings! goodly doings! honest doings!", "A Baron pillaged in a Prince's palace!", "Where, till this hour, such a sin ne'er was heard of.", "", "_Fritz_. It hardly could, unless the rats despoiled", "The mice of a few shreds of tapestry.", "", "_Iden._ Oh! that I e'er should live to see this day!", "The honour of our city's gone for ever.", "", "_Fritz_. Well, but now to discover the delinquent:", "The Baron is determined not to lose", "This sum without a search.", "", "_Iden._ And so am I.", "", "_Fritz_. But whom do you suspect?", "", "_Iden._ Suspect! all people", "Without--within--above--below--Heaven help me!", "", "_Fritz_. Is there no other entrance to the chamber?", "", "_Iden._ None whatsoever.", "", "_Fritz_. Are you sure of that?", "", "_Iden._ Certain. I have lived and served here since my birth,", "And if there were such, must have heard of such,", "Or seen it.", "", "_Fritz_. Then it must be some one who", "Had access to the antechamber.", "", "_Iden._ Doubtless.", "", "_Fritz_. The man called _Werner's_ poor!", "", "_Iden._ Poor as a miser.", "But lodged so far off, in the other wing,", "By which there's no communication with", "The baron's chamber, that it can't be he.", "Besides, I bade him \"good night\" in the hall,", "Almost a mile off, and which only leads", "To his own apartment, about the same time", "When this burglarious, larcenous felony", "Appears to have been committed.", "", "_Fritz_. There's another,", "The stranger----", "", "_Iden._ The Hungarian?", "", "_Fritz_. He who helped", "To fish the baron from the Oder.", "", "_Iden._ Not", "Unlikely. But, hold--might it not have been", "One of the suite?", "", "_Fritz_. How? _We_, sir!", "", "_Iden._ No--not _you_,", "But some of the inferior knaves. You say", "The Baron was asleep in the great chair--", "The velvet chair--in his embroidered night-gown;", "His toilet spread before him, and upon it", "A cabinet with letters, papers, and", "Several rouleaux of gold; of which _one_ only", "Has disappeared:--the door unbolted, with", "No difficult access to any.", "", "_Fritz_. Good sir,", "Be not so quick; the honour of the corps", "Which forms the Baron's household's unimpeached", "From steward to scullion, save in the fair way", "Of peculation; such as in accompts,", "Weights, measures, larder, cellar, buttery,", "Where all men take their prey; as also in", "Postage of letters, gathering of rents,", "Purveying feasts, and understanding with", "The honest trades who furnish noble masters;", "But for your petty, picking, downright thievery,", "We scorn it as we do board wages. Then", "Had one of our folks done it, he would not", "Have been so poor a spirit as to hazard", "His neck for _one_ rouleau, but have swooped all;", "Also the cabinet, if portable.", "", "_Iden._ There is some sense in that----", "", "_Fritz_. No, Sir, be sure", "'Twas none of our corps; but some petty, trivial", "Picker and stealer, without art or genius.", "The only question is--Who else could have", "Access, save the Hungarian and yourself?", "", "_Iden._ You don't mean me?", "", "_Fritz_. No, sir; I honour more", "Your talents----", "", "_Iden._ And my principles, I hope.", "", "_Fritz_. Of course. But to the point: What's to be done?", "", "_Iden._ Nothing--but there's a good deal to be said.", "We'll offer a reward; move heaven and earth,", "And the police (though there's none nearer than", "Frankfort); post notices in manuscript", "(For we've no printer); and set by my clerk", "To read them (for few can, save he and I).", "We'll send out villains to strip beggars, and", "Search empty pockets; also, to arrest", "All gipsies, and ill-clothed and sallow people.", "Prisoners we'll have at least, if not the culprit;", "And for the Baron's gold--if 'tis not found,", "At least he shall have the full satisfaction", "Of melting twice its substance in the raising", "The ghost of this rouleau. Here's alchemy", "For your Lord's losses!", "", "_Fritz_. He hath found a better.", "", "_Iden._ _Where?_", "", "_Fritz_. In a most immense inheritance.", "The late Count Siegendorf, his distant kinsman,", "Is dead near Prague, in his castle, and my Lord", "Is on his way to take possession.", "", "_Iden._ Was there", "No heir?", "", "_Fritz_. Oh, yes; but he has disappeared", "Long from the world's eye, and, perhaps, the world.", "A prodigal son, beneath his father's ban", "For the last twenty years; for whom his sire", "Refused to kill the fatted calf; and, therefore,", "If living, he must chew the husks still. But", "The Baron would find means to silence him,", "Were he to re-appear: he's politic,", "And has much influence with a certain court.", "", "_Iden._ He's fortunate.", "", "_Fritz_. 'Tis true, there is a grandson,", "Whom the late Count reclaimed from his son's hands,", "And educated as his heir; but, then,", "His birth is doubtful.", "", "_Iden._ How so?", "", "_Fritz_. His sire made", "A left-hand, love, imprudent sort of marriage,", "With an Italian exile's dark-eyed daughter:", "Noble, they say, too; but no match for such", "A house as Siegendorf's. The grandsire ill", "Could brook the alliance; and could ne'er be brought", "To see the parents, though he took the son.", "", "_Iden._ If he's a lad of mettle, he may yet", "Dispute your claim, and weave a web that may", "Puzzle your Baron to unravel.", "", "_Fritz_. Why,", "For mettle, he has quite enough: they say,", "He forms a happy mixture of his sire", "And grandsire's qualities,--impetuous as", "The former, and deep as the latter; but", "The strangest is, that he too disappeared", "Some months ago.", "", "_Iden._ The devil he did!", "", "_Fritz_. Why, yes:", "It must have been at _his_ suggestion, at", "An hour so critical as was the eve", "Of the old man's death, whose heart was broken by it.", "", "_Iden._ Was there no cause assigned?", "", "_Fritz_. Plenty, no doubt,", "And none, perhaps, the true one. Some averred", "It was to seek his parents; some because", "The old man held his spirit in so strictly", "(But that could scarce be, for he doted on him);", "A third believed he wished to serve in war,", "But, peace being made soon after his departure,", "He might have since returned, were that the motive;", "A fourth set charitably have surmised,", "As there was something strange and mystic in him,", "That in the wild exuberance of his nature", "He had joined the black bands, who lay waste Lusatia,", "The mountains of Bohemia and Silesia,", "Since the last years of war had dwindled into", "A kind of general condottiero system", "Of bandit-warfare; each troop with its chief,", "And all against mankind.", "", "_Iden._ That cannot be.", "A young heir, bred to wealth and luxury,", "To risk his life and honours with disbanded", "Soldiers and desperadoes!", "", "_Fritz_. Heaven best knows!", "But there are human natures so allied", "Unto the savage love of enterprise,", "That they will seek for peril as a pleasure.", "I've heard that nothing can reclaim your Indian,", "Or tame the tiger, though their infancy", "Were fed on milk and honey. After all,", "Your Wallenstein, your Tilly and Gustavus,", "Your Bannier, and your Torstenson and Weimar,", "Were but the same thing upon a grand scale;", "And now that they are gone, and peace proclaimed,", "They who would follow the same pastime must", "Pursue it on their own account. Here comes", "The Baron, and the Saxon stranger, who", "Was his chief aid in yesterday's escape,", "But did not leave the cottage by the Oder", "Until this morning.", "", " _Enter_ STRALENHEIM _and_ ULRIC.", "", "_Stral._ Since you have refused", "All compensation, gentle stranger, save", "Inadequate thanks, you almost check even them,", "Making me feel the worthlessness of words,", "And blush at my own barren gratitude,", "They seem so niggardly, compared with what", "Your courteous courage did in my behalf----", "", "_Ulr._ I pray you press the theme no further.", "", "_Stral._ But", "Can I not serve you? You are young, and of", "That mould which throws out heroes; fair in favour;", "Brave, I know, by my living now to say so;", "And, doubtlessly, with such a form and heart,", "Would look into the fiery eyes of War,", "As ardently for glory as you dared", "An obscure death to save an unknown stranger,", "In an as perilous, but opposite, element.", "You are made for the service: I have served;", "Have rank by birth and soldiership, and friends,", "Who shall be yours. 'Tis true this pause of peace", "Favours such views at present scantily;", "But 'twill not last, men's spirits are too stirring;", "And, after thirty years of conflict, peace", "Is but a petty war, as the time shows us", "In every forest, or a mere armed truce.", "War will reclaim his own; and, in the meantime,", "You might obtain a post, which would ensure", "A higher soon, and, by my influence, fail not", "To rise. I speak of Brandenburgh, wherein", "I stand well with the Elector; in Bohemia,", "Like you, I am a stranger, and we are now", "Upon its frontier.", "", "_Ulr._ You perceive my garb", "Is Saxon, and, of course, my service due", "To my own Sovereign. If I must decline", "Your offer, 'tis with the same feeling which", "Induced it.", "", "_Stral._ Why, this is mere usury!", "I owe my life to you, and you refuse", "The acquittance of the interest of the debt,", "To heap more obligations on me, till", "I bow beneath them.", "", "_Ulr._ You shall say so when", "I claim the payment.", "", "_Stral._ Well, sir, since you will not--", "You are nobly born?", "", "_Ulr._ I have heard my kinsmen say so.", "", "_Stral._ Your actions show it. Might I ask your name?", "", "_Ulr._ Ulric.", "", "_Stral._ Your house's?", "", "_Ulr._ When I'm worthy of it,", "I'll answer you.", "", "_Stral._ (_aside_). Most probably an Austrian,", "Whom these unsettled times forbid to boast", "His lineage on these wild and dangerous frontiers,", "Where the name of his country is abhorred.", " [_Aloud to_ FRITZ _and_ IDENSTEIN.", "So, sirs! how have ye sped in your researches?", "", "_Iden._ Indifferent well, your Excellency.", "", "_Stral._ Then", "I am to deem the plunderer is caught?", "", "_Iden._ Humph!--not exactly.", "", "_Stral._ Or, at least, suspected?", "", "_Iden._ Oh! for that matter, very much suspected.", "", "_Stral._ Who may he be?", "", "_Iden._ Why, don't _you_ know, my Lord?", "", "_Stral._ How should I? I was fast asleep.", "", "_Iden._ And so", "Was I--and that's the cause I know no more", "Than does your Excellency.", "", "_Stral._ Dolt!", "", "_Iden._ Why, if", "Your Lordship, being robbed, don't recognise", "The rogue; how should I, not being robbed, identify", "The thief among so many? In the crowd,", "May it please your Excellency, your thief looks", "Exactly like the rest, or rather better:", "'Tis only at the bar and in the dungeon,", "That wise men know your felon by his features;", "But I'll engage, that if seen there but once,", "Whether he be found criminal or no,", "His face shall be so.", "", "_Stral._ (_to_ FRITZ). Prithee, Fritz, inform me", "What hath been done to trace the fellow?", "", "_Fritz_. Faith!", "My Lord, not much as yet, except conjecture.", "", "_Stral._ Besides the loss (which, I must own, affects me", "Just now materially), I needs would find", "The villain out of public motives; for", "So dexterous a spoiler, who could creep", "Through my attendants, and so many peopled", "And lighted chambers, on my rest, and snatch", "The gold before my scarce-closed eyes, would soon", "Leave bare your borough, Sir Intendant!", "", "_Iden._ True;", "If there were aught to carry off, my Lord.", "", "_Ulr._ What is all this?", "", "_Stral._ You joined us but this morning,", "And have not heard that I was robbed last night.", "", "_Ulr._ Some rumour of it reached me as I passed", "The outer chambers of the palace, but", "I know no further.", "", "_Stral._ It is a strange business:", "The Intendant can inform you of the facts.", "", "_Iden._ Most willingly. You see----", "", "_Stral._ (_impatiently_). Defer your tale,", "Till certain of the hearer's patience.", "", "_Iden._ That", "Can only be approved by proofs. You see----", "", "_Stral._ (_again interrupting him, and addressing_ ULRIC).", "In short, I was asleep upon my chair,", "My cabinet before me, with some gold", "Upon it (more than I much like to lose,", "Though in part only): some ingenious person", "Contrived to glide through all my own attendants,", "Besides those of the place, and bore away", "A hundred golden ducats, which to find", "I would be fain, and there's an end. Perhaps", "You (as I still am rather faint) would add", "To yesterday's great obligation, this,", "Though slighter, yet not slight, to aid these men", "(Who seem but lukewarm) in recovering it?", "", "_Ulr._ Most willingly, and without loss of time--", "(_To_ IDENSTEIN.) Come hither, mynheer!", "", "_Iden._ But so much haste bodes", "Right little speed, and----", "", "_Ulr._ Standing motionless", "None; so let's march: we'll talk as we go on.", "", "_Iden._ But----", "", "_Ulr._ Show the spot, and then I'll answer you.", "", "_Fritz_. I will, sir, with his Excellency's leave.", "", "_Stral._ Do so, and take yon old ass with you.", "", "_Fritz_. Hence!", "", "_Ulr._ Come on, old oracle, expound thy riddle!", " [_Exit with_ IDENSTEIN _and_ FRITZ.", "", "_Stral._ (_solus_). A stalwart, active, soldier-looking stripling,", "Handsome as Hercules ere his first labour,", "And with a brow of thought beyond his years", "When in repose, till his eye kindles up", "In answering yours. I wish I could engage him:", "I have need of some such spirits near me now,", "For this inheritance is worth a struggle.", "And though I am not the man to yield without one,", "Neither are they who now rise up between me", "And my desire. The boy, they say, 's a bold one;", "But he hath played the truant in some hour", "Of freakish folly, leaving fortune to", "Champion his claims. That's well. The father, whom", "For years I've tracked, as does the blood-hound, never", "In sight, but constantly in scent, had put me", "To fault; but _here_ I _have_ him, and that's better.", "It must be _he_! All circumstance proclaims it;", "And careless voices, knowing not the cause", "Of my enquiries, still confirm it.--Yes!", "The man, his bearing, and the mystery", "Of his arrival, and the time; the account, too,", "The Intendant gave (for I have not beheld her)", "Of his wife's dignified but foreign aspect;", "Besides the antipathy with which we met,", "As snakes and lions shrink back from each other", "By secret instinct that both must be foes", "Deadly, without being natural prey to either;", "All--all--confirm it to my mind. However,", "We'll grapple, ne'ertheless. In a few hours", "The order comes from Frankfort, if these waters", "Rise not the higher (and the weather favours", "Their quick abatement), and I'll have him safe", "Within a dungeon, where he may avouch", "His real estate and name; and there's no harm done,", "Should he prove other than I deem. This robbery", "(Save for the actual loss) is lucky also;", "He's poor, and that's suspicious--he's unknown,", "And that's defenceless.--True, we have no proofs", "Of guilt--but what hath he of innocence?", "Were he a man indifferent to my prospects,", "In other bearings, I should rather lay", "The inculpation on the Hungarian, who", "Hath something which I like not; and alone", "Of all around, except the Intendant, and", "The Prince's household and my own, had ingress", "Familiar to the chamber.", "", " _Enter_ GABOR.", "", " Friend, how fare you?", "", "_Gab._ As those who fare well everywhere, when they", "Have supped and slumbered, no great matter how--", "And you, my Lord?", "", "_Stral._ Better in rest than purse:", "Mine inn is like to cost me dear.", "", "_Gab._ I heard", "Of your late loss; but 'tis a trifle to", "One of your order.", "", "_Stral._ You would hardly think so,", "Were the loss yours.", "", "_Gab._ I never had so much", "(At once) in my whole life, and therefore am not", "Fit to decide. But I came here to seek you.", "Your couriers are turned back--I have outstripped them,", "In my return.", "", "_Stral._ You!--Why?", "", "_Gab._ I went at daybreak,", "To watch for the abatement of the river,", "As being anxious to resume my journey.", "Your messengers were all checked like myself;", "And, seeing the case hopeless, I await", "The current's pleasure.", "", "_Stral._ Would the dogs were in it!", "Why did they not, at least, attempt the passage?", "I ordered this at all risks.", "", "_Gab._ Could you order", "The Oder to divide, as Moses did", "The Red Sea (scarcely redder than the flood", "Of the swoln stream), and be obeyed, perhaps", "They might have ventured.", "", "_Stral._ I must see to it:", "The knaves! the slaves!--but they shall smart for this.", " [_Exit_ STRALENHEIM.", "", "_Gab._ (_solus_). There goes my noble, feudal, self-willed Baron!", "Epitome of what brave chivalry", "The preux Chevaliers of the good old times", "Have left us. Yesterday he would have given", "His lands (if he hath any), and, still dearer,", "His sixteen quarterings, for as much fresh air", "As would have filled a bladder, while he lay", "Gurgling and foaming half way through the window", "Of his o'erset and water-logged conveyance;", "And now he storms at half a dozen wretches", "Because they love their lives too! Yet, he's right:", "'Tis strange they should, when such as he may put them", "To hazard at his pleasure. Oh, thou world!", "Thou art indeed a melancholy jest! [_Exit_ GABOR.", "", "SCENE II.--_The Apartment of_ WERNER, _in the Palace_.", "", " _Enter_ JOSEPHINE _and_ ULRIC.", "", "_Jos._ Stand back, and let me look on thee again!", "My Ulric!--my belovéd!--can it be--", "After twelve years?", "", "_Ulr._ My dearest mother!", "", "_Jos._ Yes!", "My dream is realised--how beautiful!--", "How more than all I sighed for! Heaven receive", "A mother's thanks! a mother's tears of joy!", "This is indeed thy work!--At such an hour, too,", "He comes not only as a son, but saviour.", "", "_Ulr._ If such a joy await me, it must double", "What I now feel, and lighten from my heart", "A part of the long debt of duty, not", "Of love (for that was ne'er withheld)--forgive me!", "This long delay was not my fault.", "", "_Jos._ I know it,", "But cannot think of sorrow now, and doubt", "If I e'er felt it, 'tis so dazzled from", "My memory by this oblivious transport!--", "My son!", "", " _Enter_ WERNER.", "", "_Wer._ What have we here,--more strangers?--", "", "_Jos._ No!", "Look upon him! What do you see?", "", "_Wer._ A stripling,", "For the first time--", "", "_Ulr._ (_kneeling_). For twelve long years, my father!", "", "_Wer._ Oh, God!", "", "_Jos._ He faints!", "", "_Wer._ No--I am better now--", "Ulric! (_Embraces him_.)", "", "_Ulr._ My father, Siegendorf!", "", "_Wer._ (_starting_). Hush! boy--", "The walls may hear that name!", "", "_Ulr._ What then?", "", "_Wer._ Why, then--", "But we will talk of that anon. Remember,", "I must be known here but as Werner. Come!", "Come to my arms again! Why, thou look'st all", "I should have been, and was not. Josephine!", "Sure 'tis no father's fondness dazzles me;", "But, had I seen that form amid ten thousand", "Youth of the choicest, my heart would have chosen", "This for my son!", "", "_Ulr._ And yet you knew me not!", "", "_Wer._ Alas! I have had that upon my soul", "Which makes me look on all men with an eye", "That only knows the evil at first glance.", "", "_Ulr._ My memory served me far more fondly: I", "Have not forgotten aught; and oft-times in", "The proud and princely halls of--(I'll not name them,", "As you say that 'tis perilous)--but i' the pomp", "Of your sire's feudal mansion, I looked back", "To the Bohemian mountains many a sunset,", "And wept to see another day go down", "O'er thee and me, with those huge hills between us.", "They shall not part us more.", "", "_Wer._ I know not that.", "Are you aware my father is no more?", "", "_Ulr._ Oh, Heavens! I left him in a green old age,", "And looking like the oak, worn, but still steady", "Amidst the elements, whilst younger trees", "Fell fast around him. 'Twas scarce three months since.", "", "_Wer._ Why did you leave him?", "", "_Jos._ (_embracing_ ULRIC). Can you ask that question?", "Is he not _here_?", "", "_Wer._ True; he hath sought his parents,", "And found them; but, oh! _how_, and in what state!", "", "_Ulr._ All shall be bettered. What we have to do", "Is to proceed, and to assert our rights,", "Or rather yours; for I waive all, unless", "Your father has disposed in such a sort", "Of his broad lands as to make mine the foremost,", "So that I must prefer my claim for form:", "But I trust better, and that all is yours.", "", "_Wer._ Have you not heard of Stralenheim?", "", "_Ulr._ I saved", "His life but yesterday: he's here.", "", "_Wer._ You saved", "The serpent who will sting us all!", "", "_Ulr._ You speak", "Riddles: what is this Stralenheim to us?", "", "_Wer._ Every thing. One who claims our father's lands:", "Our distant kinsman, and our nearest foe.", "", "_Ulr._ I never heard his name till now. The Count,", "Indeed, spoke sometimes of a kinsman, who,", "If his own line should fail, might be remotely", "Involved in the succession; but his titles", "Were never named before me--and what then?", "His right must yield to ours.", "", "_Wer._ Aye, if at Prague:", "But here he is all-powerful; and has spread", "Snares for thy father, which, if hitherto", "He hath escaped them, is by fortune, not", "By favour.", "", "_Ulr._ Doth he personally know you?", "", "_Wer._ No; but he guesses shrewdly at my person,", "As he betrayed last night; and I, perhaps,", "But owe my temporary liberty", "To his uncertainty.", "", "_Ulr._ I think you wrong him", "(Excuse me for the phrase); but Stralenheim", "Is not what you prejudge him, or, if so,", "He owes me something both for past and present.", "I saved his life, he therefore trusts in me.", "He hath been plundered too, since he came hither:", "Is sick, a stranger, and as such not now", "Able to trace the villain who hath robbed him:", "I have pledged myself to do so; and the business", "Which brought me here was chiefly that: but I", "Have found, in searching for another's dross,", "My own whole treasure--you, my parents!", "", "_Wer._ (_agitatedly_). Who", "Taught you to mouth that name of \"villain?\"", "", "_Ulr._ What", "More noble name belongs to common thieves?", "", "_Wer._ Who taught you thus to brand an unknown being", "With an infernal stigma?", "", "_Ulr._ My own feelings", "Taught me to name a ruffian from his deeds.", "", "_Wer._ Who taught you, long-sought and ill-found boy! that", "It would be safe for my own son to insult me?", "", "_Ulr._ I named a villain. What is there in common", "With such a being and my father?", "", "_Wer._ Every thing!", "That ruffian is thy father!", "", "_Jos._ Oh, my son!", "Believe him not--and yet!--(_her voice falters_.)", "", "_Ulr._ (_starts, looks earnestly at_ WERNER", "_and then says slowly_) And you avow it?", "", "_Wer._ Ulric, before you dare despise your father,", "Learn to divine and judge his actions. Young,", "Rash, new to life, and reared in Luxury's lap,", "Is it for you to measure Passion's force,", "Or Misery's temptation? Wait--(not long,", "It cometh like the night, and quickly)--Wait!--", "Wait till, like me, your hopes are blighted till", "Sorrow and Shame are handmaids of your cabin--", "Famine and Poverty your guests at table;", "Despair your bed-fellow--then rise, but not", "From sleep, and judge! Should that day e'er arrive--", "Should you see then the Serpent, who hath coiled", "Himself around all that is dear and noble", "Of you and yours, lie slumbering in your path,", "With but _his_ folds between your steps and happiness,", "When _he_, who lives but to tear from you name,", "Lands, life itself, lies at your mercy, with", "Chance your conductor--midnight for your mantle--", "The bare knife in your hand, and earth asleep,", "Even to your deadliest foe; and he as 'twere", "Inviting death, by looking like it, while", "His death alone can save you:--Thank your God!", "If then, like me, content with petty plunder,", "You turn aside----I did so.", "", "_Ulr._ But----", "", "_Wer._ (_abruptly_). Hear me!", "I will not brook a human voice--scarce dare", "Listen to my own (if that be human still)--", "Hear me! you do not know this man--I do.", "He's mean, deceitful, avaricious. You", "Deem yourself safe, as young and brave; but learn", "None are secure from desperation, few", "From subtilty. My worst foe, Stralenheim,", "Housed in a Prince's palace, couched within", "A Prince's chamber, lay below my knife!", "An instant--a mere motion--the least impulse--", "Had swept him and all fears of mine from earth.", "He was within my power--my knife was raised--", "Withdrawn--and I'm in his:--are you not so?", "Who tells you that he knows you _not?_ Who says", "He hath not lured you here to end you? or", "To plunge you, with your parents, in a dungeon?", " [_He pauses_.", "", "_Ulr._ Proceed--proceed!", "", "_Wer._ _Me_ he hath ever known,", "And hunted through each change of time--name--fortune--", "And why not _you?_ Are you more versed in men?", "He wound snares round me; flung along my path", "Reptiles, whom, in my youth, I would have spurned", "Even from my presence; but, in spurning now,", "Fill only with fresh venom. Will you be", "More patient? Ulric!--Ulric!--there are crimes", "Made venial by the occasion, and temptations", "Which nature cannot master or forbear.", "", "_Ulr._ (_who looks first at him and then at_ JOSEPHINE).", "My mother!", "", "_Wer._ Ah! I thought so: you have now", "Only one parent. I have lost alike", "Father and son, and stand alone.", "", "_Ulr._ But stay!", " [WERNER _rushes out of the chamber_.", "", "_Jos._ (_to_ ULRIC). Follow him not, until this storm of passion", "Abates. Think'st thou, that were it well for him,", "I had not followed?", "", "_Ulr._ I obey you, mother,", "Although reluctantly. My first act shall not", "Be one of disobedience.", "", "_Jos._ Oh! he is good!", "Condemn him not from his own mouth, but trust", "To me, who have borne so much with him, and for him,", "That this is but the surface of his soul,", "And that the depth is rich in better things.", "", "_Ulr._ These then are but my father's principles?", "My mother thinks not with him?", "", "_Jos._ Nor doth he", "Think as he speaks. Alas! long years of grief", "Have made him sometimes thus.", "", "_Ulr._ Explain to me", "More clearly, then, these claims of Stralenheim,", "That, when I see the subject in its bearings,", "I may prepare to face him, or at least", "To extricate you from your present perils.", "I pledge myself to accomplish this--but would", "I had arrived a few hours sooner!", "", "_Jos._ Aye!", "Hadst thou but done so!", "", " _Enter_ GABOR _and_ IDENSTEIN, _with Attendants_.", "", "_Gab._ (_to_ ULRIC). I have sought you, comrade.", "So this is my reward!", "", "_Ulr._ What do you mean?", "", "_Gab._ 'Sdeath! have I lived to these years, and for this!", "(_To_ IDENSTEIN.) But for your age and folly, I would----", "", "_Iden._ Help!", "Hands off! Touch an Intendant!", "", "_Gab._ Do not think", "I'll honour you so much as save your throat", "From the Ravenstone by choking you myself.", "", "_Iden._ I thank you for the respite: but there are", "Those who have greater need of it than me.", "", "_Ulr._ Unriddle this vile wrangling, or----", "", "_Gab._ At once, then,", "The Baron has been robbed, and upon me", "This worthy personage has deigned to fix", "His kind suspicions--me! whom he ne'er saw", "Till yester evening.", "", "_Iden._ Wouldst have me suspect", "My own acquaintances? You have to learn", "That I keep better company.", "", "_Gab._ You shall", "Keep the best shortly, and the last for all men,", "The worms! You hound of malice!", " [GABOR _seizes on him_.", "", "_Ulr._ (_interfering_). Nay, no violence:", "He's old, unarmed--be temperate, Gabor!", "", "_Gab._ (_letting go_ IDENSTEIN). True:", "I am a fool to lose myself because", "Fools deem me knave: it is their homage.", "", "_Ulr._ (_to_ IDENSTEIN). How", "Fare you?", "", "_Iden._ Help!", "", "_Ulr._ I _have_ helped you.", "", "_Iden._ Kill him! then", "I'll say so.", "", "_Gab._ I am calm--live on!", "", "_Iden._ That's more", "Than you shall do, if there be judge or judgment", "In Germany. The Baron shall decide!", "", "_Gab._ Does _he_ abet you in your accusation?", "", "_Iden._ Does he not?", "", "_Gab._ Then next time let him go sink", "Ere I go hang for snatching him from drowning.", "But here he comes!", "", " _Enter_ STRALENHEIM.", "", "_Gab._ (_goes up to him_). My noble Lord, I'm here!", "", "_Stral._ Well, sir!", "", "_Gab._ Have you aught with me?", "", "_Stral._ What should I", "Have with you?", "", "_Gab._ You know best, if yesterday's", "Flood has not washed away your memory;", "But that's a trifle. I stand here accused,", "In phrases not equivocal, by yon", "Intendant, of the pillage of your person", "Or chamber:--is the charge your own or his?", "", "_Stral._ I accuse no man.", "", "_Gab._ Then you acquit me, Baron?", "", "_Stral._ I know not whom to accuse, or to acquit,", "Or scarcely to suspect.", "", "_Gab._ But you at least", "Should know whom _not_ to suspect. I am insulted--", "Oppressed here by these menials, and I look", "To you for remedy--teach them their duty!", "To look for thieves at home were part of it,", "If duly taught; but, in one word, if I", "Have an accuser, let it be a man", "Worthy to be so of a man like me.", "I am your equal.", "", "_Stral._ You!", "", "_Gab._ Aye, sir; and, for", "Aught that you know, superior; but proceed--", "I do not ask for hints, and surmises,", "And circumstance, and proof: I know enough", "Of what I have done for you, and what you owe me,", "To have at least waited your payment rather", "Than paid myself, had I been eager of", "Your gold. I also know, that were I even", "The villain I am deemed, the service rendered", "So recently would not permit you to", "Pursue me to the death, except through shame,", "Such as would leave your scutcheon but a blank.", "But this is nothing: I demand of you", "Justice upon your unjust servants, and", "From your own lips a disavowal of", "All sanction of their insolence: thus much", "You owe to the unknown, who asks no more,", "And never thought to have asked so much.", "", "_Stral._ This tone", "May be of innocence.", "", "_Gab._ 'Sdeath! who dare doubt it,", "Except such villains as ne'er had it?", "", "_Stral._ You", "Are hot, sir.", "", "_Gab._ Must I turn an icicle", "Before the breath of menials, and their master?", "", "_Stral._ Ulric! you know this man; I found him in", "_Your_ company.", "", "_Gab._ We found _you_ in the Oder;", "Would we had left you there!", "", "_Stral._ I give you thanks, sir.", "", "_Gab._ I've earned them; but might have earned more from others,", "Perchance, if I had left you to your fate.", "", "_Stral._ Ulric! you know this man?", "", "_Gab._ No more than you do", "If he avouches not my honour.", "", "_Ulr._ I", "Can vouch your courage, and, as far as my", "Own brief connection led me, honour.", "", "_Stral._ Then", "I'm satisfied.", "", "_Gab._ (_ironically_). Right easily, methinks.", "What is the spell in his asseveration", "More than in mine?", "", "_Stral._ I merely said that _I_", "Was satisfied--not that you are absolved.", "", "_Gab._ Again! Am I accused or no?", "", "_Stral._ Go to!", "You wax too insolent. If circumstance", "And general suspicion be against you,", "Is the fault mine? Is't not enough that I", "Decline all question of your guilt or innocence?", "", "_Gab._ My Lord, my Lord, this is mere cozenage,", "A vile equivocation; you well know", "Your doubts are certainties to all around you--", "Your looks a voice--your frowns a sentence; you", "Are practising your power on me--because", "You have it; but beware! you know not whom", "You strive to tread on.", "", "_Stral._ Threat'st thou?", "", "_Gab._ Not so much", "As you accuse. You hint the basest injury,", "And I retort it with an open warning.", "", "_Stral._ As you have said, 'tis true I owe you something,", "For which you seem disposed to pay yourself.", "", "_Gab._ Not with your gold.", "", "_Stral._ With bootless insolence.", " [_To his Attendants and_ IDENSTEIN.", "You need not further to molest this man,", "But let him go his way. Ulric, good morrow!", " [_Exit_ STRALENHEIM, IDENSTEIN, _and Attendants_.", "", "_Gab._ (_following_). I'll after him and----", "", "_Ulr._ (_stopping him_). Not a step.", "", "_Gab._ Who shall", "Oppose me?", "", "_Ulr._ Your own reason, with a moment's", "Thought.", "", "_Gab._ Must I bear this?", "", "_Ulr._ Pshaw! we all must bear", "The arrogance of something higher than", "Ourselves--the highest cannot temper Satan,", "Nor the lowest his vicegerents upon earth.", "I've seen you brave the elements, and bear", "Things which had made this silkworm cast his skin--", "And shrink you from a few sharp sneers and words?", "", "_Gab._ Must I bear to be deemed a thief? If 'twere", "A bandit of the woods, I could have borne it--", "There's something daring in it:--but to steal", "The moneys of a slumbering man!--", "", "_Ulr._ It seems, then,", "You are _not_ guilty.", "", "_Gab._ Do I hear aright?", "_You_ too!", "", "_Ulr._ I merely asked a simple question.", "", "_Gab._ If the judge asked me, I would answer \"No\"--", "To you I answer _thus_. [_He draws_.", "", "_Ulr._ (_drawing_). With all my heart!", "", "_Jos._ Without there! Ho! help! help!--Oh, God!", "here's murder! [_Exit_ JOSEPHINE, _shrieking_.", "", " GABOR _and_ ULRIC _fight_. GABOR _is disarmed just as_", " STRALENHEIM, JOSEPHINE, IDENSTEIN, _etc., re-enter_.", "", "_Jos._ Oh! glorious Heaven! He's safe!", "", "_Stral._ (_to_ JOSEPHINE). _Who's_ safe!", "", "_Jos._ My----", "", "_Ulr._ (_interrupting her with a stern look, and turning", "afterwards to_ STRALENHEIM). Both!", "Here's no great harm done.", "", "_Stral._ What hath caused all this?", "", "_Ulr._ _You_, Baron, I believe; but as the effect", "Is harmless, let it not disturb you.--Gabor!", "There is your sword; and when you bare it next,", "Let it not be against your _friends_.", "", " [ULRIC _pronounces the last words slowly and emphatically", " in a low voice to_ GABOR.", "", "_Gab._ I thank you", "Less for my life than for your counsel.", "", "_Stral._ These", "Brawls must end here.", "", "_Gab._ (_taking his sword_). They _shall_. You've wronged me, Ulric,", "More with your unkind thoughts than sword: I would", "The last were in my bosom rather than", "The first in yours. I could have borne yon noble's", "Absurd insinuations--ignorance", "And dull suspicion are a part of his", "Entail will last him longer than his lands--", "But I may fit _him_ yet:--you have vanquished me.", "I was the fool of passion to conceive", "That I could cope with you, whom I had seen", "Already proved by greater perils than", "Rest in this arm. We may meet by and by,", "However--but in friendship. [_Exit_ GABOR.", "", "_Stral._ I will brook", "No more! This outrage following upon his insults,", "Perhaps his guilt, has cancelled all the little", "I owed him heretofore for the so-vaunted", "Aid which he added to your abler succour.", "Ulric, you are not hurt?--", "", "_Ulr._ Not even by a scratch.", "", "_Stral._ (_to_ IDENSTEIN). Intendant! take your measures to secure", "Yon fellow: I revoke my former lenity.", "He shall be sent to Frankfort with an escort,", "The instant that the waters have abated.", "", "_Iden._ Secure him! He hath got his sword again----", "And seems to know the use on't; 'tis his trade,", "Belike;--_I'm_ a civilian.", "", "_Stral._ Fool! are not", "Yon score of vassals dogging at your heels", "Enough to seize a dozen such? Hence! after him!", "", "_Ulr._ Baron, I do beseech you!", "", "_Stral._ I must be", "Obeyed. No words!", "", "_Iden._ Well, if it must be so--", "March, vassals! I'm your leader, and will bring", "The rear up: a wise general never should", "Expose his precious life--on which all rests.", "I like that article of war.", " [_Exit_ IDENSTEIN _and Attendants_.", "", "_Stral._ Come hither,", "Ulric; what does that woman here? Oh! now", "I recognise her, 'tis the stranger's wife", "Whom they _name_ \"Werner.\"", "", "_Ulr._ 'Tis his name.", "", "_Stral._ Indeed!", "Is not your husband visible, fair dame?--", "", "_Jos._ Who seeks him?", "", "_Stral._ No one--for the present: but", "I fain would parley, Ulric, with yourself", "Alone.", "", "_Ulr._ I will retire with you.", "", "_Jos._ Not so:", "You are the latest stranger, and command", "All places here.", "(_Aside to_ ULRIC, _as she goes out_.) O Ulric! have a care--", "Remember what depends on a rash word!", "", "_Ulr._ (_to_ JOSEPHINE). Fear not!--", " [_Exit_ JOSEPHINE.", "", "_Stral._ Ulric, I think that I may trust you;", "You saved my life--and acts like these beget", "Unbounded confidence.", "", "_Ulr._ Say on.", "", "_Stral._ Mysterious", "And long-engendered circumstances (not", "To be now fully entered on) have made", "This man obnoxious--perhaps fatal to me.", "", "_Ulr._ Who? Gabor, the Hungarian?", "", "_Stral._ No--this \"Werner\"--", "With the false name and habit.", "", "_Ulr._ How can this be?", "He is the poorest of the poor--and yellow", "Sickness sits caverned in his hollow eye:", "The man is helpless.", "", "_Stral._ He is--'tis no matter;--", "But if he be the man I deem (and that", "He is so, all around us here--and much", "That is not here--confirm my apprehension)", "He must be made secure ere twelve hours further.", "", "_Ulr._ And what have I to do with this?", "", "_Stral._ I have sent", "To Frankfort, to the Governor, my friend,", "(I have the authority to do so by", "An order of the house of Brandenburgh),", "For a fit escort--but this curséd flood", "Bars all access, and may do for some hours.", "", "_Ulr._ It is abating.", "", "_Stral._ That is well.", "", "_Ulr._ But how", "Am I concerned?", "", "_Stral._ As one who did so much", "For me, you cannot be indifferent to", "That which is of more import to me than", "The life you rescued.--Keep your eye on _him_!", "The man avoids me, knows that I now know him.--", "Watch him!--as you would watch the wild boar when", "He makes against you in the hunter's gap--", "Like him he must be speared.", "", "_Ulr._ Why so?", "", "_Stral._ He stands", "Between me and a brave inheritance!", "Oh! could you see it! But you shall.", "", "_Ulr._ I hope so.", "", "_Stral._ It is the richest of the rich Bohemia,", "Unscathed by scorching war. It lies so near", "The strongest city, Prague, that fire and sword", "Have skimmed it lightly: so that now, besides", "Its own exuberance, it bears double value", "Confronted with whole realms far and near", "Made deserts.", "", "_Ulr._ You describe it faithfully.", "", "_Stral._ Aye--could you see it, you would say so--but,", "As I have said, you shall.", "", "_Ulr._ I accept the omen.", "", "_Stral._ Then claim a recompense from it and me,", "Such as _both_ may make worthy your acceptance", "And services to me and mine for ever.", "", "_Ulr._ And this sole, sick, and miserable wretch--", "This way-worn stranger--stands between you and", "This Paradise?--(As Adam did between", "The devil and his)--.", "", "_Stral._ He doth.", "", "_Ulr._ Hath he no right?", "", "_Stral._ Right! none. A disinherited prodigal,", "Who for these twenty years disgraced his lineage", "In all his acts--but chiefly by his marriage,", "And living amidst commerce-fetching burghers,", "And dabbling merchants, in a mart of Jews.", "", "_Ulr._ He has a wife, then?", "", "_Stral._ You'd be sorry to", "Call such your mother. You have seen the woman", "He _calls_ his wife.", "", "_Ulr._ Is she not so?", "", "_Stral._ No more", "Than he's your father:--an Italian girl,", "The daughter of a banished man, who lives", "On love and poverty with this same Werner.", "", "_Ulr._ They are childless, then?", "", "_Stral._ There is or was a bastard,", "Whom the old man--the grandsire (as old age", "Is ever doting) took to warm his bosom,", "As it went chilly downward to the grave:", "But the imp stands not in my path--he has fled,", "No one knows whither; and if he had not,", "His claims alone were too contemptible", "To stand.--Why do you smile?", "", "_Ulr._ At your vain fears:", "A poor man almost in his grasp--a child", "Of doubtful birth--can startle a grandee!", "", "_Stral._ All's to be feared, where all is to be gained.", "", "_Ulr._ True; and aught done to save or to obtain it.", "", "_Stral._ You have harped the very string next to my heart.", "I may depend upon you?", "", "_Ulr._ 'Twere too late", "To doubt it.", "", "_Stral._ Let no foolish pity shake", "Your bosom (for the appearance of the man", "Is pitiful)--he is a wretch, as likely", "To have robbed me as the fellow more suspected,", "Except that circumstance is less against him;", "He being lodged far off, and in a chamber", "Without approach to mine; and, to say truth,", "I think too well of blood allied to mine,", "To deem he would descend to such an act:", "Besides, he was a soldier, and a brave one", "Once--though too rash.", "", "_Ulr._ And they, my Lord, we know", "By our experience, never plunder till", "They knock the brains out first--which makes them heirs,", "Not thieves. The dead, who feel nought, can lose nothing,", "Nor e'er be robbed: their spoils are a bequest--", "No more.", "", "_Stral._ Go to! you are a wag. But say", "I may be sure you'll keep an eye on this man,", "And let me know his slightest movement towards", "Concealment or escape.", "", "_Ulr._ You may be sure", "You yourself could not watch him more than I", "Will be his sentinel.", "", "_Stral._ By this you make me", "Yours, and for ever.", "", "_Ulr._ Such is my intention. [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT III.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Hall in the same Palace, from whence the", " secret Passage leads_.", "", " _Enter_ WERNER _and_ GABOR.", "", "_Gab._ Sir, I have told my tale: if it so please you", "To give me refuge for a few hours, well--", "If not, I'll try my fortune elsewhere.", "", "_Wer._ How", "Can I, so wretched, give to Misery", "A shelter?--wanting such myself as much", "As e'er the hunted deer a covert----", "", "_Gab._ Or", "The wounded lion his cool cave. Methinks", "You rather look like one would turn at bay,", "And rip the hunter's entrails.", "", "_Wer._ Ah!", "", "_Gab._ I care not", "If it be so, being much disposed to do", "The same myself. But will you shelter me?", "I am oppressed like you--and poor like you--", "Disgraced----", "", "_Wer._ (_abruptly_). Who told you that I was disgraced?", "", "_Gab._ No one; nor did I say _you_ were so: with", "Your poverty my likeness ended; but", "I said _I_ was so--and would add, with truth,", "As undeservedly as _you_.", "", "_Wer._ Again!", "As _I_?", "", "_Gab._ Or any other honest man.", "What the devil would you have? You don't believe me", "Guilty of this base theft?", "", "_Wer._ No, no--I cannot.", "", "_Gab._ Why that's my heart of honour! yon young gallant--", "Your miserly Intendant and dense noble--", "All--all suspected me; and why? because", "I am the worst clothed, and least named amongst them;", "Although, were Momus' lattice in your breasts,", "My soul might brook to open it more widely", "Than theirs: but thus it is--you poor and helpless--", "Both still more than myself.", "", "_Wer._ How know you that?", "", "_Gab._ You're right: I ask for shelter at the hand", "Which I call helpless; if you now deny it,", "I were well paid. But you, who seem to have proved", "The wholesome bitterness of life, know well,", "By sympathy, that all the outspread gold", "Of the New World the Spaniard boasts about", "Could never tempt the man who knows its worth,", "Weighed at its proper value in the balance,", "Save in such guise (and there I grant its power,", "Because I feel it,) as may leave no nightmare", "Upon his heart o' nights.", "", "_Wer._ What do you mean?", "", "_Gab._ Just what I say; I thought my speech was plain:", "You are no thief--nor I--and, as true men,", "Should aid each other.", "", "_Wer._ It is a damned world, sir.", "", "_Gab._ So is the nearest of the two next, as", "The priests say (and no doubt they should know best),", "Therefore I'll stick by this--as being both", "To suffer martyrdom, at least with such", "An epitaph as larceny upon my tomb.", "It is but a night's lodging which I crave;", "To-morrow I will try the waters, as", "The dove did--trusting that they have abated.", "", "_Wer._ Abated? Is there hope of that?", "", "_Gab._ There was", "At noontide.", "", "_Wer._ Then we may be safe.", "", "_Gab._ Are _you_", "In peril?", "", "_Wer._ Poverty is ever so.", "", "_Gab._ That I know by long practice. Will you not", "Promise to make mine less?", "", "_Wer._ Your poverty?", "", "_Gab._ No--you don't look a leech for that disorder;", "I meant my peril only: you've a roof,", "And I have none; I merely seek a covert.", "", "_Wer._ Rightly; for how should such a wretch as I", "Have gold?", "", "_Gab._ Scarce honestly, to say the truth on't,", "Although I almost wish you had the Baron's.", "", "_Wer._ Dare you insinuate?", "", "_Gab._ What?", "", "_Wer._ Are you aware", "To whom you speak?", "", "_Gab._ No; and I am not used", "Greatly to care. (_A noise heard without_.) But hark! they come!", "", "_Wer._ Who come?", "", "_Gab._ The Intendant and his man-hounds after me:", "I'd face them--but it were in vain to expect", "Justice at hands like theirs. Where shall I go?", "But show me any place. I do assure you,", "If there be faith in man, I am most guiltless:", "Think if it were your own case!", "", "_Wer._ (_aside_). Oh, just God!", "Thy hell is not hereafter! Am I dust still?", "", "_Gab._ I see you're moved; and it shows well in you:", "I may live to requite it.", "", "_Wer._ Are you not", "A spy of Stralenheim's?", "", "_Gab._ Not I! and if", "I were, what is there to espy in you?", "Although, I recollect, his frequent question", "About you and your spouse might lead to some", "Suspicion; but you best know--what--and why.", "I am his deadliest foe.", "", "_Wer._ _You?_", "", "_Gab._ After such", "A treatment for the service which in part", "I rendered him, I am his enemy:", "If you are not his friend you will assist me.", "", "_Wer._ I will.", "", "_Gab._ But how?", "", "_Wer._ (_showing the panel_). There is a secret spring:", "Remember, I discovered it by chance,", "And used it but for safety.", "", "_Gab._ Open it,", "And I will use it for the same.", "", "_Wer._ I found it,", "As I have said: it leads through winding walls,", "(So thick as to bear paths within their ribs,", "Yet lose no jot of strength or stateliness,)", "And hollow cells, and obscure niches, to", "I know not whither; you must not advance:", "Give me your word.", "", "_Gab._ It is unecessary:", "How should I make my way in darkness through", "A Gothic labyrinth of unknown windings?", "", "_Wer._ Yes, but who knows to what place it may lead?", "_I_ know not--(mark you!)--but who knows it might not", "Lead even into the chamber of your foe?", "So strangely were contrived these galleries", "By our Teutonic fathers in old days,", "When man built less against the elements", "Than his next neighbour. You must not advance", "Beyond the two first windings; if you do", "(Albeit I never passed them,) I'll not answer", "For what you may be led to.", "", "_Gab._ But I will.", "A thousand thanks!", "", "_Wer._ You'll find the spring more obvious", "On the other side; and, when you would return,", "It yields to the least touch.", "", "_Gab._ I'll in--farewell!", " [GABOR _goes in by the secret panel_.", "", "_Wer._ (_solus_). What have I done? Alas! what _had_ I done", "Before to make this fearful? Let it be", "Still some atonement that I save the man,", "Whose sacrifice had saved perhaps my own--", "They come! to seek elsewhere what is before them!", "", " _Enter_ IDENSTEIN _and Others_.", "", "_Iden._ Is he not here? He must have vanished then", "Through the dim Gothic glass by pious aid", "Of pictured saints upon the red and yellow", "Casements, through which the sunset streams like sunrise", "On long pearl-coloured beards and crimson crosses.", "And gilded crosiers, and crossed arms, and cowls,", "And helms, and twisted armour, and long swords,", "All the fantastic furniture of windows", "Dim with brave knights and holy hermits, whose", "Likeness and fame alike rest in some panes", "Of crystal, which each rattling wind proclaims", "As frail as any other life or glory.", "He's gone, however.", "", "_Wer._ Whom do you seek?", "", "_Iden._ A villain.", "", "_Wer._ Why need you come so far, then?", "", "_Iden._ In the search", "Of him who robbed the Baron.", "", "_Wer._ Are you sure", "You have divined the man?", "", "_Iden._ As sure as you", "Stand there: but where's he gone?", "", "_Wer._ Who?", "", "_Iden._ He we sought.", "", "_Wer._ You see he is not here.", "", "_Iden._ And yet we traced him", "Up to this hall. Are you accomplices?", "Or deal you in the black art?", "", "_Wer._ I deal plainly,", "To many men the blackest.", "", "_Iden._ It may be", "I have a question or two for yourself", "Hereafter; but we must continue now", "Our search for t'other.", "", "_Wer._ You had best begin", "Your inquisition now: I may not be", "So patient always.", "", "_Iden._ I should like to know,", "In good sooth, if you really are the man", "That Stralenheim's in quest of.", "", "_Wer._ Insolent!", "Said you not that he was not here?", "", "_Iden._ Yes, _one_;", "But there's another whom he tracks more keenly,", "And soon, it may be, with authority", "Both paramount to his and mine. But come!", "Bustle, my boys! we are at fault.", " [_Exit_ IDENSTEIN _and Attendants_.", "", "_Wer._ In what", "A maze hath my dim destiny involved me!", "And one base sin hath done me less ill than", "The leaving undone one far greater. Down,", "Thou busy devil, rising in my heart!", "Thou art too late! I'll nought to do with blood.", "", " _Enter_ ULRIC.", "", "_Ulr._ I sought you, father.", "", "_Wer._ Is't not dangerous?", "", "_Ulr._ No; Stralenheim is ignorant of all", "Or any of the ties between us: more--", "He sends me here a spy upon your actions,", "Deeming me wholly his.", "", "_Wer._ I cannot think it:", "'Tis but a snare he winds about us both,", "To swoop the sire and son at once.", "", "_Ulr._ I cannot", "Pause in each petty fear, and stumble at", "The doubts that rise like briers in our path,", "But must break through them, as an unarmed carle", "Would, though with naked limbs, were the wolf rustling", "In the same thicket where he hewed for bread.", "Nets are for thrushes, eagles are not caught so:", "We'll overfly or rend them.", "", "_Wer._ Show me _how?_", "", "_Ulr._ Can you not guess?", "", "_Wer._ I cannot.", "", "_Ulr._ That is strange.", "Came the thought ne'er into your mind _last night_?", "", "_Wer._ I understand you not.", "", "_Ulr._ Then we shall never", "More understand each other. But to change", "The topic----", "", "_Wer._ You mean to _pursue_ it, as", "'Tis of our safety.", "", "_Ulr._ Right; I stand corrected.", "I see the subject now more clearly, and", "Our general situation in its bearings.", "The waters are abating; a few hours", "Will bring his summoned myrmidons from Frankfort,", "When you will be a prisoner, perhaps worse,", "And I an outcast, bastardised by practice", "Of this same Baron to make way for him.", "", "_Wer._ And now your remedy! I thought to escape", "By means of this accurséd gold; but now", "I dare not use it, show it, scarce look on it.", "Methinks it wears upon its face my guilt", "For motto, not the mintage of the state;", "And, for the sovereign's head, my own begirt", "With hissing snakes, which curl around my temples,", "And cry to all beholders, Lo! a villain!", "", "_Ulr._ You must not use it, at least now; but take", "This ring. [_He gives_ WERNER _a jewel_.", "", "_Wer._ A gem! It was my father's!", "", "_Ulr._ And", "As such is now your own. With this you must", "Bribe the Intendant for his old caleche", "And horses to pursue your route at sunrise,", "Together with my mother.", "", "_Wer._ And leave you,", "So lately found, in peril too?", "", "_Ulr._ Fear nothing!", "The only fear were if we fled together,", "For that would make our ties beyond all doubt.", "The waters only lie in flood between", "This burgh and Frankfort: so far's in our favour", "The route on to Bohemia, though encumbered,", "Is not impassable; and when you gain", "A few hours' start, the difficulties will be", "The same to your pursuers. Once beyond", "The frontier, and you're safe.", "", "_Wer._ My noble boy!", "", "_Ulr._ Hush! hush! no transports: we'll indulge in them", "In Castle Siegendorf! Display no gold:", "Show Idenstein the gem (I know the man,", "And have looked through him): it will answer thus", "A double purpose. Stralenheim lost _gold_--", "_No_ jewel: therefore it could _not_ be his;", "And then the man who was possest of this", "Can hardly be suspected of abstracting", "The Baron's coin, when he could thus convert", "This ring to more than Stralenheim has lost", "By his last night's slumber. Be not over timid", "In your address, nor yet too arrogant,", "And Idenstein will serve you.", "", "_Wer._ I will follow", "In all things your direction.", "", "_Ulr._ I would have", "Spared you the trouble; but had I appeared", "To take an interest in you, and still more", "By dabbling with a jewel in your favour,", "All had been known at once.", "", "_Wer._ My guardian angel!", "This overpays the past. But how wilt thou", "Fare in our absence?", "", "_Ulr._ Stralenheim knows nothing", "Of me as aught of kindred with yourself.", "I will but wait a day or two with him", "To lull all doubts, and then rejoin my father.", "", "_Wer._ To part no more!", "", "_Ulr._ I know not that; but at", "The least we'll meet again once more.", "", "_Wer._ My boy!", "My friend! my only child, and sole preserver!", "Oh, do not hate me!", "", "_Ulr._ Hate my father!", "", "_Wer._ Aye,", "My father hated me. Why not my son?", "", "_Ulr._ Your father knew you not as I do.", "", "_Wer._ Scorpions", "Are in thy words! Thou know me? in this guise", "Thou canst not know me, I am not myself;", "Yet (hate me not) I will be soon.", "", "_Ulr._ I'll _wait!_", "In the mean time be sure that all a son", "Can do for parents shall be done for mine.", "", "_Wer._ I see it, and I feel it; yet I feel", "Further--that you despise me.", "", "_Ulr._ Wherefore should I?", "", "_Wer._ Must I repeat my humiliation?", "", "_Ulr._ No!", "I have fathomed it and you. But let us talk", "Of this no more. Or, if it must be ever,", "Not _now_. Your error has redoubled all", "The present difficulties of our house", "At secret war with that of Stralenheim:", "All we have now to think of is to baffle", "HIM. I have shown _one_ way.", "", "_Wer._ The only one,", "And I embrace it, as I did my son,", "Who showed _himself_ and father's _safety_ in", "One day.", "", "_Ulr._ You _shall_ be safe; let that suffice.", "Would Stralenheim's appearance in Bohemia", "Disturb your right, or mine, if once we were", "Admitted to our lands?", "", "_Wer._ Assuredly,", "Situate as we are now; although the first", "Possessor might, as usual, prove the strongest--", "Especially the next in blood.", "", "_Ulr._ _Blood_! 'tis", "A word of many meanings; in the veins,", "And out of them, it is a different thing--", "And so it should be, when the same in blood", "(As it is called) are aliens to each other,", "Like Theban brethren: when a part is bad,", "A few spilt ounces purify the rest.", "", "_Wer._ I do not apprehend you.", "", "_Ulr._ That may be--", "And should, perhaps--and yet--but get ye ready;", "You and my mother must away to-night.", "Here comes the Intendant: sound him with the gem;", "'Twill sink into his venal soul like lead", "Into the deep, and bring up slime and mud,", "And ooze, too, from the bottom, as the lead doth", "With its greased understratum; but no less", "Will serve to warn our vessels through these shoals.", "The freight is rich, so heave the line in time!", "Farewell! I scarce have time, but yet your _hand_,", "My father!----", "", "_Wer._ Let me embrace thee!", "", "_Ulr._ We may be", "Observed: subdue your nature to the hour!", "Keep off from me as from your foe!", "", "_Wer._ Accursed", "Be he who is the stifling cause which smothers", "The best and sweetest feeling of our hearts;", "At such an hour too!", "", "_Ulr._ Yes, curse--it will ease you!", "Here is the Intendant.", "", " _Enter_ IDENSTEIN.", "", "_Ulr._ Master Idenstein,", "How fare you in your purpose? Have you caught", "The rogue?", "", "_Iden._ No, faith!", "", "_Ulr._ Well, there are plenty more:", "You may have better luck another chase.", "Where is the Baron?", "", "_Iden._ Gone back to his chamber:", "And now I think on't, asking after you", "With nobly-born impatience.", "", "_Ulr._ Your great men", "Must be answered on the instant, as the bound", "Of the stung steed replies unto the spur:", "'Tis well they have horses, too; for if they had not,", "I fear that men must draw their chariots, as", "They say kings did Sesostris.", "", "_Iden._ Who was he?", "", "_Ulr._ An old Bohemian--an imperial gipsy.", "", "_Iden._ A gipsy or Bohemian, 'tis the same,", "For they pass by both names. And was he one?", "", "_Ulr._ I've heard so; but I must take leave. Intendant,", "Your servant!--Werner (_to_ WERNER _slightly_), if that be your name,", "Yours. [_Exit_ ULRIC.", "", "_Iden._ A well-spoken, pretty-faced young man!", "And prettily behaved! He knows his station,", "You see, sir: how he gave to each his due", "Precedence!", "", "_Wer._ I perceived it, and applaud", "His just discernment and your own.", "", "_Iden._ That's well--", "That's very well. You also know your place, too;", "And yet I don't know that _I_ know your place.", "", "_Wer._ (_showing the ring_).", "Would this assist your knowledge?", "", "_Iden._ How!--What!--Eh!", "A jewel!", "", "_Wer._ 'Tis your own on one condition.", "", "_Iden._ Mine!--Name it!", "", "_Wer._ That hereafter you permit me", "At thrice its value to redeem it: 'tis", "A family ring.", "", "_Iden._ A family!--_yours!_--a gem!", "I'm breathless!", "", "_Wer._ You must also furnish me,", "An hour ere daybreak, with all means to quit", "This place.", "", "_Iden._ But is it real? Let me look on it:", "_Diamond_, by all that's glorious!", "", "_Wer._ Come, I'll trust you:", "You have guessed, no doubt, that I was born above", "My present seeming.", "", "_Iden._ I can't say I did,", "Though this looks like it: this is the true breeding", "Of gentle blood!", "", "_Wer._ I have important reasons", "For wishing to continue privily", "My journey hence.", "", "_Iden._ So then _you are_ the man", "Whom Stralenheim's in quest of?", "", "_Wer._ I am not;", "But being taken for him might conduct", "So much embarrassment to me just now,", "And to the Baron's self hereafter--'tis", "To spare both that I would avoid all bustle.", "", "_Iden._ Be you the man or no, 'tis not my business;", "Besides, I never could obtain the half", "From this proud, niggardly noble, who would raise", "The country for some missing bits of coin,", "And never offer a precise reward--", "But _this!_--another look!", "", "_Wer._ Gaze on it freely;", "At day-dawn it is yours.", "", "_Iden._ Oh, thou sweet sparkler!", "Thou more than stone of the philosopher!", "Thou touch-stone of Philosophy herself!", "Thou bright eye of the Mine! thou loadstar of", "The soul! the true magnetic Pole to which", "All hearts point duly north, like trembling needles!", "Thou flaming Spirit of the Earth! which, sitting", "High on the Monarch's Diadem, attractest", "More worship than the majesty who sweats", "Beneath the crown which makes his head ache, like", "Millions of hearts which bleed to lend it lustre!", "Shalt thou be mine? I am, methinks, already", "A little king, a lucky alchymist!--", "A wise magician, who has bound the devil", "Without the forfeit of his soul. But come,", "Werner, or what else?", "", "_Wer._ Call me Werner still;", "You may yet know me by a loftier title.", "", "_Iden._ I do believe in thee! thou art the spirit", "Of whom I long have dreamed in a low garb.--", "But come, I'll serve thee; thou shalt be as free", "As air, despite the waters; let us hence:", "I'll show thee I am honest--(oh, thou jewel!)", "Thou shalt be furnished, Werner, with such means", "Of flight, that if thou wert a snail, not birds", "Should overtake thee.--Let me gaze again!", "I have a foster-brother in the mart", "Of Hamburgh skilled in precious stones. How many", "Carats may it weigh?--Come, Werner, I will wing thee.", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "SCENE II.--STRALENHEIM'S _Chamber_.", "", " STRALENHEIM _and_ FRITZ.", "", "_Fritz_. All's ready, my good Lord!", "", "_Stral._ I am not sleepy,", "And yet I must to bed: I fain would say", "To rest, but something heavy on my spirit,", "Too dull for wakefulness, too quick for slumber,", "Sits on me as a cloud along the sky,", "Which will not let the sunbeams through, nor yet", "Descend in rain and end, but spreads itself", "'Twixt earth and heaven, like envy between man", "And man, an everlasting mist:--I will", "Unto my pillow.", "", "_Fritz_. May you rest there well!", "", "_Stral._ I feel, and fear, I shall.", "", "_Fritz_. And wherefore fear?", "", "_Stral._ I know not why, and therefore do fear more,", "Because an undescribable----but 'tis", "All folly. Were the locks as I desired", "Changed, to-day, of this chamber? for last night's", "Adventure makes it needful.", "", "_Fritz_. Certainly,", "According to your order, and beneath", "The inspection of myself and the young Saxon", "Who saved your life. I think they call him \"Ulric.\"", "", "_Stral._ You _think!_ you supercilious slave! what right", "Have you to _tax your_ memory, which should be", "Quick, proud, and happy to retain the _name_", "Of him who saved your master, as a litany", "Whose daily repetition marks your duty.--", "Get hence; \"_You think_\" indeed! you, who stood still", "Howling and dripping on the bank, whilst I", "Lay dying, and the stranger dashed aside", "The roaring torrent, and restored me to", "Thank him--and despise you. \"_You think!_\" and scarce", "Can recollect his name! I will not waste", "More words on you. Call me betimes.", "", "_Fritz_. Good night!", "I trust to-morrow will restore your Lordship", "To renovated strength and temper. [_The scene closes_.", "", "SCENE III.--_The secret Passage_.", "", "_Gab._ (_solus_). Four--", "Five--six hours have I counted, like the guard", "Of outposts, on the never-merry clock,", "That hollow tongue of time, which, even when", "It sounds for joy, takes something from enjoyment", "With every clang. 'Tis a perpetual knell,", "Though for a marriage-feast it rings: each stroke", "Peals for a hope the less; the funeral note", "Of Love deep-buried, without resurrection,", "In the grave of Possession; while the knoll", "Of long-lived parents finds a jovial echo", "To triple time in the son's ear.", " I'm cold--", "I'm dark;--I've blown my fingers--numbered o'er", "And o'er my steps--and knocked my head against", "Some fifty buttresses--and roused the rats", "And bats in general insurrection, till", "Their curséd pattering feet and whirling wings", "Leave me scarce hearing for another sound.", "A light! It is at distance (if I can", "Measure in darkness distance): but it blinks", "As through a crevice or a key-hole, in", "The inhibited direction: I must on,", "Nevertheless, from curiosity.", "A distant lamp-light is an incident", "In such a den as this. Pray Heaven it lead me", "To nothing that may tempt me! Else--Heaven aid me", "To obtain or to escape it! Shining still!", "Were it the star of Lucifer himself,", "Or he himself girt with its beams, I could", "Contain no longer. Softly: mighty well!", "That corner's turned--so--ah! no;--right! it draws", "Nearer. Here is a darksome angle--so,", "That's weathered.--Let me pause.--Suppose it leads", "Into some greater danger than that which", "I have escaped--no matter, 'tis a new one;", "And novel perils, like fresh mistresses,", "Wear more magnetic aspects:--I will on,", "And be it where it may--I have my dagger", "Which may protect me at a pinch.--Burn still,", "Thou little light! Thou art my _ignis fatuus!_", "My stationary Will-o'-the-wisp!--So! so!", "He hears my invocation, and fails not. [_The scene closes_.", "", "SCENE IV.--_A Garden_.", "", " _Enter_ WERNER.", "", "_Wer._ I could not sleep--and now the hour's at hand!", "All's ready. Idenstein has kept his word;", "And stationed in the outskirts of the town,", "Upon the forest's edge, the vehicle", "Awaits us. Now the dwindling stars begin", "To pale in heaven; and for the last time I", "Look on these horrible walls. Oh! never, never", "Shall I forget them. Here I came most poor,", "But not dishonoured: and I leave them with", "A stain,--if not upon my name, yet in", "My heart!--a never-dying canker-worm,", "Which all the coming splendour of the lands,", "And rights, and sovereignty of Siegendorf", "Can scarcely lull a moment. I must find", "Some means of restitution, which would ease", "My soul in part: but how, without discovery?--", "It must be done, however; and I'll pause", "Upon the method the first hour of safety.", "The madness of my misery led to this", "Base infamy; repentance must retrieve it:", "I will have nought of Stralenheim's upon", "My spirit, though he would grasp all of mine;", "Lands, freedom, life,--and yet he sleeps as soundly", "Perhaps, as infancy, with gorgeous curtains", "Spread for his canopy, o'er silken pillows,", "Such as when----Hark! what noise is that? Again!", "The branches shake; and some loose stones have fallen", "From yonder terrace.", " [ULRIC _leaps down from the terrace_.", " Ulric! ever welcome!", "Thrice welcome now! this filial----", "", "_Ulr._ Stop! before", "We approach, tell me----", "", "_Wer._ Why look you so?", "", "_Ulr._ Do I", "Behold my father, or----", "", "_Wer._ What?", "", "_Ulr._ An assassin?", "", "_Wer._ Insane or insolent!", "", "_Ulr._ Reply, sir, as", "You prize your life, or mine!", "", "_Wer._ To what must I", "Answer?", "", "_Ulr._ Are you or are you not the assassin", "Of Stralenheim?", "", "_Wer._ I never was as yet", "The murderer of any man. What mean you?", "", "_Ulr._ Did not you _this_ night (as the night before)", "Retrace the secret passage? Did you not", "_Again_ revisit Stralenheim's chamber? and----", " [ULRIC _pauses_.", "", "_Wer._ Proceed.", "", "_Ulr._ _Died_ he not by your hand?", "", "_Wer._ Great God!", "", "_Ulr._ You are innocent, then! my father's innocent!", "Embrace me! Yes,--your tone--your look--yes, yes,--", "Yet _say_ so.", "", "_Wer._ If I e'er, in heart or mind,", "Conceived deliberately such a thought,", "But rather strove to trample back to hell", "Such thoughts--if e'er they glared a moment through", "The irritation of my oppressed spirit--", "May Heaven be shut for ever from my hopes,", "As from mine eyes!", "", "_Ulr._ But Stralenheim is dead.", "", "_Wer._ 'Tis horrible! 'tis hideous, as 'tis hateful!--", "But what have I to do with this?", "", "_Ulr._ No bolt", "Is forced; no violence can be detected,", "Save on his body. Part of his own household", "Have been alarmed; but as the Intendant is", "Absent, I took upon myself the care", "Of mustering the police. His chamber has,", "Past doubt, been entered secretly. Excuse me,", "If nature----", "", "_Wer._ Oh, my boy! what unknown woes", "Of dark fatality, like clouds, are gathering", "Above our house!", "", "_Ulr._ My father! I acquit you!", "But will the world do so? will even the judge,", "If--but you must away this instant.", "", "_Wer._ No!", "I'll face it. Who shall dare suspect me?", "", "_Ulr._ Yet", "You had _no_ guests--_no_ visitors--no life", "Breathing around you, save my mother's?", "", "_Wer._ Ah!", "The Hungarian?", "", "_Ulr._ He is gone! he disappeared", "Ere sunset.", "", "_Wer._ No; I hid him in that very", "Concealed and fatal gallery.", "", "_Ulr._ _There_ I'll find him.", " [ULRIC _is going_.", "", "_Wer._ It is too late: he had left the palace ere", "I quitted it. I found the secret panel", "Open, and the doors which lead from that hall", "Which masks it: I but thought he had snatched the silent", "And favourable moment to escape", "The myrmidons of Idenstein, who were", "Dogging him yester-even.", "", "_Ulr._ You reclosed", "The panel?", "", "_Wer._ Yes; and not without reproach", "(And inner trembling for the avoided peril)", "At his dull heedlessness, in leaving thus", "His shelterer's asylum to the risk", "Of a discovery.", "", "_Ulr._ You are sure you closed it?", "", "_Wer._ Certain.", "", "_Ulr._ That's well; but had been better, if", "You ne'er had turned it to a den for---- [_He pauses_.", "", "_Wer._ Thieves!", "Thou wouldst say: I must bear it, and deserve it;", "But not----", "", "_Ulr._ No, father; do not speak of this:", "This is no hour to think of petty crimes,", "But to prevent the consequence of great ones.", "Why would you shelter this man?", "", "_Wer._ Could I shun it?", "A man pursued by my chief foe; disgraced", "For my own crime: a victim to _my_ safety,", "Imploring a few hours' concealment from", "The very wretch who was the cause he needed", "Such refuge. Had he been a wolf, I could not", "Have in such circumstances thrust him forth.", "", "_Ulr._ And like the wolf he hath repaid you. But", "It is too late to ponder thus:--you must", "Set out ere dawn. I will remain here to", "Trace the murderer, if 'tis possible.", "", "_Wer._ But this my sudden flight will give the Moloch", "Suspicion: two new victims in the lieu", "Of one, if I remain. The fled Hungarian,", "Who seems the culprit, and----", "", "_Ulr._ Who _seems?_ _Who_ else", "Can be so?", "", "_Wer._ Not _I_, though just now you doubted--", "You, my _son!_--doubted----", "", "_Ulr._ And do you doubt of him", "The fugitive?", "", "_Wer._ Boy! since I fell into", "The abyss of crime (though not of _such_ crime), I,", "Having seen the innocent oppressed for me,", "May doubt even of the guilty's guilt. Your heart", "Is free, and quick with virtuous wrath to accuse", "Appearances; and views a criminal", "In Innocence's shadow, it may be,", "Because 'tis dusky.", "", "_Ulr._ And if I do so,", "What will mankind, who know you not, or knew", "But to oppress? You must not stand the hazard.", "Away!--I'll make all easy. Idenstein", "Will for his own sake and his jewel's hold", "His peace--he also is a partner in", "Your flight--moreover----", "", "_Wer._ Fly! and leave my name", "Linked with the Hungarian's, or, preferred as poorest,", "To bear the brand of bloodshed?", "", "_Ulr._ Pshaw! leave any thing", "Except our fathers' sovereignty and castles,", "For which you have so long panted, and in vain!", "What _name?_ You have _no name_, since that you bear", "Is feigned.", "", "_Wer._ Most true: but still I would not have it", "Engraved in crimson in men's memories,", "Though in this most obscure abode of men----", "Besides, the search----", "", "_Ulr._ I will provide against", "Aught that can touch you. No one knows you here", "As heir of Siegendorf: if Idenstein", "Suspects, 'tis _but suspicion_, and he is", "A fool: his folly shall have such employment,", "Too, that the unknown Werner shall give way", "To nearer thoughts of self. The laws (if e'er", "Laws reached this village) are all in abeyance", "With the late general war of thirty years,", "Or crushed, or rising slowly from the dust,", "To which the march of armies trampled them.", "Stralenheim, although noble, is unheeded", "_Here_, save as _such_--without lands, influence,", "Save what hath perished with him. Few prolong", "A week beyond their funeral rites their sway", "O'er men, unless by relatives, whose interest", "Is roused: such is not here the case; he died", "Alone, unknown,--a solitary grave,", "Obscure as his deserts, without a scutcheon,", "Is all he'll have, or wants. If _I_ discover", "The assassin, 'twill be well--if not, believe me,", "None else; though all the full-fed train of menials", "May howl above his ashes (as they did", "Around him in his danger on the Oder),", "Will no more stir a finger _now_ than _then_.", "Hence! hence! I must not hear your answer.--Look!", "The stars are almost faded, and the grey", "Begins to grizzle the black hair of night.", "You shall not answer:--Pardon me that I", "Am peremptory: 'tis your son that speaks,", "Your long-lost, late-found son.--Let's call my mother!", "Softly and swiftly step, and leave the rest", "To me: I'll answer for the event as far", "As regards _you_, and that is the chief point,", "As my first duty, which shall be observed.", "We'll meet in Castle Siegendorf--once more", "Our banners shall be glorious! Think of that", "Alone, and leave all other thoughts to me,", "Whose youth may better battle with them--Hence!", "And may your age be happy!--I will kiss", "My mother once more, then Heaven's speed be with you!", "", "_Wer._ This counsel's safe--but is it honourable?", "", "_Ulr._ To save a father is a child's chief honour.", " [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT IV.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Gothic Hall in the Castle of Siegendorf, near Prague_.", "", " _Enter_ ERIC _and_ HENRICK, _Retainers of the Count_.", "", "_Eric_. So, better times are come at last; to these", "Old walls new masters and high wassail--both", "A long desideratum.", "", "_Hen._ Yes, for _masters_,", "It might be unto those who long for novelty,", "Though made by a new grave: but, as for wassail,", "Methinks the old Count Siegendorf maintained", "His feudal hospitality as high", "As e'er another Prince of the empire.", "", "_Eric_. Why", "For the mere cup and trencher, we no doubt", "Fared passing well; but as for merriment", "And sport, without which salt and sauces season", "The cheer but scantily, our sizings were", "Even of the narrowest.", "", "_Hen._ The old count loved not", "The roar of revel; are you sure that _this_ does?", "", "_Eric_. As yet he hath been courteous as he's bounteous,", "And we all love him.", "", "_Hen._ His reign is as yet", "Hardly a year o'erpast its honeymoon,", "And the first year of sovereigns is bridal:", "Anon, we shall perceive his real sway", "And moods of mind.", "", "_Eric_. Pray Heaven he keep the present!", "Then his brave son, Count Ulric--there's a knight!", "Pity the wars are o'er!", "", "_Hen._ Why so?", "", "_Eric_. Look on him!", "And answer that yourself.", "", "_Hen._ He's very youthful,", "And strong and beautiful as a young tiger.", "", "_Eric_. That's not a faithful vassal's likeness.", "", "_Hen._ But", "Perhaps a true one.", "", "_Eric_. Pity, as I said,", "The wars are over: in the hall, who like", "Count Ulric for a well-supported pride,", "Which awes, but yet offends not? in the field,", "Who like him with his spear in hand, when gnashing", "His tusks, and ripping up, from right to left,", "The howling hounds, the boar makes for the thicket?", "Who backs a horse, or bears a hawk, or wears", "A sword like him? Whose plume nods knightlier?", "", "_Hen._ No one's, I grant you. Do not fear, if war", "Be long in coming, he is of that kind", "Will make it for himself, if he hath not", "Already done as much.", "", "_Eric_. What do you mean?", "", "_Hen._ You can't deny his train of followers", "(But few our native fellow-vassals born", "On the domain) are such a sort of knaves", "As---- [_Pauses_.", "", "_Eric_. What?", "", "_Hen._ The war (you love so much) leaves living.", "Like other parents, she spoils her worst children.", "", "_Eric_. Nonsense! they are all brave iron-visaged fellows,", "Such as old Tilly loved.", "", "_Hen._ And who loved Tilly?", "Ask that at Magdebourg--or, for that matter,", "Wallenstein either;--they are gone to----", "", "_Eric_. Rest!", "But what beyond 'tis not ours to pronounce.", "", "_Hen._ I wish they had left us something of their rest:", "The country (nominally now at peace)", "Is over-run with--God knows who: they fly", "By night, and disappear with sunrise; but", "Leave us no less desolation, nay, even more,", "Than the most open warfare.", "", "_Eric_. But Count Ulric--", "What has all this to do with him?", "", "_Hen._ With him!", "He----might prevent it. As you say he's fond", "Of war, why makes he it not on those marauders?", "", "_Eric_. You'd better ask himself.", "", "_Hen._ I would as soon", "Ask the lion why he laps not milk.", "", "_Eric_. And here he comes!", "", "_Hen._ The devil! you'll hold your tongue?", "", "_Eric_. Why do you turn so pale?", "", "_Hen._ 'Tis nothing--but", "Be silent.", "", "_Eric_. I will, upon what you have said.", "", "_Hen._ I assure you I meant nothing,--a mere sport", "Of words, no more; besides, had it been otherwise,", "He is to espouse the gentle Baroness", "Ida of Stralenheim, the late Baron's heiress;", "And she, no doubt, will soften whatsoever", "Of fierceness the late long intestine wars", "Have given all natures, and most unto those", "Who were born in them, and bred up upon", "The knees of Homicide; sprinkled, as it were,", "With blood even at their baptism. Prithee, peace", "On all that I have said!", "", " _Enter_ ULRIC _and_ RODOLPH.", "", " Good morrow, count.", "", "_Ulr._ Good morrow, worthy Henrick. Eric, is", "All ready for the chase?", "", "_Eric_. The dogs are ordered", "Down to the forest, and the vassals out", "To beat the bushes, and the day looks promising.", "Shall I call forth your Excellency's suite?", "What courser will you please to mount?", "", "_Ulr._ The dun,", "Walstein.", "", "_Eric_. I fear he scarcely has recovered", "The toils of Monday: 'twas a noble chase:", "You speared _four_ with your own hand.", "", "_Ulr._ True, good Eric;", "I had forgotten--let it be the grey, then,", "Old Ziska: he has not been out this fortnight.", "", "_Eric_. He shall be straight caparisoned. How many", "Of your immediate retainers shall", "Escort you?", "", "_Ulr._ I leave that to Weilburgh, our", "Master of the horse. [_Exit_ ERIC.", " Rodolph!", "", "_Rod._ My Lord!", "", "_Ulr._ The news", "Is awkward from the---- [RODOLPH _points to_ HENRICK.", " How now, Henrick? why", "Loiter you here?", "", "_Hen._ For your commands, my Lord.", "", "_Ulr._ Go to my father, and present my duty,", "And learn if he would aught with me before", "I mount. [_Exit_ HENRICK.", " Rodolph, our friends have had a check", "Upon the frontiers of Franconia, and", "'Tis rumoured that the column sent against them", "Is to be strengthened. I must join them soon.", "", "_Rod._ Best wait for further and more sure advices.", "", "_Ulr._ I mean it--and indeed it could not well", "Have fallen out at a time more opposite", "To all my plans.", "", "_Rod._ It will be difficult", "To excuse your absence to the Count your father.", "", "_Ulr._ Yes, but the unsettled state of our domain", "In high Silesia will permit and cover", "My journey. In the mean time, when we are", "Engaged in the chase, draw off the eighty men", "Whom Wolffe leads--keep the forests on your route:", "You know it well?", "", "_Rod._ As well as on that night", "When we----", "", "_Ulr._ We will not speak of that until", "We can repeat the same with like success:", "And when you have joined, give Rosenberg this letter.", " [_Gives a letter_.", "Add further, that I have sent this slight addition", "To our force with you and Wolffe, as herald of", "My coming, though I could but spare them ill", "At this time, as my father loves to keep", "Full numbers of retainers round the castle,", "Until this marriage, and its feasts and fooleries,", "Are rung out with its peal of nuptial nonsense.", "", "_Rod._ I thought you loved the lady Ida?", "", "_Ulr._ Why,", "I do so--but it follows not from that", "I would bind in my youth and glorious years,", "So brief and burning, with a lady's zone,", "Although 'twere that of Venus:--but I love her,", "As woman should be loved--fairly and solely.", "", "_Rod._ And constantly?", "", "_Ulr._ I think so; for I love", "Nought else.--But I have not the time to pause", "Upon these gewgaws of the heart. Great things", "We have to do ere long. Speed! speed! good Rodolph!", "", "_Rod._ On my return, however, I shall find", "The Baroness Ida lost in Countess Siegendorf?", "", "_Ulr._ Perhaps: my father wishes it, and, sooth,", "'Tis no bad policy: this union with", "The last bud of the rival branch at once", "Unites the future and destroys the past.", "", "_Rod._ Adieu.", "", "_Ulr._ Yet hold--we had better keep together", "Until the chase begins; then draw thou off,", "And do as I have said.", "", "_Rod._ I will. But to", "Return--'twas a most kind act in the count", "Your father to send up to Konigsberg", "For this fair orphan of the Baron, and", "To hail her as his daughter.", "", "_Ulr._ Wondrous kind!", "Especially as little kindness till", "Then grew between them.", "", "_Rod._ The late Baron died", "Of a fever, did he not?", "", "_Ulr._ How should I know?", "", "_Rod._ I have heard it whispered there was something strange", "About his death--and even the place of it", "Is scarcely known.", "", "_Ulr._ Some obscure village on", "The Saxon or Silesian frontier.", "", "_Rod._ He", "Has left no testament--no farewell words?", "", "_Ulr._ I am neither confessor nor notary,", "So cannot say.", "", "_Rod._ Ah! here's the lady Ida.", "", " _Enter_ IDA STRALENHEIM.", "", "_Ulr._ You are early, my sweet cousin!", "", "_Ida._ Not _too_ early,", "Dear Ulric, if I do not interrupt you.", "Why do you call me \"_Cousin?_\"", "", "_Ulr._ (_smiling_). Are we not so?", "", "_Ida._ Yes, but I do not like the name; methinks", "It sounds so cold, as if you thought upon", "Our pedigree, and only weighed our blood.", "", "_Ulr._ (_starting_). Blood!", "", "_Ida._ Why does yours start from your cheeks?", "", "_Ulr._ Aye! doth it?", "", "_Ida._ It doth--but no! it rushes like a torrent", "Even to your brow again.", "", "_Ulr._ (_recovering himself_). And if it fled,", "It only was because your presence sent it", "Back to my heart, which beats for you, sweet Cousin!", "", "_Ida._ \"Cousin\" again.", "", "_Ulr._ Nay, then, I'll call you sister.", "", "_Ida._ I like that name still worse.--Would we had ne'er", "Been aught of kindred!", "", "_Ulr._ (_gloomily_). Would we never had!", "", "_Ida._ Oh, heavens! and can _you wish that?_", "", "_Ulr._ Dearest Ida!", "Did I not echo your own wish?", "", "_Ida._ Yes, Ulric,", "But then I wished it not with such a glance,", "And scarce knew what I said; but let me be", "Sister, or cousin, what you will, so that", "I still to you am something.", "", "_Ulr._ You shall be", "All--all----", "", "_Ida._ And you to _me are_ so already;", "But I can wait.", "", "_Ulr._ Dear Ida!", "", "_Ida._ Call me Ida,", "_Your_ Ida, for I would be yours, none else's--", "Indeed I have none else left, since my poor father--", " [_She pauses_.", "", "_Ulr._ You have _mine_--you have _me_.", "", "_Ida._ Dear Ulric, how I wish", "My father could but view my happiness,", "Which wants but this!", "", "_Ulr._ Indeed!", "", "_Ida._ You would have loved him,", "He you; for the brave ever love each other:", "His manner was a little cold, his spirit", "Proud (as is birth's prerogative); but under", "This grave exterior----Would you had known each other!", "Had such as you been near him on his journey,", "He had not died without a friend to soothe", "His last and lonely moments.", "", "_Ulr._ Who says _that?_", "", "_Ida._ What?", "", "_Ulr._ That he _died alone_.", "", "_Ida._ The general rumour,", "And disappearance of his servants, who", "Have ne'er returned: that fever was most deadly", "Which swept them all away.", "", "_Ulr._ If they were near him,", "He could not die neglected or alone.", "", "_Ida._ Alas! what is a menial to a death-bed,", "When the dim eye rolls vainly round for what", "It loves?--They say he died of a fever.", "", "_Ulr._ _Say!_", "It _was_ so.", "", "_Ida._ I sometimes dream otherwise.", "", "_Ulr._ All dreams are false.", "", "_Ida._ And yet I see him as", "I see you.", "", "_Ulr._ _Where?_", "", "_Ida._ In sleep--I see him lie", "Pale, bleeding, and a man with a raised knife", "Beside him.", "", "_Ulr._ But you do not see his _face?_", "", "_Ida_ (_looking at him_). No! Oh, my God! do _you?_", "", "_Ulr._ Why do you ask?", "", "_Ida._ Because you look as if you saw a murderer!", "", "_Ulr._ (_agitatedly_).", "Ida, this is mere childishness; your weakness", "Infects me, to my shame: but as all feelings", "Of yours are common to me, it affects me.", "Prithee, sweet child, change----", "", "_Ida._ Child, indeed! I have", "Full fifteen summers! [_A bugle sounds_.", "", "_Rod._ Hark, my Lord, the bugle!", "", "_Ida_ (_peevishly to_ RODOLPH).", "Why need you tell him that? Can he not hear it", "Without your echo?", "", "_Rod._ Pardon me, fair Baroness!", "", "_Ida._ I will not pardon you, unless you earn it", "By aiding me in my dissuasion of", "Count Ulric from the chase to-day.", "", "_Rod._ You will not,", "Lady, need aid of mine.", "", "_Ulr._ I must not now", "Forgo it.", "", "_Ida._ But you shall!", "", "_Ulr._ _Shall!_", "", "_Ida._ Yes, or be", "No true knight.--Come, dear Ulric! yield to me", "In this, for this one day: the day looks heavy,", "And you are turned so pale and ill.", "", "_Ulr._ You jest.", "", "_Ida._ Indeed I do not:--ask of Rodolph.", "", "_Rod._ Truly,", "My Lord, within this quarter of an hour", "You have changed more than e'er I saw you change", "In years.", "", "_Ulr._ 'Tis nothing; but if 'twere, the air", "Would soon restore me. I'm the true cameleon,", "And live but on the atmosphere; your feasts", "In castle halls, and social banquets, nurse not", "My spirit--I'm a forester and breather", "Of the steep mountain-tops, where I love all", "The eagle loves.", "", "_Ida._ Except his prey, I hope.", "", "_Ulr._ Sweet Ida, wish me a fair chase, and I", "Will bring you six boars' heads for trophies home.", "", "_Ida._ And will you not stay, then? You shall not go!", "Come! I will sing to you.", "", "_Ulr._ Ida, you scarcely", "Will make a soldier's wife.", "", "_Ida._ I do not wish", "To be so; for I trust these wars are over,", "And you will live in peace on your domains.", "", " _Enter_ WERNER _as_ COUNT SIEGENDORF.", "", "_Ulr._ My father, I salute you, and it grieves me", "With such brief greeting.--You have heard our bugle;", "The vassals wait.", "", "_Sieg._ So let them.--You forget", "To-morrow is the appointed festival", "In Prague for peace restored. You are apt to follow", "The chase with such an ardour as will scarce", "Permit you to return to-day, or if", "Returned, too much fatigued to join to-morrow", "The nobles in our marshalled ranks.", "", "_Ulr._ You, Count,", "Will well supply the place of both--I am not", "A lover of these pageantries.", "", "_Sieg._ No, Ulric;", "It were not well that you alone of all", "Our young nobility----", "", "_Ida._ And far the noblest", "In aspect and demeanour.", "", "_Sieg._ (_to_ IDA). True, dear child,", "Though somewhat frankly said for a fair damsel.--", "But, Ulric, recollect too our position,", "So lately reinstated in our honours.", "Believe me, 'twould be marked in any house,", "But most in _ours_, that ONE should be found wanting", "At such a time and place. Besides, the Heaven", "Which gave us back our own, in the same moment", "It spread its peace o'er all, hath double claims", "On us for thanksgiving: first, for our country;", "And next, that we are here to share its blessings.", "", "_Ulr._ (_aside_). Devout, too! Well, sir, I obey at once.", "(_Then aloud to a servant_.)", "Ludwig, dismiss the train without!", " [_Exit_ LUDWIG.", "_Ida._ And so", "You yield, at once, to him what I for hours", "Might supplicate in vain.", "", "_Sieg._ (_smiling_). You are not jealous", "Of me, I trust, my pretty rebel! who", "Would sanction disobedience against all", "Except thyself? But fear not; thou shalt rule him", "Hereafter with a fonder sway and firmer.", "", "_Ida._ But I should like to govern _now_.", "", "_Sieg._ You shall,", "Your _harp_, which by the way awaits you with", "The Countess in her chamber. She complains", "That you are a sad truant to your music:", "She attends you.", "", "_Ida._ Then good morrow, my kind kinsmen!", "Ulric, you'll come and hear me?", "", "_Ulr._ By and by.", "", "_Ida._ Be sure I'll sound it better than your bugles;", "Then pray you be as punctual to its notes:", "I'll play you King Gustavus' march.", "", "_Ulr._ And why not", "Old Tilly's?", "", "_Ida._ Not that monster's! I should think", "My harp-strings rang with groans, and not with music,", "Could aught of _his_ sound on it:--but come quickly;", "Your mother will be eager to receive you. [_Exit_ IDA.", "", "_Sieg._ Ulric, I wish to speak with you alone.", "", "_Ulr._ My time's your vassal.--", "(_Aside to_ RODOLPH.) Rodolph, hence! and do", "As I directed: and by his best speed", "And readiest means let Rosenberg reply.", "", "_Rod._ Count Siegendorf, command you aught? I am bound", "Upon a journey past the frontier.", "", "_Sieg._ (_starts_). Ah!--", "Where? on _what_ frontier?", "", "_Rod._ The Silesian, on", "My way--(_Aside to_ ULRIC.)--_Where_ shall I say?", "", "_Ulr._ (_aside to_ RODOLPH). To Hamburgh.", " (_Aside to himself_). That", "Word will, I think, put a firm padlock on", "His further inquisition.", "", "_Rod._ Count, to Hamburgh.", "", "_Sieg._ (_agitated_). Hamburgh! No, I have nought to do there, nor", "Am aught connected with that city. Then", "God speed you!", "", "_Rod._ Fare ye well, Count Siegendorf!", " [_Exit_ RODOLPH.", "", "_Sieg._ Ulric, this man, who has just departed, is", "One of those strange companions whom I fain", "Would reason with you on.", "", "_Ulr._ My Lord, he is", "Noble by birth, of one of the first houses", "In Saxony.", "", "_Sieg._ I talk not of his birth,", "But of his bearing. Men speak lightly of him.", "", "_Ulr._ So they will do of most men. Even the monarch", "Is not fenced from his chamberlain's slander, or", "The sneer of the last courtier whom he has made", "Great and ungrateful.", "", "_Sieg._ If I must be plain,", "The world speaks more than lightly of this Rodolph:", "They say he is leagued with the \"black bands\" who still", "Ravage the frontier.", "", "_Ulr._ And will you believe", "The world?", "", "_Sieg._ In this case--yes.", "", "_Ulr._ In _any_ case,", "I thought you knew it better than to take", "An accusation for a sentence.", "", "_Sieg._ Son!", "I understand you: you refer to----but", "My destiny has so involved about me", "Her spider web, that I can only flutter", "Like the poor fly, but break it not. Take heed,", "Ulric; you have seen to what the passions led me:", "Twenty long years of misery and famine", "Quenched them not--twenty thousand more, perchance,", "Hereafter (or even here in _moments_ which", "Might date for years, did Anguish make the dial),", "May not obliterate or expiate", "The madness and dishonour of an instant.", "Ulric, be warned by a father!--I was not", "By mine, and you behold me!", "", "_Ulr._ I behold", "The prosperous and belovéd Siegendorf,", "Lord of a Prince's appanage, and honoured", "By those he rules and those he ranks with.", "", "_Sieg._ Ah!", "Why wilt thou call me prosperous, while I fear", "For thee? Belovéd, when thou lovest me not!", "All hearts but one may beat in kindness for me--", "But if my son's is cold!----", "", "_Ulr._ Who _dare_ say that?", "", "_Sieg._ None else but I, who see it--_feel_ it--keener", "Than would your adversary, who dared say so,", "Your sabre in his heart! But mine survives", "The wound.", "", "_Ulr._ You err. My nature is not given", "To outward fondling: how should it be so,", "After twelve years' divorcement from my parents?", "", "_Sieg._ And did not _I_ too pass those twelve torn years", "In a like absence? But 'tis vain to urge you--", "Nature was never called back by remonstrance.", "Let's change the theme. I wish you to consider", "That these young violent nobles of high name,", "But dark deeds (aye, the darkest, if all Rumour", "Reports be true), with whom thou consortest,", "Will lead thee----", "", "_Ulr._ (_impatiently_). I'll be _led_ by no man.", "", "_Sieg._ Nor", "Be leader of such, I would hope: at once", "To wean thee from the perils of thy youth", "And haughty spirit, I have thought it well", "That thou shouldst wed the lady Ida--more", "As thou appear'st to love her.", "", "_Ulr._ I have said", "I will obey your orders, were they to", "Unite with Hecate--can a son say more?", "", "_Sieg._ He says too much in saying this. It is not", "The nature of thine age, nor of thy blood,", "Nor of thy temperament, to talk so coolly,", "Or act so carelessly, in that which is", "The bloom or blight of all men's happiness,", "(For Glory's pillow is but restless, if", "Love lay not down his cheek there): some strong bias,", "Some master fiend is in thy service, to", "Misrule the mortal who believes him slave,", "And makes his every thought subservient; else", "Thou'dst say at once--\"I love young Ida, and", "Will wed her;\" or, \"I love her not, and all", "The powers on earth shall never make me.\"--So", "Would _I_ have answered.", "", "_Ulr._ Sir, _you_ wed for love.", "", "_Sieg._ I did, and it has been my only refuge", "In many miseries.", "", "_Ulr._ Which miseries", "Had never been but for this love-match.", "", "_Sieg._ Still", "Against your age and nature! Who at twenty", "E'er answered thus till now?", "", "_Ulr._ Did you not warn me", "Against your own example?", "", "_Sieg._ Boyish sophist!", "In a word, do you love, or love not, Ida?", "", "_Ulr._ What matters it, if I am ready to", "Obey you in espousing her?", "", "_Sieg._ As far", "As you feel, nothing--but all life for her.", "She's young--all-beautiful--adores you--is", "Endowed with qualities to give happiness,", "Such as rounds common life into a dream", "Of something which your poets cannot paint,", "And (if it were not wisdom to love virtue),", "For which Philosophy might barter Wisdom;", "And giving so much happiness, deserves", "A little in return. I would not have her", "Break her heart with a man who has none to break!", "Or wither on her stalk like some pale rose", "Deserted by the bird she thought a nightingale,", "According to the Orient tale. She is----", "", "_Ulr._ The daughter of dead Stralenheim, your foe:", "I'll wed her, ne'ertheless; though, to say truth,", "Just now I am not violently transported", "In favour of such unions.", "", "_Sieg._ But she loves you.", "", "_Ulr._ And I love her, and therefore would think _twice_.", "", "_Sieg._ Alas! Love never did so.", "", "_Ulr._ Then 'tis time", "He should begin, and take the bandage from", "His eyes, and look before he leaps; till now", "He hath ta'en a jump i' the dark.", "", "_Sieg._ But you consent?", "", "_Ulr._ I did, and do.", "", "_Sieg._ Then fix the day.", "", "_Ulr._ Tis usual,", "And, certes, courteous, to leave that to the lady.", "", "_Sieg._ _I_ will engage for _her_.", "", "_Ulr._ So will not _I_", "For any woman: and as what I fix,", "I fain would see unshaken, when she gives", "Her answer, I'll give mine.", "", "_Sieg._ But 'tis your office", "To woo.", "", "_Ulr._ Count, 'tis a marriage of your making,", "So be it of your wooing; but to please you,", "I will now pay my duty to my mother,", "With whom, you know, the lady Ida is.--", "What would you have? You have forbid my stirring", "For manly sports beyond the castle walls,", "And I obey; you bid me turn a chamberer,", "To pick up gloves, and fans, and knitting-needles,", "And list to songs and tunes, and watch for smiles,", "And smile at pretty prattle, and look into", "The eyes of feminine, as though they were", "The stars receding early to our wish", "Upon the dawn of a world-winning battle--", "What can a son or man do more? [_Exit_ ULRIC.", "", "_Sieg._ (_solus_). Too much!--", "Too much of duty, and too little love!", "He pays me in the coin he owes me not:", "For such hath been my wayward fate, I could not", "Fulfil a parent's duties by his side", "Till now; but love he owes me, for my thoughts", "Ne'er left him, nor my eyes longed without tears", "To see my child again,--and now I have found him!", "But how! obedient, but with coldness; duteous", "In my sight, but with carelessness; mysterious--", "Abstracted--distant--much given to long absence,", "And where--none know--in league with the most riotous", "Of our young nobles; though, to do him justice,", "He never stoops down to their vulgar pleasures;", "Yet there's some tie between them which I can not", "Unravel. They look up to him--consult him--", "Throng round him as a leader: but with me", "He hath no confidence! Ah! can I hope it", "After--what! doth my father's curse descend", "Even to my child? Or is the Hungarian near", "To shed more blood? or--Oh! if it should be!", "Spirit of Stralenheim, dost thou walk these walls", "To wither him and his--who, though they slew not,", "Unlatched the door of Death for thee? 'Twas not", "Our fault, nor is our sin: thou wert our foe,", "And yet I spared thee when my own destruction", "Slept with thee, to awake with thine awakening!", "And only took--Accurséd gold! thou liest", "Like poison in my hands; I dare not use thee,", "Nor part from thee; thou camest in such a guise,", "Methinks thou wouldst contaminate all hands", "Like mine. Yet I have done, to atone for thee,", "Thou villanous gold! and thy dead master's doom,", "Though he died not by me or mine, as much", "As if he were my brother! I have ta'en", "His orphan Ida--cherished her as one", "Who will be mine.", "", " _Enter an_ ATTENDANT.", "", "_Atten._ The abbot, if it please", "Your Excellency, whom you sent for, waits", "Upon you. [_Exit_ ATTENDANT.", "", " _Enter the_ PRIOR ALBERT.", "", "_Prior_. Peace be with these walls, and all", "Within them!", "", "_Sieg._ Welcome, welcome, holy father!", "And may thy prayer be heard!--all men have need", "Of such, and I----", "", "_Prior_. Have the first claim to all", "The prayers of our community. Our convent,", "Erected by your ancestors, is still", "Protected by their children.", "", "_Sieg._ Yes, good father;", "Continue daily orisons for us", "In these dim days of heresies and blood,", "Though the schismatic Swede, Gustavus, is", "Gone home.", "", "_Prior_. To the endless home of unbelievers,", "Where there is everlasting wail and woe,", "Gnashing of teeth, and tears of blood, and fire", "Eternal and the worm which dieth not!", "", "_Sieg._ True, father: and to avert those pangs from one,", "Who, though of our most faultless holy Church,", "Yet died without its last and dearest offices,", "Which smooth the soul through purgatorial pains,", "I have to offer humbly this donation", "In masses for his spirit.", " [SIEGENDORF _offers the gold which he had taken from_ STRALENHEIM.", "", "_Prior_. Count, if I", "Receive it, 'tis because I know too well", "Refusal would offend you. Be assured", "The largess shall be only dealt in alms,", "And every mass no less sung for the dead.", "Our House needs no donations, thanks to yours,", "Which has of old endowed it; but from you", "And yours in all meet things 'tis fit we obey.", "For whom shall mass be said?", "", "_Sieg._ (_faltering_). For--for--the dead.", "", "_Prior_. His name?", "", "_Sieg._ 'Tis from a soul, and not a name,", "I would avert perdition.", "", "_Prior_. I meant not", "To pry into your secret. We will pray", "For one unknown, the same as for the proudest.", "", "_Sieg._ Secret! I have none: but, father, he who's gone", "Might _have_ one; or, in short, he did bequeath--", "No, not bequeath--but I bestow this sum", "For pious purposes.", "", "_Prior_. A proper deed", "In the behalf of our departed friends.", "", "_Sieg._ But he who's gone was not my friend, but foe,", "The deadliest and the stanchest.", "", "_Prior_. Better still!", "To employ our means to obtain Heaven for the souls", "Of our dead enemies is worthy those", "Who can forgive them living.", "", "_Sieg._ But I did not", "Forgive this man. I loathed him to the last,", "As he did me. I do not love him now,", "But----", "", "_Prior_. Best of all! for this is pure religion!", "You fain would rescue him you hate from hell--", "An evangelical compassion--with", "Your own gold too!", "", "_Sieg._ Father, 'tis not my gold.", "", "_Prior_. Whose, then? You said it was no legacy.", "", "_Sieg._ No matter whose--of this be sure, that he", "Who owned it never more will need it, save", "In that which it may purchase from your altars:", "'Tis yours, or theirs.", "", "_Prior_. Is there no blood upon it?", "", "_Sieg._ No; but there's worse than blood--eternal shame!", "", "_Prior_. Did he who owned it die in his _bed?_", "", "_Sieg._ Alas!", "He did.", "", "_Prior_. Son! you relapse into revenge,", "If you regret your enemy's bloodless death.", "", "_Sieg._ His death was fathomlessly deep in blood.", "", "_Prior_. You said he died in his bed, not battle.", "", "_Sieg._ He", "Died, I scarce know--but--he was stabbed i' the dark,", "And now you have it--perished on his pillow", "By a cut-throat!--Aye!--you may look upon me!", "_I_ am _not_ the man. I'll meet your eye on that point,", "As I can one day God's.", "", "_Prior_. Nor did he die", "By means, or men, or instrument of yours?", "", "_Sieg._ No! by the God who sees and strikes!", "", "_Prior_. Nor know you", "Who slew him?", "", "_Sieg._ I could only guess at _one_,", "And he to me a stranger, unconnected,", "As unemployed. Except by one day's knowledge,", "I never saw the man who was suspected.", "", "_Prior_. Then you are free from guilt.", "", "_Sieg._ (_eagerly_). Oh! _am_ I?--say!", "", "_Prior_. You have said so, and know best.", "", "_Sieg._ Father! I have spoken", "The truth, and nought but truth, if _not_ the _whole_;", "Yet say I am _not_ guilty! for the blood", "Of this man weighs on me, as if I shed it,", "Though, by the Power who abhorreth human blood,", "I did not!--nay, once spared it, when I might", "And _could_--aye, perhaps, _should_ (if our self-safety", "Be e'er excusable in such defences", "Against the attacks of over-potent foes):", "But pray for him, for me, and all my house;", "For, as I said, though I be innocent,", "I know not why, a like remorse is on me,", "As if he had fallen by me or mine. Pray for me,", "Father! I have prayed myself in vain.", "", "_Prior_. I will.", "Be comforted! You are innocent, and should", "Be calm as innocence.", "", "_Sieg._ But calmness is not", "Always the attribute of innocence.", "I feel it is not.", "", "_Prior_. But it will be so,", "When the mind gathers up its truth within it.", "Remember the great festival to-morrow,", "In which you rank amidst our chiefest nobles,", "As well as your brave son; and smooth your aspect,", "Nor in the general orison of thanks", "For bloodshed stopt, let blood you shed not rise,", "A cloud, upon your thoughts. This were to be", "Too sensitive. Take comfort, and forget", "Such things, and leave remorse unto the guilty. [_Exeunt_.", "", "ACT V.", "", "SCENE I.--_A large and magnificent Gothic Hall in the", " Castle of Siegendorf, decorated with Trophies, Banners,", " and Arms of that Family_.", "", " _Enter_ ARNHEIM _and_ MEISTER, _attendants of_ COUNT SIEGENDORF.", "", "_Arn._ Be quick! the Count will soon return: the ladies", "Already are at the portal. Have you sent", "The messengers in search of him he seeks for?", "", "_Meis._ I have, in all directions, over Prague,", "As far as the man's dress and figure could", "By your description track him. The devil take", "These revels and processions! All the pleasure", "(If such there be) must fall to the spectators,--", "I'm sure none doth to us who make the show.", "", "_Arn._ Go to! my Lady Countess comes.", "", "_Meis._ I'd rather", "Ride a day's hunting on an outworn jade,", "Than follow in the train of a great man,", "In these dull pageantries.", "", "_Arn._ Begone! and rail", "Within. [_Exeunt_.", "", " _Enter the_ COUNTESS JOSEPHINE SIEGENDORF _and_ IDA STRALENHEIM.", "", "_Jos._ Well, Heaven be praised! the show is over.", "", "_Ida._ How can you say so? Never have I dreamt", "Of aught so beautiful. The flowers, the boughs,", "The banners, and the nobles, and the knights,", "The gems, the robes, the plumes, the happy faces,", "The coursers, and the incense, and the sun", "Streaming through the stained windows, even the _tombs_,", "Which looked so calm, and the celestial hymns,", "Which seemed as if they rather came from Heaven", "Than mounted there--the bursting organ's peal", "Rolling on high like an harmonious thunder;", "The white robes and the lifted eyes; the world", "At peace! and all at peace with one another!", "Oh, my sweet mother! [_Embracing_ JOSEPHINE.", "", "_Jos._ My belovéd child!", "For such, I trust, thou shalt be shortly.", "", "_Ida._ Oh!", "I am so already. Feel how my heart beats!", "", "_Jos._ It does, my love; and never may it throb", "With aught more bitter.", "", "_Ida._ Never shall it do so!", "How should it? What should make us grieve? I hate", "To hear of sorrow: how can we be sad,", "Who love each other so entirely? You,", "The Count, and Ulric, and your daughter Ida.", "", "_Jos._ Poor child!", "", "_Ida._ Do you pity me?", "", "_Jos._ No: I but envy,", "And that in sorrow, not in the world's sense", "Of the universal vice, if one vice be", "More general than another.", "", "_Ida._ I'll not hear", "A word against a world which still contains", "You and my Ulric. Did you ever see", "Aught like him? How he towered amongst them all!", "How all eyes followed him! The flowers fell faster--", "Rained from each lattice at his feet, methought,", "Than before all the rest; and where he trod", "I dare be sworn that they grow still, nor e'er", "Will wither.", "", "_Jos._ You will spoil him, little flatterer,", "If he should hear you.", "", "_Ida._ But he never will.", "I dare not say so much to him--I fear him.", "", "_Jos._ Why so? he loves you well.", "", "_Ida._ But I can never", "Shape my thoughts _of_ him into words _to_ him:", "Besides, he sometimes frightens me.", "", "_Jos._ How so?", "_Ida._ A cloud comes o'er his blue eyes suddenly,", "Yet he says nothing.", "", "_Jos._ It is nothing: all men,", "Especially in these dark troublous times,", "Have much to think of.", "", "_Ida._ But I cannot think", "Of aught save him.", "", "_Jos._ Yet there are other men,", "In the world's eye, as goodly. There's, for instance,", "The young Count Waldorf, who scarce once withdrew", "His eyes from yours to-day.", "", "_Ida._ I did not see him,", "But Ulric. Did you not see at the moment", "When all knelt, and I wept? and yet, methought,", "Through my fast tears, though they were thick and warm,", "I saw him smiling on me.", "", "_Jos._ I could not", "See aught save Heaven, to which my eyes were raised,", "Together with the people's.", "", "_Ida._ I thought too", "Of Heaven, although I looked on Ulric.", "", "_Jos._ Come,", "Let us retire! they will be here anon,", "Expectant of the banquet. We will lay", "Aside these nodding plumes and dragging trains.", "", "_Ida._ And, above all, these stiff and heavy jewels,", "Which make my head and heart ache, as both throb", "Beneath their glitter o'er my brow and zone.", "Dear mother, I am with you.", "", " _Enter_ COUNT SIEGENDORF, _in full dress, from the", " solemnity_, and LUDWIG.", "", "_Sieg._ Is he not found?", "", "_Lud._ Strict search is making every where; and if", "The man be in Prague, be sure he will be found.", "", "_Sieg._ Where's Ulric?", "", "_Lud._ He rode round the other way", "With some young nobles; but he left them soon;", "And, if I err not, not a minute since", "I heard his Excellency, with his train,", "Gallop o'er the west drawbridge.", "", " _Enter ULRIC, splendidly dressed_.", "", "_Sieg._ (_to_ LUDWIG). See they cease not", "Their quest of him I have described. [_Exit_ LUDWIG.", " Oh, Ulric!", "How have I longed for thee!", "", "_Ulr._ Your wish is granted--", "Behold me!", "", "_Sieg._ I have seen the murderer.", "", "_Ulr._ Whom? Where?", "", "_Sieg._ The Hungarian, who slew Stralenheim.", "", "_Ulr._ You dream.", "", "_Sieg._ I live! and as I live, I saw him--", "Heard him! he dared to utter even my name.", "", "_Ulr._ What name?", "", "_Sieg._ Werner! _'twas_ mine.", "", "_Ulr._ It must be so", "No more: forget it.", "", "_Sieg._ Never! never! all", "My destinies were woven in that name:", "It will not be engraved upon my tomb,", "But it may lead me there.", "", "_Ulr._ To the point----the Hungarian?", "", "_Sieg._ Listen!--The church was thronged: the hymn was raised;", "\"_Te Deum_\" pealed from nations rather than", "From choirs, in one great cry of \"God be praised\"", "For one day's peace, after thrice ten dread years,", "Each bloodier than the former: I arose,", "With all the nobles, and as I looked down", "Along the lines of lifted faces,--from", "Our bannered and escutcheoned gallery, I", "Saw, like a flash of lightning (for I saw", "A moment and no more), what struck me sightless", "To all else--the Hungarian's face! I grew", "Sick; and when I recovered from the mist", "Which curled about my senses, and again", "Looked down, I saw him not. The thanksgiving", "Was over, and we marched back in procession.", "", "_Ulr._ Continue.", "", "_Sieg._ When we reached the Muldau's bridge,", "The joyous crowd above, the numberless", "Barks manned with revellers in their best garbs,", "Which shot along the glancing tide below,", "The decorated street, the long array,", "The clashing music, and the thundering", "Of far artillery, which seemed to bid", "A long and loud farewell to its great doings,", "The standards o'er me, and the tramplings round,", "The roar of rushing thousands,--all--all could not", "Chase this man from my mind, although my senses", "No longer held him palpable.", "", "_Ulr._ You saw him", "No more, then?", "", "_Sieg._ I looked, as a dying soldier", "Looks at a draught of water, for this man;", "But still I saw him not; but in his stead----", "", "_Ulr._ What in his stead?", "", "_Sieg._ My eye for ever fell", "Upon your dancing crest; the loftiest.", "As on the loftiest and the loveliest head,", "It rose the highest of the stream of plumes,", "Which overflowed the glittering streets of Prague.", "", "_Ulr._ What's this to the Hungarian?", "", "_Sieg._ Much! for I", "Had almost then forgot him in my son;", "When just as the artillery ceased, and paused", "The music, and the crowd embraced in lieu", "Of shouting, I heard in a deep, low voice,", "Distinct and keener far upon my ear", "Than the late cannon's volume, this word--\"_Werner!_\"", "", "_Ulr._ Uttered by----", "", "_Sieg._ HIM! I turned--and saw--and fell.", "", "_Ulr._ And wherefore? Were you seen?", "", "_Sieg._ The officious care", "Of those around me dragged me from the spot,", "Seeing my faintness, ignorant of the cause:", "You, too, were too remote in the procession", "(The old nobles being divided from their children)", "To aid me.", "", "_Ulr._ But I'll aid you now.", "", "_Sieg._ In what?", "", "_Ulr._ In searching for this man, or----When he's found,", "What shall we do with him?", "", "_Sieg._ I know not that.", "", "_Ulr._ Then wherefore seek?", "", "_Sieg._ Because I cannot rest", "Till he is found. His fate, and Stralenheim's,", "And ours, seem intertwisted! nor can be", "Unravelled, till----", "", " _Enter an_ ATTENDANT.", "", "_Atten._ A stranger to wait on", "Your Excellency.", "", "_Sieg._ Who?", "", "_Atten._ He gave no name.", "", "_Sieg._ Admit him, ne'ertheless.", " [_The_ ATTENDANT _introduces_ GABOR, _and afterwards exit_.", " Ah!", "", "_Gab._ 'Tis then Werner!", "", "_Sieg._ (_haughtily_).", "The same you knew, sir, by that name; and _you!_", "", "_Gab._ (_looking round_).", "I recognise you both: father and son,", "It seems. Count, I have heard that you, or yours,", "Have lately been in search of me: I am here.", "", "_Sieg._ I have sought you, and have found you: you are charged", "(Your own heart may inform you why) with such", "A crime as---- [_He pauses_.", "", "_Gab._ Give it utterance, and then", "I'll meet the consequences.", "", "_Sieg._ You shall do so--", "Unless----", "", "_Gab._ First, who accuses me?", "", "_Sieg._ All things,", "If not all men: the universal rumour--", "My own presence on the spot--the place--the time--", "And every speck of circumstance unite", "To fix the blot on you.", "", "_Gab._ And on _me only?_", "Pause ere you answer: is no other name,", "Save mine, stained in this business?", "", "_Sieg._ Trifling villain!", "Who play'st with thine own guilt! Of all that breathe", "Thou best dost know the innocence of him", "'Gainst whom thy breath would blow thy bloody slander.", "But I will talk no further with a wretch,", "Further than justice asks. Answer at once,", "And without quibbling, to my charge.", "", "_Gab._ 'Tis false!", "", "_Sieg._ Who says so?", "", "_Gab._ I.", "", "_Sieg._ And how disprove it?", "", "_Gab._ By", "The presence of the murderer.", "", "_Sieg._ Name him.", "", "_Gab._ He", "May have more names than one. Your Lordship had so", "Once on a time.", "", "_Sieg._ If you mean me, I dare", "Your utmost.", "", "_Gab._ You may do so, and in safety;", "I know the assassin.", "", "_Sieg._ Where is he?", "", "_Gab._ (_pointing to_ ULRIC). Beside you!", " [ULRIC _rushes forward to attack_ GABOR; SIEGENDORF _interposes_.", "", "_Sieg._ Liar and fiend! but you shall not be slain;", "These walls are mine, and you are safe within them.", "Ulric, repel this calumny, as I [_He turns to_ ULRIC.", "Will do. I avow it is a growth so monstrous,", "I could not deem it earth-born: but be calm;", "It will refute itself. But touch him not.", " [ULRIC _endeavours to compose himself_.", "", "_Gab._ Look at _him_, Count, and then _hear me_.", "", "_Sieg._ (_first to_ GABOR, _and then looking at_ ULRIC).", " I hear thee.", "My God! you look----", "", "_Ulr._ How?", "", "_Sieg._ As on that dread night,", "When we met in the garden.", "", "_Ulr._ (_composing himself_). It is nothing.", "", "_Gab._ Count, you are bound to hear me. I came hither", "Not seeking you, but sought. When I knelt down", "Amidst the people in the church, I dreamed not", "To find the beggared Werner in the seat", "Of Senators and Princes; but you have called me,", "And we have met.", "", "_Sieg._ Go on, sir.", "", "_Gab._ Ere I do so,", "Allow me to inquire, who profited", "By Stralenheim's death? Was't I--as poor as ever;", "And poorer by suspicion on my name!", "The Baron lost in that last outrage neither", "Jewels nor gold; his life alone was sought.--", "A life which stood between the claims of others", "To honours and estates scarce less than princely.", "", "_Sieg._ These hints, as vague as vain, attach no less", "To me than to my son.", "", "_Gab._ I can't help that.", "But let the consequence alight on him", "Who feels himself the guilty one amongst us.", "I speak to you, Count Siegendorf, because", "I know you innocent, and deem you just.", "But ere I can proceed--_dare_ you protect me?", "_Dare_ you command me?", "", " [SIEGENDORF _first looks at the Hungarian, and then at_", " ULRIC, _who has unbuckled his sabre, and is drawing", " lines with it on the floor--still in its sheath_.", "", "_Ulr._ (_looks at his father, and says_,) Let the man go on!", "", "_Gab._ I am unarmed, Count, bid your son lay down", "His sabre.", "", "_Ulr._ (_offers it to him contemptuously_). Take it.", "", "_Gab._ No, sir, 'tis enough", "That we are both unarmed--I would not choose", "To wear a steel which may be stained with more", "Blood than came there in battle.", "", "_Ulr._ (_casts the sabre from him in contempt_). It--or some", "Such other weapon in my hand--spared yours", "Once, when disarmed and at my mercy.", "", "_Gab._ True--", "I have not forgotten it: you spared me for", "Your own especial purpose--to sustain", "An ignominy not my own.", "", "_Ulr._ Proceed.", "The tale is doubtless worthy the relater.", "But is it of my father to hear further? [_To_ SIEGENDORF.", "", "_Sieg._ (_takes his son by the hand_).", "My son, I know my own innocence, and doubt not", "Of yours--but I have promised this man patience;", "Let him continue.", "", "_Gab._ I will not detain you,", "By speaking of myself much: I began", "Life early--and am what the world has made me.", "At Frankfort on the Oder, where I passed", "A winter in obscurity, it was", "My chance at several places of resort", "(Which I frequented sometimes, but not often)", "To hear related a strange circumstance", "In February last. A martial force,", "Sent by the state, had, after strong resistance,", "Secured a band of desperate men, supposed", "Marauders from the hostile camp.--They proved,", "However, not to be so--but banditti,", "Whom either accident or enterprise", "Had carried from their usual haunt--the forests", "Which skirt Bohemia--even into Lusatia.", "Many amongst them were reported of", "High rank--and martial law slept for a time.", "At last they were escorted o'er the frontiers,", "And placed beneath the civil jurisdiction", "Of the free town of Frankfort. Of _their_ fate", "I know no more.", "", "_Sieg._ And what is this to Ulric?", "", "_Gab._ Amongst them there was said to be one man", "Of wonderful endowments:--birth and fortune,", "Youth, strength, and beauty, almost superhuman,", "And courage as unrivalled, were proclaimed", "His by the public rumour; and his sway,", "Not only over his associates, but", "His judges, was attributed to witchcraft,", "Such was his influence:--I have no great faith", "In any magic save that of the mine--", "I therefore deemed him wealthy.--But my soul", "Was roused with various feelings to seek out", "This prodigy, if only to behold him.", "", "_Sieg._ And did you so?", "", "_Gab._ You'll hear. Chance favoured me:", "A popular affray in the public square", "Drew crowds together--it was one of those", "Occasions where men's souls look out of them,", "And show them as they are--even in their faces:", "The moment my eye met his, I exclaimed,", "\"This is the man!\" though he was then, as since,", "With the nobles of the city. I felt sure", "I had not erred, and watched him long and nearly;", "I noted down his form--his gesture--features,", "Stature, and bearing--and amidst them all,", "'Midst every natural and acquired distinction,", "I could discern, methought, the assassin's eye", "And gladiator's heart.", "", "_Ulr._ (_smiling_). The tale sounds well.", "", "_Gab._ And may sound better.--He appeared to me", "One of those beings to whom Fortune bends,", "As she doth to the daring--and on whom", "The fates of others oft depend; besides,", "An indescribable sensation drew me", "Near to this man, as if my point of fortune", "Was to be fixed by him.--There I was wrong.", "", "_Sieg._ And may not be right now.", "", "_Gab._ I followed him,", "Solicited his notice--and obtained it--", "Though not his friendship:--it was his intention", "To leave the city privately--we left it", "Together--and together we arrived", "In the poor town where Werner was concealed,", "And Stralenheim was succoured----Now we are on", "The verge--_dare_ you hear further?", "", "_Sieg._ I must do so--", "Or I have heard too much.", "", "_Gab._ I saw in you", "A man above his station--and if not", "So high, as now I find you, in my then", "Conceptions, 'twas that I had rarely seen", "Men such as you appeared in height of mind,", "In the most high of worldly rank; you were", "Poor, even to all save rags: I would have shared", "My purse, though slender, with you--you refused it.", "", "_Sieg._ Doth my refusal make a debt to you,", "That thus you urge it?", "", "_Gab._ Still you owe me something,", "Though not for that; and I owed you my safety,", "At least my seeming safety, when the slaves", "Of Stralenheim pursued me on the grounds", "That _I_ had robbed him.", "", "_Sieg._ _I_ concealed you--I,", "Whom and whose house you arraign, reviving viper!", "", "_Gab._ I accuse no man--save in my defence.", "You, Count, have made yourself accuser--judge:", "Your hall's my court, your heart is my tribunal.", "Be just, and _I'll_ be merciful!", "", "_Sieg._ You merciful?--", "You! Base calumniator!", "", "_Gab._ I. 'Twill rest", "With me at last to be so. You concealed me--", "In secret passages known to yourself,", "You said, and to none else. At dead of night,", "Weary with watching in the dark, and dubious", "Of tracing back my way, I saw a glimmer,", "Through distant crannies, of a twinkling light:", "I followed it, and reached a door--a secret", "Portal--which opened to the chamber, where,", "With cautious hand and slow, having first undone", "As much as made a crevice of the fastening,", "I looked through and beheld a purple bed,", "And on it Stralenheim!--", "", "_Sieg._ Asleep! And yet", "You slew him!--Wretch!", "", "_Gab._ He was already slain,", "And bleeding like a sacrifice. My own", "Blood became ice.", "", "_Sieg._ But he was all alone!", "You saw none else? You did not see the----", " [_He pauses from agitation_.", "", "_Gab._ No,", "_He_, whom you dare not name, nor even I", "Scarce dare to recollect, was not then in", "The chamber.", "", "_Sieg._ (_to_ ULRIC). Then, my boy! thou art guiltless still--", "Thou bad'st me say _I_ was so once.--Oh! now", "Do thou as much.", "", "_Gab._ Be patient! I can _not_", "Recede now, though it shake the very walls", "Which frown above us. You remember,--or", "If not, your son does,--that the locks were changed", "Beneath _his_ chief inspection on the morn", "Which led to this same night: how he had entered", "He best knows--but within an antechamber,", "The door of which was half ajar, I saw", "A man who washed his bloody hands, and oft", "With stern and anxious glance gazed back upon--", "The bleeding body--but it moved no more.", "", "_Sieg._ Oh! God of fathers!", "", "_Gab._ I beheld his features", "As I see yours--but yours they were not, though", "Resembling them--behold them in Count Ulric's!", "Distinct as I beheld them, though the expression", "Is not now what it then was!--but it was so", "When I first charged him with the crime--so lately.", "", "_Sieg._ This is so--", "", "_Gab._ (_interrupting him_). Nay--but hear me to the end!", "_Now_ you must do so.--I conceived myself", "Betrayed by you and _him_ (for now I saw", "There was some tie between you) into this", "Pretended den of refuge, to become", "The victim of your guilt; and my first thought", "Was vengeance: but though armed with a short poniard", "(Having left my sword without), I was no match", "For him at any time, as had been proved", "That morning--either in address or force.", "I turned and fled--i' the dark: chance rather than", "Skill made me gain the secret door of the hall,", "And thence the chamber where you slept: if I", "Had found you _waking_, Heaven alone can tell", "What vengeance and suspicion might have prompted;", "But ne'er slept guilt as Werner slept that night.", "", "_Sieg._ And yet I had horrid dreams! and such brief sleep,", "The stars had not gone down when I awoke.", "Why didst thou spare me? I dreamt of my father--", "And now my dream is out!", "", "_Gab._ 'Tis not my fault,", "If I have read it.--Well! I fled and hid me--", "Chance led me here after so many moons--", "And showed me Werner in Count Siegendorf!", "Werner, whom I had sought in huts in vain,", "Inhabited the palace of a sovereign!", "You sought me and have found me--now you know", "My secret, and may weigh its worth.", "", "_Sieg._ (_after a pause_). Indeed!", "", "_Gab._ Is it revenge or justice which inspires", "Your meditation?", "", "_Sieg._ Neither--I was weighing", "The value of your secret.", "", "_Gab._ You shall know it", "At once:--When you were poor, and I, though poor,", "Rich enough to relieve such poverty", "As might have envied mine, I offered you", "My purse--you would not share it:--I'll be franker", "With you: you are wealthy, noble, trusted by", "The imperial powers--you understand me?", "", "_Sieg._ Yes.", "", "_Gab._ Not quite. You think me venal, and scarce true:", "'Tis no less true, however, that my fortunes", "Have made me both at present. You shall aid me:", "I would have aided you--and also have", "Been somewhat damaged in my name to save", "Yours and your son's. Weigh well what I have said.", "", "_Sieg._ Dare you await the event of a few minutes'", "Deliberation?", "", "_Gab._ (_casts his eyes on_ ULRIC, _who is", "leaning against a pillar_). If I should do so?", "", "_Sieg._ I pledge my life for yours. Withdraw into", "This tower. [_Opens a turret-door_.", "", "_Gab._ (_hesitatingly_). This is the second _safe_ asylum", "You have offered me.", "", "_Sieg._ And was not the first so?", "", "_Gab._ I know not that even now--but will approve", "The second. I have still a further shield.--", "I did not enter Prague alone; and should I", "Be put to rest with Stralenheim, there are", "Some tongues without will wag in my behalf.", "Be brief in your decision!", "", "_Sieg._ I will be so.--", "My word is sacred and irrevocable", "Within _these_ walls, but it extends no further.", "", "_Gab._ I'll take it for so much.", "", "_Sieg._ (_points to_ ULRIC'S _sabre, still upon the ground_).", " Take also _that_--", "I saw you eye it eagerly, and him", "Distrustfully.", "", "_Gab._ (_takes up the sabre_). I will; and so provide", "To sell my life--not cheaply.", " [GABOR _goes into the turret, which_ SIEGENDORF _closes_.", "", "_Sieg._ (_advances to_ ULRIC). Now, Count Ulric!", "For son I dare not call thee--What say'st thou?", "", "_Ulr._ His tale is true.", "", "_Sieg._ True, monster!", "", "_Ulr._ Most true, father!", "And you did well to listen to it: what", "We know, we can provide against. He must", "Be silenced.", "", "_Sieg._ Aye, with half of my domains;", "And with the other half, could he and thou", "Unsay this villany.", "", "_Ulr._ It is no time", "For trifling or dissembling. I have said", "His story's true; and he too must be silenced.", "", "_Sieg._ How so?", "", "_Ulr._ As Stralenheim is. Are you so dull", "As never to have hit on this before?", "When we met in the garden, what except", "Discovery in the act could make me know", "His death? Or had the Prince's household been", "Then summoned, would the cry for the police", "Been left to such a stranger? Or should I", "Have loitered on the way? Or could _you, Werner_,", "The object of the Baron's hate and fears,", "Have fled, unless by many an hour before", "Suspicion woke? I sought and fathomed you,", "Doubting if you were false or feeble: I", "Perceived you were the latter: and yet so", "Confiding have I found you, that I doubted", "At times your weakness.", "", "_Sieg._ Parricide! no less", "Than common stabber! What deed of my life,", "Or thought of mine, could make you deem me fit", "For your accomplice?", "", "_Ulr._ Father, do not raise", "The devil you cannot lay between us. This", "Is time for union and for action, not", "For family disputes. While _you_ were tortured,", "Could _I_ be calm? Think you that I have heard", "This fellow's tale without some feeling?--You", "Have taught me feeling for _you_ and myself;", "For whom or what else did you ever teach it?", "", "_Sieg._ Oh! my dead father's curse! 'tis working now.", "", "_Ulr._ Let it work on! the grave will keep it down!", "Ashes are feeble foes: it is more easy", "To baffle such, than countermine a mole,", "Which winds its blind but living path beneath you.", "Yet hear me still!--If _you_ condemn me, yet,", "Remember _who_ hath taught me once too often", "To listen to him! _Who_ proclaimed to me", "That _there were crimes_ made venial by the occasion?", "That passion was our nature? that the goods", "Of Heaven waited on the goods of fortune?", "_Who_ showed me his humanity secured", "By his _nerves_ only? _Who_ deprived me of", "All power to vindicate myself and race", "In open day? By his disgrace which stamped", "(It might be) bastardy on me, and on", "Himself--a _felon's_ brand! The man who is", "At once both warm and weak invites to deeds", "He longs to do, but dare not. Is it strange", "That I should _act_ what you could _think?_ We have done", "With right and wrong; and now must only ponder", "Upon effects, not causes. Stralenheim,", "Whose life I saved from impulse, as _unknown_,", "I would have saved a peasant's or a dog's, I slew", "_Known_ as our foe--but not from vengeance. He", "Was a rock in our way which I cut through,", "As doth the bolt, because it stood between us", "And our true destination--but not idly.", "As stranger I preserved him, and he _owed me_", "His _life_: when due, I but resumed the debt.", "He, you, and I stood o'er a gulf wherein", "I have plunged our enemy. _You_ kindled first", "The torch--_you_ showed the path; now trace me that", "Of safety--or let me!", "", "_Sieg._ I have done with life!", "", "_Ulr._ Let us have done with that which cankers life--", "Familiar feuds and vain recriminations", "Of things which cannot be undone. We have", "No more to learn or hide: I know no fear,", "And have within these very walls men who", "(Although you know them not) dare venture all things.", "You stand high with the state; what passes here", "Will not excite her too great curiosity:", "Keep your own secret, keep a steady eye,", "Stir not, and speak not;--leave the rest to me:", "We must have no _third_ babblers thrust between us.", " [_Exit_ ULRIC.", "", "_Sieg._ (_solus_). Am I awake? are these my father's halls?", "And _you_--my son? _My_ son! _mine!_ I who have ever", "Abhorred both mystery and blood, and yet", "Am plunged into the deepest hell of both!", "I must be speedy, or more will be shed--", "The Hungarian's!--Ulric--he hath partisans,", "It seems: I might have guessed as much. Oh fool!", "Wolves prowl in company. He hath the key", "(As I too) of the opposite door which leads", "Into the turret. Now then! or once more", "To be the father of fresh crimes, no less", "Than of the criminal! Ho! Gabor! Gabor!", " [_Exit into the turret, closing the door after him_.", "", "SCENE II.--_The Interior of the Turret_.", "", " GABOR _and_ SIEGENDORF.", "", "_Gab._ Who calls?", "", "_Sieg._ I--Siegendorf! Take these and fly!", "Lose not a moment!", "", " [_Tears off a diamond star and other jewels, and thrusts", " them into_ GABOR'S _hand_.", "", "_Gab._ What am I to do", "With these?", "", "_Sieg._ Whate'er you will: sell them, or hoard,", "And prosper; but delay not, or you are lost!", "", "_Gab._ You pledged your honour for my safety!", "", "_Sieg._ And", "Must thus redeem it. Fly! I am not master,", "It seems, of my own castle--of my own", "Retainers--nay, even of these very walls,", "Or I would bid them fall and crush me! Fly!", "Or you will be slain by----", "", "_Gab._ Is it even so?", "Farewell, then! Recollect, however, Count,", "You sought this fatal interview!", "", "_Sieg._ I did:", "Let it not be more fatal still!--Begone!", "", "_Gab._ By the same path I entered?", "", "_Sieg._ Yes; that's safe still;", "But loiter not in Prague;--you do not know", "With whom you have to deal.", "", "_Gab._ I know too well--", "And knew it ere yourself, unhappy Sire!", "Farewell! [_Exit_ GABOR.", "", "_Sieg._ (_solus and listening_).", " He hath cleared the staircase. Ah! I hear", "The door sound loud behind him! He is safe!", "Safe!--Oh, my father's spirit!--I am faint--", "", " [_He leans down upon a stone seat, near the wall of", " the tower, in a drooping posture_.", "", " _Enter_ ULRIC _with others armed, and with weapons drawn_.", "", "_Ulr._ Despatch!--he's there!", "", "_Lud._ The Count, my Lord!", "", "_Ulr._ (_recognizing_ SIEGENDORF). _You_ here, sir!", "", "_Sieg._ Yes: if you want another victim, strike!", "", "_Ulr._ (_seeing him stript of his jewels_).", "Where is the ruffian who hath plundered you?", "Vassals, despatch in search of him! You see", "'Twas as I said--the wretch hath stript my father", "Of jewels which might form a Prince's heir-loom!", "Away! I'll follow you forthwith.", " [_Exeunt all but_ SIEGENDORF _and_ ULRIC.", " What's this?", "Where is the villain?", "", "_Sieg._ There are _two_, sir: which", "Are you in quest of?", "", "_Ulr._ Let us hear no more", "Of this: he must be found. You have not let him", "Escape?", "", "_Sieg._ He's gone.", "", "_Ulr._ With your connivance?", "", "_Sieg._ With", "My fullest, freest aid.", "", "_Ulr._ Then fare you well!", " [ULRIC _is going_.", "", "_Sieg._ Stop! I command--entreat--implore! Oh, Ulric!", "Will you then leave me?", "", "_Ulr._ What! remain to be", "Denounced--dragged, it may be, in chains; and all", "By your inherent weakness, half-humanity,", "Selfish remorse, and temporizing pity,", "That sacrifices your whole race to save", "A wretch to profit by our ruin! No, Count,", "Henceforth you have no son!", "", "_Sieg._ I never had one;", "And would you ne'er had borne the useless name!", "Where will you go? I would not send you forth", "Without protection.", "", "_Ulr._ Leave that unto me.", "I am not alone; nor merely the vain heir", "Of your domains; a thousand, aye, ten thousand", "Swords, hearts, and hands are mine.", "", "_Sieg._ The foresters!", "With whom the Hungarian found you first at Frankfort!", "", "_Ulr._ Yes--men--who are worthy of the name! Go tell", "Your Senators that they look well to Prague;", "Their Feast of Peace was early for the times;", "There are more spirits abroad than have been laid", "With Wallenstein!", "", " _Enter_ JOSEPHINE _and_ IDA.", "", "_Jos._ What is't we hear? My Siegendorf!", "Thank Heaven, I see you safe!", "", "_Sieg._ Safe!", "", "_Ida._ Yes, dear father!", "", "_Sieg._ No, no; I have no children: never more", "Call me by that worst name of parent.", "", "_Jos._ What", "Means my good Lord?", "", "_Sieg._ That you have given birth", "To a demon!", "", "_Ida_ (_taking_ ULRIC'S _hand_). Who shall dare say this of Ulric?", "", "_Sieg._ Ida, beware! there's blood upon that hand.", "", "_Ida_ (_stooping to kiss it_).", "I'd kiss it off, though it were mine.", "", "_Sieg._ It is so!", "", "_Ulr._ Away! it is your father's! [_Exit_ ULRIC.", "", "_Ida._ Oh, great God!", "And I have loved this man!", " [IDA _falls senseless_--JOSEPHINE _stands speechless with horror_.", "", "_Sieg._ The wretch hath slain", "Them both!--My Josephine! we are now alone!", "Would we had ever been so!--All is over", "For me!--Now open wide, my sire, thy grave;", "Thy curse hath dug it deeper for thy son", "In mine!--The race of Siegendorf is past.", "", " The end of the fifth act and the Drama." ], "linecount": "4199" }, { "title": "Werner: First Draft", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "ACT I.", "", "SCENE I.--_A ruinous chateau on the Silesian frontier of Bohemia_.", "", "_Josepha_. THE storm is at it's height--how the wind howls,", "Like an unearthly voice, through these lone chambers!", "And the rain patters on the flapping casement", "Which quivers in it's frame--the night is starless--", "Yet cheerly Werner! still our hearts are warm:", "The tempest is without, or should be so--", "For we are sheltered here where Fortune's clouds", "May roll all harmless o'er us as the wrath", "Of these wild elements that menace now,", "Yet do not reach us.", "", "_Werner_ (_without attending, and walking disturbedly,", "speaking to himself_). No--'Tis past--'tis blighted,", "The last faint hope to which my withered fortune", "Clung with a feeble and a fluttering grasp,", "Yet clung convulsively--for twas the _last_--", "Is broken with the rest: would that my heart were!", "But there is pride, and passion's war within,", "Which give my breast vitality to suffer,", "As it hath suffered through long years till now.", "My father's wrath extends beyond the grave,", "And haunts me in the shape of Stralenheim!", "He revels in my fathers palace--I--", "Exiled--disherited--a nameless outcast!", " [_Werner pauses_.", "My boy, too, where and what is he?--my father", "Might well have limited his curse to me.", "If that my heritage had passed to Ulric,", "I had not mourned my own less happy lot.", "No--No--all's past--all torn away.", "", "_Josepha_. Dear Werner,", "Oh banish these discomfortable thoughts", "That thus contend within you: we are poor,", "So we have ever been--but I remember", "The time when thy Josepha's smile could turn", "Thy heart to hers--despite of every ill.", "So let it now--alas! you hear me not.", "", "_Werner_. What said you?--let it pass--no matter what--", "Think me not churlish, Sweet, I am not well.", "My brain is hot and busy--long fatigue", "And last night's watching have oppressed me much.", "", "_Josepha_. Then get thee to thy couch. I do perceive", "In thy pale cheek and in thy bloodshot eye", "A strange distemperature--nay, as a boon,", "I do entreat thee to thy rest.", "", "_Werner_. My _rest!_", "Well--be it so--Good Night!", "", "_Josepha_. Thy hand is burning;", "I will prepare a potion:--peace be with thee--", "Tomorrow's dawn I trust will find thee healthful;", "And, then, our Ulric may perchance--", "", "_Werner_. _Our_ Ulric--thine and mine--our only boy--", "Curse on his father and his father's Sire!", "(For, if it is so, I will render back", "A curse that Heaven will hear as well as his),", "Our Ulric by his father's fault or folly,", "And by my father's unrelenting pride,", "Is at this hour, perchance, undone. This night", "That shelters us may shower it's wrath on him--", "A homeless beggar for his parent's sin--", "Thy sin and mine--Thy child and mine atones--", "Our Ulric--Woman!--I'll to no bed to-night--", "There is no pillow for my thoughts.", "", "_Josepha_. What words,", "What fearful words are these! what may they mean?", "", "_Werner_. Look on me--thou hast known me, hitherto,", "As an oppressed, but yet a humble creature;", "By birth predestined to the yoke I've borne.", "Till now I've borne it patiently, at least,", "In bitter silence--but the hour is come,", "That should and shall behold me as I was,", "And ought again to be--", "", "_Josepha_. I know not what", "Thy mystery may tend to, but my fate--", "My heart--my will--my love are linked with thine,", "And I would share thy sorrow: lay it open.", "", "_Werner_. Thou see'st the son of Count--but let it pass--", "I forfeited the name in wedding thee:", "That fault of many faults a father's pride", "Proclaimed the last and worst--and, from that hour,", "He disavowed, disherited, debased", "A wayward son----tis a long tale--too long--", "And I am heartsick of the heavy thought.", "", "_Josepha_. Oh, I could weep--but that were little solace:", "Yet tell the rest--or, if thou wilt not, say--", "Yet say--why, through long years, from me withheld,", "This fearful secret that hath gnawed thy soul?", "", "_Werner_. Why? had it not been base to call on thee", "For patience and for pity--to awake", "The thirst of grandeur in thy gentle spirit--", "To tell thee what thou shouldst have been--the wife", "Of one, in power--birth--wealth, preeminent--", "Then, sudden quailing in that lofty tone,", "To bid thee soothe thy husband--peasant Werner?", "", "_Josepha_. I would thou wert, indeed, the peasant Werner;", "For then thy soul had been of calmer mould,", "And suited to thy lot----", "", "_Werner_. Was it not so?", "Beneath a humble name and garb--the which", "My youthful riot and a father's frown,", "Too justly fixed upon me, had compelled", "My bowed down spirit to assume too well--", "Since it deceived the world, myself, and thee:", "I linked my lot irrevocably with thine--", "And I have loved thee deeply--long and dearly--", "Even as I love thee still--but these late crosses,", "And most of all the last,--have maddened me;", "And I am wild and wayward as in youth,", "Ere I beheld thee--", "", "_Josepha_. Would thou never hadst!", "Since I have been a blight upon thy hope,", "And marred alike the present and the future.", "", "_Werner_. Yet say not so--for all that I have known", "Of true and calm content--of love--of peace--", "Has been with thee and from thee: wert thou not,", "I were a lonely and self-loathing thing.", "Ulric has left us! all, save thou, have left me!", "Father and son--Fortune--Fame--Power--Ambition--", "The ties of being--the high soul of man--", "All save the long remorse--the consciousness,", "The curse of living on, regretting life", "Mispent in miserably gazing upward,", "While others soared--Away, I'll think no more.", "", "_Josepha_. But Ulric--wherefore didst thou let him leave", "His home and us? tis now three weary years.", "", "_Werner_ (_interrupting her quickly_).", "Since my hard father, half-relenting, sent", "The offer of a scanty stipend which", "I needs must earn by rendering up my son--", "Fool that I was--I thought this quick compliance,", "And never more assuming in myself", "The haught name of my house would soften him--", "And for our child secure the heritage", "Forfeit in me forever. Since that hour,", "Till the last year, the wretched pittance came--", "Then ceased with every tidings of my son", "And Sire--till late I heard the last had ceased", "To live--and unforgiving died--Oh God!", "", "_Josepha_. Was it for this our Ulric left us so?", "Thou dids't deceive me then--he went not forth", "To join the legions of Count Tilly's war?", "", "_Werner_. I know not--he had left my father's castle,", "Some months before his death--but why?--but why?", "Left it as I did ere his birth, perchance,", "Like me an outcast. Old age had not made", "My father meeker--and my son, Alas!", "Too much his Sire resembled----", "", "_Josepha_. Yet there's comfort.", "Restrain thy wandering Spirit--Ulric cannot", "Have left his native land--thou dost not know,", "Though it looks strangely, thy Sire and he", "In anger parted--Hope is left us still.", "", "_Werner_. The best hope that I ever held in youth,", "When every pulse was life, each thought a joy,", "(Yet not irrationally sanguine, since", "My birth bespoke high thoughts,) hath lured and left me.", "I will not be a dreamer in mine age--", "The hunter of a shadow--let _boys hope_:", "Of Hope I now know nothing but the name--", "And that's a sound which jars upon my heart.", "I've wearied thee--Good night--my patient Love!", "", "_Josepha_. I must not leave thee thus--my husband--friend--", "My heart is rent in twain for thee--I scarce", "Dare greet thee as I would, lest that my love", "Should seem officious and ill timed:--'tis early--", "Yet rest were as a healing balm to thee--", "Then once again--Good night!", "", "_Voice Without_. What Ho--lights ho!", "", "SCENE II.", "", "_Josepha_. What noise is that? 'tis nearer--hush! they knock.", " [_A knocking heard at the gate_--WERNER _starts_.", "", "_Werner_ (_aside_). It may be that the bloodhounds of the villain,", "Who long has tracked me, have approached at last:", "I'll not be taken tamely.", "", "_Josepha_. 'Twas the voice,", "The single voice of some lone traveller.", "I'll to the door.", "", "_Werner_. No--stay thou here--again!", " [_Knocking repeated. Opens the door_.", "Well--Sir--your pleasure?", "", " _Enter_ CARL _the Bavarian_.", "", "_Carl_. Thanks most worthy Sir!", "My pleasure, for to-night, depends on yours--", "I'm weary, wet, and wayworn--without shelter,", "Unless you please to grant it.", "", "_Josepha_. You shall have it,", "Such as this ruinous mansion may afford:", "Tis spacious, but too cold and crazy now", "For Hospitality's more cordial welcome:", "But as it is 'tis yours.", "", "_Werner_ (_to his wife_). Why say ye so?", "At once such hearty greeting to a stranger?", "At such a lonely hour, too--", "", "_Josepha_ (_in reply to Werner_). Nay--he's honest.", "There is trust-worthiness in his blunt looks.", "", "_Werner_ (_to Josepha_).", "\"Trustworthiness in looks!\" I'll trust no looks!", "I look into men's faces for their age,", "Not for their actions--had he Adam's brow,", "Open and goodly as before the fall,", "I've lived too long to trust the frankest aspect.", "(_To Carl_) Whence come you Sir?", "", "_Carl_. From Frankfort, on my way", "To my own country--I've a companion too--", "He tarries now behind:--an hour ago,", "On reaching that same river on your frontier,", "We found it swoln by storms--a stranger's carriage,", "Despite the current, drawn by sturdy mules,", "Essayed to pass, and nearly reached the middle", "Of that which was the _ford_ in gentler weather,", "When down came driver, carriage, mules, and all--", "You may suppose the worthy Lord within", "Fared ill enough:--worse still he might have suffered,", "But that my comrade and myself rushed in,", "And with main strength and some good luck beside,", "Dislodged and saved him: he'll be here anon.", "His equipage by this time is at Dresden--", "I left it floating that way.", "", "_Werner_. Where is he?", "", "_Carl_. Hitherward on his way, even like myself--", "We saw the light and made for the nearest shelter:", "You'll not deny us for a single night?", "You've room enough, methinks--and this vast ruin", "Will not be worse for three more guests.", "", "_Werner_. Two more:", "And thou?--well--be it so--(_aside_) (tonight will soon", "Be overpast: they shall not stay tomorrow)--", "Know you the name of him you saved?", "", "_Carl_. Not I!", "I think I heard him called a Baron Something--", "But was too chill to stay and hear his titles:", "You know they are sometimes tedious in the reckoning,", "If counted over by the noble wearer.", "Has't any wine? I'm wet, stung to the marrow--", "My comrade waited to escort the Baron:", "They will be here, anon--they, too, want cheering:", "I'll taste for them, if it please you, courteous host!", "", "_Josepha_. Such as our vintage is shall give you welcome:", "I'll bring you some anon. [_goes out_.", "", "_Carl_ (_looking round_). A goodly mansion!", "And has been nobly tenanted, I doubt not.", "This worn magnificence some day has shone", "On light hearts and long revels--those torn banners", "Have waved o'er courtly guests--and yon huge lamp", "High blazed through many a midnight--I could wish", "My lot had led me here in those gay times!", "Your days, my host, must pass but heavily.", "Are you the vassal of these antient chiefs,", "Whose heir wastes elsewhere their fast melting hoards,", "And placed to keep their cobwebs company?", "", "_Werner_ (_who has been absorbed in thought till the latter", "part of his speech_). A Vassal!--I a vassal!--_who_ accosts me", "With such familiar question?--(_checks himself and says", "aside_)--Down startled pride!", "Have not long years of wretchedness yet quenched thee,", "And, suffering evil, wilt thou start at scorn?", "(_To Carl_.) Sir! if I boast no birth--and, as you see,", "My state bespeaks none--still, no being breathes", "Who calls me slave or servant.--Like yourself", "I am a stranger here--a lonely guest--", "But, for a time, on sufferance. On my way,", "From--a far distant city--Sickness seized,", "And long detained me in the neighbouring hamlet.", "The Intendant of the owner of this castle,", "Then uninhabited, with kind intent,", "Permitted me to wait returning health", "Within these walls--more sheltered than the cot", "Of humble peasants.", "", "_Carl_. Worthy Sir, your mercy!", "I meant not to offend you--plain of speech,", "And blunt in apprehension, I do judge", "Men's station from their seeming--but themselves", "From acts alone. You bid me share your shelter,", "And I am bound to you; and had you been", "The lowliest vassal had not thanked you less,", "Than I do now, believing you his better,", "Perhaps my own superior--", "", "_Werner_. What imports it?", "What--who I am--or whence--you are welcome--sit--", "You shall have cheer anon. (_walks disturbedly aside_)", "", "_Carl_ (_to himself_). Here's a strange fellow!", "Wild, churlish, angry--_why_, I know not, seek not.", "Would that the wine were come! my doublet's wet,", "But my throat dry as Summer's drought in desarts.", "Ah--here it sparkles!", "", " _Enter_ JOSEPHA _with wine in flask--and a cup. As she pours", " it out a Voice is heard without calling at a distance_.", " WERNER _starts_--JOSEPHA _listens tremulously_.", "", "_Werner_. That voice--that voice--Hark!", "No--no--tis silent--Sir--I say--that voice--", "Whose is it--speak--", "", "_Carl_ (_drinking unconcernedly_).", " Whose is it? faith, I know not--", "And, yet, 'tis my companion's: he's like you,", "And does not care to tell his name and station.", " [_The voice again and nearer_.", "", "_Josepha_. 'Tis his--I knew it--Ulric!--Ulric!--Ulric!", " [_She drops the wine and rushes out_.", "", "_Carl_. The flask's unhurt--but every drop is spilt.", "Confound the voice! I say--would he were dumb!", "And faith! to me, he has been nearly so--", "A silent and unsocial travelling mate.", "", "_Werner_ (_stands in agitation gazing towards the door_).", "If it be he--I cannot move to meet him.", "Yes--it must be so--there is no such voice", "That so could sound and shake me: he is here,", "And I am--", "", " _Enter_ STRALENHEIM.", "", "_Werner_ (_turns and sees him_). A curse upon thee, stranger!", "Where dids't thou learn a tone so like my boy's?", "Thou mock bird of my hopes--a curse upon thee!", "Out! Out! I say. Thou shalt not harbour here.", "", "_Stralenheim_. What means the peasant? knows he unto whom", "He dares address this language?", "", "_Carl_. Noble Sir!", "Pray heed him not--he's Phrenzy's next door neighbour,", "And full of these strange starts and causeless jarrings.", "", "_Werner_. Oh, that long wished for voice!--I dreamed of it--", "And then it did elude me--then--and now.", "", " _Enter_ ULRIC _and_ JOSEPHA. WERNER _falls on his neck_.", "", "Oh God! forgive, for thou dids't not forget me.", "Although I murmured--tis--it is my Son!", "", "_Josepha_. Aye, 'tis dear Ulric--yet, methinks, he's changed, too:", "His cheek is tanned, his frame more firmly knit!", "That scar, too, dearest Ulric--I do fear me--", "Thou hast been battling with these heretics,", "And that's a Swedish token on thy brow.", "", "_Ulric_. My heart is glad with yours--we meet like those", "Who never would have parted:--of the past", "You shall know more anon--but, here's a guest", "That asks a gentle welcome. Noble Baron,", "My father's silence looks discourtesy:", "Yet must I plead his pardon--'tis his love", "Of a long truant that has rapt him, thus,", "From hospitable greeting--you'll be seated--", "And, Father, we will sup like famished hunters.", "", " JOSEPHA _goes out here_.", "", "_Stralenheim_. I have much need of rest: no more refreshment!", "Were all my people housed within the hamlet,", "Or can they follow?", "", "_Ulric_. Not to night I fear.", "They staid in hope the damaged Cabriole", "Might, with the dawn of day, have such repairs,", "As circumstance admits of.", "", "_Carl_. Nay--that's hopeless.", "They must not only mend but draw it too.", "The mules are drowned--a murrain on them both!", "One kicked me as I would have helped him on.", "", "_Stralenheim_. It is most irksome to me--this delay.", "I was for Prague on business of great moment.", "", "_Werner_. For Prague--Sir--Say you?--", "", "_Stralenheim_. Yes, my host! for Prague.", "And these vile floods and villainous cross roads", "Steal my time from it's uses--but--my people?", "Where do they shelter?", "", "_Ulric_. In the boatman's shed,", "Near to the ferry: you mistook the ford--", "Tis higher to the right:--their entertainment", "Will be but rough--but 'tis a single night,", "And they had best be guardians of the baggage.", "The shed will hold the weather from their sleep,", "The woodfire warm them--and, for beds, a cloak", "Is swansdown to a seasoned traveller:", "It has been mine for many a moon, and may", "Tonight, for aught it recks me.", "", "_Stralenheim_. And tomorrow", "I must be on my journey--and betimes.", "It is not more than three days travel, hence,", "To Mansfeldt Castle.", "", "_Werner and Ulric_. Mansfeldt Castle!--", "", "_Stralenheim_. Aye!", "For thither tends my progress--so, betimes,", "Mine host I would be stirring--think of that!", "And let me find my couch of rest at present.", "", "_Werner_. You shall Sir--but--to Mansfeldt!--", " [ULRIC _stops his father and says aside to him_,", " _Silence--father--_", "Whate'er it be that shakes you thus--_tread down_--", "(_To Stralenheim_) My father, Sir, was born not far from Prague,", "And knows it's environs--and, when he hears,", "The name endeared to him by native thoughts,", "He would ask of it, and it's habitants--", "You will excuse his plain blunt mode of question.", "", "_Stralenheim_. Indeed, perchance, then, he may aid my search.", "Pray, know you aught of one named Werner? who", "(But he no doubt has passed through many names),", "Lived long in Hamburgh--and has thence been traced", "Into Silesia--and not far from hence--", "But there we lost him; he who can disclose", "Aught of him, or his hiding-place, will find", "Advantage in revealing it.", "", "_Ulric_. Why so--Sir?", "", "_Stralenheim_. There are strong reasons to suspect this man", "Of crimes against the State--league with Swedes--", "And other evil acts of moment:--he", "Who shall deliver him, bound hand and foot,", "Will benefit his country and himself:", "I will reward him doubly too.", "", "_Ulric_. You know him?", "", "_Stralenheim_. He never met my eyes--but Circumstance", "Has led me to near knowledge of the man.", "He is a villain--and an enemy", "To all men--most to me! If earth contain him,", "He shall be found and fettered: I have hopes,", "By traces which tomorrow will unravel,", "A fresh clue to his lurking spot is nigh.", "", "_Carl_. And, if I find it, I will break the thread.", "What, all the world against one luckless wight!", "And he a fugitive--I would I knew him!", "", "_Ulric_. You'd help him to escape--is it not so?", "", "_Carl_. I would, indeed!", "", "_Ulric_. The greater greenhorn you!", "I would secure him--nay--I will do so.", "", "_Stralenheim_. If it be so--my gratitude for aid,", "And rescue of my life from the wild waters,", "Will double in it's strength and it's requital.", "Your father, too, perhaps can help our search?", "", "_Werner_. _I_ turn a spy--no--not for _Mansfeldt Castle_,", "And all the broad domain it frowns upon.", "", "_Stralenheim_. Mansfeldt again!--you know it then? perchance,", "You also know the story of it's lords?", "", "_Werner_. Whate'er I know, there is no bribe of thine", "Can swerve me to the crooked path thou pointest.", "The chamber's ready, which your rest demands.", "", "_Stralenheim_ (_aside_).", "'Tis strange--this peasant's tone is wondrous high,", "His air imperious--and his eye shines out", "As wont to look command with a quick glance--", "His garb befits him not--why, he may be", "The man I look for! now, I look again,", "There is the very lip--short curling lip--", "And the oerjutting eye-brow dark and large,", "And the peculiar wild variety", "Of feature, even unto the Viper's eye,", "Of that detested race, and it's descendant", "Who stands alone between me and a power,", "Which Princes gaze at with unquiet eyes!", "This is no peasant--but, whate'er he be,", "Tomorrow shall secure him and unfold.", "", "_Ulric_. It will not please you, Sir, then to remain", "With us beyond tomorrow?", "", "_Stralenheim_. Nay--I do not say so--there is no haste.", "And now I think again--I'll tarry here--", "Perhaps until the floods abate--we'll see--", "In the mean time--to my chamber--so--Good Night!", " [_Exit with_ WERNER.", "", "_Werner_. This way, Sir.", "", "_Carl_. And I to mine: pray, where are we to rest?", "We'll sup within--", "", "_Ulric_. What matter where--there's room.", "", "_Carl_. I would fain see my way through this vast ruin;", "Come take the lamp, and we'll explore together.", "", "_Josepha_ (_meeting them_). And I will with my son.", "", "_Ulric_. Nay--stay--dear mother!", "These chilly damps and the cold rush of winds", "Fling a rough paleness o'er thy delicate cheek--", "And thou seem'st lovely in thy sickliness", "Of most transparent beauty:--but it grieves me.", "Nay! tarry here by the blaze of the bright hearth:--", "I will return anon--and we have much", "To listen and impart. Come, Carl, we'll find", "Some gorgeous canopy, and, thence, unroost", "It's present bedfellows the bats--and thou", "Shalt slumber underneath a velvet cloud", "That mantles o'er the couch of some dead Countess.", " [_Exit_ CARL _and_ ULRIC.", "", "_Josepha_ (_sola_). It was my joy to see him--nothing more", "I should have said--which sent my gush of blood", "Back on my full heart with a dancing tide:", "It was my weary hope's unthought fulfilment,", "My agony of mother-feelings curdled", "At once in gathered rapture--which did change", "My cheek into the hue of fainting Nature.", "I should have answered thus--and yet I could not:", "For though 'twas true--it was not all the truth.", "I have much suffered in the thought of Werner's", "Late deep distemperature of mind and fortunes,", "Which since have almost driven him into phrenzy:--", "And though that I would soothe, not share, such passions,", "And show not how they shake me:--when alone,", "I feel them prey upon me by reflection,", "And want the very solace I bestowed;", "And which, it seems, I cannot give and have.", "Ulric must be my comforter--his father's", "Hath long been the most melancholy soul", "That ever hovered o'er the verge of Madness:", "And, better, had he leapt into it's gulph:", "Though to the Mad thoughts are realities,", "Yet they can play with sorrow--and live on.", "But with the mind of consciousness and care", "The body wears to ruin, and the struggle,", "However long, is deadly----He is lost,", "And all around him tasteless:--in his mirth", "His very laughter moves me oft to tears,", "And I have turned to hide them--for, in him,", "As Sunshine glittering o'er unburied bones----", "Soft--he is here.----", "", "_Werner_. Josepha--where is Ulric?", "", "_Josepha_. Gone with the other stranger to gaze o'er", "These shattered corridors, and spread themselves", "A pillow with their mantles, in the least ruinous:", "I must replenish the diminished hearth", "In the inner chamber--the repast is ready,", "And Ulric will be here again.--" ], "linecount": "505" }, { "title": "The Deformed Transformed:", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "PART I.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Forest_.", "", " _Enter_ ARNOLD _and his mother_ BERTHA.", "", "_Bert._ Out, Hunchback!", "", "_Arn._ I was born so, Mother!", "", "_Bert._ Out,", "Thou incubus! Thou nightmare! Of seven sons,", "The sole abortion!", "", "_Arn._ Would that I had been so,", "And never seen the light!", "", "_Bert._ I would so, too!", "But as thou _hast_--hence, hence--and do thy best!", "That back of thine may bear its burthen; 'tis", "More high, if not so broad as that of others.", "", "_Arn._ It _bears_ its burthen;--but, my heart! Will it", "Sustain that which you lay upon it, Mother?", "I love, or, at the least, I loved you: nothing", "Save You, in nature, can love aught like me.", "You nursed me--do not kill me!", "", "_Bert._ Yes--I nursed thee,", "Because thou wert my first-born, and I knew not", "If there would be another unlike thee,", "That monstrous sport of Nature. But get hence,", "And gather wood!", "", "_Arn._ I will: but when I bring it,", "Speak to me kindly. Though my brothers are", "So beautiful and lusty, and as free", "As the free chase they follow, do not spurn me:", "Our milk has been the same.", "", "_Bert._ As is the hedgehog's,", "Which sucks at midnight from the wholesome dam", "Of the young bull, until the milkmaid finds", "The nipple, next day, sore, and udder dry.", "Call not thy brothers brethren! Call me not", "Mother; for if I brought thee forth, it was", "As foolish hens at times hatch vipers, by", "Sitting upon strange eggs. Out, urchin, out!", " [_Exit_ BERTHA.", "", "_Arn._ (_solus_). Oh, mother!--She is gone, and I must do", "Her bidding;--wearily but willingly", "I would fulfil it, could I only hope", "A kind word in return. What shall I do?", "", " [_ARNOLD begins to cut wood: in doing this", " he wounds one of his hands_.", "", "My labour for the day is over now.", "Accursed be this blood that flows so fast;", "For double curses will be my meed now", "At home--What home? I have no home, no kin,", "No kind--not made like other creatures, or", "To share their sports or pleasures. Must I bleed, too,", "Like them? Oh, that each drop which falls to earth", "Would rise a snake to sting them, as they have stung me!", "Or that the Devil, to whom they liken me,", "Would aid his likeness! If I must partake", "His form, why not his power? Is it because", "I have not his will too? For one kind word", "From her who bore me would still reconcile me", "Even to this hateful aspect. Let me wash", "The wound.", "", " [ARNOLD _goes to a spring, and stoops to wash", " his hand: he starts back_.", "", "They are right; and Nature's mirror shows me,", "What she hath made me. I will not look on it", "Again, and scarce dare think on't. Hideous wretch", "That I am! The very waters mock me with", "My horrid shadow--like a demon placed", "Deep in the fountain to scare back the cattle", "From drinking therein. [_He pauses_.", " And shall I live on,", "A burden to the earth, myself, and shame", "Unto what brought me into life? Thou blood,", "Which flowest so freely from a scratch, let me", "Try if thou wilt not, in a fuller stream,", "Pour forth my woes for ever with thyself", "On earth, to which I will restore, at once,", "This hateful compound of her atoms, and", "Resolve back to her elements, and take", "The shape of any reptile save myself,", "And make a world for myriads of new worms!", "This knife! now let me prove if it will sever", "This withered slip of Nature's nightshade--my", "Vile form--from the creation, as it hath", "The green bough from the forest.", "", " [ARNOLD _places the knife in the ground, with", " the point upwards_.", "", " Now 'tis set,", "And I can fall upon it. Yet one glance", "On the fair day, which sees no foul thing like", "Myself, and the sweet sun which warmed me, but", "In vain. The birds--how joyously they sing!", "So let them, for I would not be lamented:", "But let their merriest notes be Arnold's knell;", "The fallen leaves my monument; the murmur", "Of the near fountain my sole elegy.", "Now, knife, stand firmly, as I fain would fall!", "", " [_As he rushes to throw himself upon the knife,", " his eye is suddenly caught by the fountain,", " which seems in motion_.", "", "The fountain moves without a wind: but shall", "The ripple of a spring change my resolve?", "No. Yet it moves again! The waters stir,", "Not as with air, but by some subterrane", "And rocking Power of the internal world.", "What's here? A mist! No more?--", "", " [_A cloud comes from the fountain. He stands gazing", " upon it: it is dispelled, and a tall black", " man comes towards him_.", "", "_Arn._ What would you? Speak!", "Spirit or man?", "", "_Stran._ As man is both, why not", "Say both in one?", "", "_Arn._ Your form is man's, and yet", "You may be devil.", "", "_Stran._ So many men are that", "Which is so called or thought, that you may add me", "To which you please, without much wrong to either.", "But come: you wish to kill yourself;--pursue", "Your purpose.", "", "_Arn._ You have interrupted me.", "", "_Stran._ What is that resolution which can e'er", "Be interrupted? If I be the devil", "You deem, a single moment would have made you", "Mine, and for ever, by your suicide;", "And yet my coming saves you.", "", "_Arn._ I said not", "You _were_ the Demon, but that your approach", "Was like one.", "", "_Stran._ Unless you keep company", "With him (and you seem scarce used to such high", "Society) you can't tell how he approaches;", "And for his aspect, look upon the fountain,", "And then on me, and judge which of us twain", "Looks likest what the boors believe to be", "Their cloven-footed terror.", "", "_Arn._ Do you--dare _you_", "To taunt me with my born deformity?", "", "_Stran._ Were I to taunt a buffalo with this", "Cloven foot of thine, or the swift dromedary", "With thy Sublime of Humps, the animals", "Would revel in the compliment. And yet", "Both beings are more swift, more strong, more mighty", "In action and endurance than thyself,", "And all the fierce and fair of the same kind", "With thee. Thy form is natural: 'twas only", "Nature's mistaken largess to bestow", "The gifts which are of others upon man.", "", "_Arn._ Give me the strength then of the buffalo's foot,", "When he spurns high the dust, beholding his", "Near enemy; or let me have the long", "And patient swiftness of the desert-ship,", "The helmless dromedary!--and I'll bear", "Thy fiendish sarcasm with a saintly patience.", "", "_Stran._ I will.", "", "_Arn._ (_with surprise_). Thou _canst?_", "", "_Stran._ Perhaps. Would you aught else?", "", "_Arn._ Thou mockest me.", "", "_Stran._ Not I. Why should I mock", "What all are mocking? That's poor sport, methinks.", "To talk to thee in human language (for", "Thou canst not yet speak mine), the forester", "Hunts not the wretched coney, but the boar,", "Or wolf, or lion--leaving paltry game", "To petty burghers, who leave once a year", "Their walls, to fill their household cauldrons with", "Such scullion prey. The meanest gibe at thee,--", "Now _I_ can mock the mightiest.", "", "_Arn._ Then waste not", "Thy time on me: I seek thee not.", "", "_Stran._ Your thoughts", "Are not far from me. Do not send me back:", "I'm not so easily recalled to do", "Good service.", "", "_Arn._ What wilt thou do for me?", "", "_Stran._ Change", "Shapes with you, if you will, since yours so irks you;", "Or form you to your wish in any shape.", "", "_Arn._ Oh! then you are indeed the Demon, for", "Nought else would wittingly wear mine.", "", "_Stran._ I'll show thee", "The brightest which the world e'er bore, and give thee", "Thy choice.", "", "_Arn._ On what condition?", "", "_Stran._ There's a question!", "An hour ago you would have given your soul", "To look like other men, and now you pause", "To wear the form of heroes.", "", "_Arn._ No; I will not.", "I must not compromise my soul.", "", "_Stran._ What soul,", "Worth naming so, would dwell in such a carcase?", "", "_Arn._ 'Tis an aspiring one, whate'er the tenement", "In which it is mislodged. But name your compact:", "Must it be signed in blood?", "", "_Stran._ Not in your own.", "", "_Arn._ Whose blood then?", "", "_Stran._ We will talk of that hereafter.", "But I'll be moderate with you, for I see", "Great things within you. You shall have no bond", "But your own will, no contract save your deeds.", "Are you content?", "", "_Arn._ I take thee at thy word.", "", "_Stran._ Now then!--", " [_The Stranger approaches the fountain, and turns to_ ARNOLD.", "", " A little of your blood.", "", "_Arn._ For what?", "", "_Stran._ To mingle with the magic of the waters,", "And make the charm effective.", "", "_Arn._ (_holding out his wounded arm_). Take it all.", "", "_Stran._ Not now. A few drops will suffice for this.", "", " [_The Stranger takes some of_ ARNOLD'S _blood in his", " hand, and casts it into the fountain_.", "", "Shadows of Beauty!", " Shadows of Power!", "Rise to your duty--", " This is the hour!", "Walk lovely and pliant", " From the depth of this fountain,", "As the cloud-shapen giant", " Bestrides the Hartz Mountain.", "Come as ye were,", " That our eyes may behold", "The model in air", " Of the form I will mould,", "Bright as the Iris", " When ether is spanned;--", "Such _his_ desire is, [_Pointing to_ ARNOLD.", " Such _my_ command!", "Demons heroic--", " Demons who wore", "The form of the Stoic", " Or sophist of yore--", "Or the shape of each victor--", " From Macedon's boy,", "To each high Roman's picture,", " Who breathed to destroy--", "Shadows of Beauty!", " Shadows of Power!", "Up to your duty--", " This is the hour!", "", " [_Various phantoms arise from the waters, and pass", " in succession before the Stranger and_ ARNOLD.", "", "_Arn._ What do I see?", "", "_Stran._ The black-eyed Roman, with", "The eagle's beak between those eyes which ne'er", "Beheld a conqueror, or looked along", "The land he made not Rome's, while Rome became", "His, and all theirs who heired his very name.", "", "_Arn._ The phantom's bald; _my_ quest is beauty. Could I", "Inherit but his fame with his defects!", "", "_Stran._ His brow was girt with laurels more than hairs.", "You see his aspect--choose it, or reject.", "I can but promise you his form; his fame", "Must be long sought and fought for.", "", "_Arn._ I will fight, too,", "But not as a mock Cæsar. Let him pass:", "His aspect may be fair, but suits me not.", "", "_Stran._ Then you are far more difficult to please", "Than Cato's sister, or than Brutus's mother,", "Or Cleopatra at sixteen--an age", "When love is not less in the eye than heart.", "But be it so! Shadow, pass on!", " [_The phantom of Julius Cæsar disappears_.", "", "_Arn._ And can it", "Be, that the man who shook the earth is gone,", "And left no footstep?", "", "_Stran._ There you err. His substance", "Left graves enough, and woes enough, and fame", "More than enough to track his memory;", "But for his shadow--'tis no more than yours,", "Except a little longer and less crooked", "I' the sun. Behold another! [_A second phantom passes_.", "", "_Arn._ Who is he?", "", "_Stran._ He was the fairest and the bravest of", "Athenians. Look upon him well.", "", "_Arn._ He is", "More lovely than the last. How beautiful!", "", "_Stran._ Such was the curled son of Clinias;--wouldst thou", "Invest thee with his form?", "", "_Arn._ Would that I had", "Been born with it! But since I may choose further,", "I will _look_ further. [_The shade of Alcibiades disappears_.", "", "_Stran._ Lo! behold again!", "", "_Arn._ What! that low, swarthy, short-nosed, round-eyed satyr,", "With the wide nostrils and Silenus' aspect,", "The splay feet and low stature! I had better", "Remain that which I am.", "", "_Stran._ And yet he was", "The earth's perfection of all mental beauty,", "And personification of all virtue.", "But you reject him?", "", "_Arn._ If his form could bring me", "That which redeemed it--no.", "", "_Stran._ I have no power", "To promise that; but you may try, and find it", "Easier in such a form--or in your own.", "", "_Arn._ No. I was not born for philosophy,", "Though I have that about me which has need on't.", "Let him fleet on.", "", "_Stran._ Be air, thou Hemlock-drinker!", " [_The shadow of Socrates disappears: another rises_.", "", "_Arn._ What's here? whose broad brow and whose curly beard", "And manly aspect look like Hercules,", "Save that his jocund eye hath more of Bacchus", "Than the sad purger of the infernal world,", "Leaning dejected on his club of conquest,", "As if he knew the worthlessness of those", "For whom he had fought.", "", "_Stran._ It was the man who lost", "The ancient world for love.", "", "_Arn._ I cannot blame him,", "Since I have risked my soul because I find not", "That which he exchanged the earth for.", "", "_Stran._ Since so far", "You seem congenial, will you wear his features?", "", "_Arn._ No. As you leave me choice, I am difficult.", "If but to see the heroes I should ne'er", "Have seen else, on this side of the dim shore,", "Whence they float back before us.", "", "_Stran._ Hence, Triumvir,", "Thy Cleopatra's waiting.", " [_The shade of Antony disappears: another rises_.", "", "_Arn._ Who is this?", "Who truly looketh like a demigod,", "Blooming and bright, with golden hair, and stature,", "If not more high than mortal, yet immortal", "In all that nameless bearing of his limbs,", "Which he wears as the Sun his rays--a something", "Which shines from him, and yet is but the flashing", "Emanation of a thing more glorious still.", "Was _he e'er human only?_", "", "_Stran._ Let the earth speak,", "If there be atoms of him left, or even", "Of the more solid gold that formed his urn.", "", "_Arn._ Who was this glory of mankind?", "", "_Stran._ The shame", "Of Greece in peace, her thunderbolt in war--", "Demetrius the Macedonian, and", "Taker of cities.", "", "_Arn._ Yet one shadow more.", "", "_Stran._ (_addressing the shadow_). Get thee to Lamia's lap!", " [_The shade of Demetrius Poliorcetes vanishes: another rises_.", " I'll fit you still,", "Fear not, my Hunchback: if the shadows of", "That which existed please not your nice taste,", "I'll animate the ideal marble, till", "Your soul be reconciled to her new garment", "", "_Arn._ Content! I will fix here.", "", "_Stran._ I must commend", "Your choice. The godlike son of the sea-goddess,", "The unshorn boy of Peleus, with his locks", "As beautiful and clear as the amber waves", "Of rich Pactolus, rolled o'er sands of gold,", "Softened by intervening crystal, and", "Rippled like flowing waters by the wind,", "All vowed to Sperchius as they were--behold them!", "And _him_--as he stood by Polixena,", "With sanctioned and with softened love, before", "The altar, gazing on his Trojan bride,", "With some remorse within for Hector slain", "And Priam weeping, mingled with deep passion", "For the sweet downcast virgin, whose young hand", "Trembled in _his_ who slew her brother. So", "He stood i' the temple! Look upon him as", "Greece looked her last upon her best, the instant", "Ere Paris' arrow flew.", "", "_Arn._ I gaze upon him", "As if I were his soul, whose form shall soon", "Envelope mine.", "", "_Stran._ You have done well. The greatest", "Deformity should only barter with", "The extremest beauty--if the proverb's true", "Of mortals, that Extremes meet.", "", "_Arn._ Come! Be quick!", "I am impatient.", "", "_Stran._ As a youthful beauty", "Before her glass. _You both_ see what is not,", "But dream it is what must be.", "", "_Arn._ Must I wait?", "", "_Stran._ No; that were a pity. But a word or two:", "His stature is twelve cubits; would you so far", "Outstep these times, and be a Titan? Or", "(To talk canonically) wax a son", "Of Anak?", "", "_Arn._ Why not?", "", "_Stran._ Glorious ambition!", "I love thee most in dwarfs! A mortal of", "Philistine stature would have gladly pared", "His own Goliath down to a slight David:", "But thou, my manikin, wouldst soar a show", "Rather than hero. Thou shalt be indulged,", "If such be thy desire; and, yet, by being", "A little less removed from present men", "In figure, thou canst sway them more; for all", "Would rise against thee now, as if to hunt", "A new-found Mammoth; and their curséd engines,", "Their culverins, and so forth, would find way", "Through our friend's armour there, with greater ease", "Than the Adulterer's arrow through his heel", "Which Thetis had forgotten to baptize", "In Styx.", "", "_Arn._ Then let it be as thou deem'st best.", "", "_Stran._ Thou shalt be beauteous as the thing thou seest,", "And strong as what it was, and----", "", "_Arn._ I ask not", "For Valour, since Deformity is daring.", "It is its essence to o'ertake mankind", "By heart and soul, and make itself the equal--", "Aye, the superior of the rest. There is", "A spur in its halt movements, to become", "All that the others cannot, in such things", "As still are free to both, to compensate", "For stepdame Nature's avarice at first.", "They woo with fearless deeds the smiles of fortune,", "And oft, like Timour the lame Tartar, win them.", "", "_Stran._ Well spoken! And thou doubtless wilt remain", "Formed as thou art. I may dismiss the mould", "Of shadow, which must turn to flesh, to incase", "This daring soul, which could achieve no less", "Without it.", "", "_Arn._ Had no power presented me", "The possibility of change, I would", "Have done the best which spirit may to make", "Its way with all Deformity's dull, deadly,", "Discouraging weight upon me, like a mountain,", "In feeling, on my heart as on my shoulders--", "A hateful and unsightly molehill to", "The eyes of happier men. I would have looked", "On Beauty in that sex which is the type", "Of all we know or dream of beautiful,", "Beyond the world they brighten, with a sigh--", "Not of love, but despair; nor sought to win,", "Though to a heart all love, what could not love me", "In turn, because of this vile crookéd clog,", "Which makes me lonely. Nay, I could have borne", "It all, had not my mother spurned me from her.", "The she-bear licks her cubs into a sort", "Of shape;--my Dam beheld my shape was hopeless.", "Had she exposed me, like the Spartan, ere", "I knew the passionate part of life, I had", "Been a clod of the valley,--happier nothing", "Than what I am. But even thus--the lowest,", "Ugliest, and meanest of mankind--what courage", "And perseverance could have done, perchance", "Had made me something--as it has made heroes", "Of the same mould as mine. You lately saw me", "Master of my own life, and quick to quit it;", "And he who is so is the master of", "Whatever dreads to die.", "", "_Stran._ Decide between", "What you have been, or will be.", "", "_Arn._ I have done so.", "You have opened brighter prospects to my eyes,", "And sweeter to my heart. As I am now,", "I might be feared--admired--respected--loved", "Of all save those next to me, of whom I", "Would be belovéd. As thou showest me", "A choice of forms, I take the one I view.", "Haste! haste!", "", "_Stran._ And what shall _I_ wear?", "", "_Arn._ Surely, he", "Who can command all forms will choose the highest,", "Something superior even to that which was", "Pelides now before us. Perhaps _his_", "Who slew him, that of Paris: or--still higher--", "The Poet's God, clothed in such limbs as are", "Themselves a poetry.", "", "_Stran._ Less will content me;", "For I, too, love a change.", "", "_Arn._ Your aspect is", "Dusky, but not uncomely.", "", "_Stran._ If I chose,", "I might be whiter; but I have a _penchant_", "For black--it is so honest, and, besides,", "Can neither blush with shame nor pale with fear;", "But I have worn it long enough of late,", "And now I'll take your figure.", "", "_Arn._ Mine!", "", "_Stran._ Yes. You", "Shall change with Thetis' son, and I with Bertha,", "Your mother's offspring. People have their tastes;", "You have yours--I mine.", "", "_Arn._ Despatch! despatch!", "", "_Stran._ Even so.", "", " [_The Stranger takes some earth and moulds it", " along the turf, and then addresses", " the phantom of Achilles_.", "", "Beautiful shadow", " Of Thetis's boy!", "Who sleeps in the meadow", " Whose grass grows o'er Troy:", "From the red earth, like Adam,", " Thy likeness I shape,", "As the Being who made him,", " Whose actions I ape.", "Thou Clay, be all glowing,", " Till the Rose in his cheek", "Be as fair as, when blowing,", " It wears its first streak!", "Ye Violets, I scatter,", " Now turn into eyes!", "And thou, sunshiny Water,", " Of blood take the guise!", "Let these Hyacinth boughs", " Be his long flowing hair,", "And wave o'er his brows,", " As thou wavest in air!", "Let his heart be this marble", " I tear from the rock!", "But his voice as the warble", " Of birds on yon oak!", "Let his flesh be the purest", " Of mould, in which grew", "The Lily-root surest,", " And drank the best dew!", "Let his limbs be the lightest", " Which clay can compound,", "And his aspect the brightest", " On earth to be found!", "Elements, near me,", " Be mingled and stirred,", "Know me, and hear me,", " And leap to my word!", "Sunbeams, awaken", " This earth's animation!", "'Tis done! He hath taken", " His stand in creation!", "", " [ARNOLD _falls senseless; his soul passes into the shape", " of Achilles, which rises from the ground; while", " the phantom has disappeared, part by part,", " as the figure was formed from the earth_.", "", "_Arn._ (_in his new form_). I love, and I shall be beloved! Oh, life!", "At last I feel thee! Glorious Spirit!", "", "_Stran._ Stop!", "What shall become of your abandoned garment,", "Yon hump, and lump, and clod of ugliness,", "Which late you wore, or were?", "", "_Arn._ Who cares? Let wolves", "And vultures take it, if they will.", "", "_Stran._ And if", "They do, and are not scared by it, you'll say", "It must be peace-time, and no better fare", "Abroad i' the fields.", "", "_Arn._ Let us but leave it there;", "No matter what becomes on't.", "", "_Stran._ That's ungracious;", "If not ungrateful. Whatsoe'er it be,", "It hath sustained your soul full many a day.", "", "_Arn._ Aye, as the dunghill may conceal a gem", "Which is now set in gold, as jewels should be.", "", "_Stran._ But if I give another form, it must be", "By fair exchange, not robbery. For they", "Who make men without women's aid have long", "Had patents for the same, and do not love", "Your Interlopers. The Devil may take men,", "Not make them,--though he reap the benefit", "Of the original workmanship:--and therefore", "Some one must be found to assume the shape", "You have quitted.", "", "_Arn._ Who would do so?", "", "_Stran._ That I know not,", "And therefore I must.", "", "_Arn._ You!", "", "_Stran._ I said it ere", "You inhabited your present dome of beauty.", "", "_Arn._ True. I forget all things in the new joy", "Of this immortal change.", "", "_Stran._ In a few moments", "I will be as you were, and you shall see", "Yourself for ever by you, as your shadow.", "", "_Arn._ I would be spared this.", "", "_Stran._ But it cannot be.", "What! shrink already, being what you are,", "From seeing what you were?", "", "_Arn._ Do as thou wilt.", "", "_Stran._ (_to the late form of_ ARNOLD, _extended on the earth_).", " Clay! not dead, but soul-less!", " Though no man would choose thee,", " An Immortal no less", " Deigns not to refuse thee.", " Clay thou art; and unto spirit", " All clay is of equal merit.", " Fire! _without_ which nought can live;", " Fire! but _in_ which nought can live,", " Save the fabled salamander,", " Or immortal souls, which wander,", " Praying what doth not forgive,", " Howling for a drop of water,", " Burning in a quenchless lot:", " Fire! the only element", " Where nor fish, beast, bird, nor worm,", " Save the Worm which dieth not,", " Can preserve a moment's form,", " But must with thyself be blent:", " Fire! man's safeguard and his slaughter:", " Fire! Creation's first-born Daughter,", " And Destruction's threatened Son,", " When Heaven with the world hath done:", " Fire! assist me to renew", " Life in what lies in my view", " Stiff and cold!", " His resurrection rests with me and you!", " One little, marshy spark of flame--", " And he again shall seem the same;", " But I his Spirit's place shall hold!", "", " [_An ignis-fatuus flits through the wood and rests", " on the brow of the body. The Stranger", " disappears: the body rises_.", "", "_Arn._ (_in his new form_). Oh! horrible!", "", "_Stran._ (_in_ ARNOLD'S _late shape_). What! tremblest thou?", "", "_Arn._ Not so--", "I merely shudder. Where is fled the shape", "Thou lately worest?", "", "_Stran._ To the world of shadows.", "But let us thread the present. Whither wilt thou?", "", "_Arn._ Must thou be my companion?", "", "_Stran._ Wherefore not?", "Your betters keep worse company.", "", "_Arn._ _My_ betters!", "", "_Stran._ Oh! you wax proud, I see, of your new form:", "I'm glad of that. Ungrateful too! That's well;", "You improve apace;--two changes in an instant,", "And you are old in the World's ways already.", "But bear with me: indeed you'll find me useful", "Upon your pilgrimage. But come, pronounce", "Where shall we now be errant?", "", "_Arn._ Where the World", "Is thickest, that I may behold it in", "Its workings.", "", "_Stran._ That's to say, where there is War", "And Woman in activity. Let's see!", "Spain--Italy--the new Atlantic world--", "Afric with all its Moors. In very truth,", "There is small choice: the whole race are just now", "Tugging as usual at each other's hearts.", "", "_Arn._ I have heard great things of Rome.", "", "_Stran._ A goodly choice--", "And scarce a better to be found on earth,", "Since Sodom was put out. The field is wide too;", "For now the Frank, and Hun, and Spanish scion", "Of the old Vandals, are at play along", "The sunny shores of the World's garden.", "", "_Arn._ How", "Shall we proceed?", "", "_Stran._ Like gallants, on good coursers.", "What, ho! my chargers! Never yet were better,", "Since Phaeton was upset into the Po.", "Our pages too!", "", " _Enter two Pages, with four coal-black horses_.", "", "_Arn._ A noble sight!", "", "_Stran._ And of", "A nobler breed. Match me in Barbary,", "Or your Kochlini race of Araby,", "With these!", "", "_Arn._ The mighty steam, which volumes high", "From their proud nostrils, burns the very air;", "And sparks of flame, like dancing fire-flies wheel", "Around their manes, as common insects swarm", "Round common steeds towards sunset.", "", "_Stran._ Mount, my lord:", "They and I are your servitors.", "", "_Arn._ And these", "Our dark-eyed pages--what may be their names?", "", "_Stran._ You shall baptize them.", "", "_Arn._ What! in holy water?", "", "_Stran._ Why not? The deeper sinner, better saint.", "", "_Arn._ They are beautiful, and cannot, sure, be demons.", "", "_Stran._ True; the devil's always ugly: and your beauty", "Is never diabolical.", "", "_Arn._ I'll call him", "Who bears the golden horn, and wears such bright", "And blooming aspect, _Huon_; for he looks", "Like to the lovely boy lost in the forest,", "And never found till now. And for the other", "And darker, and more thoughtful, who smiles not,", "But looks as serious though serene as night,", "He shall be _Memnon_, from the Ethiop king", "Whose statue turns a harper once a day.", "And you?", "", "_Stran._ I have ten thousand names, and twice", "As many attributes; but as I wear", "A human shape, will take a human name.", "", "_Arn._ More human than the shape (though it was mine once)", "I trust.", "", "_Stran._ Then call me Cæsar.", "", "_Arn._ Why, that name", "Belongs to Empire, and has been but borne", "By the World's lords.", "", "_Stran._ And therefore fittest for", "The Devil in disguise--since so you deem me,", "Unless you call me Pope instead.", "", "_Arn._ Well, then,", "Cæsar thou shalt be. For myself, my name", "Shall be plain Arnold still.", "", "_Cæs._ We'll add a title--", "\"Count Arnold:\" it hath no ungracious sound,", "And will look well upon a billet-doux.", "", "_Arn._ Or in an order for a battle-field.", "", "_Cæs._ (_sings_).", " To horse! to horse! my coal-black steed", " Paws the ground and snuffs the air!", " There's not a foal of Arab's breed", " More knows whom he must bear;", " On the hill he will not tire,", " Swifter as it waxes higher;", " In the marsh he will not slacken,", " On the plain be overtaken;", " In the wave he will not sink,", " Nor pause at the brook's side to drink;", " In the race he will not pant,", " In the combat he'll not faint;", " On the stones he will not stumble,", " Time nor toil shall make him humble;", " In the stall he will not stiffen,", " But be wingèd as a Griffin,", " Only flying with his feet:", " And will not such a voyage be sweet?", " Merrily! merrily! never unsound,", " Shall our bonny black horses skim over the ground!", " From the Alps to the Caucasus, ride we, or fly!", " For we'll leave them behind in the glance of an eye.", " [_They mount their horses, and disappear_.", "", "SCENE II.--_A Camp before the walls of Rome_.", "", " ARNOLD _and_ CÆSAR.", "", "_Cæs._ You are well entered now.", "", "_Arn._ Aye; but my path", "Has been o'er carcasses: mine eyes are full", "Of blood.", "", "_Cæs._ Then wipe them, and see clearly. Why!", "Thou art a conqueror; the chosen knight", "And free companion of the gallant Bourbon,", "Late constable of France; and now to be", "Lord of the city which hath been Earth's Lord", "Under its emperors, and--changing sex,", "Not sceptre, an Hermaphrodite of Empire--", "_Lady_ of the old world.", "", "_Arn._ How _old?_ What! are there", "_New_ worlds?", "", "_Cæs._ To _you_. You'll find there are such shortly,", "By its rich harvests, new disease, and gold;", "From one _half_ of the world named a _whole_ new one,", "Because you know no better than the dull", "And dubious notice of your eyes and ears.", "", "_Arn._ I'll trust them.", "", "_Cæs._ Do! They will deceive you sweetly,", "And that is better than the bitter truth.", "", "_Arn._ Dog!", "", "_Cæs._ Man!", "", "_Arn._ Devil!", "", "_Cæs._ Your obedient humble servant.", "", "_Arn._ Say _master_ rather. Thou hast lured me on,", "Through scenes of blood and lust, till I am here.", "", "_Cæs._ And where wouldst thou be?", "", "_Arn._ Oh, _at_ peace--_in_ peace!", "", "_Cæs._ And where is that which is so? From the star", "To the winding worm, all life is motion; and", "In life _commotion_ is the extremest point", "Of life. The planet wheels till it becomes", "A comet, and destroying as it sweeps", "The stars, goes out. The poor worm winds its way,", "Living upon the death of other things,", "But still, like them, must live and die, the subject", "Of something which has made it live and die.", "You must obey what all obey, the rule", "Of fixed Necessity: against her edict", "Rebellion prospers not.", "", "_Arn._ And when it prospers----", "", "_Cæs._ 'Tis no rebellion.", "", "_Arn._ Will it prosper now?", "", "_Cæs._ The Bourbon hath given orders for the assault,", "And by the dawn there will be work.", "", "_Arn._ Alas!", "And shall the city yield? I see the giant", "Abode of the true God, and his true saint,", "Saint Peter, rear its dome and cross into", "That sky whence Christ ascended from the cross,", "Which his blood made a badge of glory and", "Of joy (as once of torture unto him),--", "God and God's Son, man's sole and only refuge!", "", "_Cæs._ 'Tis there, and shall be.", "", "_Arn._ What?", "", "_Cæs._ The Crucifix", "Above, and many altar shrines below.", "Also some culverins upon the walls,", "And harquebusses, and what not; besides", "The men who are to kindle them to death", "Of other men.", "", "_Arn._ And those scarce mortal arches,", "Pile above pile of everlasting wall,", "The theatre where Emperors and their subjects", "(Those subjects _Romans_) stood at gaze upon", "The battles of the monarchs of the wild", "And wood--the lion and his tusky rebels", "Of the then untamed desert, brought to joust", "In the arena--as right well they might,", "When they had left no human foe unconquered--", "Made even the forest pay its tribute of", "Life to their amphitheatre, as well", "As Dacia men to die the eternal death", "For a sole instant's pastime, and \"Pass on", "To a new gladiator!\"--Must it fall?", "", "_Cæs._ The city, or the amphitheatre?", "The church, or one, or all? for you confound", "Both them and me.", "", "_Arn._ To-morrow sounds the assault", "With the first cock-crow.", "", "_Cæs._ Which, if it end with", "The evening's first nightingale, will be", "Something new in the annals of great sieges;", "For men must have their prey after long toil.", "", "_Arn._ The sun goes down as calmly, and perhaps", "More beautifully, than he did on Rome", "On the day Remus leapt her wall.", "", "_Cæs._ I saw him.", "", "_Arn._ You!", "", "_Cæs._ Yes, Sir! You forget I am or was", "Spirit, till I took up with your cast shape,", "And a worse name. I'm Cæsar and a hunch-back", "Now. Well! the first of Cæsars was a bald-head,", "And loved his laurels better as a wig", "(So history says) than as a glory. Thus", "The world runs on, but we'll be merry still.", "I saw your Romulus (simple as I am)", "Slay his own twin, quick-born of the same womb,", "Because he leapt a ditch ('twas then no wall,", "Whate'er it now be); and Rome's earliest cement", "Was brother's blood; and if its native blood", "Be spilt till the choked Tiber be as red", "As e'er 'twas yellow, it will never wear", "The deep hue of the Ocean and the Earth,", "Which the great robber sons of fratricide", "Have made their never-ceasing scene of slaughter,", "For ages.", "", "_Arn._ But what have these done, their far", "Remote descendants, who have lived in peace,", "The peace of Heaven, and in her sunshine of", "Piety?", "", "_Cæs._ And what had _they_ done, whom the old", "Romans o'erswept?--Hark!", "", "_Arn._ They are soldiers singing", "A reckless roundelay, upon the eve", "Of many deaths, it may be of their own.", "", "_Cæs._ And why should they not sing as well as swans?", "They are black ones, to be sure.", "", "_Arn._ So, you are learned,", "I see, too?", "", "_Cæs._ In my grammar, certes. I", "Was educated for a monk of all times,", "And once I was well versed in the forgotten", "Etruscan letters, and--were I so minded--", "Could make their hieroglyphics plainer than", "Your alphabet.", "", "_Arn._ And wherefore do you not?", "", "_Cæs._ It answers better to resolve the alphabet", "Back into hieroglyphics. Like your statesman,", "And prophet, pontiff, doctor, alchymist,", "Philosopher, and what not, they have built", "More Babels, without new dispersion, than", "The stammering young ones of the flood's dull ooze,", "Who failed and fled each other. Why? why, marry,", "Because no man could understand his neighbour.", "They are wiser now, and will not separate", "For nonsense. Nay, it is their brotherhood,", "Their Shibboleth--their Koran--Talmud--their", "Cabala--their best brick-work, wherewithal", "They build more----", "", "_Arn._ (_interrupting him_). Oh, thou everlasting sneerer!", "Be silent! How the soldier's rough strain seems", "Softened by distance to a hymn-like cadence!", "Listen!", "", "_Cæs._ Yes. I have heard the angels sing.", "", "_Arn._ And demons howl.", "", "_Cæs._ And man, too. Let us listen:", "I love all music.", "", " _Song of the Soldiers within_.", "", " The black bands came over", " The Alps and their snow;", " With Bourbon, the rover,", " They passed the broad Po.", " We have beaten all foemen,", " We have captured a King,", " We have turned back on no men,", " And so let us sing!", " Here's the Bourbon for ever!", " Though penniless all,", " We'll have one more endeavour", " At yonder old wall.", " With the Bourbon we'll gather", " At day-dawn before", " The gates, and together", " Or break or climb o'er", " The wall: on the ladder,", " As mounts each firm foot,", " Our shout shall grow gladder,", " And Death only be mute.", " With the Bourbon we'll mount o'er", " The walls of old Rome,", " And who then shall count o'er", " The spoils of each dome?", " Up! up with the Lily!", " And down with the Keys!", " In old Rome, the seven-hilly,", " We'll revel at ease.", " Her streets shall be gory,", " Her Tiber all red,", " And her temples so hoary", " Shall clang with our tread.", " Oh, the Bourbon! the Bourbon!", " The Bourbon for aye!", " Of our song bear the burden!", " And fire, fire away!", " With Spain for the vanguard,", " Our varied host comes;", " And next to the Spaniard", " Beat Germany's drums;", " And Italy's lances", " Are couched at their mother;", " But our leader from France is,", " Who warred with his brother.", " Oh, the Bourbon! the Bourbon!", " Sans country or home,", " We'll follow the Bourbon,", " To plunder old Rome.", "", "_Cæs._ An indifferent song", "For those within the walls, methinks, to hear.", "", "_Arn._ Yes, if they keep to their chorus. But here comes", "The general with his chiefs and men of trust.", "A goodly rebel.", "", " _Enter the Constable_ BOURBON _\"cum suis,\" etc., etc._", "", "_Phil._ How now, noble Prince,", "You are not cheerful?", "", "_Bourb._ Why should I be so?", "", "_Phil._ Upon the eve of conquest, such as ours,", "Most men would be so.", "", "_Bourb._ If I were secure!", "", "_Phil._ Doubt not our soldiers. Were the walls of adamant,", "They'd crack them. Hunger is a sharp artillery.", "", "_Bourb._ That they will falter is my least of fears.", "That they will be repulsed, with Bourbon for", "Their chief, and all their kindled appetites", "To marshal them on--were those hoary walls", "Mountains, and those who guard them like the gods", "Of the old fables, I would trust my Titans;--", "But now----", "", "_Phil._ They are but men who war with mortals.", "", "_Bourb._ True: but those walls have girded in great ages,", "And sent forth mighty spirits. The past earth", "And present phantom of imperious Rome", "Is peopled with those warriors; and methinks", "They flit along the eternal City's rampart,", "And stretch their glorious, gory, shadowy hands,", "And beckon me away!", "", "_Phil._ So let them! Wilt thou", "Turn back from shadowy menaces of shadows?", "", "_Bourb._ They do not menace me. I could have faced,", "Methinks, a Sylla's menace; but they clasp,", "And raise, and wring their dim and deathlike hands,", "And with their thin aspen faces and fixed eyes", "Fascinate mine. Look there!", "", "_Phil._ I look upon", "A lofty battlement.", "", "_Bourb._ And there!", "", "_Phil._ Not even", "A guard in sight; they wisely keep below,", "Sheltered by the grey parapet from some", "Stray bullet of our lansquenets, who might", "Practise in the cool twilight.", "", "_Bourb._ You are blind.", "", "_Phil._ If seeing nothing more than may be seen", "Be so.", "", "_Bourb._ A thousand years have manned the walls", "With all their heroes,--the last Cato stands", "And tears his bowels, rather than survive", "The liberty of that I would enslave.", "And the first Cassar with his triumphs flits", "From battlement to battlement.", "", "_Phil._ Then conquer", "The walls for which he conquered and be greater!", "", "_Bourb._ True: so I will, or perish.", "", "_Phil._ You can _not_.", "In such an enterprise to die is rather", "The dawn of an eternal day, than death.", " [_Count_ ARNOLD _and_ CÆSAR _advance_.", "", "_Cæs._ And the mere men--do they, too, sweat beneath", "The noon of this same ever-scorching glory?", "", "_Bourb._ Ah!", "Welcome the bitter Hunchback! and his master,", "The beauty of our host, and brave as beauteous,", "And generous as lovely. We shall find", "Work for you both ere morning.", "", "_Cæs._ You will find,", "So please your Highness, no less for yourself.", "", "_Bourb._ And if I do, there will not be a labourer", "More forward, Hunchback!", "", "_Cæs._ You may well say so,", "For _you_ have seen that back--as general,", "Placed in the rear in action--but your foes", "Have never seen it.", "", "_Bourb._ That's a fair retort,", "For I provoked it:--but the Bourbon's breast", "Has been, and ever shall be, far advanced", "In danger's face as yours, were you the _devil_.", "", "_Cæs._ And if I were, I might have saved myself", "The toil of coming here.", "", "_Phil._ Why so?", "", "_Cæs._ One half", "Of your brave bands of their own bold accord", "Will go to him, the other half be sent,", "More swiftly, not less surely.", "", "_Bourb._ Arnold, your", "Slight crooked _friend's_ as snake-like in his words", "As his deeds.", "", "_Cæs._ Your Highness much mistakes me.", "The first snake was a flatterer--I am none;", "And for my deeds, I only sting when stung.", "", "_Bourb._ You are brave, and _that's_ enough for me; and quick", "In speech as sharp in action--and that's more.", "I am not alone the soldier, but the soldiers'", "Comrade.", "", "_Cæs._ They are but bad company, your Highness;", "And worse even for their friends than foes, as being", "More permanent acquaintance.", "", "_Phil._ How now, fellow!", "Thou waxest insolent, beyond the privilege", "Of a buffoon.", "", "_Cæs._ You mean I speak the truth.", "I'll lie--it is as easy: then you'll praise me", "For calling you a hero.", "", "_Bourb._ Philibert!", "Let him alone; he's brave, and ever has", "Been first, with that swart face and mountain shoulder,", "In field or storm, and patient in starvation;", "And for his tongue, the camp is full of licence,", "And the sharp stinging of a lively rogue", "Is, to my mind, far preferable to", "The gross, dull, heavy, gloomy execration", "Of a mere famished sullen grumbling slave,", "Whom nothing can convince save a full meal,", "And wine, and sleep, and a few Maravedis,", "With which he deems him rich.", "", "_Cæs._ It would be well", "If the earth's princes asked no more.", "", "_Bourb._ Be silent!", "", "_Cæs._ Aye, but not idle. Work yourself with words!", "You have few to speak.", "", "_Phil._ What means the audacious prater?", "", "_Cæs._ To prate, like other prophets.", "", "_Bourb._ Philibert!", "Why will you vex him? Have we not enough", "To think on? Arnold! I will lead the attack", "To-morrow.", "", "_Arn._ I have heard as much, my Lord.", "", "_Bourb._ And you will follow?", "", "_Arn._ Since I must not lead.", "", "_Bourb._ 'Tis necessary for the further daring", "Of our too needy army, that their chief", "Plant the first foot upon the foremost ladder's", "First step.", "", "_Cæs._ Upon its topmost, let us hope:", "So shall he have his full deserts.", "", "_Bourb._ The world's", "Great capital perchance is ours to-morrow.", "Through every change the seven-hilled city hath", "Retained her sway o'er nations, and the Cæsars", "But yielded to the Alarics, the Alarics", "Unto the pontiffs. Roman, Goth, or priest.", "Still the world's masters! Civilised, barbarian,", "Or saintly, still the walls of Romulus", "Have been the circus of an Empire. Well!", "'Twas _their_ turn--now 'tis ours; and let us hope", "That we will fight as well, and rule much better.", "", "_Cæs._ No doubt, the camp's the school of civic rights.", "What would you make of Rome?", "", "_Bourb._ That which it was.", "", "_Cæs._ In Alaric's time?", "", "_Bourb._ No, slave! in the first Cæsar's,", "Whose name you bear like other curs----", "", "_Cæs._ And kings!", "'Tis a great name for blood-hounds.", "", "_Bourb._ There's a demon", "In that fierce rattlesnake thy tongue. Wilt never", "Be serious?", "", "_Cæs._ On the eve of battle, no;--", "That were not soldier-like. 'Tis for the general", "To be more pensive: we adventurers", "Must be more cheerful. Wherefore should we think?", "Our tutelar Deity, in a leader's shape,", "Takes care of us. Keep thought aloof from hosts!", "If the knaves take to thinking, you will have", "To crack those walls alone.", "", "_Bourb._ You may sneer, since", "'Tis lucky for you that you fight no worse for 't.", "", "_Cæs._ I thank you for the freedom; 'tis the only", "Pay I have taken in your Highness' service.", "", "_Bourb._ Well, sir, to-morrow you shall pay yourself.", "Look on those towers; they hold my treasury:", "But, Philibert, we'll in to council. Arnold,", "We would request your presence.", "", "_Arn._ Prince! my service", "Is yours, as in the field.", "", "_Bourb._ In both we prize it,", "And yours will be a post of trust at daybreak.", "", "_Cæs._ And mine?", "", "_Bourb._ To follow glory with the Bourbon.", "Good night!", "", "_Arn._ (_to_ CÆSAR). Prepare our armour for the assault,", "And wait within my tent.", " [_Exeunt_ BOURBON, ARNOLD, PHILIBERT, _etc._", "", "_Cæs._ (_solus_). Within thy tent!", "Think'st thou that I pass from thee with my presence?", "Or that this crooked coffer, which contained", "Thy principle of life, is aught to me", "Except a mask? And these are men, forsooth!", "Heroes and chiefs, the flower of Adam's bastards!", "This is the consequence of giving matter", "The power of thought. It is a stubborn substance,", "And thinks chaotically, as it acts,", "Ever relapsing into its first elements.", "Well! I must play with these poor puppets: 'tis", "The Spirit's pastime in his idler hours.", "When I grow weary of it, I have business", "Amongst the stars, which these poor creatures deem", "Were made for them to look at. 'Twere a jest now", "To bring one down amongst them, and set fire", "Unto their anthill: how the pismires then", "Would scamper o'er the scalding soil, and, ceasing", "From tearing down each other's nests, pipe forth", "One universal orison! ha! ha! [_Exit_ CÆSAR.", "", "PART II.", "", "SCENE I.--_Before the walls of Rome.--The Assault: the", " Army in motion, with ladders to scale the walls_;", " BOURBON _with a white scarf over his armour, foremost_.", "", " _Chorus of Spirits in the air_.", "", "'Tis the morn, but dim and dark.", "Whither flies the silent lark?", "Whither shrinks the clouded sun?", "Is the day indeed begun?", "Nature's eye is melancholy", "O'er the city high and holy:", "But without there is a din", "Should arouse the saints within,", "And revive the heroic ashes", "Round which yellow Tiber dashes.", "Oh, ye seven hills! awaken,", "Ere your very base be shaken!", "", "Hearken to the steady stamp!", "Mars is in their every tramp!", "Not a step is out of tune,", "As the tides obey the moon!", "On they march, though to self-slaughter,", "Regular as rolling water,", "Whose high-waves o'ersweep the border", "Of huge moles, but keep their order,", "Breaking only rank by rank.", "Hearken to the armour's clank!", "Look down o'er each frowning warrior,", "How he glares upon the barrier:", "Look on each step of each ladder,", "As the stripes that streak an adder.", "", "Look upon the bristling wall,", "Manned without an interval!", "Round and round, and tier on tier,", "Cannon's black mouth, shining spear,", "Lit match, bell-mouthed Musquetoon,", "Gaping to be murderous soon;", "All the warlike gear of old,", "Mixed with what we now behold,", "In this strife 'twixt old and new,", "Gather like a locusts' crew.", "Shade of Remus! 'tis a time", "Awful as thy brother's crime!", "Christians war against Christ's shrine:--", "Must its lot be like to thine?", "", "Near--and near--and nearer still,", "As the Earthquake saps the hill,", "First with trembling, hollow motion,", "Like a scarce awakened ocean,", "Then with stronger shock and louder,", "Till the rocks are crushed to powder,--", "Onward sweeps the rolling host!", "Heroes of the immortal boast!", "Mighty Chiefs! eternal shadows!", "First flowers of the bloody meadows", "Which encompass Rome, the mother", "Of a people without brother!", "Will you sleep when nations' quarrels", "Plough the root up of your laurels?", "Ye who weep o'er Carthage burning,", "Weep not--_strike_! for Rome is mourning!", "", "Onward sweep the varied nations!", "Famine long hath dealt their rations.", "To the wall, with hate and hunger,", "Numerous as wolves, and stronger,", "On they sweep. Oh, glorious City!", "Must thou be a theme for pity?", "Fight, like your first sire, each Roman!", "Alaric was a gentle foeman,", "Matched with Bourbon's black banditti!", "Rouse thee, thou eternal City;", "Rouse thee! Rather give the torch", "With thine own hand to thy porch,", "Than behold such hosts pollute", "Your worst dwelling with their foot.", "", "Ah! behold yon bleeding spectre!", "Ilion's children find no Hector;", "Priam's offspring loved their brother;", "Rome's great sire forgot his mother,", "When he slew his gallant twin,", "With inexpiable sin.", "See the giant shadow stride", "O'er the ramparts high and wide!", "When the first o'erleapt thy wall,", "Its foundation mourned thy fall.", "Now, though towering like a Babel,", "Who to stop his steps are able?", "Stalking o'er thy highest dome,", "Remus claims his vengeance, Rome!", "", "Now they reach thee in their anger:", "Fire and smoke and hellish clangour", "Are around thee, thou world's wonder!", "Death is in thy walls and under.", "Now the meeting steel first clashes,", "Downward then the ladder crashes,", "With its iron load all gleaming,", "Lying at its foot blaspheming!", "Up again! for every warrior", "Slain, another climbs the barrier.", "Thicker grows the strife: thy ditches", "Europe's mingling gore enriches.", "Rome! although thy wall may perish,", "Such manure thy fields will cherish,", "Making gay the harvest-home;", "But thy hearths, alas! oh, Rome!--", "Yet be Rome amidst thine anguish,", "Fight as thou wast wont to vanquish!", "", "Yet once more, ye old Penates!", "Let not your quenched hearts be Atés!", "Yet again, ye shadowy Heroes,", "Yield not to these stranger Neros!", "Though the son who slew his mother", "Shed Rome's blood, he was your brother:", "'Twas the Roman curbed the Roman;--", "Brennus was a baffled foeman.", "Yet again, ye saints and martyrs,", "Rise! for yours are holier charters!", "Mighty Gods of temples falling,", "Yet in ruin still appalling!", "Mightier Founders of those altars,", "True and Christian,--strike the assaulters!", "Tiber! Tiber! let thy torrent", "Show even Nature's self abhorrent.", "Let each breathing heart dilated", "Turn, as doth the lion baited!", "Rome be crashed to one wide tomb,", "But be still the Roman's Rome!", "", " [BOURBON, ARNOLD, CÆSAR, _and others, arrive at the foot", " of the wall_. ARNOLD _is about to plant his ladder_.", "", "_Bourb._ Hold, Arnold! I am first.", "", "_Arn._ Not so, my Lord.", "", "_Bourb._ Hold, sir, I charge you! Follow! I am proud", "Of such a follower, but will brook no leader.", " [BOURBON _plants his ladder, and begins to mount_.", "Now, boys! On! on!", " [_A shot strikes him, and_ BOURBON _falls_.", "", "_Cæs._ And off!", "", "_Arn._ Eternal powers!", "The host will be appalled,--but vengeance! vengeance!", "", "_Bourb._ 'Tis nothing--lend me your hand.", "", " [BOURBON _takes_ ARNOLD _by the hand, and rises; but", " as he puts his foot on the step, falls again_.", "", " Arnold! I am sped.", "Conceal my fall--all will go well--conceal it!", "Fling my cloak o'er what will be dust anon;", "Let not the soldiers see it.", "", "_Arn._ You must be", "Removed; the aid of----", "", "_Bourb._ No, my gallant boy!", "Death is upon me. But what is _one_ life?", "The Bourbon's spirit shall command them still.", "Keep them yet ignorant that I am but clay,", "Till they are conquerors--then do as you may.", "", "_Cæs._ Would not your Highness choose to kiss the cross?", "We have no priest here, but the hilt of sword", "May serve instead:--it did the same for Bayard.", "", "_Bourb._ Thou bitter slave! to name _him_ at this time!", "But I deserve it.", "", "_Arn._ (_to_ CÆSAR). Villain, hold your peace!", "", "_Cæs._ What, when a Christian dies? Shall I not offer", "A Christian \"Vade in pace?\"", "", "_Arn._ Silence! Oh!", "Those eyes are glazing which o'erlooked the world,", "And saw no equal.", "", "_Bourb._ Arnold, shouldst thou see", "France----But hark! hark! the assault grows warmer--Oh!", "For but an hour, a minute more of life,", "To die within the wall! Hence, Arnold, hence!", "You lose time--they will conquer Rome without thee.", "", "_Arn._ And without _thee_.", "", "_Bourb._ Not so; I'll lead them still", "In spirit. Cover up my dust, and breathe not", "That I have ceased to breathe. Away! and be", "Victorious.", "", "_Arn._ But I must not leave thee thus.", "", "_Bourb._ You must--farewell--Up! up! the world is winning.", " [BOURBON _dies_.", "", "_Cæs._ (_to_ ARNOLD). Come, Count, to business.", "", "_Arn._ True. I'll weep hereafter.", "", " [ARNOLD _covers_ BOURBON'S _body with a mantle,", " mounts the ladder, crying_", "", "The Bourbon! Bourbon! On, boys! Rome is ours!", "", "_Cæs._ Good night, Lord Constable! thou wert a Man.", "", " [CÆSAR _follows_ ARNOLD; _they reach the battlement;_", " ARNOLD _and_ CÆSAR _are struck down_.", "", "_Cæs._ A precious somerset! Is your countship injured?", "", "_Arn._ No. [_Remounts the ladder_.", "", "_Cæs._ A rare blood-hound, when his own is heated!", "And 'tis no boy's play. Now he strikes them down!", "His hand is on the battlement--he grasps it", "As though it were an altar; now his foot", "Is on it, and----What have we here?--a Roman?", "The first bird of the covey! he has fallen [_A man falls_.", "On the outside of the nest. Why, how now, fellow?", "", "_Wounded Man_. A drop of water!", "", "_Cæs._ Blood's the only liquid", "Nearer than Tiber.", "", "_Wounded Man_. I have died for Rome. [_Dies_.", "", "_Cæs._ And so did Bourbon, in another sense.", "Oh, these immortal men! and their great motives!", "But I must after my young charge. He is", "By this time i' the Forum. Charge! charge!", " [CÆSAR _mounts the ladder; the scene closes_.", "", "SCENE II.--_The City_.--_Combats between the Besiegers", " and Besieged in the streets_. _Inhabitants flying in confusion_.", "", " _Enter_ CÆSAR.", "", "_Cæs._ I cannot find my hero; he is mixed", "With the heroic crowd that now pursue", "The fugitives, or battle with the desperate.", "What have we here? A Cardinal or two", "That do not seem in love with martyrdom.", "How the old red-shanks scamper! Could they doff", "Their hose as they have doffed their hats, 'twould be", "A blessing, as a mark the less for plunder.", "But let them fly; the crimson kennels now", "Will not much stain their stockings, since the mire", "Is of the self-same purple hue.", "", " _Enter a Party fighting_--ARNOLD _at the head of the Besiegers_.", "", " He comes,", "Hand in hand with the mild twins--Gore and Glory.", "Holla! hold, Count!", "", "_Arn._ Away! they must not rally.", "", "_Cæs._ I tell thee, be not rash; a golden bridge", "Is for a flying enemy. I gave thee", "A form of beauty, and an", "Exemption from some maladies of body,", "But not of mind, which is not mine to give.", "But though I gave the form of Thetis' son,", "I dipped thee not in Styx; and 'gainst a foe", "I would not warrant thy chivalric heart", "More than Pelides' heel; why, then, be cautious,", "And know thyself a mortal still.", "", "_Arn._ And who", "With aught of soul would combat if he were", "Invulnerable? That were pretty sport.", "Think'st thou I beat for hares when lions roar?", " [ARNOLD _rushes into the combat_.", "", "_Cæs._ A precious sample of humanity!", "Well, his blood's up; and, if a little's shed,", "'Twill serve to curb his fever.", "", " [ARNOLD _engages with a Roman, who retires", " towards a portico_.", "", "_Arn._ Yield thee, slave!", "I promise quarter.", "", "_Rom._ That's soon said.", "", "_Arn._ And done----", "My word is known.", "", "_Rom._ So shall be my deeds.", " [_They re-engage_. CÆSAR _comes forward_.", "", "_Cæs._ Why, Arnold! hold thine own: thou hast in hand", "A famous artisan, a cunning sculptor;", "Also a dealer in the sword and dagger.", "Not so, my musqueteer; 'twas he who slew", "The Bourbon from the wall.", "", "_Arn._ Aye, did he so?", "Then he hath carved his monument.", "", "_Rom._ I yet", "May live to carve your better's.", "", "_Cæs._ Well said, my man of marble! Benvenuto,", "Thou hast some practice in both ways; and he", "Who slays Cellini will have worked as hard", "As e'er thou didst upon Carrara's blocks.", "", " [ARNOLD _disarms and wounds_ CELLINI, _hit slightly:", " the latter draws a pistol, and fires; then", " retires, and disappears through the portico_.", "", "_Cæs._ How farest thou? Thou hast a taste, methinks,", "Of red Bellona's banquet.", "", "_Arn._ (_staggers_). 'Tis a scratch.", "Lend me thy scarf. He shall not 'scape me thus.", "", "_Cæs._ Where is it?", "", "_Arn._ In the shoulder, not the sword arm--", "And that's enough. I am thirsty: would I had", "A helm of water!", "", "_Cæs._ That's a liquid now", "In requisition, but by no means easiest", "To come at.", "", "_Arn._ And my thirst increases;--but", "I'll find a way to quench it.", "", "_Cæs._ Or be quenched", "Thyself.", "", "_Arn._ The chance is even; we will throw", "The dice thereon. But I lose time in prating;", "Prithee be quick. [CÆSAR _binds on the scarf_.", " And what dost thou so idly?", "Why dost not strike?", "", "_Cæs._ Your old philosophers", "Beheld mankind, as mere spectators of", "The Olympic games. When I behold a prize", "Worth wrestling for, I may be found a Milo.", "", "_Arn._ Aye, 'gainst an oak.", "", "_Cæs._ A forest, when it suits me:", "I combat with a mass, or not at all.", "Meantime, pursue thy sport as I do mine;", "Which is just now to gaze, since all these labourers", "Will reap my harvest gratis.", "", "_Arn._ Thou art still", "A fiend!", "", "_Cæs._ And thou--a man.", "", "_Arn._ Why, such I fain would show me.", "", "_Cæs._ True--as men are.", "", "_Arn._ And what is that?", "", "_Cæs._ Thou feelest and thou see'st.", "", " [_Exit_ ARNOLD, _joining in the combat which still", " continues between detached parties. The", " scene closes_.", "", "SCENE III.--_St. Peter's--The interior of the Church--The", " Pope at the Altar--Priests, etc., crowding in confusion,", " and Citizens flying for refuge, pursued by Soldiery_.", "", " _Enter_ CÆSAR.", "", "_A Spanish Soldier_. Down with them, comrades, seize upon those lamps!", "Cleave yon bald-pated shaveling to the chine!", "His rosary's of gold!", "", "_Lutheran Soldier_. Revenge! revenge!", "Plunder hereafter, but for vengeance now--", "Yonder stands Anti-Christ!", "", "_Cæs._ (_interposing_). How now, schismatic?", "What wouldst thou?", "", "_Luth. Sold._ In the holy name of Christ,", "Destroy proud Anti-Christ. I am a Christian.", "", "_Cæs._ Yea, a disciple that would make the founder", "Of your belief renounce it, could he see", "Such proselytes. Best stint thyself to plunder.", "", "_Luth. Sold._ I say he is the Devil.", "", "_Cæs._ Hush! keep that secret,", "Lest he should recognise you for his own.", "", "_Luth. Sold._ Why would you save him? I repeat he is", "The Devil, or the Devil's vicar upon earth.", "", "_Cæs._ And that's the reason: would you make a quarrel", "With your best friends? You had far best be quiet;", "His hour is not yet come.", "", "_Luth. Sold._ That shall be seen!", "", " [_The Lutheran Soldier rushes forward: a shot", " strikes him from one of the Pope's Guards,", " and he falls at the foot of the Altar_.", "", "_Cæs._ (_to the Lutheran_). I told you so.", "", "_Luth. Sold._ And will you not avenge me?", "", "_Cæs._ Not I! You know that \"Vengeance is the Lord's:\"", "You see he loves no interlopers.", "", "_Luth. Sold._ (_dying_). Oh!", "Had I but slain him, I had gone on high,", "Crowned with eternal glory! Heaven, forgive", "My feebleness of arm that reached him not,", "And take thy servant to thy mercy. 'Tis", "A glorious triumph still; proud Babylon's", "No more; the Harlot of the Seven Hills", "Hath changed her scarlet raiment for sackcloth", "And ashes! [_The Lutheran dies_.", "", "_Cæs._ Yes, thine own amidst the rest.", "Well done, old Babel!", "", " [_The Guards defend themselves desperately, while the", " Pontiff escapes, by a private passage, to the", " Vatican and the Castle of St. Angelo_.", "", "_Cæs._ Ha! right nobly battled!", "Now, priest! now, soldier! the two great professions,", "Together by the ears and hearts! I have not", "Seen a more comic pantomime since Titus", "Took Jewry. But the Romans had the best then;", "Now they must take their turn.", "", "_Soldiers_. He hath escaped!", "Follow!", "", "_Another Sold._ They have barred the narrow passage up,", "And it is clogged with dead even to the door.", "", "_Cæs._ I am glad he hath escaped: he may thank me for't", "In part. I would not have his bulls abolished--", "'Twere worth one half our empire: his indulgences", "Demand some in return; no, no, he must not", "Fall;--and besides, his now escape may furnish", "A future miracle, in future proof", "Of his infallibility. [_To the Spanish Soldiery_.", " Well, cut-throats!", "What do you pause for? If you make not haste,", "There will not be a link of pious gold left.", "And _you_, too, Catholics! Would ye return", "From such a pilgrimage without a relic?", "The very Lutherans have more true devotion:", "See how they strip the shrines!", "", "_Soldiers_. By holy Peter!", "He speaks the truth; the heretics will bear", "The best away.", "", "_Cæs._ And that were shame! Go to!", "Assist in their conversion.", " [_The Soldiers disperse; many quit the Church, others enter_.", "", "_Cæs._ They are gone,", "And others come: so flows the wave on wave", "Of what these creatures call Eternity,", "Deeming themselves the breakers of the Ocean,", "While they are but its bubbles, ignorant", "That foam is their foundation. So, another!", "", " _Enter_ OLIMPIA, _flying from the pursuit--She", " springs upon the Altar_.", "", "_Sold._ She's mine!", "", "_Another Sold._ (_opposing the former_).", " You lie, I tracked her first: and were she", "The Pope's niece, I'll not yield her. [_They fight_.", "", "_3d Sold._ (_advancing towards_ OLIMPIA). You may settle", "Your claims; I'll make mine good.", "", "_Olimp._ Infernal slave!", "You touch me not alive.", "", "_3d Sold._ Alive or dead!", "", "_Olimp._ (_embracing a massive crucifix_). Respect your God!", "", "_3d Sold._ Yes, when he shines in gold.", "Girl, you but grasp your dowry.", "", " [_As he advances_, OLIMPIA, _with a strong and sudden", " effort, casts down the crucifix; it strikes the", " Soldier, who falls_.", "", "_3d Sold._ Oh, great God!", "", "_Olimp._ Ah! now you recognise him.", "", "_3d Sold._ My brain's crushed!", "Comrades, help, ho! All's darkness! [He dies.", "", "_Other Soldiers_ (_coming up_).", "Slay her, although she had a thousand lives:", "She hath killed our comrade.", "", "_Olimp._ Welcome such a death!", "You have no life to give, which the worst slave", "Would take. Great God! through thy redeeming Son,", "And thy Son's Mother, now receive me as", "I would approach thee, worthy her, and him, and thee!", "", " _Enter_ ARNOLD.", "", "_Arn._ What do I see? Accurséd jackals! Forbear!", "", "_Cæs._ (_aside and laughing_). Ha! ha! here's equity! The dogs", "Have as much right as he. But to the issue!", "", "_Soldiers_. Count, she hath slain our comrade.", "", "_Arn._ With what weapon?", "", "_Sold._ The cross, beneath which he is crushed; behold him", "Lie there, more like a worm than man; she cast it", "Upon his head.", "", "_Arn._ Even so: there is a woman", "Worthy a brave man's liking. Were ye such,", "Ye would have honoured her. But get ye hence,", "And thank your meanness, other God you have none,", "For your existence. Had you touched a hair", "Of those dishevelled locks, I would have thinned", "Your ranks more than the enemy. Away!", "Ye jackals! gnaw the bones the lion leaves,", "But not even these till he permits.", "", "_A Sold._ (_murmuring_). The lion", "Might conquer for himself then.", "", "_Arn._ (_cuts him down_). Mutineer!", "Rebel in hell--you shall obey on earth!", " [_The Soldiers assault_ ARNOLD.", "", "_Arn._ Come on! I'm glad on't! I will show you, slaves,", "How you should be commanded, and who led you", "First o'er the wall you were so shy to scale,", "Until I waved my banners from its height,", "As you are bold within it.", " [ARNOLD _mows down the foremost; the rest throw down their arms_.", "", "_Soldiers_. Mercy! mercy!", "", "_Arn._ Then learn to grant it. Have I taught you _who_", "Led you o'er Rome's eternal battlements?", "", "_Soldiers_. We saw it, and we know it; yet forgive", "A moment's error in the heat of conquest--", "The conquest which you led to.", "", "_Arn._ Get you hence!", "Hence to your quarters! you will find them fixed", "In the Colonna palace.", "", "_Olimp._ (_aside_). In my father's", "House!", "", "_Arn._ (_to the Soldiers_). Leave your arms; ye have no further need", "Of such: the city's rendered. And mark well", "You keep your hands clean, or I'll find out a stream", "As red as Tiber now runs, for your baptism.", "", "_Soldiers_ (_deposing their arms and departing_). We obey!", "", "_Arn._ (_to_ OLIMPIA). Lady, you are safe.", "", "_Olimp._ I should be so,", "Had I a knife even; but it matters not--", "Death hath a thousand gates; and on the marble,", "Even at the altar foot, whence I look down", "Upon destruction, shall my head be dashed,", "Ere thou ascend it. God forgive thee, man!", "", "_Arn._ I wish to merit his forgiveness, and", "Thine own, although I have not injured thee.", "", "_Olimp._ No! Thou hast only sacked my native land,--", "No injury!--and made my father's house", "A den of thieves! No injury!--this temple--", "Slippery with Roman and with holy gore!", "No injury! And now thou wouldst preserve me,", "To be----but that shall never be!", "", " [_She raises her eyes to Heaven, folds her robe round her,", " and prepares to dash herself down on the side of", " the Altar opposite to that where_ ARNOLD _stands_.", "", "_Arn._ Hold! hold!", "I swear.", "", "_Olimp._ Spare thine already forfeit soul", "A perjury for which even Hell would loathe thee.", "I know thee.", "", "_Arn._ No, thou know'st me not; I am not", "Of these men, though----", "", "_Olimp._ I judge thee by thy mates;", "It is for God to judge thee as thou art.", "I see thee purple with the blood of Rome;", "Take mine, 'tis all thou e'er shalt have of me,", "And here, upon the marble of this temple,", "Where the baptismal font baptized me God's,", "I offer him a blood less holy", "But not less pure (pure as it left me then,", "A redeeméd infant) than the holy water", "The saints have sanctified!", "", " [OLIMPIA _waves her hand to_ ARNOLD _with disdain, and", " dashes herself on the pavement from the Altar_.", "", "_Arn._ Eternal God!", "I feel thee now! Help! help! she's gone.", "", "_Cæs._ (_approaches_). I am here.", "", "_Arn._ Thou! but oh, save her!", "", "_Cæs._ (_assisting him to raise_ OLIMPIA). She hath done it well!", "The leap was serious.", "", "_Arn._ Oh! she is lifeless!", "", "_Cæs._ If", "She be so, I have nought to do with that:", "The resurrection is beyond me.", "", "_Arn._ Slave!", "", "_Cæs._ Aye, slave or master, 'tis all one: methinks", "Good words, however, are as well at times.", "", "_Arn._ Words!--Canst thou aid her?", "", "_Cæs._ I will try. A sprinkling", "Of that same holy water may be useful.", " [_He brings some in his helmet from the font_.", "", "_Arn._ 'Tis mixed with blood.", "", "_Cæs._ There is no cleaner now", "In Rome.", "", "_Arn._ How pale! how beautiful! how lifeless!", "Alive or dead, thou Essence of all Beauty,", "I love but thee!", "", "_Cæs._ Even so Achilles loved", "Penthesilea; with his form it seems", "You have his heart, and yet it was no soft one.", "", "_Arn._ She breathes! But no, 'twas nothing, or the last", "Faint flutter Life disputes with Death.", "", "_Cæs._ She breathes.", "", "_Arn._ _Thou_ say'st it? Then 'tis truth.", "", "_Cæs._ You do me right--", "The Devil speaks truth much oftener than he's deemed:", "He hath an ignorant audience.", "", "_Arn._ (_without attending to him_). Yes! her heart beats.", "Alas! that the first beat of the only heart", "I ever wished to beat with mine should vibrate", "To an assassin's pulse.", "", "_Cæs._ A sage reflection,", "But somewhat late i' the day. Where shall we bear her?", "I say she lives.", "", "_Arn._ And will she live?", "", "_Cas._ As much", "As dust can.", "", "_Arn._ Then she is dead!", "", "_Cæs._ Bah! bah! You are so,", "And do not know it. She will come to life--", "Such as you think so, such as you now are;", "But we must work by human means.", "", "_Arn._ We will", "Convey her unto the Colonna palace,", "Where I have pitched my banner.", "", "_Cæs._ Come then! raise her up!", "", "_Arn._ Softly!", "", "_Cæs._ As softly as they bear the dead,", "Perhaps because they cannot feel the jolting.", "", "_Arn._ But doth she live indeed?", "", "_Cæs._ Nay, never fear!", "But, if you rue it after, blame not me.", "", "_Arn._ Let her but live!", "", "_Cæs._ The Spirit of her life", "Is yet within her breast, and may revive.", "Count! count! I am your servant in all things,", "And this is a new office:--'tis not oft", "I am employed in such; but you perceive", "How staunch a friend is what you call a fiend.", "On earth you have often only fiends for friends;", "Now _I_ desert not mine. Soft! bear her hence,", "The beautiful half-clay, and nearly spirit!", "I am almost enamoured of her, as", "Of old the Angels of her earliest sex.", "", "_Arn._ Thou!", "", "_Cæs._ I! But fear not. I'll not be your rival.", "", "_Arn._ Rival!", "", "_Cæs._ I could be one right formidable;", "But since I slew the seven husbands of", "Tobias' future bride (and after all", "Was smoked out by some incense), I have laid", "Aside intrigue: 'tis rarely worth the trouble", "Of gaining, or--what is more difficult--", "Getting rid of your prize again; for there's", "The rub! at least to mortals.", "", "_Arn._ Prithee, peace!", "Softly! methinks her lips move, her eyes open!", "", "_Cæs._ Like stars, no doubt; for that's a metaphor", "For Lucifer and Venus.", "", "_Arn._ To the palace", "Colonna, as I told you!", "", "_Cæs._ Oh! I know", "My way through Rome.", "", "_Arn._ Now onward, onward! Gently!", " [_Exeunt, bearing_ OLIMPIA. _The scene closes_.", "", "PART III.", "", "SCENE I.--_A Castle in the Apennines, surrounded by a wild but", " smiling Country. Chorus of Peasants singing before the Gates_.", "", " _Chorus_.", "", " The wars are over,", " The spring is come;", " The bride and her lover", " Have sought their home:", "They are happy, we rejoice;", "Let their hearts have an echo in every voice!", "", "The spring is come; the violet's gone,", "The first-born child of the early sun:", "With us she is but a winter's flower,", "The snow on the hills cannot blast her bower,", "And she lifts up her dewy eye of blue", "To the youngest sky of the self-same hue.", "", "And when the spring comes with her host", "Of flowers, that flower beloved the most", "Shrinks from the crowd that may confuse", "Her heavenly odour and virgin hues.", "", "Pluck the others, but still remember", "Their herald out of dim December--", "The morning star of all the flowers,", "The pledge of daylight's lengthened hours;", "Nor, midst the roses, e'er forget", "The virgin--virgin Violet.", "", " _Enter_ CÆSAR.", "", " _Cæs._ (_singing_).", "The wars are all over,", " Our swords are all idle,", " The steed bites the bridle,", "The casque's on the wall.", "There's rest for the rover;", " But his armour is rusty,", " And the veteran grows crusty,", "As he yawns in the hall.", " He drinks--but what's drinking?", " A mere pause from thinking!", "No bugle awakes him with life-and-death call.", "", " _Chorus_.", "", " But the hound bayeth loudly,", " The boar's in the wood,", " And the falcon longs proudly", " To spring from her hood:", " On the wrist of the noble", " She sits like a crest,", " And the air is in trouble", " With birds from their nest.", "", " _Cæs_.", " Oh! shadow of Glory!", " Dim image of War!", " But the chase hath no story,", " Her hero no star,", " Since Nimrod, the founder", " Of empire and chase,", " Who made the woods wonder", " And quake for their race.", " When the lion was young,", " In the pride of his might,", " Then 'twas sport for the strong", " To embrace him in fight;", " To go forth, with a pine", " For a spear, 'gainst the mammoth,", " Or strike through the ravine", " At the foaming behemoth;", " While man was in stature", " As towers in our time,", " The first born of Nature,", " And, like her, sublime!", "", " _Chorus_.", "", " But the wars are over,", " The spring is come;", " The bride and her lover", " Have sought their home:", "They are happy, and we rejoice;", "Let their hearts have an echo from every voice!", " [_Exeunt the Peasantry, singing_.", "", "FRAGMENT OF THE THIRD PART OF _THE DEFORMED TRANSFORMED_.", "", " _Chorus_.", "", "When the merry bells are ringing,", "And the peasant girls are singing,", "And the early flowers are flinging", " Their odours in the air;", "And the honey bee is clinging", "To the buds; and birds are winging", " Their way, pair by pair:", "Then the earth looks free from trouble", "With the brightness of a bubble:", "Though I did not make it,", "I could breathe on and break it;", "But too much I scorn it,", "Or else I would mourn it,", "To see despots and slaves", "Playing o'er their own graves.", "", " _Enter_ COUNT ARNOLD.", "", " {_Mem._ Jealous--Arnold of Cæsar.", " {Olympia at first not liking Cæsar", " {--then?--Arnold jealous of himself", " {under his former figure, owing to", " {the power of intellect, etc., etc., etc.", "", "_Arnold_. You are merry, Sir--what? singing too?", "", "_Cæsar_. It is", "The land of Song--and Canticles you know", "Were once my avocation.", "", "_Arn._ Nothing moves you;", "You scoff even at your own calamity--", "And such calamity! how wert thou fallen", "Son of the Morning! and yet Lucifer", "Can smile.", "", "_Cæs._ His shape can--would you have me weep,", "In the fair form I wear, to please you?", "", "_Arn._ Ah!", "", "_Cæs._ You are grave--what have you on your spirit!", "", "_Arn._ Nothing.", "", "_Cæs._ How mortals lie by instinct! If you ask", "A disappointed courtier--What's the matter?", "\"Nothing\"--an outshone Beauty what has made", "Her smooth brow crisp--\"Oh, Nothing!\"--a young heir", "When his Sire has recovered from the Gout,", "What ails him? \"Nothing!\" or a Monarch who", "Has heard the truth, and looks imperial on it--", "What clouds his royal aspect? \"Nothing,\" \"Nothing!\"", "Nothing--eternal nothing--of these nothings", "All are a lie--for all to them are much!", "And they themselves alone the real \"Nothings.\"", "Your present Nothing, too, is something to you--", "What is it?", "", "_Arn._ Know you not?", "", "_Cæs._ I only know", "What I desire to know! and will not waste", "Omniscience upon phantoms. Out with it!", "If you seek aid from me--or else be silent.", "And eat your thoughts--till they breed snakes within you.", "", "_Arn._ Olimpia!", "", "_Cæs._ I thought as much--go on.", "", "_Arn._ I thought she had loved me.", "", "_Cæs._ Blessings on your Creed!", "What a good Christian you were found to be!", "But what cold Sceptic hath appalled your faith", "And transubstantiated to crumbs again", "The _body_ of your Credence?", "", "_Arn._ No one--but--", "Each day--each hour--each minute shows me more", "And more she loves me not--", "", "_Cæs._ Doth she rebel?", "", "_Arn._ No, she is calm, and meek, and silent with me,", "And coldly dutiful, and proudly patient--", "Endures my Love--not meets it.", "", "_Cæs._ That seems strange.", "You are beautiful and brave! the first is much", "For passion--and the rest for Vanity.", "", "_Arn._ I saved her life, too; and her Father's life,", "And Father's house from ashes.", "", "_Cæs._ These are nothing.", "You seek for Gratitude--the Philosopher's stone.", "", "_Arn._ And find it not.", "", "_Cæs._ You cannot find what is not.", "But _found_ would it content you? would you owe", "To thankfulness what you desire from Passion?", "No! No! you would be _loved_--what you call loved--", "_Self-loved_--loved for _yourself_--for neither health,", "Nor wealth, nor youth, nor power, nor rank, nor beauty--", "For these you may be stript of--but _beloved_", "As an abstraction--for--you know not what!", "These are the wishes of a moderate lover--", "And _so_ you love.", "", "_Arn._ Ah! could I be beloved,", "Would I ask wherefore?", "", "_Cæs._ Yes! and not believe", "The answer--You are jealous.", "", "_Arn._ And of whom?", "", "_Cæs._ It may be of yourself, for Jealousy", "Is as a shadow of the Sun. The Orb", "Is mighty--as you mortals deem--and to", "Your little Universe seems universal;", "But, great as He appears, and is to you,", "The smallest cloud--the slightest vapour of", "Your humid earth enables you to look", "Upon a Sky which you revile as dull;", "Though your eyes dare not gaze on it when cloudless.", "Nothing can blind a mortal like to light.", "Now Love in you is as the Sun--a thing", "Beyond you--and your Jealousy's of Earth--", "A cloud of your own raising.", "", "_Arn._ Not so always!", "There is a cause at times.", "", "_Cæs._ Oh, yes! when atoms jostle,", "The System is in peril. But I speak", "Of things you know not. Well, to earth again!", "This precious thing of dust--this bright Olimpia--", "This marvellous Virgin, is a marble maid--", "An Idol, but a cold one to your heat", "Promethean, and unkindled by your torch.", "", "_Arn._ Slave!", "", "_Cæs._ In the victor's Chariot, when Rome triumphed,", "There was a Slave of yore to tell him truth!", "You are a Conqueror--command your Slave.", "", "_Arn._ Teach me the way to win the woman's love.", "", "_Cæs._ Leave her.", "", "_Arn._ Where that the path--I'd not pursue it.", "", "_Cæs._ No doubt! for if you did, the remedy", "Would be for a disease already cured.", "", "_Arn._ All wretched as I am, I would not quit", "My unrequited love, for all that's happy.", "", "_Cæs._ You have possessed the woman--still possess.", "What need you more?", "", "_Arn._ To be myself possessed--", "To be her heart as she is mine." ], "linecount": "1925" }, { "title": "The Age of Bronze", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The \"good old times\"--all times when old are good--", "Are gone; the present might be if they would;", "Great things have been, and are, and greater still", "Want little of mere mortals but their will:", "A wider space, a greener field, is given", "To those who play their \"tricks before high heaven.\"", "I know not if the angels weep, but men", "Have wept enough--for what?--to weep again!", "", "All is exploded--be it good or bad.", "Reader! remember when thou wert a lad,", "Then Pitt was all; or, if not all, so much,", "His very rival almost deemed him such.", "We--we have seen the intellectual race", "Of giants stand, like Titans, face to face--", "Athos and Ida, with a dashing sea", "Of eloquence between, which flowed all free,", "As the deep billows of the Ægean roar", "Betwixt the Hellenic and the Phrygian shore.", "But where are they--the rivals! a few feet", "Of sullen earth divide each winding sheet.", "How peaceful and how powerful is the grave,", "Which hushes all! a calm, unstormy wave,", "Which oversweeps the World. The theme is old", "Of \"Dust to Dust,\" but half its tale untold:", "Time tempers not its terrors--still the worm", "Winds its cold folds, the tomb preserves its form,", "Varied above, but still alike below;", "The urn may shine--the ashes will not glow--", "Though Cleopatra's mummy cross the sea", "O'er which from empire she lured Anthony;", "Though Alexander's urn a show be grown", "On shores he wept to conquer, though unknown--", "How vain, how worse than vain, at length appear", "The madman's wish, the Macedonian's tear!", "He wept for worlds to conquer--half the earth", "Knows not his name, or but his death, and birth,", "And desolation; while his native Greece", "Hath all of desolation, save its peace.", "He \"wept for worlds to conquer!\" he who ne'er", "Conceived the Globe, he panted not to spare!", "With even the busy Northern Isle unknown,", "Which holds his urn--and never knew his throne.", "", "But where is he, the modern, mightier far,", "Who, born no king, made monarchs draw his car;", "The new Sesostris, whose unharnessed kings,", "Freed from the bit, believe themselves with wings,", "And spurn the dust o'er which they crawled of late,", "Chained to the chariot of the Chieftain's state?", "Yes! where is he, \"the champion and the child\"", "Of all that's great or little--wise or wild;", "Whose game was Empire, and whose stakes were thrones;", "Whose table Earth--whose dice were human bones?", "Behold the grand result in yon lone Isle,", "And, as thy nature urges--weep or smile.", "Sigh to behold the Eagle's lofty rage", "Reduced to nibble at his narrow cage;", "Smile to survey the queller of the nations", "Now daily squabbling o'er disputed rations;", "Weep to perceive him mourning, as he dines,", "O'er curtailed dishes and o'er stinted wines;", "O'er petty quarrels upon petty things.", "Is this the Man who scourged or feasted kings?", "Behold the scales in which his fortune hangs,", "A surgeon's statement, and an earl's harangues!", "A bust delayed,--a book refused, can shake", "The sleep of Him who kept the world awake.", "Is this indeed the tamer of the Great,", "Now slave of all could tease or irritate--", "The paltry gaoler and the prying spy,", "The staring stranger with his note-book nigh?", "Plunged in a dungeon, he had still been great;", "How low, how little was this middle state,", "Between a prison and a palace, where", "How few could feel for what he had to bear!", "Vain his complaint,--My Lord presents his bill,", "His food and wine were doled out duly still;", "Vain was his sickness, never was a clime", "So free from homicide--to doubt's crime;", "And the stiff surgeon, who maintained his cause,", "Hath lost his place, and gained the world's applause.", "But smile--though all the pangs of brain and heart", "Disdain, defy, the tardy aid of art;", "Though, save the few fond friends and imaged face", "Of that fair boy his Sire shall ne'er embrace,", "None stand by his low bed--though even the mind", "Be wavering, which long awed and awes mankind:", "Smile--for the fettered Eagle breaks his chain,", "And higher Worlds than this are his again.", "", "How, if that soaring Spirit still retain", "A conscious twilight of his blazing reign,", "How must he smile, on looking down, to see", "The little that he was and sought to be!", "What though his Name a wider empire found", "Than his Ambition, though with scarce a bound;", "Though first in glory, deepest in reverse,", "He tasted Empire's blessings and its curse;", "Though kings, rejoicing in their late escape", "From chains, would gladly be _their_ Tyrant's ape;", "How must he smile, and turn to yon lone grave,", "The proudest Sea-mark that o'ertops the wave!", "What though his gaoler, duteous to the last,", "Scarce deemed the coffin's lead could keep him fast,", "Refusing one poor line along the lid,", "To date the birth and death of all it hid;", "That name shall hallow the ignoble shore,", "A talisman to all save him who bore:", "The fleets that sweep before the eastern blast", "Shall hear their sea-boys hail it from the mast;", "When Victory's Gallic column shall but rise,", "Like Pompey's pillar, in a desert's skies,", "The rocky Isle that holds or held his dust,", "Shall crown the Atlantic like the Hero's bust,", "And mighty Nature o'er his obsequies", "Do more than niggard Envy still denies.", "But what are these to him? Can Glory's lust", "Touch the freed spirit or the fettered dust?", "Small care hath he of what his tomb consists;", "Nought if he sleeps--nor more if he exists:", "Alike the better-seeing Shade will smile", "On the rude cavern of the rocky isle,", "As if his ashes found their latest home", "In Rome's Pantheon or Gaul's mimic dome.", "He wants not this; but France shall feel the want", "Of this last consolation, though so scant:", "Her Honour--Fame--and Faith demand his bones,", "To rear above a Pyramid of thrones;", "Or carried onward in the battle's van,", "To form, like Guesclin's dust, her Talisman.", "But be it as it is--the time may come", "His name shall beat the alarm, like Ziska's drum.", "", "Oh Heaven! of which he was in power a feature;", "Oh Earth! of which he was a noble creature;", "Thou Isle! to be remembered long and well,", "That saw'st the unfledged eaglet chip his shell!", "Ye Alps which viewed him in his dawning flights", "Hover, the Victor of a hundred fights!", "Thou Rome, who saw'st thy Cæsar's deeds outdone!", "Alas! why passed he too the Rubicon--", "The Rubicon of Man's awakened rights,", "To herd with vulgar kings and parasites?", "Egypt! from whose all dateless tombs arose", "Forgotten Pharaohs from their long repose,", "And shook within their pyramids to hear", "A new Cambyses thundering in their ear;", "While the dark shades of Forty Ages stood", "Like startled giants by Nile's famous flood;", "Or from the Pyramid's tall pinnacle", "Beheld the desert peopled, as from hell,", "With clashing hosts, who strewed the barren sand,", "To re-manure the uncultivated land!", "Spain! which, a moment mindless of the Cid,", "Beheld his banner flouting thy Madrid!", "Austria! which saw thy twice-ta'en capital", "Twice spared to be the traitress of his fall!", "Ye race of Frederic!--Frederics but in name", "And falsehood--heirs to all except his fame:", "Who, crushed at Jena, crouched at Berlin, fell", "First, and but rose to follow! Ye who dwell", "Where Kosciusko dwelt, remembering yet", "The unpaid amount of Catherine's bloody debt!", "Poland! o'er which the avenging Angel past,", "But left thee as he found thee, still a waste,", "Forgetting all thy still enduring claim,", "Thy lotted people and extinguished name,", "Thy sigh for freedom, thy long-flowing tear,", "That sound that crashes in the tyrant's ear--", "Kosciusko! On--on--on--the thirst of War", "Gasps for the gore of serfs and of their Czar.", "The half barbaric Moscow's minarets", "Gleam in the sun, but 'tis a sun that sets!", "Moscow! thou limit of his long career,", "For which rude Charles had wept his frozen tear", "To see in vain--_he_ saw thee--how? with spire", "And palace fuel to one common fire.", "To this the soldier lent his kindling match,", "To this the peasant gave his cottage thatch,", "To this the merchant flung his hoarded store,", "The prince his hall--and Moscow was no more!", "Sublimest of volcanoes! Etna's flame", "Pales before thine, and quenchless Hecla's tame;", "Vesuvius shows his blaze, an usual sight", "For gaping tourists, from his hackneyed height:", "Thou stand'st alone unrivalled, till the Fire", "To come, in which all empires shall expire!", "", " Thou other Element! as strong and stern,", "To teach a lesson conquerors will not learn!--", "Whose icy wing flapped o'er the faltering foe,", "Till fell a hero with each flake of snow;", "How did thy numbing beak and silent fang,", "Pierce, till hosts perished with a single pang!", "In vain shall Seine look up along his banks", "For the gay thousands of his dashing ranks!", "In vain shall France recall beneath her vines", "Her Youth--their blood flows faster than her wines;", "Or stagnant in their human ice remains", "In frozen mummies on the Polar plains.", "In vain will Italy's broad sun awaken", "Her offspring chilled; its beams are now forsaken.", "Of all the trophies gathered from the war,", "What shall return? the Conqueror's broken car!", "The Conqueror's yet unbroken heart! Again", "The horn of Roland sounds, and not in vain.", "Lutzen, where fell the Swede of victory,", "Beholds him conquer, but, alas! not die:", "Dresden surveys three despots fly once more", "Before their sovereign,--sovereign as before;", "But there exhausted Fortune quits the field,", "And Leipsic's treason bids the unvanquished yield;", "The Saxon jackal leaves the lion's side", "To turn the bear's, and wolf's, and fox's guide;", "And backward to the den of his despair", "The forest monarch shrinks, but finds no lair!", "", " Oh ye! and each, and all! Oh France! who found", "Thy long fair fields ploughed up as hostile ground,", "Disputed foot by foot, till Treason, still", "His only victor, from Montmartre's hill", "Looked down o'er trampled Paris! and thou Isle,", "Which seest Etruria from thy ramparts smile,", "Thou momentary shelter of his pride,", "Till wooed by danger, his yet weeping bride!", "Oh, France! retaken by a single march,", "Whose path was through one long triumphal arch!", "Oh bloody and most bootless Waterloo!", "Which proves how fools may have their fortune too,", "Won half by blunder, half by treachery:", "Oh dull Saint Helen! with thy gaoler nigh--", "Hear! hear Prometheus from his rock appeal", "To Earth,--Air,--Ocean,--all that felt or feel", "His power and glory, all who yet shall hear", "A name eternal as the rolling year;", "He teaches them the lesson taught so long,", "So oft, so vainly--learn to do no wrong!", "A single step into the right had made", "This man the Washington of worlds betrayed:", "A single step into the wrong has given", "His name a doubt to all the winds of heaven;", "The reed of Fortune, and of thrones the rod,", "Of Fame the Moloch or the demigod;", "His country's Cæsar, Europe's Hannibal,", "Without their decent dignity of fall.", "Yet Vanity herself had better taught", "A surer path even to the fame he sought,", "By pointing out on History's fruitless page", "Ten thousand conquerors for a single sage.", "While Franklin's quiet memory climbs to Heaven,", "Calming the lightning which he thence hath riven,", "Or drawing from the no less kindled earth", "Freedom and peace to that which boasts his birth;", "While Washington's a watchword, such as ne'er", "Shall sink while there's an echo left to air:", "While even the Spaniard's thirst of gold and war", "Forgets Pizarro to shout Bolivar!", "Alas! why must the same Atlantic wave", "Which wafted freedom gird a tyrant's grave--", "The king of kings, and yet of slaves the slave,", "Who burst the chains of millions to renew", "The very fetters which his arm broke through,", "And crushed the rights of Europe and his own,", "To flit between a dungeon and a throne?", "", "But 'twill not be--the spark's awakened--lo!", "The swarthy Spaniard feels his former glow;", "The same high spirit which beat back the Moor", "Through eight long ages of alternate gore", "Revives--and where? in that avenging clime", "Where Spain was once synonymous with crime,", "Where Cortes' and Pizarro's banner flew,", "The infant world redeems her name of \"_New_.\"", "'Tis the _old_ aspiration breathed afresh,", "To kindle souls within degraded flesh,", "Such as repulsed the Persian from the shore", "Where Greece _was_--No! she still is Greece once more.", "One common cause makes myriads of one breast,", "Slaves of the East, or helots of the West:", "On Andes' and on Athos' peaks unfurled,", "The self-same standard streams o'er either world:", "The Athenian wears again Harmodius' sword;", "The Chili chief abjures his foreign lord;", "The Spartan knows himself once more a Greek,", "Young Freedom plumes the crest of each cacique;", "Debating despots, hemmed on either shore,", "Shrink vainly from the roused Atlantic's roar;", "Through Calpe's strait the rolling tides advance,", "Sweep slightly by the half-tamed land of France,", "Dash o'er the old Spaniard's cradle, and would fain", "Unite Ausonia to the mighty main:", "But driven from thence awhile, yet not for aye,", "Break o'er th' Ægean, mindful of the day", "Of Salamis!--there, there the waves arise,", "Not to be lulled by tyrant victories.", "Lone, lost, abandoned in their utmost need", "By Christians, unto whom they gave their creed,", "The desolated lands, the ravaged isle,", "The fostered feud encouraged to beguile,", "The aid evaded, and the cold delay,", "Prolonged but in the hope to make a prey;--", "These, these shall tell the tale, and Greece can show", "The false friend worse than the infuriate foe.", "But this is well: Greeks only should free Greece,", "Not the barbarian, with his masque of peace.", "How should the Autocrat of bondage be", "The king of serfs, and set the nations free?", "Better still serve the haughty Mussulman,", "Than swell the Cossaque's prowling caravan;", "Better still toil for masters, than await,", "The slave of slaves, before a Russian gate,--", "Numbered by hordes, a human capital,", "A live estate, existing but for thrall,", "Lotted by thousands, as a meet reward", "For the first courtier in the Czar's regard;", "While their immediate owner never tastes", "His sleep, _sans_ dreaming of Siberia's wastes:", "Better succumb even to their own despair,", "And drive the Camel--than purvey the Bear.", "", "But not alone within the hoariest clime", "Where Freedom dates her birth with that of Time,", "And not alone where, plunged in night, a crowd", "Of Incas darken to a dubious cloud,", "The dawn revives: renowned, romantic Spain", "Holds back the invader from her soil again.", "Not now the Roman tribe nor Punic horde", "Demands her fields as lists to prove the sword;", "Not now the Vandal or the Visigoth", "Pollute the plains, alike abhorring both;", "Nor old Pelayo on his mountain rears", "The warlike fathers of a thousand years.", "That seed is sown and reaped, as oft the Moor", "Sighs to remember on his dusky shore.", "Long in the peasant's song or poet's page", "Has dwelt the memory of Abencerrage;", "The Zegri, and the captive victors, flung", "Back to the barbarous realm from whence they sprung.", "But these are gone--their faith, their swords, their sway,", "Yet left more anti-christian foes than they;", "The bigot monarch, and the butcher priest,", "The Inquisition, with her burning feast,", "The Faith's red \"Auto,\" fed with human fuel,", "While sate the catholic Moloch, calmly cruel,", "Enjoying, with inexorable eye,", "That fiery festival of Agony!", "The stern or feeble sovereign, one or both", "By turns; the haughtiness whose pride was sloth;", "The long degenerate noble; the debased", "Hidalgo, and the peasant less disgraced,", "But more degraded; the unpeopled realm;", "The once proud navy which forgot the helm;", "The once impervious phalanx disarrayed;", "The idle forge that formed Toledo's blade;", "The foreign wealth that flowed on every shore,", "Save hers who earned it with the native's gore;", "The very language which might vie with Rome's,", "And once was known to nations like their homes,", "Neglected or forgotten:--such _was_ Spain;", "But such she is not, nor shall be again.", "These worst, these _home_ invaders, felt and feel", "The new Numantine soul of old Castile,", "Up! up again! undaunted Tauridor!", "The bull of Phalaris renews his roar;", "Mount, chivalrous Hidalgo! not in vain", "Revive the cry--\"Iago! and close Spain!\"", "Yes, close her with your arméd bosoms round,", "And form the barrier which Napoleon found,--", "The exterminating war, the desert plain,", "The streets without a tenant, save the slain;", "The wild Sierra, with its wilder troop", "Of vulture-plumed Guerrillas, on the stoop", "For their incessant prey; the desperate wall", "Of Saragossa, mightiest in her fall;", "The Man nerved to a spirit, and the Maid", "Waving her more than Amazonian blade;", "The knife of Arragon, Toledo's steel;", "The famous lance of chivalrous Castile;", "The unerring rifle of the Catalan;", "The Andalusian courser in the van;", "The torch to make a Moscow of Madrid;", "And in each heart the spirit of the Cid:--", "Such have been, such shall be, such are. Advance,", "And win--not Spain! but thine own freedom, France!", "", "But lo! a Congress! What! that hallowed name", "Which freed the Atlantic! May we hope the same", "For outworn Europe? With the sound arise,", "Like Samuel's shade to Saul's monarchic eyes,", "The prophets of young Freedom, summoned far", "From climes of Washington and Bolivar;", "Henry, the forest-born Demosthenes,", "Whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas;", "And stoic Franklin's energetic shade,", "Robed in the lightnings which his hand allayed;", "And Washington, the tyrant-tamer, wake,", "To bid us blush for these old chains, or break.", "But _who_ compose this Senate of the few", "That should redeem the many? _Who_ renew", "This consecrated name, till now assigned", "To councils held to benefit mankind?", "Who now assemble at the holy call?", "The blest Alliance, which says three are all!", "An earthly Trinity! which wears the shape", "Of Heaven's, as man is mimicked by the ape.", "A pious Unity! in purpose one--", "To melt three fools to a Napoleon.", "Why, Egypt's Gods were rational to these;", "Their dogs and oxen knew their own degrees,", "And, quiet in their kennel or their shed,", "Cared little, so that they were duly fed;", "But these, more hungry, must have something more--", "The power to bark and bite, to toss and gore.", "Ah, how much happier were good Æsop's frogs", "Than we! for ours are animated logs,", "With ponderous malice swaying to and fro,", "And crushing nations with a stupid blow;", "All dully anxious to leave little work", "Unto the revolutionary stork.", "", "Thrice blest Verona! since the holy three", "With their imperial presence shine on thee!", "Honoured by them, thy treacherous site forgets", "The vaunted tomb of \"all the Capulets!\"", "Thy Scaligers--for what was \"Dog the Great,\"", "\"Can Grande,\" (which I venture to translate,)", "To these sublimer pugs? Thy poet too,", "Catullus, whose old laurels yield to new;", "Thine amphitheatre, where Romans sate;", "And Dante's exile sheltered by thy gate;", "Thy good old man, whose world was all within", "Thy wall, nor knew the country held him in;", "Would that the royal guests it girds about", "Were so far like, as never to get out!", "Aye, shout! inscribe! rear monuments of shame,", "To tell Oppression that the world is tame!", "Crowd to the theatre with loyal rage,", "The comedy is not upon the stage;", "The show is rich in ribandry and stars,", "Then gaze upon it through thy dungeon bars;", "Clap thy permitted palms, kind Italy,", "For thus much still thy fettered hands are free!", "", "Resplendent sight! Behold the coxcomb Czar,", "The Autocrat of waltzes and of war!", "As eager for a plaudit as a realm,", "And just as fit for flirting as the helm;", "A Calmuck beauty with a Cossack wit,", "And generous spirit, when 'tis not frost-bit;", "Now half dissolving to a liberal thaw,", "But hardened back whene'er the morning's raw;", "With no objection to true Liberty,", "Except that it would make the nations free.", "How well the imperial dandy prates of peace!", "How fain, if Greeks would be his slaves, free Greece!", "How nobly gave he back the Poles their Diet,", "Then told pugnacious Poland to be quiet!", "How kindly would he send the mild Ukraine,", "With all her pleasant Pulks, to lecture Spain!", "How royally show off in proud Madrid", "His goodly person, from the South long hid!", "A blessing cheaply purchased, the world knows,", "By having Muscovites for friends or foes.", "Proceed, thou namesake of great Philip's son!", "La Harpe, thine Aristotle, beckons on;", "And that which Scythia was to him of yore", "Find with thy Scythians on Iberia's shore.", "Yet think upon, thou somewhat agéd youth,", "Thy predecessor on the banks of Pruth;", "Thou hast to aid thee, should his lot be thine,", "Many an old woman, but not Catherine.", "Spain, too, hath rocks, and rivers, and defiles--", "The Bear may rush into the Lion's toils.", "Fatal to Goths are Xeres' sunny fields;", "Think'st thou to thee Napoleon's victor yields?", "Better reclaim thy deserts, turn thy swords", "To ploughshares, shave and wash thy Bashkir hordes,", "Redeem thy realms from slavery and the knout,", "Than follow headlong in the fatal route,", "To infest the clime whose skies and laws are pure", "With thy foul legions. Spain wants no manure:", "Her soil is fertile, but she feeds no foe:", "Her vultures, too, were gorged not long ago;", "And wouldst thou furnish them with fresher prey?", "Alas! thou wilt not conquer, but purvey.", "I am Diogenes, though Russ and Hun", "Stand between mine and many a myriad's sun;", "But were I not Diogenes, I'd wander", "Rather a worm than _such_ an Alexander!", "Be slaves who will, the cynic shall be free;", "His tub hath tougher walls than Sinopè:", "Still will he hold his lantern up to scan", "The face of monarchs for an \"honest man.\"", "", "And what doth Gaul, the all-prolific land", "Of _ne plus ultra_ ultras and their band", "Of mercenaries? and her noisy chambers", "And tribune, which each orator first clambers", "Before he finds a voice, and when 'tis found,", "Hears \"the lie\" echo for his answer round?", "Our British Commons sometimes deign to \"hear!\"", "A Gallic senate hath more tongue than ear;", "Even Constant, their sole master of debate,", "Must fight next day his speech to vindicate.", "But this costs little to true Franks, who'd rather", "Combat than listen, were it to their father.", "What is the simple standing of a shot,", "To listening long, and interrupting not?", "Though this was not the method of old Rome,", "When Tully fulmined o'er each vocal dome,", "Demosthenes has sanctioned the transaction,", "In saying eloquence meant \"Action, action!\"", "", "But where's the monarch? hath he dined? or yet", "Groans beneath indigestion's heavy debt?", "Have revolutionary patés risen,", "And turned the royal entrails to a prison?", "Have discontented movements stirred the troops?", "Or have _no_ movements followed traitorous soups?", "Have Carbonaro cooks not carbonadoed", "Each course enough? or doctors dire dissuaded", "Repletion? Ah! in thy dejected looks", "I read all France's treason in her cooks!", "Good classic Louis! is it, canst thou say,", "Desirable to be the \"Desiré?\"", "Why wouldst thou leave calm Hartwell's green abode,", "Apician table, and Horatian ode,", "To rule a people who will not be ruled,", "And love much rather to be scourged than schooled?", "Ah! thine was not the temper or the taste", "For thrones; the table sees thee better placed:", "A mild Epicurean, formed, at best,", "To be a kind host and as good a guest,", "To talk of Letters, and to know by heart", "One _half_ the Poet's, _all_ the Gourmand's art;", "A scholar always, now and then a wit,", "And gentle when Digestion may permit;--", "But not to govern lands enslaved or free;", "The gout was martyrdom enough for thee.", "", "Shall noble Albion pass without a phrase", "From a bold Briton in her wonted praise?", "\"Arts--arms--and George--and glory--and the Isles,", "And happy Britain, wealth, and Freedom's smiles,", "White cliffs, that held invasion far aloof,", "Contented subjects, all alike tax-proof,", "Proud Wellington, with eagle beak so curled,", "That nose, the hook where he suspends the world!", "And Waterloo, and trade, and----(hush! not yet", "A syllable of imposts or of debt)----", "And ne'er (enough) lamented Castlereagh,", "Whose penknife slit a goose-quill t'other day--", "And, 'pilots who have weathered every storm'--", "(But, no, not even for rhyme's sake, name Reform).\"", "These are the themes thus sung so oft before,", "Methinks we need not sing them any more;", "Found in so many volumes far and near,", "There's no occasion you should find them here.", "Yet something may remain perchance to chime", "With reason, and, what's stranger still, with rhyme.", "Even this thy genius, Canning! may permit,", "Who, bred a statesman, still wast born a wit,", "And never, even in that dull House, couldst tame", "To unleavened prose thine own poetic flame;", "Our last, our best, our only orator,", "Even I can praise thee--Tories do no more:", "Nay, not so much;--they hate thee, man, because", "Thy Spirit less upholds them than it awes.", "The hounds will gather to their huntsman's hollo,", "And where he leads the duteous pack will follow;", "But not for love mistake their yelling cry;", "Their yelp for game is not an eulogy;", "Less faithful far than the four-footed pack,", "A dubious scent would lure the bipeds back.", "Thy saddle-girths are not yet quite secure,", "Nor royal stallion's feet extremely sure;", "The unwieldy old white horse is apt at last", "To stumble, kick--and now and then stick fast", "With his great Self and Rider in the mud;", "But what of that? the animal shows blood.", "", "Alas, the Country! how shall tongue or pen", "Bewail her now _un_country gentlemen?", "The last to bid the cry of warfare cease,", "The first to make a malady of peace.", "For what were all these country patriots born?", "To hunt--and vote--and raise the price of corn?", "But corn, like every mortal thing, must fall,", "Kings--Conquerors--and markets most of all.", "And must ye fall with every ear of grain?", "Why would you trouble Buonaparté's reign?", "He was your great Triptolemus; his vices", "Destroyed but realms, and still maintained your prices;", "He amplified to every lord's content", "The grand agrarian alchymy, high _rent_.", "Why did the tyrant stumble on the Tartars,", "And lower wheat to such desponding quarters?", "Why did you chain him on yon Isle so lone?", "The man was worth much more upon his throne.", "True, blood and treasure boundlessly were spilt,", "But what of that? the Gaul may bear the guilt;", "But bread was high, the farmer paid his way,", "And acres told upon the appointed day.", "But where is now the goodly audit ale?", "The purse-proud tenant, never known to fail?", "The farm which never yet was left on hand?", "The marsh reclaimed to most improving land?", "The impatient hope of the expiring lease?", "The doubling rental? What an evil's peace!", "In vain the prize excites the ploughman's skill,", "In vain the Commons pass their patriot bill;", "The _Landed Interest_--(you may understand", "The phrase much better leaving out the _land_)--", "The land self-interest groans from shore to shore,", "For fear that plenty should attain the poor.", "Up, up again, ye rents, exalt your notes,", "Or else the Ministry will lose their votes,", "And patriotism, so delicately nice,", "Her loaves will lower to the market price;", "For ah! \"the loaves and fishes,\" once so high,", "Are gone--their oven closed, their ocean dry,", "And nought remains of all the millions spent,", "Excepting to grow moderate and content.", "They who are not so, _had_ their turn--and turn", "About still flows from Fortune's equal urn;", "Now let their virtue be its own reward,", "And share the blessings which themselves prepared.", "See these inglorious Cincinnati swarm,", "Farmers of war, dictators of the farm;", "_Their_ ploughshare was the sword in hireling hands,", "_Their_ fields manured by gore of other lands;", "Safe in their barns, these Sabine tillers sent", "Their brethren out to battle--why? for rent!", "Year after year they voted cent. per cent.", "Blood, sweat, and tear-wrung millions--why?--for rent!", "They roared, they dined, they drank, they swore they meant", "To die for England--why then live?--for rent!", "The peace has made one general malcontent", "Of these high-market patriots; war was rent!", "Their love of country, millions all mis-spent,", "How reconcile? by reconciling rent!", "And will they not repay the treasures lent?", "No: down with everything, and up with rent!", "Their good, ill, health, wealth, joy, or discontent,", "Being, end, aim, religion--_rent_--_rent_--_rent_!", "Thou sold'st thy birthright, Esau! for a mess;", "Thou shouldst have gotten more, or eaten less;", "Now thou hast swilled thy pottage, thy demands", "Are idle; Israel says the bargain stands.", "Such, landlords! was your appetite for war,", "And gorged with blood, you grumble at a scar!", "What! would they spread their earthquake even o'er cash?", "And when land crumbles, bid firm paper crash?", "So rent may rise, bid Bank and Nation fall,", "And found on 'Change a _Fundling_ Hospital?", "Lo, Mother Church, while all religion writhes,", "Like Niobe, weeps o'er her offspring--Tithes;", "The Prelates go to--where the Saints have gone,", "And proud pluralities subside to one;", "Church, state, and faction wrestle in the dark,", "Tossed by the deluge in their common ark.", "Shorn of her bishops, banks, and dividends,", "Another Babel soars--but Britain ends.", "And why? to pamper the self-seeking wants,", "And prop the hill of these agrarian ants.", "\"Go to these ants, thou sluggard, and be wise;\"", "Admire their patience through each sacrifice,", "Till taught to feel the lesson of their pride,", "The price of taxes and of homicide;", "Admire their justice, which would fain deny", "The debt of nations:--pray _who made it high?_", "", "Or turn to sail between those shifting rocks,", "The new Symplegades--the crushing Stocks,", "Where Midas might again his wish behold", "In real paper or imagined gold.", "That magic palace of Alcina shows", "More wealth than Britain ever had to lose,", "Were all her atoms of unleavened ore,", "And all her pebbles from Pactolus' shore.", "There Fortune plays, while Rumour holds the stake", "And the World trembles to bid brokers break.", "How rich is Britain! not indeed in mines,", "Or peace or plenty, corn or oil, or wines;", "No land of Canaan, full of milk and honey,", "Nor (save in paper shekels) ready money:", "But let us not to own the truth refuse,", "Was ever Christian land so rich in Jews?", "Those parted with their teeth to good King John,", "And now, ye kings, they kindly draw your own;", "All states, all things, all sovereigns they control,", "And waft a loan \"from Indus to the pole.\"", "The banker--broker--baron--brethren, speed", "To aid these bankrupt tyrants in their need.", "Nor these alone; Columbia feels no less", "Fresh speculations follow each success;", "And philanthropic Israel deigns to drain", "Her mild per-centage from exhausted Spain.", "Not without Abraham's seed can Russia march;", "Tis gold, not steel, that rears the conqueror's arch.", "Two Jews, a chosen people, can command", "In every realm their Scripture-promised land:--", "Two Jews, keep down the Romans, and uphold", "The accurséd Hun, more brutal than of old:", "Two Jews,--but not Samaritans--direct", "The world, with all the spirit of their sect.", "What is the happiness of earth to them?", "A congress forms their \"New Jerusalem,\"", "Where baronies and orders both invite--", "Oh, holy Abraham! dost thou see the sight?", "Thy followers mingling with these royal swine,", "Who spit not \"on their Jewish gaberdine,\"", "But honour them as portion of the show--", "(Where now, oh Pope! is thy forsaken toe?", "Could it not favour Judah with some kicks?", "Or has it ceased to \"kick against the pricks?\")", "On Shylock's shore behold them stand afresh,", "To cut from Nation's hearts their \"pound of flesh.\"", "", "Strange sight this Congress! destined to unite", "All that's incongruous, all that's opposite.", "I speak not of the Sovereigns--they're alike,", "A common coin as ever mint could strike;", "But those who sway the puppets, pull the strings,", "Have more of motley than their heavy kings.", "Jews, authors, generals, charlatans, combine,", "While Europe wonders at the vast design:", "There Metternich, power's foremost parasite,", "Cajoles; there Wellington forgets to fight;", "There Chateaubriand forms new books of martyrs;", "And subtle Greeks intrigue for stupid Tartars;", "There Montmorenci, the sworn foe to charters,", "Turns a diplomatist of great éclat,", "To furnish articles for the \"Débats;\"", "Of war so certain--yet not quite so sure", "As his dismissal in the \"Moniteur.\"", "Alas! how could his cabinet thus err!", "Can Peace be worth an ultra-minister?", "He falls indeed, perhaps to rise again,", "\"Almost as quickly as he conquered Spain.\"", "", "Enough of this--a sight more mournful woos", "The averted eye of the reluctant Muse.", "The Imperial daughter, the Imperial bride,", "The imperial Victim--sacrifice to pride;", "The mother of the Hero's hope, the boy,", "The young Astyanax of Modern Troy;", "The still pale shadow of the loftiest Queen", "That Earth has yet to see, or e'er hath seen;", "She flits amidst the phantoms of the hour,", "The theme of pity, and the wreck of power.", "Oh, cruel mockery! Could not Austria spare", "A daughter? What did France's widow there?", "Her fitter place was by St. Helen's wave,", "Her only throne is in Napoleon's grave.", "But, no,--she still must hold a petty reign,", "Flanked by her formidable chamberlain;", "The martial Argus, whose not hundred eyes", "Must watch her through these paltry pageantries.", "What though she share no more, and shared in vain,", "A sway surpassing that of Charlemagne,", "Which swept from Moscow to the southern seas!", "Yet still she rules the pastoral realm of cheese,", "Where Parma views the traveller resort,", "To note the trappings of her mimic court.", "But she appears! Verona sees her shorn", "Of all her beams--while nations gaze and mourn--", "Ere yet her husband's ashes have had time", "To chill in their inhospitable clime;", "(If e'er those awful ashes can grow cold;--", "But no,--their embers soon will burst the mould;)", "She comes!--the Andromache (but not Racine's,", "Nor Homer's,)--Lo! on Pyrrhus' arm she leans!", "Yes! the right arm, yet red from Waterloo,", "Which cut her lord's half-shattered sceptre through,", "Is offered and accepted? Could a slave", "Do more? or less?--and _he_ in his new grave!", "Her eye--her cheek--betray no inward strife,", "And the _Ex_-Empress grows as _Ex_ a wife!", "So much for human ties in royal breasts!", "Why spare men's feelings, when their own are jests?", "", "But, tired of foreign follies, I turn home,", "And sketch the group--the picture's yet to come.", "My Muse 'gan weep, but, ere a tear was spilt,", "She caught Sir William Curtis in a kilt!", "While thronged the chiefs of every Highland clan", "To hail their brother, Vich Ian Alderman!", "Guildhall grows Gael, and echoes with Erse roar,", "While all the Common Council cry \"Claymore!\"", "To see proud Albyn's tartans as a belt", "Gird the gross sirloin of a city Celt,", "She burst into a laughter so extreme,", "That I awoke--and lo! it was _no_ dream!", "", "Here, reader, will we pause:--if there's no harm in", "This first--you'll have, perhaps, a second \"Carmen.\"", "", " B. J^n 10^th^ 1823." ], "linecount": "779" }, { "title": "The Island", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "The morning watch was come; the vessel lay", "Her course, and gently made her liquid way;", "The cloven billow flashed from off her prow", "In furrows formed by that majestic plough;", "The waters with their world were all before;", "Behind, the South Sea's many an islet shore.", "The quiet night, now dappling, 'gan to wane,", "Dividing darkness from the dawning main;", "The dolphins, not unconscious of the day,", "Swam high, as eager of the coming ray;", "The stars from broader beams began to creep,", "And lift their shining eyelids from the deep;", "The sail resumed its lately shadowed white,", "And the wind fluttered with a freshening flight;", "The purpling Ocean owns the coming Sun,", "But ere he break--a deed is to be done.", "", "The gallant Chief within his cabin slept,", "Secure in those by whom the watch was kept:", "His dreams were of Old England's welcome shore,", "Of toils rewarded, and of dangers o'er;", "His name was added to the glorious roll", "Of those who search the storm-surrounded Pole.", "The worst was over, and the rest seemed sure,", "And why should not his slumber be secure?", "Alas! his deck was trod by unwilling feet,", "And wilder hands would hold the vessel's sheet;", "Young hearts, which languished for some sunny isle,", "Where summer years and summer women smile;", "Men without country, who, too long estranged,", "Had found no native home, or found it changed,", "And, half uncivilised, preferred the cave", "Of some soft savage to the uncertain wave--", "The gushing fruits that nature gave unfilled;", "The wood without a path--but where they willed;", "The field o'er which promiscuous Plenty poured", "Her horn; the equal land without a lord;", "The wish--which ages have not yet subdued", "In man--to have no master save his mood;", "The earth, whose mine was on its face, unsold,", "The glowing sun and produce all its gold;", "The Freedom which can call each grot a home;", "The general garden, where all steps may roam,", "Where Nature owns a nation as her child,", "Exulting in the enjoyment of the wild;", "Their shells, their fruits, the only wealth they know,", "Their unexploring navy, the canoe;", "Their sport, the dashing breakers and the chase;", "Their strangest sight, an European face:--", "Such was the country which these strangers yearned", "To see again--a sight they dearly earned.", "", "Awake, bold Bligh! the foe is at the gate!", "Awake! awake!----Alas! it is too late!", "Fiercely beside thy cot the mutineer", "Stands, and proclaims the reign of rage and fear.", "Thy limbs are bound, the bayonet at thy breast;", "The hands, which trembled at thy voice, arrest;", "Dragged o'er the deck, no more at thy command", "The obedient helm shall veer, the sail expand;", "That savage Spirit, which would lull by wrath", "Its desperate escape from Duty's path,", "Glares round thee, in the scarce believing eyes", "Of those who fear the Chief they sacrifice:", "For ne'er can Man his conscience all assuage,", "Unless he drain the wine of Passion--Rage.", "", "In vain, not silenced by the eye of Death,", "Thou call'st the loyal with thy menaced breath:--", "They come not; they are few, and, overawed,", "Must acquiesce, while sterner hearts applaud.", "In vain thou dost demand the cause: a curse", "Is all the answer, with the threat of worse.", "Full in thine eyes is waved the glittering blade,", "Close to thy throat the pointed bayonet laid.", "The levelled muskets circle round thy breast", "In hands as steeled to do the deadly rest.", "Thou dar'st them to their worst, exclaiming--\"Fire!\"", "But they who pitied not could yet admire;", "Some lurking remnant of their former awe", "Restrained them longer than their broken law;", "They would not dip their souls at once in blood,", "But left thee to the mercies of the flood.", "", "\"Hoist out the boat!\" was now the leader's cry;", "And who dare answer \"No!\" to Mutiny,", "In the first dawning of the drunken hour,", "The Saturnalia of unhoped-for power?", "The boat is lowered with all the haste of hate,", "With its slight plank between thee and thy fate;", "Her only cargo such a scant supply", "As promises the death their hands deny;", "And just enough of water and of bread", "To keep, some days, the dying from the dead:", "Some cordage, canvass, sails, and lines, and twine,", "But treasures all to hermits of the brine,", "Were added after, to the earnest prayer", "Of those who saw no hope, save sea and air;", "And last, that trembling vassal of the Pole--", "The feeling compass--Navigation's soul.", "", "And now the self-elected Chief finds time", "To stun the first sensation of his crime,", "And raise it in his followers--\"Ho! the bowl!\"", "Lest passion should return to reason's shoal.", "\"Brandy for heroes!\" Burke could once exclaim--", "No doubt a liquid path to Epic fame;", "And such the new-born heroes found it here,", "And drained the draught with an applauding cheer.", "\"Huzza! for Otaheite!\" was the cry.", "How strange such shouts from sons of Mutiny!", "The gentle island, and the genial soil,", "The friendly hearts, the feasts without a toil,", "The courteous manners but from nature caught,", "The wealth unhoarded, and the love unbought;", "Could these have charms for rudest sea-boys, driven", "Before the mast by every wind of heaven?", "And now, even now prepared with others' woes", "To earn mild Virtue's vain desire, repose?", "Alas! such is our nature! all but aim", "At the same end by pathways not the same;", "Our means--our birth--our nation, and our name,", "Our fortune--temper--even our outward frame,", "Are far more potent o'er our yielding clay", "Than aught we know beyond our little day.", "Yet still there whispers the small voice within,", "Heard through Gain's silence, and o'er Glory's din:", "Whatever creed be taught, or land be trod,", "Man's conscience is the Oracle of God.", "", "The launch is crowded with the faithful few", "Who wait their Chief, a melancholy crew:", "But some remained reluctant on the deck", "Of that proud vessel--now a moral wreck--", "And viewed their Captain's fate with piteous eyes;", "While others scoffed his augured miseries,", "Sneered at the prospect of his pigmy sail,", "And the slight bark so laden and so frail.", "The tender nautilus, who steers his prow,", "The sea-born sailor of his shell canoe,", "The ocean Mab, the fairy of the sea,", "Seems far less fragile, and, alas! more free.", "He, when the lightning-winged Tornados sweep", "The surge, is safe--his port is in the deep--", "And triumphs o'er the armadas of Mankind,", "Which shake the World, yet crumble in the wind.", "", "When all was now prepared, the vessel clear", "Which hailed her master in the mutineer,", "A seaman, less obdurate than his mates,", "Showed the vain pity which but irritates;", "Watched his late Chieftain with exploring eye,", "And told, in signs, repentant sympathy;", "Held the moist shaddock to his parched mouth,", "Which felt Exhaustion's deep and bitter drouth.", "But soon observed, this guardian was withdrawn,", "Nor further Mercy clouds Rebellion's dawn.", "Then forward stepped the bold and froward boy", "His Chief had cherished only to destroy,", "And, pointing to the helpless prow beneath,", "Exclaimed, \"Depart at once! delay is death!\"", "Yet then, even then, his feelings ceased not all:", "In that last moment could a word recall", "Remorse for the black deed as yet half done,", "And what he hid from many showed to one:", "When Bligh in stern reproach demanded where", "Was now his grateful sense of former care?", "Where all his hopes to see his name aspire,", "And blazon Britain's thousand glories higher?", "His feverish lips thus broke their gloomy spell,", "\"Tis that! 'tis that! I am in hell! in hell!\"", "No more he said; but urging to the bark", "His Chief, commits him to his fragile ark;", "These the sole accents from his tongue that fell,", "But volumes lurked below his fierce farewell.", "", "The arctic Sun rose broad above the wave;", "The breeze now sank, now whispered from his cave;", "As on the Æolian harp, his fitful wings", "Now swelled, now fluttered o'er his Ocean strings.", "With slow, despairing oar, the abandoned skiff", "Ploughs its drear progress to the scarce seen cliff,", "Which lifts its peak a cloud above the main:", "_That_ boat and ship shall never meet again!", "", "But 'tis not mine to tell their tale of grief,", "Their constant peril, and their scant relief;", "Their days of danger, and their nights of pain;", "Their manly courage even when deemed in vain;", "The sapping famine, rendering scarce a son", "Known to his mother in the skeleton;", "The ills that lessened still their little store,", "And starved even Hunger till he wrung no more;", "The varying frowns and favours of the deep,", "That now almost ingulfs, then leaves to creep", "With crazy oar and shattered strength along", "The tide that yields reluctant to the strong;", "The incessant fever of that arid thirst", "Which welcomes, as a well, the clouds that burst", "Above their naked bones, and feels delight", "In the cold drenching of the stormy night,", "And from the outspread canvass gladly wrings", "A drop to moisten Life's all-gasping springs;", "The savage foe escaped, to seek again", "More hospitable shelter from the main;", "The ghastly Spectres which were doomed at last", "To tell as true a tale of dangers past,", "As ever the dark annals of the deep", "Disclosed for man to dread or woman weep.", "", "We leave them to their fate, but not unknown", "Nor unredressed. Revenge may have her own:", "Roused Discipline aloud proclaims their cause,", "And injured Navies urge their broken laws.", "Pursue we on his track the mutineer,", "Whom distant vengeance had not taught to fear.", "Wide o'er the wave--away! away! away!", "Once more his eyes shall hail the welcome bay;", "Once more the happy shores without a law", "Receive the outlaws whom they lately saw;", "Nature, and Nature's goddess--Woman--woos", "To lands where, save their conscience, none accuse;", "Where all partake the earth without dispute,", "And bread itself is gathered as a fruit;", "Where none contest the fields, the woods, the streams:--", "The goldless Age, where Gold disturbs no dreams,", "Inhabits or inhabited the shore,", "Till Europe taught them better than before;", "Bestowed her customs, and amended theirs,", "But left her vices also to their heirs.", "Away with this! behold them as they were,", "Do good with Nature, or with Nature err.", "\"Huzza! for Otaheite!\" was the cry,", "As stately swept the gallant vessel by.", "The breeze springs up; the lately flapping sail", "Extends its arch before the growing gale;", "In swifter ripples stream aside the seas,", "Which her bold bow flings off with dashing ease.", "Thus Argo ploughed the Euxine's virgin foam,", "But those she wafted still looked back to home;", "These spurn their country with their rebel bark,", "And fly her as the raven fled the Ark;", "And yet they seek to nestle with the dove,", "And tame their fiery spirits down to Love.", "", "CANTO THE SECOND.", "", "How pleasant were the songs of Toobonai,", "When Summer's Sun went down the coral bay!", "Come, let us to the islet's softest shade,", "And hear the warbling birds! the damsels said:", "The wood-dove from the forest depth shall coo,", "Like voices of the Gods from Bolotoo;", "We'll cull the flowers that grow above the dead,", "For these most bloom where rests the warrior's head;", "And we will sit in Twilight's face, and see", "The sweet Moon glancing through the Tooa tree,", "The lofty accents of whose sighing bough", "Shall sadly please us as we lean below;", "Or climb the steep, and view the surf in vain", "Wrestle with rocky giants o'er the main,", "Which spurn in columns back the baffled spray.", "How beautiful are these! how happy they,", "Who, from the toil and tumult of their lives,", "Steal to look down where nought but Ocean strives!", "Even He too loves at times the blue lagoon,", "And smooths his ruffled mane beneath the Moon.", "", "Yes--from the sepulchre we'll gather flowers,", "Then feast like spirits in their promised bowers,", "Then plunge and revel in the rolling surf,", "Then lay our limbs along the tender turf,", "And, wet and shining from the sportive toil,", "Anoint our bodies with the fragrant oil,", "And plait our garlands gathered from the grave,", "And wear the wreaths that sprung from out the brave.", "But lo! night comes, the Mooa woos us back,", "The sound of mats are heard along our track;", "Anon the torchlight dance shall fling its sheen", "In flashing mazes o'er the Marly's green;", "And we too will be there; we too recall", "The memory bright with many a festival,", "Ere Fiji blew the shell of war, when foes", "For the first time were wafted in canoes.", "Alas! for them the flower of manhood bleeds;", "Alas! for them our fields are rank with weeds:", "Forgotten is the rapture, or unknown,", "Of wandering with the Moon and Love alone.", "But be it so:--_they_ taught us how to wield", "The club, and rain our arrows o'er the field:", "Now let them reap the harvest of their art!", "But feast to-night! to-morrow we depart.", "Strike up the dance! the Cava bowl fill high!", "Drain every drop!--to-morrow we may die.", "In summer garments be our limbs arrayed;", "Around our waists the Tappa's white displayed;", "Thick wreaths shall form our coronal, like Spring's,", "And round our necks shall glance the Hooni strings;", "So shall their brighter hues contrast the glow", "Of the dusk bosoms that beat high below.", "", "But now the dance is o'er--yet stay awhile;", "Ah, pause! nor yet put out the social smile.", "To-morrow for the Mooa we depart,", "But not to-night--to-night is for the heart.", "Again bestow the wreaths we gently woo,", "Ye young Enchantresses of gay Licoo!", "How lovely are your forms! how every sense", "Bows to your beauties, softened, but intense,", "Like to the flowers on Mataloco's steep,", "Which fling their fragrance far athwart the deep!--", "We too will see Licoo; but--oh! my heart!--", "What do I say?--to-morrow we depart!", "", "Thus rose a song--the harmony of times", "Before the winds blew Europe o'er these climes.", "True, they had vices--such are Nature's growth--", "But only the barbarian's--we have both;", "The sordor of civilisation, mixed", "With all the savage which Man's fall hath fixed.", "Who hath not seen Dissimulation's reign,", "The prayers of Abel linked to deeds of Cain?", "Who such would see may from his lattice view", "The Old World more degraded than the New,--", "Now _new_ no more, save where Columbia rears", "Twin giants, born by Freedom to her spheres,", "Where Chimborazo, over air,--earth,--wave,--", "Glares with his Titan eye, and sees no slave.", "", "Such was this ditty of Tradition's days,", "Which to the dead a lingering fame conveys", "In song, where Fame as yet hath left no sign", "Beyond the sound whose charm is half divine;", "Which leaves no record to the sceptic eye,", "But yields young History all to Harmony;", "A boy Achilles, with the Centaur's lyre", "In hand, to teach him to surpass his sire.", "For one long-cherished ballad's simple stave,", "Rung from the rock, or mingled with the wave,", "Or from the bubbling streamlet's grassy side,", "Or gathering mountain echoes as they glide,", "Hath greater power o'er each true heart and ear,", "Than all the columns Conquest's minions rear;", "Invites, when Hieroglyphics are a theme", "For sages' labours, or the student's dream;", "Attracts, when History's volumes are a toil,--", "The first, the freshest bud of Feeling's soil.", "Such was this rude rhyme--rhyme is of the rude--", "But such inspired the Norseman's solitude,", "Who came and conquered; such, wherever rise", "Lands which no foes destroy or civilise,", "Exist: and what can our accomplished art", "Of verse do more than reach the awakened heart?", "", "And sweetly now those untaught melodies", "Broke the luxurious silence of the skies,", "The sweet siesta of a summer day,", "The tropic afternoon of Toobonai,", "When every flower was bloom, and air was balm,", "And the first breath began to stir the palm,", "The first yet voiceless wind to urge the wave", "All gently to refresh the thirsty cave,", "Where sat the Songstress with the stranger boy,", "Who taught her Passion's desolating joy,", "Too powerful over every heart, but most", "O'er those who know not how it may be lost;", "O'er those who, burning in the new-born fire,", "Like martyrs revel in their funeral pyre,", "With such devotion to their ecstacy,", "That Life knows no such rapture as to die:", "And die they do; for earthly life has nought", "Matched with that burst of Nature, even in thought;", "And all our dreams of better life above", "But close in one eternal gush of Love.", "", "There sat the gentle savage of the wild,", "In growth a woman, though in years a child,", "As childhood dates within our colder clime,", "Where nought is ripened rapidly save crime;", "The infant of an infant world, as pure", "From Nature--lovely, warm, and premature;", "Dusky like night, but night with all her stars;", "Or cavern sparkling with its native spars;", "With eyes that were a language and a spell,", "A form like Aphrodite's in her shell,", "With all her loves around her on the deep,", "Voluptuous as the first approach of sleep;", "Yet full of life--for through her tropic cheek", "The blush would make its way, and all but speak;", "The sun-born blood suffused her neck, and threw", "O'er her clear nut-brown skin a lucid hue,", "Like coral reddening through the darkened wave,", "Which draws the diver to the crimson cave.", "Such was this daughter of the southern seas,", "Herself a billow in her energies,", "To bear the bark of others' happiness,", "Nor feel a sorrow till their joy grew less:", "Her wild and warm yet faithful bosom knew", "No joy like what it gave; her hopes ne'er drew", "Aught from Experience, that chill touchstone, whose", "Sad proof reduces all things from their hues:", "She feared no ill, because she knew it not,", "Or what she knew was soon--too soon--forgot:", "Her smiles and tears had passed, as light winds pass", "O'er lakes to ruffle, not destroy, their glass,", "Whose depths unsearched, and fountains from the hill,", "Restore their surface, in itself so still,", "Until the Earthquake tear the Naiad's cave,", "Root up the spring, and trample on the wave,", "And crush the living waters to a mass,", "The amphibious desert of the dank morass!", "And must their fate be hers? The eternal change", "But grasps Humanity with quicker range;", "And they who fall but fall as worlds will fall,", "To rise, if just, a Spirit o'er them all.", "", "And who is he? the blue-eyed northern child", "Of isles more known to man, but scarce less wild;", "The fair-haired offspring of the Hebrides,", "Where roars the Pentland with its whirling seas;", "Rocked in his cradle by the roaring wind,", "The tempest-born in body and in mind,", "His young eyes opening on the ocean-foam,", "Had from that moment deemed the deep his home,", "The giant comrade of his pensive moods,", "The sharer of his craggy solitudes,", "The only Mentor of his youth, where'er", "His bark was borne; the sport of wave and air;", "A careless thing, who placed his choice in chance,", "Nursed by the legends of his land's romance;", "Eager to hope, but not less firm to bear,", "Acquainted with all feelings save despair.", "Placed in the Arab's clime he would have been", "As bold a rover as the sands have seen,", "And braved their thirst with as enduring lip", "As Ishmael, wafted on his Desert-Ship;", "Fixed upon Chili's shore, a proud cacique:", "On Hellas' mountains, a rebellious Greek;", "Born in a tent, perhaps a Tamerlane;", "Bred to a throne, perhaps unfit to reign.", "For the same soul that rends its path to sway,", "If reared to such, can find no further prey", "Beyond itself, and must retrace its way,", "Plunging for pleasure into pain: the same", "Spirit which made a Nero, Rome's worst shame,", "A humbler state and discipline of heart,", "Had formed his glorious namesake's counterpart;", "But grant his vices, grant them all his own,", "How small their theatre without a throne!", "", "Thou smilest:--these comparisons seem high", "To those who scan all things with dazzled eye;", "Linked with the unknown name of one whose doom", "Has nought to do with glory or with Rome,", "With Chili, Hellas, or with Araby;--", "Thou smilest?--Smile; 'tis better thus than sigh;", "Yet such he might have been; he was a man,", "A soaring spirit, ever in the van,", "A patriot hero or despotic chief,", "To form a nation's glory or its grief,", "Born under auspices which make us more", "Or less than we delight to ponder o'er.", "But these are visions; say, what was he here?", "A blooming boy, a truant mutineer.", "The fair-haired Torquil, free as Ocean's spray,", "The husband of the bride of Toobonai.", "", "By Neuha's side he sate, and watched the waters,--", "Neuha, the sun-flower of the island daughters,", "Highborn, (a birth at which the herald smiles,", "Without a scutcheon for these secret isles,)", "Of a long race, the valiant and the free,", "The naked knights of savage chivalry,", "Whose grassy cairns ascend along the shore;", "And thine--I've seen--Achilles! do no more.", "She, when the thunder-bearing strangers came,", "In vast canoes, begirt with bolts of flame,", "Topped with tall trees, which, loftier than the palm,", "Seemed rooted in the deep amidst its calm:", "But when the winds awakened, shot forth wings", "Broad as the cloud along the horizon flings,", "And swayed the waves, like cities of the sea,", "Making the very billows look less free;--", "She, with her paddling oar and dancing prow,", "Shot through the surf, like reindeer through the snow,", "Swift-gliding o'er the breaker's whitening edge,", "Light as a Nereid in her ocean sledge,", "And gazed and wondered at the giant hulk,", "Which heaved from wave to wave its trampling bulk.", "The anchor dropped; it lay along the deep,", "Like a huge lion in the sun asleep,", "While round it swarmed the Proas' flitting chain,", "Like summer bees that hum around his mane.", "", "The white man landed!--need the rest be told?", "The New World stretched its dusk hand to the Old;", "Each was to each a marvel, and the tie", "Of wonder warmed to better sympathy.", "Kind was the welcome of the sun-born sires,", "And kinder still their daughters' gentler fires.", "Their union grew: the children of the storm", "Found beauty linked with many a dusky form;", "While these in turn admired the paler glow,", "Which seemed so white in climes that knew no snow.", "The chace, the race, the liberty to roam,", "The soil where every cottage showed a home;", "The sea-spread net, the lightly launched canoe,", "Which stemmed the studded archipelago,", "O'er whose blue bosom rose the starry isles;", "The healthy slumber, earned by sportive toils;", "The palm, the loftiest Dryad of the woods,", "Within whose bosom infant Bacchus broods,", "While eagles scarce build higher than the crest", "Which shadows o'er the vineyard in her breast;", "The Cava feast, the Yam, the Cocoa's root,", "Which bears at once the cup, and milk, and fruit;", "The Bread-tree, which, without the ploughshare, yields", "The unreaped harvest of unfurrowed fields,", "And bakes its unadulterated loaves", "Without a furnace in unpurchased groves,", "And flings off famine from its fertile breast,", "A priceless market for the gathering guest;--", "These, with the luxuries of seas and woods,", "The airy joys of social solitudes,", "Tamed each rude wanderer to the sympathies", "Of those who were more happy, if less wise,", "Did more than Europe's discipline had done,", "And civilised Civilisation's son!", "", "Of these, and there was many a willing pair,", "Neuha and Torquil were not the least fair:", "Both children of the isles, though distant far;", "Both born beneath a sea-presiding star;", "Both nourished amidst Nature's native scenes,", "Loved to the last, whatever intervenes", "Between us and our Childhood's sympathy,", "Which still reverts to what first caught the eye.", "He who first met the Highlands' swelling blue", "Will love each peak that shows a kindred hue,", "Hail in each crag a friend's familiar face,", "And clasp the mountain in his Mind's embrace.", "Long have I roamed through lands which are not mine,", "Adored the Alp, and loved the Apennine,", "Revered Parnassus, and beheld the steep", "Jove's Ida and Olympus crown the deep:", "But 'twas not all long ages' lore, nor all", "_Their_ nature held me in their thrilling thrall;", "The infant rapture still survived the boy,", "And Loch-na-gar with Ida looked o'er Troy,", "Mixed Celtic memories with the Phrygian mount,", "And Highland linns with Castalie's clear fount.", "Forgive me, Homer's universal shade!", "Forgive me, Phœbus! that my fancy strayed;", "The North and Nature taught me to adore", "Your scenes sublime, from those beloved before.", "", "The love which maketh all things fond and fair,", "The youth which makes one rainbow of the air,", "The dangers past, that make even Man enjoy", "The pause in which he ceases to destroy,", "The mutual beauty, which the sternest feel", "Strike to their hearts like lightning to the steel,", "United the half savage and the whole,", "The maid and boy, in one absorbing soul.", "No more the thundering memory of the fight", "Wrapped his weaned bosom in its dark delight;", "No more the irksome restlessness of Rest", "Disturbed him like the eagle in her nest,", "Whose whetted beak and far-pervading eye", "Darts for a victim over all the sky:", "His heart was tamed to that voluptuous state,", "At once Elysian and effeminate,", "Which leaves no laurels o'er the Hero's urn;--", "These wither when for aught save blood they burn;", "Yet when their ashes in their nook are laid,", "Doth not the myrtle leave as sweet a shade?", "Had Cæsar known but Cleopatra's kiss,", "Rome had been free, the world had not been his.", "And what have Cæsar's deeds and Cæsar's fame", "Done for the earth? We feel them in our shame.", "The gory sanction of his Glory stains", "The rust which tyrants cherish on our chains.", "Though Glory--Nature--Reason--Freedom, bid", "Roused millions do what single Brutus did--", "Sweep these mere mock-birds of the Despot's song", "From the tall bough where they have perched so long,--", "Still are we hawked at by such mousing owls,", "And take for falcons those ignoble fowls,", "When but a word of freedom would dispel", "These bugbears, as their terrors show too well.", "", "Rapt in the fond forgetfulness of life,", "Neuha, the South Sea girl, was all a wife,", "With no distracting world to call her off", "From Love; with no Society to scoff", "At the new transient flame; no babbling crowd", "Of coxcombry in admiration loud,", "Or with adulterous whisper to alloy", "Her duty, and her glory, and her joy:", "With faith and feelings naked as her form,", "She stood as stands a rainbow in a storm,", "Changing its hues with bright variety,", "But still expanding lovelier o'er the sky,", "Howe'er its arch may swell, its colours move,", "The cloud-compelling harbinger of Love.", "", "Here, in this grotto of the wave-worn shore,", "They passed the Tropic's red meridian o'er;", "Nor long the hours--they never paused o'er time,", "Unbroken by the clock's funereal chime,", "Which deals the daily pittance of our span,", "And points and mocks with iron laugh at man.", "What deemed they of the future or the past?", "The present, like a tyrant, held them fast:", "Their hour-glass was the sea-sand, and the tide,", "Like her smooth billow, saw their moments glide", "Their clock the Sun, in his unbounded tower", "They reckoned not, whose day was but an hour;", "The nightingale, their only vesper-bell,", "Sung sweetly to the rose the day's farewell;", "The broad Sun set, but not with lingering sweep,", "As in the North he mellows o'er the deep;", "But fiery, full, and fierce, as if he left", "The World for ever, earth of light bereft,", "Plunged with red forehead down along the wave,", "As dives a hero headlong to his grave.", "Then rose they, looking first along the skies,", "And then for light into each other's eyes,", "Wondering that Summer showed so brief a sun,", "And asking if indeed the day were done.", "", "And let not this seem strange: the devotee", "Lives not in earth, but in his ecstasy;", "Around him days and worlds are heedless driven,", "His Soul is gone before his dust to Heaven.", "Is Love less potent? No--his path is trod,", "Alike uplifted gloriously to God;", "Or linked to all we know of Heaven below,", "The other better self, whose joy or woe", "Is more than ours; the all-absorbing flame", "Which, kindled by another, grows the same,", "Wrapt in one blaze; the pure, yet funeral pile,", "Where gentle hearts, like Bramins, sit and smile.", "How often we forget all time, when lone,", "Admiring Nature's universal throne,", "Her woods--her wilds--her waters--the intense", "Reply of _hers_ to our intelligence!", "Live not the Stars and Mountains? Are the Waves", "Without a spirit? Are the dropping caves", "Without a feeling in their silent tears?", "No, no;--they woo and clasp us to their spheres,", "Dissolve this clog and clod of clay before", "Its hour, and merge our soul in the great shore.", "Strip off this fond and false identity!--", "Who thinks of self when gazing on the sky?", "And who, though gazing lower, ever thought,", "In the young moments ere the heart is taught", "Time's lesson, of Man's baseness or his own?", "All Nature is his realm, and Love his throne.", "", "Neuha arose, and Torquil: Twilight's hour", "Came sad and softly to their rocky bower,", "Which, kindling by degrees its dewy spars,", "Echoed their dim light to the mustering stars.", "Slowly the pair, partaking Nature's calm,", "Sought out their cottage, built beneath the palm;", "Now smiling and now silent, as the scene;", "Lovely as Love--the Spirit!--when serene.", "The Ocean scarce spoke louder with his swell,", "Than breathes his mimic murmurer in the shell,", "As, far divided from his parent deep,", "The sea-born infant cries, and will not sleep,", "Raising his little plaint in vain, to rave", "For the broad bosom of his nursing wave:", "The woods drooped darkly, as inclined to rest,", "The tropic bird wheeled rockward to his nest,", "And the blue sky spread round them like a lake", "Of peace, where Piety her thirst might slake.", "", "But through the palm and plantain, hark, a Voice!", "Not such as would have been a lover's choice,", "In such an hour, to break the air so still;", "No dying night-breeze, harping o'er the hill,", "Striking the strings of nature, rock and tree,", "Those best and earliest lyres of Harmony,", "With Echo for their chorus; nor the alarm", "Of the loud war-whoop to dispel the charm;", "Nor the soliloquy of the hermit owl,", "Exhaling all his solitary soul,", "The dim though large-eyed wingéd anchorite,", "Who peals his dreary Pæan o'er the night;", "But a loud, long, and naval whistle, shrill", "As ever started through a sea-bird's bill;", "And then a pause, and then a hoarse \"Hillo!", "Torquil, my boy! what cheer? Ho! brother, ho!\"", "\"Who hails?\" cried Torquil, following with his eye", "The sound. \"Here's one,\" was all the brief reply.", "", "But here the herald of the self-same mouth", "Came breathing o'er the aromatic south,", "Not like a \"bed of violets\" on the gale,", "But such as wafts its cloud o'er grog or ale,", "Borne from a short frail pipe, which yet had blown", "Its gentle odours over either zone,", "And, puffed where'er winds rise or waters roll,", "Had wafted smoke from Portsmouth to the Pole,", "Opposed its vapour as the lightning flashed,", "And reeked, 'midst mountain-billows, unabashed,", "To Æolus a constant sacrifice,", "Through every change of all the varying skies.", "And what was he who bore it?--I may err,", "But deem him sailor or philosopher.", "Sublime Tobacco! which from East to West", "Cheers the tar's labour or the Turkman's rest;", "Which on the Moslem's ottoman divides", "His hours, and rivals opium and his brides;", "Magnificent in Stamboul, but less grand,", "Though not less loved, in Wapping or the Strand;", "Divine in hookas, glorious in a pipe,", "When tipped with amber, mellow, rich, and ripe:", "Like other charmers, wooing the caress,", "More dazzlingly when daring in full dress;", "Yet thy true lovers more admire by far", "Thy naked beauties--Give me a cigar!", "", "Through the approaching darkness of the wood", "A human figure broke the solitude,", "Fantastically, it may be, arrayed,", "A seaman in a savage masquerade;", "Such as appears to rise out from the deep,", "When o'er the line the merry vessels sweep,", "And the rough Saturnalia of the tar", "Flock o'er the deck, in Neptune's borrowed car;", "And, pleased, the God of Ocean sees his name", "Revive once more, though but in mimic game", "Of his true sons, who riot in the breeze", "Undreamt of in his native Cyclades.", "Still the old God delights, from out the main,", "To snatch some glimpses of his ancient reign.", "Our sailor's jacket, though in ragged trim,", "His constant pipe, which never yet burned dim,", "His foremast air, and somewhat rolling gait,", "Like his dear vessel, spoke his former state;", "But then a sort of kerchief round his head,", "Not over tightly bound, nor nicely spread;", "And, 'stead of trowsers (ah! too early torn!", "For even the mildest woods will have their thorn)", "A curious sort of somewhat scanty mat", "Now served for inexpressibles and hat;", "His naked feet and neck, and sunburnt face,", "Perchance might suit alike with either race.", "His arms were all his own, our Europe's growth,", "Which two worlds bless for civilising both;", "The musket swung behind his shoulders broad,", "And somewhat stooped by his marine abode,", "But brawny as the boar's; and hung beneath,", "His cutlass drooped, unconscious of a sheath,", "Or lost or worn away; his pistols were", "Linked to his belt, a matrimonial pair--", "(Let not this metaphor appear a scoff,", "Though one missed fire, the other would go off);", "These, with a bayonet, not so free from rust", "As when the arm-chest held its brighter trust,", "Completed his accoutrements, as Night", "Surveyed him in his garb heteroclite.", "", "\"What cheer, Ben Bunting?\" cried (when in full view", "Our new acquaintance) Torquil. \"Aught of new?\"", "\"Ey, ey!\" quoth Ben, \"not new, but news enow;", "A strange sail in the offing.\"--\"Sail! and how?", "What! could you make her out? It cannot be;", "I've seen no rag of canvass on the sea.\"", "\"Belike,\" said Ben, \"you might not from the bay,", "But from the bluff-head, where I watched to-day,", "I saw her in the doldrums; for the wind", "Was light and baffling.\"--\"When the Sun declined", "Where lay she? had she anchored?\"--\"No, but still", "She bore down on us, till the wind grew still.\"", "\"Her flag?\"--\"I had no glass: but fore and aft,", "Egad! she seemed a wicked-looking craft.\"", "\"Armed?\"--\"I expect so;--sent on the look-out:", "'Tis time, belike, to put our helm about.\"", "\"About?--Whate'er may have us now in chase,", "We'll make no running fight, for that were base;", "We will die at our quarters, like true men.\"", "\"Ey, ey! for that 'tis all the same to Ben.\"", "\"Does Christian know this?\"--\"Aye; he has piped all hands", "To quarters. They are furbishing the stands", "Of arms; and we have got some guns to bear,", "And scaled them. You are wanted.\"--\"That's but fair;", "And if it were not, mine is not the soul", "To leave my comrades helpless on the shoal.", "My Neuha! ah! and must my fate pursue", "Not me alone, but one so sweet and true?", "But whatsoe'er betide, ah, Neuha! now", "Unman me not: the hour will not allow", "A tear; I am thine whatever intervenes!\"", "\"Right,\" quoth Ben; \"that will do for the marines.\"", "", "CANTO THE THIRD.", "", "The fight was o'er; the flashing through the gloom,", "Which robes the cannon as he wings a tomb,", "Had ceased; and sulphury vapours upward driven", "Had left the Earth, and but polluted Heaven:", "The rattling roar which rung in every volley", "Had left the echoes to their melancholy;", "No more they shrieked their horror, boom for boom;", "The strife was done, the vanquished had their doom;", "The mutineers were crushed, dispersed, or ta'en,", "Or lived to deem the happiest were the slain.", "Few, few escaped, and these were hunted o'er", "The isle they loved beyond their native shore.", "No further home was theirs, it seemed, on earth,", "Once renegades to that which gave them birth;", "Tracked like wild beasts, like them they sought the wild,", "As to a Mother's bosom flies the child;", "But vainly wolves and lions seek their den,", "And still more vainly men escape from men.", "", "Beneath a rock whose jutting base protrudes", "Far over Ocean in its fiercest moods,", "When scaling his enormous crag the wave", "Is hurled down headlong, like the foremost brave,", "And falls back on the foaming crowd behind,", "Which fight beneath the banners of the wind,", "But now at rest, a little remnant drew", "Together, bleeding, thirsty, faint, and few;", "But still their weapons in their hands, and still", "With something of the pride of former will,", "As men not all unused to meditate,", "And strive much more than wonder at their fate.", "Their present lot was what they had foreseen,", "And dared as what was likely to have been;", "Yet still the lingering hope, which deemed their lot", "Not pardoned, but unsought for or forgot,", "Or trusted that, if sought, their distant caves", "Might still be missed amidst the world of waves,", "Had weaned their thoughts in part from what they saw", "And felt, the vengeance of their country's law.", "Their sea-green isle, their guilt-won Paradise,", "No more could shield their Virtue or their Vice:", "Their better feelings, if such were, were thrown", "Back on themselves,--their sins remained alone.", "Proscribed even in their second country, they", "Were lost; in vain the World before them lay;", "All outlets seemed secured. Their new allies", "Had fought and bled in mutual sacrifice;", "But what availed the club and spear, and arm", "Of Hercules, against the sulphury charm,", "The magic of the thunder, which destroyed", "The warrior ere his strength could be employed?", "Dug, like a spreading pestilence, the grave", "No less of human bravery than the brave!", "Their own scant numbers acted all the few", "Against the many oft will dare and do;", "But though the choice seems native to die free,", "Even Greece can boast but one Thermopylæ,", "Till _now_, when she has forged her broken chain", "Back to a sword, and dies and lives again!", "", "Beside the jutting rock the few appeared,", "Like the last remnant of the red-deer's herd;", "Their eyes were feverish, and their aspect worn,", "But still the hunter's blood was on their horn.", "A little stream came tumbling from the height,", "And straggling into ocean as it might,", "Its bounding crystal frolicked in the ray,", "And gushed from cliff to crag with saltless spray;", "Close on the wild, wide ocean, yet as pure", "And fresh as Innocence, and more secure,", "Its silver torrent glittered o'er the deep,", "As the shy chamois' eye o'erlooks the steep,", "While far below the vast and sullen swell", "Of Ocean's alpine azure rose and fell.", "To this young spring they rushed,--all feelings first", "Absorbed in Passion's and in Nature's thirst,--", "Drank as they do who drink their last, and threw", "Their arms aside to revel in its dew;", "Cooled their scorched throats, and washed the gory stains", "From wounds whose only bandage might be chains;", "Then, when their drought was quenched, looked sadly round,", "As wondering how so many still were found", "Alive and fetterless:--but silent all,", "Each sought his fellow's eyes, as if to call", "On him for language which his lips denied,", "As though their voices with their cause had died.", "", "Stern, and aloof a little from the rest,", "Stood Christian, with his arms across his chest.", "The ruddy, reckless, dauntless hue once spread", "Along his cheek was livid now as lead;", "His light-brown locks, so graceful in their flow,", "Now rose like startled vipers o'er his brow.", "Still as a statue, with his lips comprest", "To stifle even the breath within his breast,", "Fast by the rock, all menacing, but mute,", "He stood; and, save a slight beat of his foot,", "Which deepened now and then the sandy dint", "Beneath his heel, his form seemed turned to flint.", "Some paces further Torquil leaned his head", "Against a bank, and spoke not, but he bled,--", "Not mortally:--his worst wound was within;", "His brow was pale, his blue eyes sunken in,", "And blood-drops, sprinkled o'er his yellow hair,", "Showed that his faintness came not from despair,", "But Nature's ebb. Beside him was another,", "Rough as a bear, but willing as a brother,--", "Ben Bunting, who essayed to wash, and wipe,", "And bind his wound--then calmly lit his pipe,", "A trophy which survived a hundred fights,", "A beacon which had cheered ten thousand nights.", "The fourth and last of this deserted group", "Walked up and down--at times would stand, then stoop", "To pick a pebble up--then let it drop--", "Then hurry as in haste--then quickly stop--", "Then cast his eyes on his companions--then", "Half whistle half a tune, and pause again--", "And then his former movements would redouble,", "With something between carelessness and trouble.", "This is a long description, but applies", "To scarce five minutes passed before the eyes;", "But yet _what_ minutes! Moments like to these", "Rend men's lives into immortalities.", "", "At length Jack Skyscrape, a mercurial man,", "Who fluttered over all things like a fan,", "More brave than firm, and more disposed to dare", "And die at once than wrestle with despair,", "Exclaimed, \"G--d damn!\"--those syllables intense,--", "Nucleus of England's native eloquence,", "As the Turk's \"Allah!\" or the Roman's more", "Pagan \"Proh Jupiter!\" was wont of yore", "To give their first impressions such a vent,", "By way of echo to embarrassment.", "Jack was embarrassed,--never hero more,", "And as he knew not what to say, he swore:", "Nor swore in vain; the long congenial sound", "Revived Ben Bunting from his pipe profound;", "He drew it from his mouth, and looked full wise,", "But merely added to the oath his _eyes_;", "Thus rendering the imperfect phrase complete,", "A peroration I need not repeat.", "", "But Christian, of a higher order, stood", "Like an extinct volcano in his mood;", "Silent, and sad, and savage,--with the trace", "Of passion reeking from his clouded face;", "Till lifting up again his sombre eye,", "It glanced on Torquil, who leaned faintly by.", "\"And is it thus?\" he cried, \"unhappy boy!", "And thee, too, _thee_--my madness must destroy!\"", "He said, and strode to where young Torquil stood,", "Yet dabbled with his lately flowing blood;", "Seized his hand wistfully, but did not press,", "And shrunk as fearful of his own caress;", "Enquired into his state: and when he heard", "The wound was slighter than he deemed or feared,", "A moment's brightness passed along his brow,", "As much as such a moment would allow.", "\"Yes,\" he exclaimed, \"we are taken in the toil,", "But not a coward or a common spoil;", "Dearly they have bought us--dearly still may buy,--", "And I must fall; but have _you_ strength to fly?", "'Twould be some comfort still, could you survive;", "Our dwindled band is now too few to strive.", "Oh! for a sole canoe! though but a shell,", "To bear you hence to where a hope may dwell!", "For me, my lot is what I sought; to be,", "In life or death, the fearless and the free.\"", "", "Even as he spoke, around the promontory,", "Which nodded o'er the billows high and hoary,", "A dark speck dotted Ocean: on it flew", "Like to the shadow of a roused sea-mew;", "Onward it came--and, lo! a second followed--", "Now seen--now hid--where Ocean's vale was hollowed;", "And near, and nearer, till the dusky crew", "Presented well-known aspects to the view,", "Till on the surf their skimming paddles play,", "Buoyant as wings, and flitting through the spray;--", "Now perching on the wave's high curl, and now", "Dashed downward in the thundering foam below,", "Which flings it broad and boiling sheet on sheet,", "And slings its high flakes, shivered into sleet:", "But floating still through surf and swell, drew nigh", "The barks, like small birds through a lowering sky.", "Their art seemed nature--such the skill to sweep", "The wave of these born playmates of the deep.", "", "And who the first that, springing on the strand,", "Leaped like a Nereid from her shell to land,", "With dark but brilliant skin, and dewy eye", "Shining with love, and hope, and constancy?", "Neuha--the fond, the faithful, the adored--", "Her heart on Torquil's like a torrent poured;", "And smiled, and wept, and near, and nearer clasped,", "As if to be assured 'twas _him_ she grasped;", "Shuddered to see his yet warm wound, and then,", "To find it trivial, smiled and wept again.", "She was a warrior's daughter, and could bear", "Such sights, and feel, and mourn, but not despair.", "Her lover lived,--nor foes nor fears could blight", "That full-blown moment in its all delight:", "Joy trickled in her tears, joy filled the sob", "That rocked her heart till almost heard to throb;", "And Paradise was breathing in the sigh", "Of Nature's child in Nature's ecstasy.", "", "The sterner spirits who beheld that meeting", "Were not unmoved; who are, when hearts are greeting?", "Even Christian gazed upon the maid and boy", "With tearless eye, but yet a gloomy joy", "Mixed with those bitter thoughts the soul arrays", "In hopeless visions of our better days,", "When all's gone--to the rainbow's latest ray.", "\"And but for me!\" he said, and turned away;", "Then gazed upon the pair, as in his den", "A lion looks upon his cubs again;", "And then relapsed into his sullen guise,", "As heedless of his further destinies.", "", "But brief their time for good or evil thought;", "The billows round the promontory brought", "The plash of hostile oars.--Alas! who made", "That sound a dread? All around them seemed arrayed", "Against them, save the bride of Toobonai:", "She, as she caught the first glimpse o'er the bay", "Of the armed boats, which hurried to complete", "The remnant's ruin with their flying feet,", "Beckoned the natives round her to their prows,", "Embarked their guests and launched their light canoes;", "In one placed Christian and his comrades twain--", "But she and Torquil must not part again.", "She fixed him in her own.--Away! away!", "They cleared the breakers, dart along the bay,", "And towards a group of islets, such as bear", "The sea-bird's nest and seal's surf-hollowed lair,", "They skim the blue tops of the billows; fast", "They flew, and fast their fierce pursuers chased.", "They gain upon them--now they lose again,--", "Again make way and menace o'er the main;", "And now the two canoes in chase divide,", "And follow different courses o'er the tide,", "To baffle the pursuit.--Away! away!", "As Life is on each paddle's flight to-day,", "And more than Life or lives to Neuha: Love", "Freights the frail bark and urges to the cove;", "And now the refuge and the foe are nigh--", "Yet, yet a moment! Fly, thou light ark, fly!", "", "CANTO THE FOURTH.", "", "White as a white sail on a dusky sea,", "When half the horizon's clouded and half free,", "Fluttering between the dun wave and the sky,", "Is Hope's last gleam in Man's extremity.", "Her anchor parts; but still her snowy sail", "Attracts our eye amidst the rudest gale:", "Though every wave she climbs divides us more,", "The heart still follows from the loneliest shore.", "", "Not distant from the isle of Toobonai,", "A black rock rears its bosom o'er the spray,", "The haunt of birds, a desert to mankind,", "Where the rough seal reposes from the wind,", "And sleeps unwieldy in his cavern dun,", "Or gambols with huge frolic in the sun:", "There shrilly to the passing oar is heard", "The startled echo of the Ocean bird,", "Who rears on its bare breast her callow brood,", "The feathered fishers of the solitude.", "A narrow segment of the yellow sand", "On one side forms the outline of a strand;", "Here the young turtle, crawling from his shell,", "Steals to the deep wherein his parents dwell;", "Chipped by the beam, a nursling of the day,", "But hatched for ocean by the fostering ray;", "The rest was one bleak precipice, as e'er", "Gave mariners a shelter and despair;", "A spot to make the saved regret the deck", "Which late went down, and envy the lost wreck.", "Such was the stern asylum Neuha chose", "To shield her lover from his following foes;", "But all its secret was not told; she knew", "In this a treasure hidden from the view.", "", "Ere the canoes divided, near the spot,", "The men that manned what held her Torquil's lot,", "By her command removed, to strengthen more", "The skiff which wafted Christian from the shore.", "This he would have opposed; but with a smile", "She pointed calmly to the craggy isle,", "And bade him \"speed and prosper.\" _She_ would take", "The rest upon herself for Torquil's sake.", "They parted with this added aid; afar,", "The Proa darted like a shooting star,", "And gained on the pursuers, who now steered", "Right on the rock which she and Torquil neared.", "They pulled; her arm, though delicate, was free", "And firm as ever grappled with the sea,", "And yielded scarce to Torquil's manlier strength.", "The prow now almost lay within its length", "Of the crag's steep inexorable face,", "With nought but soundless waters for its base;", "Within a hundred boats' length was the foe,", "And now what refuge but their frail canoe?", "This Torquil asked with half upbraiding eye,", "Which said--\"Has Neuha brought me here to die?", "Is this a place of safety, or a grave,", "And yon huge rock the tombstone of the wave?\"", "", "They rested on their paddles, and uprose", "Neuha, and pointing to the approaching foes,", "Cried, \"Torquil, follow me, and fearless follow!\"", "Then plunged at once into the Ocean's hollow.", "There was no time to pause--the foes were near--", "Chains in his eye, and menace in his ear;", "With vigour they pulled on, and as they came,", "Hailed him to yield, and by his forfeit name.", "Headlong he leapt--to him the swimmer's skill", "Was native, and now all his hope from ill:", "But how, or where? He dived, and rose no more;", "The boat's crew looked amazed o'er sea and shore.", "There was no landing on that precipice,", "Steep, harsh, and slippery as a berg of ice.", "They watched awhile to see him float again,", "But not a trace rebubbled from the main:", "The wave rolled on, no ripple on its face,", "Since their first plunge recalled a single trace;", "The little whirl which eddied, and slight foam,", "That whitened o'er what seemed their latest home,", "White as a sepulchre above the pair", "Who left no marble (mournful as an heir)", "The quiet Proa wavering o'er the tide", "Was all that told of Torquil and his bride;", "And but for this alone the whole might seem", "The vanished phantom of a seaman's dream.", "They paused and searched in vain, then pulled away;", "Even Superstition now forbade their stay.", "Some said he had not plunged into the wave,", "But vanished like a corpse-light from a grave;", "Others, that something supernatural", "Glared in his figure, more than mortal tall;", "While all agreed that in his cheek and eye", "There was a dead hue of Eternity.", "Still as their oars receded from the crag,", "Round every weed a moment would they lag,", "Expectant of some token of their prey;", "But no--he had melted from them like the spray.", "", "And where was he the Pilgrim of the Deep,", "Following the Nereid? Had they ceased to weep", "For ever? or, received in coral caves,", "Wrung life and pity from the softening waves?", "Did they with Ocean's hidden sovereigns dwell,", "And sound with Mermen the fantastic shell?", "Did Neuha with the mermaids comb her hair", "Flowing o'er ocean as it streamed in air?", "Or had they perished, and in silence slept", "Beneath the gulf wherein they boldly leapt?", "", "Young Neuha plunged into the deep, and he", "Followed: her track beneath her native sea", "Was as a native's of the element,", "So smoothly--bravely--brilliantly she went,", "Leaving a streak of light behind her heel,", "Which struck and flashed like an amphibious steel,", "Closely, and scarcely less expert to trace", "The depths where divers hold the pearl in chase,", "Torquil, the nursling of the northern seas,", "Pursued her liquid steps with heart and ease.", "Deep--deeper for an instant Neuha led", "The way--then upward soared--and as she spread", "Her arms, and flung the foam from off her locks,", "Laughed, and the sound was answered by the rocks.", "They had gained a central realm of earth again,", "But looked for tree, and field, and sky, in vain.", "Around she pointed to a spacious cave,", "Whose only portal was the keyless wave,", "(A hollow archway by the sun unseen,", "Save through the billows' glassy veil of green,", "In some transparent ocean holiday,", "When all the finny people are at play,)", "Wiped with her hair the brine from Torquil's eyes,", "And clapped her hands with joy at his surprise;", "Led him to where the rock appeared to jut,", "And form a something like a Triton's hut;", "For all was darkness for a space, till day,", "Through clefts above let in a sobered ray;", "As in some old cathedral's glimmering aisle", "The dusty monuments from light recoil,", "Thus sadly in their refuge submarine", "The vault drew half her shadow from the scene.", "", "Forth from her bosom the young savage drew", "A pine torch, strongly girded with gnatoo;", "A plantain-leaf o'er all, the more to keep", "Its latent sparkle from the sapping deep.", "This mantle kept it dry; then from a nook", "Of the same plantain-leaf a flint she took,", "A few shrunk withered twigs, and from the blade", "Of Torquil's knife struck fire, and thus arrayed", "The grot with torchlight. Wide it was and high,", "And showed a self-born Gothic canopy;", "The arch upreared by Nature's architect,", "The architrave some Earthquake might erect;", "The buttress from some mountain's bosom hurled,", "When the Poles crashed, and water was the world;", "Or hardened from some earth-absorbing fire,", "While yet the globe reeked from its funeral pyre;", "The fretted pinnacle, the aisle, the nave,", "Were there, all scooped by Darkness from her cave.", "There, with a little tinge of phantasy,", "Fantastic faces moped and mowed on high,", "And then a mitre or a shrine would fix", "The eye upon its seeming crucifix.", "Thus Nature played with the stalactites,", "And built herself a Chapel of the Seas.", "", "And Neuha took her Torquil by the hand,", "And waved along the vault her kindled brand,", "And led him into each recess, and showed", "The secret places of their new abode.", "Nor these alone, for all had been prepared", "Before, to soothe the lover's lot she shared:", "The mat for rest; for dress the fresh gnatoo,", "And sandal oil to fence against the dew;", "For food the cocoa-nut, the yam, the bread", "Born of the fruit; for board the plantain spread", "With its broad leaf, or turtle-shell which bore", "A banquet in the flesh it covered o'er;", "The gourd with water recent from the rill,", "The ripe banana from the mellow hill;", "A pine-torch pile to keep undying light,", "And she herself, as beautiful as night,", "To fling her shadowy spirit o'er the scene,", "And make their subterranean world serene.", "She had foreseen, since first the stranger's sail", "Drew to their isle, that force or flight might fail,", "And formed a refuge of the rocky den", "For Torquil's safety from his countrymen.", "Each dawn had wafted there her light canoe,", "Laden with all the golden fruits that grew;", "Each eve had seen her gliding through the hour", "With all could cheer or deck their sparry bower;", "And now she spread her little store with smiles,", "The happiest daughter of the loving isles.", "", "She, as he gazed with grateful wonder, pressed", "Her sheltered love to her impassioned breast;", "And suited to her soft caresses, told", "An olden tale of Love,--for Love is old,", "Old as eternity, but not outworn", "With each new being born or to be born:", "How a young Chief, a thousand moons ago,", "Diving for turtle in the depths below,", "Had risen, in tracking fast his ocean prey,", "Into the cave which round and o'er them lay;", "How, in some desperate feud of after-time,", "He sheltered there a daughter of the clime,", "A foe beloved, and offspring of a foe,", "Saved by his tribe but for a captive's woe;", "How, when the storm of war was stilled, he led", "His island clan to where the waters spread", "Their deep-green shadow o'er the rocky door,", "Then dived--it seemed as if to rise no more:", "His wondering mates, amazed within their bark,", "Or deemed him mad, or prey to the blue shark;", "Rowed round in sorrow the sea-girded rock,", "Then paused upon their paddles from the shock;", "When, fresh and springing from the deep, they saw", "A Goddess rise--so deemed they in their awe;", "And their companion, glorious by her side,", "Proud and exulting in his Mermaid bride;", "And how, when undeceived, the pair they bore", "With sounding conchs and joyous shouts to shore;", "How they had gladly lived and calmly died,--", "And why not also Torquil and his bride?", "Not mine to tell the rapturous caress", "Which followed wildly in that wild recess", "This tale; enough that all within that cave", "Was love, though buried strong as in the grave,", "Where Abelard, through twenty years of death,", "When Eloïsa's form was lowered beneath", "Their nuptial vault, his arms outstretched, and pressed", "The kindling ashes to his kindled breast.", "The waves without sang round their couch, their roar", "As much unheeded as if life were o'er;", "Within, their hearts made all their harmony,", "Love's broken murmur and more broken sigh.", "", "And they, the cause and sharers of the shock", "Which left them exiles of the hollow rock,", "Where were they? O'er the sea for life they plied,", "To seek from Heaven the shelter men denied.", "Another course had been their choice--but where?", "The wave which bore them still their foes would bear,", "Who, disappointed of their former chase,", "In search of Christian now renewed their race.", "Eager with anger, their strong arms made way,", "Like vultures baffled of their previous prey.", "They gained upon them, all whose safety lay", "In some bleak crag or deeply-hidden bay:", "No further chance or choice remained; and right", "For the first further rock which met their sight", "They steered, to take their latest view of land,", "And yield as victims, or die sword in hand;", "Dismissed the natives and their shallop, who", "Would still have battled for that scanty crew;", "But Christian bade them seek their shore again,", "Nor add a sacrifice which were in vain;", "For what were simple bow and savage spear", "Against the arms which must be wielded here?", "", "They landed on a wild but narrow scene,", "Where few but Nature's footsteps yet had been;", "Prepared their arms, and with that gloomy eye,", "Stern and sustained, of man's extremity,", "When Hope is gone, nor Glory's self remains", "To cheer resistance against death or chains.--", "They stood, the three, as the three hundred stood", "Who dyed Thermopylæ with holy blood.", "But, ah! how different! 'tis the _cause_ makes all,", "Degrades or hallows courage in its fall.", "O'er them no fame, eternal and intense,", "Blazed through the clouds of Death and beckoned hence;", "No grateful country, smiling through her tears,", "Begun the praises of a thousand years;", "No nation's eyes would on their tomb be bent,", "No heroes envy them their monument;", "However boldly their warm blood was spilt,", "Their Life was shame, their Epitaph was guilt.", "And this they knew and felt, at least the one,", "The leader of the band he had undone;", "Who, born perchance for better things, had set", "His life upon a cast which lingered yet:", "But now the die was to be thrown, and all", "The chances were in favour of his fall:", "And such a fall! But still he faced the shock,", "Obdurate as a portion of the rock", "Whereon he stood, and fixed his levelled gun,", "Dark as a sullen cloud before the sun.", "", "The boat drew nigh, well armed, and firm the crew", "To act whatever Duty bade them do;", "Careless of danger, as the onward wind", "Is of the leaves it strews, nor looks behind.", "And, yet, perhaps, they rather wished to go", "Against a nation's than a native foe,", "And felt that this poor victim of self-will,", "Briton no more, had once been Britain's still.", "They hailed him to surrender--no reply;", "Their arms were poised, and glittered in the sky.", "They hailed again--no answer; yet once more", "They offered quarter louder than before.", "The echoes only, from the rock's rebound,", "Took their last farewell of the dying sound.", "Then flashed the flint, and blazed the volleying flame,", "And the smoke rose between them and their aim,", "While the rock rattled with the bullets' knell,", "Which pealed in vain, and flattened as they fell;", "Then flew the only answer to be given", "By those who had lost all hope in earth or heaven.", "After the first fierce peal as they pulled nigher,", "They heard the voice of Christian shout, \"Now, fire!\"", "And ere the word upon the echo died,", "Two fell; the rest assailed the rock's rough side,", "And, furious at the madness of their foes,", "Disdained all further efforts, save to close.", "But steep the crag, and all without a path,", "Each step opposed a bastion to their wrath,", "While, placed 'midst clefts the least accessible,", "Which Christian's eye was trained to mark full well,", "The three maintained a strife which must not yield,", "In spots where eagles might have chosen to build.", "Their every shot told; while the assailant fell,", "Dashed on the shingles like the limpet shell;", "But still enough survived, and mounted still,", "Scattering their numbers here and there, until", "Surrounded and commanded, though not nigh", "Enough for seizure, near enough to die,", "The desperate trio held aloof their fate", "But by a thread, like sharks who have gorged the bait;", "Yet to the very last they battled well,", "And not a groan informed their foes _who_ fell.", "Christian died last--twice wounded; and once more", "Mercy was offered when they saw his gore;", "Too late for life, but not too late to die,", "With, though a hostile hand, to close his eye.", "A limb was broken, and he drooped along", "The crag, as doth a falcon reft of young.", "The sound revived him, or appeared to wake", "Some passion which a weakly gesture spake:", "He beckoned to the foremost, who drew nigh,", "But, as they neared, he reared his weapon high--", "His last ball had been aimed, but from his breast", "He tore the topmost button from his vest,", "Down the tube dashed it--levelled--fired, and smiled", "As his foe fell; then, like a serpent, coiled", "His wounded, weary form, to where the steep", "Looked desperate as himself along the deep;", "Cast one glance back, and clenched his hand, and shook", "His last rage 'gainst the earth which he forsook;", "Then plunged: the rock below received like glass", "His body crushed into one gory mass,", "With scarce a shred to tell of human form,", "Or fragment for the sea-bird or the worm;", "A fair-haired scalp, besmeared with blood and weeds,", "Yet reeked, the remnant of himself and deeds;", "Some splinters of his weapons (to the last,", "As long as hand could hold, he held them fast)", "Yet glittered, but at distance--hurled away", "To rust beneath the dew and dashing spray.", "The rest was nothing--save a life mis-spent,", "And soul--but who shall answer where it went?", "'Tis ours to bear, not judge the dead; and they", "Who doom to Hell, themselves are on the way,", "Unless these bullies of eternal pains", "Are pardoned their bad hearts for their worse brains.", "", "The deed was over! All were gone or ta'en,", "The fugitive, the captive, or the slain.", "Chained on the deck, where once, a gallant crew,", "They stood with honour, were the wretched few", "Survivors of the skirmish on the isle;", "But the last rock left no surviving spoil.", "Cold lay they where they fell, and weltering,", "While o'er them flapped the sea-birds' dewy wing,", "Now wheeling nearer from the neighbouring surge,", "And screaming high their harsh and hungry dirge:", "But calm and careless heaved the wave below,", "Eternal with unsympathetic flow;", "Far o'er its face the Dolphins sported on,", "And sprung the flying fish against the sun,", "Till its dried wing relapsed from its brief height,", "To gather moisture for another flight.", "", "'Twas morn; and Neuha, who by dawn of day", "Swam smoothly forth to catch the rising ray,", "And watch if aught approached the amphibious lair", "Where lay her lover, saw a sail in air:", "It flapped, it filled, and to the growing gale", "Bent its broad arch: her breath began to fail", "With fluttering fear, her heart beat thick and high,", "While yet a doubt sprung where its course might lie.", "But no! it came not; fast and far away", "The shadow lessened as it cleared the bay.", "She gazed, and flung the sea-foam from her eyes,", "To watch as for a rainbow in the skies.", "On the horizon verged the distant deck,", "Diminished, dwindled to a very speck--", "Then vanished. All was Ocean, all was Joy!", "Down plunged she through the cave to rouse her boy;", "Told all she had seen, and all she hoped, and all", "That happy love could augur or recall;", "Sprung forth again, with Torquil following free", "His bounding Nereid over the broad sea;", "Swam round the rock, to where a shallow cleft", "Hid the canoe that Neuha there had left", "Drifting along the tide, without an oar,", "That eve the strangers chased them from the shore;", "But when these vanished, she pursued her prow,", "Regained, and urged to where they found it now:", "Nor ever did more love and joy embark,", "Than now were wafted in that slender ark.", "", "Again their own shore rises on the view,", "No more polluted with a hostile hue;", "No sullen ship lay bristling o'er the foam,", "A floating dungeon:--all was Hope and Home!", "A thousand Proas darted o'er the bay,", "With sounding shells, and heralded their way;", "The chiefs came down, around the people poured,", "And welcomed Torquil as a son restored;", "The women thronged, embracing and embraced", "By Neuha, asking where they had been chased,", "And how escaped? The tale was told; and then", "One acclamation rent the sky again;", "And from that hour a new tradition gave", "Their sanctuary the name of \"Neuha's Cave.\"", "A hundred fires, far flickering from the height,", "Blazed o'er the general revel of the night,", "The feast in honour of the guest, returned", "To Peace and Pleasure, perilously earned;", "A night succeeded by such happy days", "As only the yet infant world displays." ], "linecount": "1429" }, { "title": "Epigram on an Old Lady Who Had Some Curious Notions Respecting the Soul", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "IN Nottingham county there lives at Swan Green,", " As curst an old Lady as ever was seen;", "And when she does die, which I hope will be soon,", " She firmly believes she will go to the Moon!" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Epitaph on John Adams, of Southwell, a Carrier, Who Died of Drunkenness", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "JOHN ADAMS lies here, of the parish of Southwell,", "A _Carrier_ who _carried_ his can to his mouth well;", "He carried so much and he carried so fast,", "He could carry no more--so was carried at last;", "For the liquor he drank being too much for one,", "He could not _carry_ off;--so he's now _carri-on_." ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "A Version of Ossian's Address to the Sun. From the Poem \"Carthon.\"", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "O THOU! who rollest in yon azure field,", "Round as the orb of my forefather's shield,", "Whence are thy beams? From what eternal store", "Dost thou, O Sun! thy vast effulgence pour?", "In awful grandeur, when thou movest on high,", "The stars start back and hide them in the sky;", "The pale Moon sickens in thy brightening blaze,", "And in the western wave avoids thy gaze.", "Alone thou shinest forth--for who can rise", "Companion of thy splendour in the skies!", "The mountain oaks are seen to fall away--", "Mountains themselves by length of years decay--", "With ebbs and flows is the rough Ocean tost;", "In heaven the Moon is for a season lost,", "But thou, amidst the fullness of thy joy,", "The same art ever, blazing in the sky!", "When tempests wrap the world from pole to pole,", "When vivid lightnings flash and thunders roll,", "Thou far above their utmost fury borne,", "Look'st forth in beauty, laughing them to scorn.", "But vainly now on me thy beauties blaze--", "Ossian no longer can enraptured gaze!", "Whether at morn, in lucid lustre gay,", "On eastern clouds thy yellow tresses play,", "Or else at eve, in radiant glory drest,", "Thou tremblest at the portals of the west,", "I see no more! But thou mayest fail at length,", "Like Ossian lose thy beauty and thy strength,", "Like him--but for a season--in thy sphere", "To shine with splendour, then to disappear!", "Thy years shall have an end, and thou no more", "Bright through the world enlivening radiance pour,", "But sleep within thy clouds, and fail to rise,", "Heedless when Morning calls thee to the skies!", "Then now exult, O Sun! and gaily shine,", "While Youth and Strength and Beauty all are thine.", "For Age is dark, unlovely, as the light", "Shed by the Moon when clouds deform the night,", "Glimmering uncertain as they hurry past.", "Loud o'er the plain is heard the northern blast,", "Mists shroud the hills, and 'neath the growing gloom,", "The weary traveller shrinks and sighs for home." ], "linecount": "42" }, { "title": "Lines to Mr. Hodgson. Written on Board the Lisbon Packet", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "HUZZA! Hodgson, we are going,", " Our embargo's off at last;", "Favourable breezes blowing", " Bend the canvas o'er the mast.", "From aloft the signal's streaming,", " Hark! the farewell gun is fired;", "Women screeching, tars blaspheming,", " Tell us that our time's expired.", " Here's a rascal", " Come to task all,", " Prying from the Custom-house;", " Trunks unpacking", " Cases cracking,", " Not a corner for a mouse", "Scapes unsearched amid the racket,", "Ere we sail on board the Packet.", "", "Now our boatmen quit their mooring,", " And all hands must ply the oar;", "Baggage from the quay is lowering,", " We're impatient, push from shore.", "\"Have a care! that case holds liquor--", " Stop the boat--I'm sick--oh Lord!\"", "\"Sick, Ma'am, damme, you'll be sicker,", " Ere you've been an hour on board.\"", " Thus are screaming", " Men and women,", " Gemmen, ladies, servants, Jacks;", " Here entangling,", " All are wrangling,", " Stuck together close as wax.--", "Such the general noise and racket,", "Ere we reach the Lisbon Packet.", "", "Now we've reached her, lo! the Captain,", " Gallant Kidd, commands the crew;", "Passengers their berths are clapt in,", " Some to grumble, some to spew.", "\"Hey day! call you that a cabin?", " Why't is hardly three feet square!", "Not enough to stow Queen Mab in--", " Who the deuce can harbour there?\"", " \"Who, sir? plenty--", " Nobles twenty", " Did at once my vessel fill.\"--", " \"Did they? Jesus,", " How you squeeze us!", " Would to God they did so still!", "Then I'd 'scape the heat and racket", "Of the good ship, Lisbon Packet.\"", "", "Fletcher! Murray! Bob! where are you?", " Stretched along the deck like logs--", "Bear a hand, you jolly tar, you!", " Here's a rope's end for the dogs.", "Hobhouse muttering fearful curses,", " As the hatchway down he rolls,", "Now his breakfast, now his verses,", " Vomits forth--and damns our souls.", " \"Here's a stanza", " On Braganza--", " Help!\"--\"A couplet?\"--\"No, a cup", " Of warm water--\"", " \"What's the matter?\"", " \"Zounds! my liver's coming up;", "I shall not survive the racket", "Of this brutal Lisbon Packet.\"", "", "Now at length we're off for Turkey,", " Lord knows when we shall come back!", "Breezes foul and tempests murky", " May unship us in a crack.", "But, since Life at most a jest is,", " As philosophers allow,", "Still to laugh by far the best is,", " Then laugh on--as I do now.", " Laugh at all things,", " Great and small things,", " Sick or well, at sea or shore;", " While we're quaffing,", " Let's have laughing--", " Who the devil cares for more?--", "Some good wine! and who would lack it,", "Ev'n on board the Lisbon Packet?" ], "linecount": "80" }, { "title": "To Dives. a Fragment", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "UNHAPPY Dives! in an evil hour", " 'Gainst Nature's voice seduced to deeds accurst!", " Once Fortune's minion now thou feel'st her power;", " Wrath's vial on thy lofty head hath burst.", " In Wit, in Genius, as in Wealth the first,", " How wondrous bright thy blooming morn arose!", " But thou wert smitten with th' unhallowed thirst", " Of Crime unnamed, and thy sad noon must close", "In scorn and solitude unsought the worst of woes." ], "linecount": "9" }, { "title": "Farewell Petition to J.C.H., Esq^Re^", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "O THOU yclep'd by vulgar sons of Men", "Cam Hobhouse! but by wags Byzantian Ben!", "Twin sacred titles, which combined appear", "To grace thy volume's front, and gild its rear,", "Since now thou put'st thyself and work to Sea", "And leav'st all Greece to _Fletcher_ and to me,", "Oh, hear my single muse our sorrows tell,", "_One_ song for _self_ and Fletcher quite as well--", "", "First to the _Castle_ of that man of woes", "Dispatch the letter which _I must_ enclose,", "And when his lone Penelope shall say", "_Why, where_, and _wherefore_ doth my William stay?", "Spare not to move her pity, or her pride--", "By all that Hero suffered, or defied;", "The _chicken's toughness_, and the _lack_ of _ale_", "The _stoney mountain_ and the _miry vale_", "The _Garlick_ steams, which _half_ his meals enrich,", "The _impending vermin_, and the threatened _Itch_,", "That _ever breaking_ Bed, beyond repair!", "The hat too _old_, the coat too _cold_ to wear,", "The Hunger, _which repulsed from Sally's door_", "Pursues her grumbling half from shore to shore,", "Be these the themes to greet his faithful Rib", "So may thy pen be smooth, thy tongue be glib!", "", "This duty done, let me in turn demand", "Some friendly office in my native land,", "Yet let me ponder well, before I ask,", "And set thee swearing at the tedious task.", "", "First the Miscellany!--to Southwell town", "_Per coach_ for Mrs. _Pigot_ frank it down,", "So may'st them prosper in the paths of Sale,", "And Longman smirk and critics cease to rail.", "", "All hail to Matthews! wash his reverend feet,", "And in my name the man of Method greet,--", "Tell him, my Guide, Philosopher, and Friend,", "Who cannot love me, and who will not mend,", "Tell him, that not in vain I shall assay", "To tread and trace our \"old Horatian way,\"", "And be (with prose supply my dearth of rhymes)", "What better men have been in better times.", "", "Here let me cease, for why should I prolong", "My notes, and vex a _Singer_ with a _Song_?", "Oh thou with pen perpetual in thy fist!", "Dubbed for thy sins a stark Miscellanist,", "So pleased the printer's orders to perform", "For Messrs. _Longman_, _Hurst_ and _Rees_ and _Orme_.", "Go--Get thee hence to Paternoster Row,", "Thy patrons wave a duodecimo!", "(Best form for _letters_ from a distant land,", "It fits the pocket, nor fatigues the hand.)", "Then go, once more the joyous work commence", "With stores of anecdote, and grains of sense,", "Oh may Mammas relent, and Sires forgive!", "And scribbling Sons grow dutiful and live!" ], "linecount": "54" }, { "title": "Translation of the Nurse's Dole in the _Medea_ of Euripides", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "OH how I wish that an embargo", "Had kept in port the good ship Argo!", "Who, still unlaunched from Grecian docks,", "Had never passed the Azure rocks;", "But now I fear her trip will be a", "Damn'd business for my Miss Medea, etc., etc." ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "My Epitaph", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "YOUTH, Nature, and relenting Jove,", "To keep my lamp _in_ strongly strove;", "But Romanelli was so stout,", "He beat all three--and _blew_ it _out_." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Substitute for an Epitaph", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "KIND Reader! take your choice to cry or laugh;", "Here HAROLD lies--but where's his Epitaph?", "If such you seek, try Westminster, and view", "Ten thousand just as fit for him as you." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "On Moore's Last Operatic Farce, or Farcical Opera", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ " GOOD plays are scarce,", " So Moore writes _farce_:", "The poet's fame grows brittle--", " We knew before", " That _Little_'s Moore,", "But now't is Moore that's _little_.", "", " R.C. DALLAS.", "", "YES! wisdom shines in all his mien,", "Which would so captivate, I ween,", " Wisdom's own goddess Pallas;", "That she'd discard her fav'rite owl,", "And take for pet a brother fowl,", " Sagacious R.C. Dallas." ], "linecount": "13" }, { "title": "To the Hon^Ble^ M^Rs^ George Lamb", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The sacred song that on mine ear", " Yet vibrates from that voice of thine,", "I heard, before, from one so dear--", " 'T is strange it still appears divine.", "", "But, oh! so sweet that _look_ and _tone_", " To her and thee alike is given;", "It seemed as if for me alone", " That _both_ had been recalled from Heaven!", "", "And though I never can redeem", " The vision thus endeared to me;", "I scarcely can regret my dream,", " When realised again by thee." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "La Revanche", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "There is no more for me to hope,", " There is no more for thee to fear;", "And, if I give my Sorrow scope,", " That Sorrow thou shalt never hear.", " Why did I hold thy love so dear?", " Why shed for such a heart one tear?", "Let deep and dreary silence be", "My only memory of thee!", "", "When all are fled who flatter now,", " Save thoughts which will not flatter then;", "And thou recall'st the broken vow", " To him who must not love again--", " Each hour of now forgotten years", " Thou, then, shalt number with thy tears;", "And every drop of grief shall be", "A vain remembrancer of me!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "The Devil's Drive", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "THE Devil returned to Hell by two,", " And he stayed at home till five;", "When he dined on some homicides done in _ragoût_,", " And a rebel or so in an _Irish_ stew,", "And sausages made of a self-slain Jew,", "And bethought himself what next to do,", " \"And,\" quoth he, \"I'll take a drive.", "I walked in the morning, I'll ride to-night;", "In darkness my children take most delight,", " And I'll see how my favourites thrive.", "", "\"And what shall I ride in?\" quoth Lucifer, then--", " \"If I followed my taste, indeed,", "I should mount in a waggon of wounded men,", " And smile to see them bleed.", "But these will be furnished again and again,", " And at present my purpose is speed;", "To see my manor as much as I may,", "And watch that no souls shall be poached away.", "", "\"I have a state-coach at Carlton House,", " A chariot in Seymour-place;", "But they're lent to two friends, who make me amends", " By driving my favourite pace:", "And they handle their reins with such a grace,", "I have something for both at the end of the race.", "", "\"So now for the earth to take my chance,\"", " Then up to the earth sprung he;", "And making a jump from Moscow to France,", " He stepped across the sea,", "And rested his hoof on a turnpike road,", "No very great way from a Bishop's abode.", "", "But first as he flew, I forgot to say,", "That he hovered a moment upon his way,", " To look upon Leipsic plain;", "And so sweet to his eye was its sulphury glare,", "And so soft to his ear was the cry of despair,", " That he perched on a mountain of slain;", "And he gazed with delight from its growing height,", "Nor often on earth had he seen such a sight,", " Nor his work done half as well:", "For the field ran so red with the blood of the dead,", " That it blushed like the waves of Hell!", "Then loudly, and wildly, and long laughed he:", "\"Methinks they have little need here of _me_!\"", "", "Long he looked down on the hosts of each clime,", " While the warriors hand to hand were--", "Gaul--Austrian and Muscovite heroes sublime,", "And--(Muse of Fitzgerald arise with a rhyme!)", " A quantity of _Landwehr_!", " Gladness was there,", "For the men of all might and the monarchs of earth,", "There met for the wolf and the worm to make mirth,", " And a feast for the fowls of the Air!", "", "But he turned aside and looked from the ridge", " Of hills along the river,", "And the best thing he saw was a broken bridge,", " Which a Corporal chose to shiver;", "Though an Emperor's taste was displeased with his haste,", " The Devil he thought it clever;", "And he laughed again in a lighter strain,", " O'er the torrent swoln and rainy,", "When he saw \"on a fiery steed\" Prince Pon,", "In taking care of Number _One_--", "Get drowned with a great _many_!", "", "But the softest note that soothed his ear", " Was the sound of a widow sighing;", "And the sweetest sight was the icy tear,", "Which Horror froze in the blue eye clear", " Of a maid by her lover lying--", "As round her fell her long fair hair,", "And she looked to Heaven with that frenzied air", "Which seemed to ask if a God were there!", "And stretched by the wall of a ruined hut,", "With its hollow cheek, and eyes half shut,", " A child of Famine dying:", "And the carnage _begun_, when _resistance_ is done,", " And the fall of the vainly flying!", "", "Then he gazed on a town by besiegers taken,", " Nor cared he who were winning;", "But he saw an old maid, for years forsaken,", " Get up and leave her spinning;", "And she looked in her glass, and to one that did pass,", "She said--\"pray are the rapes beginning?\"", "", "But the Devil has reached our cliffs so white,", " And what did he there, I pray?", "If his eyes were good, he but saw by night", " What we see every day;", "But he made a tour and kept a journal", "Of all the wondrous sights nocturnal,", "And he sold it in shares to the _Men_ of the _Row_,", "Who bid pretty well--but they _cheated_ him, though!", "", "The Devil first saw, as he thought, the _Mail_,", " Its coachman and his coat;", "So instead of a pistol he cocked his tail,", " And seized him by the throat;", "\"Aha!\" quoth he, \"what have we here?", "'T is a new barouche, and an ancient peer!\"", "", "So he sat him on his box again,", " And bade him have no fear,", "But be true to his club, and staunch to his rein,", " His brothel and his beer;", "\"Next to seeing a Lord at the Council board,", "I would rather see him here.\"", "", "Satan hired a horse and gig", " With promises to pay;", "And he pawned his horns for a spruce new wig,", " To redeem as he came away:", "And he whistled some tune, a waltz or a jig,", " And drove off at the close of day.", "", "The first place he stopped at--he heard the Psalm", " That rung from a Methodist Chapel:", "\"'T is the best sound I've heard,\" quoth he, \"since my palm", " Presented Eve her apple!", "When _Faith_ is all, 't is an excellent sign,", "That the _Works_ and Workmen both are mine.\"", "", "He passed Tommy Tyrwhitt, that standing jest,", " To princely wit a Martyr:", "But the last joke of all was by far the best,", " When he sailed away with \"the Garter\"!", "\"And\"--quoth Satan--\"this Embassy's worthy my sight,", "Should I see nothing else to amuse me to night.", "With no one to bear it, but Thomas à Tyrwhitt,", "This ribband belongs to an 'Order of Merit'!\"", "", "He stopped at an Inn and stepped within", " The Bar and read the \"Times;\"", "And never such a treat, as--the epistle of one \"Vetus,\"", " Had he found save in downright crimes:", "\"Though I doubt if this drivelling encomiast of War", "Ever saw a field fought, or felt a scar,", "Yet his fame shall go farther than he can guess,", "For I'll keep him a place in my _hottest Press_;", "And his works shall be bound in Morocco _d'Enfer_,", "And lettered behind with his _Nom de Guerre_.\"", "", "The Devil gat next to Westminster,", " And he turned to \"the room\" of the Commons;", "But he heard as he purposed to enter in there,", " That \"the Lords\" had received a summons;", "And he thought, as \"a _quondam_ Aristocrat,\"", "He might peep at the Peers, though to _hear_ them were flat;", "And he walked up the House so like one of his own,", "That they say that he stood pretty near the throne.", "", "He saw the Lord Liverpool seemingly wise,", " The Lord Westmoreland certainly silly,", "And Jockey of Norfolk--a man of some size--", " And Chatham, so like his friend Billy;", "And he saw the tears in Lord Eldon's eyes,", " Because the Catholics would _not_ rise,", " In spite of his prayers and his prophecies;", "And he heard--which set Satan himself a staring--", "A certain Chief Justice say something like _swearing_.", "And the Devil was shocked--and quoth he, \"I must go,", "For I find we have much better manners below.", "If thus he harangues when he passes my border,", "I shall hint to friend Moloch to call him to order.\"", "", "Then the Devil went down to the humbler House,", " Where he readily found his way", "As natural to him as its hole to a Mouse,", " He had been there many a day;", "And many a vote and soul and job he", " Had bid for and carried away from the Lobby:", "But there now was a \"call\" and accomplished debaters", "Appeared in the glory of hats, boots and gaiters--", "_Some_ paid rather more--but _all_ worse dressed", " than Waiters!", "", "There was Canning for War, and Whitbread for peace,", " And others as suited their fancies;", "But all were agreed that our debts should increase", " Excepting the Demagogue Francis.", "That rogue! how could Westminster chuse him again", " To leaven the virtue of these honest men!", "But the Devil remained till the Break of Day", " Blushed upon Sleep and Lord Castlereagh:", "Then up half the house got, and Satan got up", " With the drowsy to snore--or the hungry to sup:--", "But so torpid the power of some speakers, 't is said,", "That they sent even him to his brimstone bed.", "", "He had seen George Rose--but George was grown dumb,", " And only lied in thought!", "And the Devil has all the pleasure to come", " Of hearing him talk as he ought.", "With the falsest of tongues, the sincerest of men--", " His veracity were but deceit--", "And Nature must first have unmade him again,", "Ere his breast or his face, or his tongue, or his pen,", "Conceived--uttered--looked--or wrote down letters ten,", "Which Truth would acknowledge complete.", "", "Satan next took the army list in hand,", " Where he found a new \"Field Marshal;\"", "And when he saw this high command", " Conferred on his Highness of Cumberland,", "\"Oh! were I prone to cavil--or were I not the Devil,", " I should say this was somewhat partial;", "Since the only wounds that this Warrior gat,", "Were from God knows whom--and the Devil knows what!\"", "", "He then popped his head in a royal Ball,", " And saw all the Haram so hoary;", "And who there besides but Corinna de Staël!", " Turned Methodist and Tory!", "\"Aye--Aye\"--quoth he--\"'t is the way with them all,", " When Wits grow tired of Glory:", "But thanks to the weakness, that thus could pervert her,", "Since the dearest of prizes to me's a deserter:", "_Mem_--whenever a sudden conversion I want,", "To send to the school of Philosopher Kant;", "And whenever I need a critic who can gloss over", "All faults--to send for Mackintosh to write up the Philosopher.\"", "", "The Devil waxed faint at the sight of this Saint,", " And he thought himself of eating;", "And began to cram from a plate of ham", " Wherewith a Page was retreating--", "Having nothing else to do (for \"the friends\" each so near", " Had sold all their souls long before),", "As he swallowed down the bacon he wished himself a Jew", " For the sake of another crime more:", "For Sinning itself is but half a recreation,", "Unless it ensures most infallible Damnation.", "", "But he turned him about, for he heard a sound", " Which even his ear found faults in;", "For whirling above--underneath--and around--", " Were his fairest Disciples Waltzing!", "And quoth he--\"though this be--the _premier pas_ to me,", " Against it I would warn all--", "Should I introduce these revels among my younger devils,", " They would all turn perfectly carnal:", "And though fond of the flesh--yet I never could bear it", "Should quite in my kingdom get the upper hand of Spirit.\"", "", "The Devil (but 't was over) had been vastly glad", " To see the new Drury Lane,", "And yet he might have been rather mad", " To see it rebuilt in vain;", "And had he beheld their \"Nourjahad,\"", " Would never have gone again:", "And Satan had taken it much amiss,", "They should fasten such a piece on a friend of his--", "Though he knew that his works were somewhat sad,", "He never had found them _quite_ so bad:", "For this was \"the book\" which, of yore, Job, sorely smitten,", "Said, \"Oh that _mine_ enemy, _mine_ enemy had written\"!", "", "Then he found sixty scribblers in separate cells,", " And marvelled what they were doing,", "For they looked like little fiends in their own little hells,", " Damnation for others brewing--", "Though their paper seemed to shrink, from the heat of their ink,", " They were only _coolly_ reviewing!", "And as one of them wrote down the pronoun \"_We_,\"", " \"That Plural\"--says Satan--\"means _him_ and _me_,", "With the Editor added to make up the three", "Of an Athanasian Trinity,", "And render the believers in our 'Articles' sensible,", "How many must combine to form _one_ Incomprehensible\"!" ], "linecount": "249" }, { "title": "On a Royal Visit to the Vaults. or Caesar's Discovery of C.I. and H. 8. in Ye Same Vault", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "FAMED for their civil and domestic quarrels", "See heartless Henry lies by headless Charles;", "Between them stands another sceptred thing,", "It lives, it reigns--\"aye, every inch a king.\"", "Charles to his people, Henry to his wife,", "In him the double tyrant starts to life:", "Justice and Death have mixed their dust in vain.", "The royal Vampires join and rise again.", "What now can tombs avail, since these disgorge", "The blood and dirt of both to mould a George!" ], "linecount": "10" }, { "title": "Condolatory Address to Sarah Countess of Jersey, on the Prince Regent's Returning Her Picture to Mrs. Mee", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WHEN the vain triumph of the imperial lord,", "Whom servile Rome obeyed, and yet abhorred,", "Gave to the vulgar gaze each glorious bust,", "That left a likeness of the brave, or just;", "What most admired each scrutinising eye", "Of all that decked that passing pageantry?", "What spread from face to face that wondering air?", "The thought of Brutus--for his was not there!", "That absence proved his worth,--that absence fixed", "His memory on the longing mind, unmixed;", "And more decreed his glory to endure,", "Than all a gold Colossus could secure.", "", "If thus, fair Jersey, our desiring gaze", "Search for thy form, in vain and mute amaze,", "Amidst those pictured charms, whose loveliness,", "Bright though they be, thine own had rendered less:", "If he, that VAIN OLD MAN, whom truth admits", "Heir of his father's crown, and of his wits,", "If his corrupted eye, and withered heart,", "Could with thy gentle image bear to part;", "That tasteless shame be _his_, and ours the grief,", "To gaze on Beauty's band without its chief:", "Yet Comfort still one selfish thought imparts,", "We lose the portrait, but preserve our hearts.", "", "What can his vaulted gallery now disclose?", "A _garden_ with all flowers--except the rose;--", "A _fount_ that only wants its living stream;", "A _night_, with every star, save Dian's beam.", "Lost to our eyes the present forms shall be,", "That turn from tracing them to dream of thee;", "And more on that recalled resemblance pause,", "Than all he _shall_ not force on our applause.", "", "Long may thy yet meridian lustre shine,", "With all that Virtue asks of Homage thine:", "The symmetry of youth--the grace of mien--", "The eye that gladdens--and the brow serene;", "The glossy darkness of that clustering hair,", "Which shades, yet shows that forehead more than fair!", "Each glance that wins us, and the life that throws", "A spell which will not let our looks repose,", "But turn to gaze again, and find anew", "Some charm that well rewards another view.", "These are not lessened, these are still as bright,", "Albeit too dazzling _for a dotard's sight_;", "And those must wait till ev'ry charm is gone,", "To please the paltry heart that pleases none;--", "That dull cold sensualist, whose sickly eye", "In envious dimness passed thy portrait by;", "Who racked his little spirit to combine", "Its hate of _Freedom's_ loveliness, and _thine_." ], "linecount": "50" }, { "title": "Answer to----'s Professions of Affection", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "IN hearts like thine ne'er may I hold a place", "Till I renounce all sense, all shame, all grace--", "That seat,--like seats, the bane of Freedom's realm,", "But dear to those presiding at the helm--", "Is basely purchased, not with gold alone;", "Add Conscience, too, this bargain is your own--", "'T is thine to offer with corrupting art", "The _rotten borough_ of the human heart." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "On Napoleon's Escape From Elba", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "ONCE fairly set out on his party of pleasure,", "Taking towns at his liking, and crowns at his leisure,", "From Elba to Lyons and Paris he goes,", "Making _balls for_ the ladies, and _bows to_ his foes." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Endorsement to the Deed of Separation, in the April of 18 16", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "A YEAR ago you swore, fond she!", " \"To love, to honour,\" and so forth:", "Such was the vow you pledged to me,", " And here's exactly what 't is worth." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "To Thomas Moore", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "What are you doing now,", " Oh Thomas Moore?", "What are you doing now,", " Oh Thomas Moore?", "Sighing or suing now,", "Rhyming or wooing now,", "Billing or cooing now,", " Which, Thomas Moore?", "", "But the Carnival's coming,", " Oh Thomas Moore!", "The Carnival's coming,", " Oh Thomas Moore!", "Masking and humming,", "Fifing and drumming,", "Guitarring and strumming,", " Oh Thomas Moore!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Versicles", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "I READ the \"Christabel;\"", " Very well:", "I read the \"Missionary;\"", " Pretty--very:", "I tried at \"Ilderim;\"", " Ahem!", "I read a sheet of \"Marg'ret of _Anjou_;\"", " _Can you_?", "I turned a page of Webster's \"Waterloo;\"", " Pooh! pooh!", "I looked at Wordsworth's milk-white \"Rylstone Doe;\"", " Hillo!", "I read \"Glenarvon,\" too, by Caro Lamb;", " God damn!" ], "linecount": "14" }, { "title": "Quem Deus Vult Perdere Prius Dementat", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "God maddens him whom't is his will to lose,", "And gives the choice of death or phrenzy--choose." ], "linecount": "2" }, { "title": "Epistle From Mr. Murray to Dr. Polidori", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "DEAR Doctor, I have read your play,", "Which is a good one in its way,--", "Purges the eyes, and moves the bowels,", "And drenches handkerchiefs like towels", "With tears, that, in a flux of grief,", "Afford hysterical relief", "To shattered nerves and quickened pulses,", "Which your catastrophe convulses.", "", " I like your moral and machinery;", "Your plot, too, has such scope for Scenery!", "Your dialogue is apt and smart;", "The play's concoction full of art;", "Your hero raves, your heroine cries,", "All stab, and every body dies.", "In short, your tragedy would be", "The very thing to hear and see:", "And for a piece of publication,", "If I decline on this occasion,", "It is not that I am not sensible", "To merits in themselves ostensible,", "But--and I grieve to speak it--plays", "Are drugs--mere drugs, Sir--now-a-days.", "I had a heavy loss by _Manuel_--", "Too lucky if it prove not annual,--", "And Sotheby, with his _Orestes_,", "(Which, by the way, the old Bore's best is),", "Has lain so very long on hand,", "That I despair of all demand;", "I've advertised, but see my books,", "Or only watch my Shopman's looks;--", "Still _Ivan_, _Ina_, and such lumber,", "My back-shop glut, my shelves encumber.", "", "There's Byron too, who once did better,", "Has sent me, folded in a letter,", "A sort of--it's no more a drama", "Than _Darnley_, _Ivan_, or _Kehama_;", "So altered since last year his pen is,", "I think he's lost his wits at Venice.", "", "In short, Sir, what with one and t' other,", "I dare not venture on another.", "I write in haste; excuse each blunder;", "The Coaches through the street so thunder!", "My room's so full--we've Gifford here", "Reading MS., with Hookham Frere,", "Pronouncing on the nouns and particles,", "Of some of our forthcoming Articles.", "", " The _Quarterly_--Ah, Sir, if you", "Had but the Genius to review!--", "A smart Critique upon St. Helena,", "Or if you only would but tell in a", "Short compass what--but to resume;", "As I was saying, Sir, the Room--", "The Room's so full of wits and bards,", "Crabbes, Campbells, Crokers, Freres, and Wards", "And others, neither bards nor wits:", "My humble tenement admits", "All persons in the dress of Gent.,", "From Mr. Hammond to Dog Dent.", "", " A party dines with me to-day,", "All clever men, who make their way:", "Crabbe, Malcolm, Hamilton, and Chantrey,", "Are all partakers of my pantry.", "They're at this moment in discussion", "On poor De Staël's late dissolution.", "Her book, they say, was in advance--", "Pray Heaven, she tell the truth of France!", "'T is said she certainly was married", "To Rocca, and had twice miscarried,", "No--not miscarried, I opine,--", "But brought to bed at forty-nine.", "Some say she died a Papist; some", "Are of opinion that's a Hum;", "I don't know that--the fellows Schlegel,", "Are very likely to inveigle", "A dying person in compunction", "To try th' extremity of Unction.", "But peace be with her! for a woman", "Her talents surely were uncommon,", "Her Publisher (and Public too)", "The hour of her demise may rue--", "For never more within his shop he--", "Pray--was not she interred at Coppet?", "Thus run our time and tongues away;--", "But, to return, Sir, to your play:", "Sorry, Sir, but I cannot deal,", "Unless 't were acted by O'Neill.", "My hands are full--my head so busy,", "I'm almost dead--and always dizzy;", "And so, with endless truth and hurry,", "Dear Doctor, I am yours,", " JOHN MURRAY." ], "linecount": "91" }, { "title": "Epitaph for William Pitt", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "WITH Death doomed to grapple,", " Beneath this cold slab, he", "Who lied in the Chapel", " Now lies in the Abbey." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Epigram", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "IN digging up your bones, Tom Paine,", " Will. Cobbett has done well:", "You visit him on Earth again,", " He'll visit you in Hell.", "", "You come to him on Earth again", " He'll go with you to Hell!" ], "linecount": "6" }, { "title": "Epitaph", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "POSTERITY will ne'er survey", " A nobler grave than this;", "Here lie the bones of Castlereagh:", " Stop traveller, * *" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Epigram", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "The world is a bundle of hay,", " Mankind are the asses who pull;", "Each tugs it a different way,--", " And the greatest of all is John Bull!" ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "On My Thirty-Third Birthday", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "THROUGH Life's dull road, so dim and dirty,", "I have dragged to three-and-thirty.", "What have these years left to me?", "Nothing--except thirty-three." ], "linecount": "4" }, { "title": "Martial, Lib. I. Epig. I", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "\"Hic est, quem legis, ille, quem requiris,", "Toto notus in orbe Martialis,\" etc.", "", "HE, unto whom thou art so partial,", "Oh, reader! is the well-known Martial,", "The Epigrammatist: while living,", "Give him the fame thou would'st be giving;", "So shall he hear, and feel, and know it--", " Post-obits rarely reach a poet." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Lucietta. a Fragment", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "LUCIETTA, my deary,", "That fairest of faces!", "Is made up of kisses;", "But, in love, oft the case is", "Even stranger than this is--", "There's another, that's slyer,", "Who touches me nigher,--", "A Witch, an intriguer,", "Whose manner and figure", "Now piques me, excites me,", "Torments and delights me--", " _Cætera desunt_." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Epigrams", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "OH, Castlereagh! thou art a patriot now;", "Cato died for his country, so did'st thou:", "He perished rather than see Rome enslaved,", "Thou cut'st thy throat that Britain may be saved!", "", "So Castlereagh has cut his throat!--The worst", "Of this is,--that his own was not the first.", "", "So _He_ has cut his throat at last!--He! Who?", "The man who cut his country's long ago." ], "linecount": "8" }, { "title": "Don Juan", "author": "George Gordon, Lord Byron", "lines": [ "FRAGMENT ON THE BACK OF THE MS. OF CANTO I.", "", "I WOULD to Heaven that I were so much clay,", " As I am blood, bone, marrow, passion, feeling--", "Because at least the past were passed away,", " And for the future--(but I write this reeling,", "Having got drunk exceedingly to-day,", " So that I seem to stand upon the ceiling)", "I say--the future is a serious matter--", "And so--for God's sake--hock and soda-water!", "", "DEDICATION.", "", "BOB SOUTHEY! You're a poet--Poet-laureate,", " And representative of all the race;", "Although 't is true that you turned out a Tory at", " Last,--yours has lately been a common case;", "And now, my Epic Renegade! what are ye at?", " With all the Lakers, in and out of place?", "A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye", "Like \"four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye;", "", "\"Which pye being opened they began to sing,\"", " (This old song and new simile holds good),", "\"A dainty dish to set before the King,\"", " Or Regent, who admires such kind of food;--", "And Coleridge, too, has lately taken wing,", " But like a hawk encumbered with his hood,--", "Explaining Metaphysics to the nation--", "I wish he would explain his Explanation.", "", "You, Bob! are rather insolent, you know,", " At being disappointed in your wish", "To supersede all warblers here below,", " And be the only Blackbird in the dish;", "And then you overstrain yourself, or so,", " And tumble downward like the flying fish", "Gasping on deck, because you soar too high, Bob,", "And fall, for lack of moisture, quite a-dry, Bob!", "", "And Wordsworth, in a rather long \"Excursion,\"", " (I think the quarto holds five hundred pages),", "Has given a sample from the vasty version", " Of his new system to perplex the sages;", "'T is poetry-at least by his assertion,", " And may appear so when the dog-star rages--", "And he who understands it would be able", "To add a story to the Tower of Babel.", "", "You--Gentlemen! by dint of long seclusion", " From better company, have kept your own", "At Keswick, and, through still continued fusion", " Of one another's minds, at last have grown", "To deem as a most logical conclusion,", " That Poesy has wreaths for you alone:", "There is a narrowness in such a notion,", "Which makes me wish you'd change your lakes for Ocean.", "", "I would not imitate the petty thought,", " Nor coin my self-love to so base a vice,", "For all the glory your conversion brought,", " Since gold alone should not have been its price.", "You have your salary; was 't for that you wrought?", " And Wordsworth has his place in the Excise.", "You're shabby fellows--true--but poets still,", "And duly seated on the Immortal Hill.", "", "Your bays may hide the baldness of your brows--", " Perhaps some virtuous blushes;--let them go--", "To you I envy neither fruit nor boughs--", " And for the fame you would engross below,", "The field is universal, and allows", " Scope to all such as feel the inherent glow:", "Scott, Rogers, Campbell, Moore, and Crabbe, will try", "'Gainst you the question with posterity.", "", "For me, who, wandering with pedestrian Muses,", " Contend not with you on the wingéd steed,", "I wish your fate may yield ye, when she chooses,", " The fame you envy, and the skill you need;", "And, recollect, a poet nothing loses", " In giving to his brethren their full meed", "Of merit--and complaint of present days", "Is not the certain path to future praise.", "", "He that reserves his laurels for posterity", " (Who does not often claim the bright reversion)", "Has generally no great crop to spare it, he", " Being only injured by his own assertion;", "And although here and there some glorious rarity", " Arise like Titan from the sea's immersion,", "The major part of such appellants go", "To--God knows where--for no one else can know.", "", "If, fallen in evil days on evil tongues,", " Milton appealed to the Avenger, Time,", "If Time, the Avenger, execrates his wrongs,", " And makes the word \"Miltonic\" mean \"_Sublime_,\"", "_He_ deigned not to belie his soul in songs,", " Nor turn his very talent to a crime;", "_He_ did not loathe the Sire to laud the Son,", "But closed the tyrant-hater he begun.", "", "Think'st thou, could he--the blind Old Man--arise", " Like Samuel from the grave, to freeze once more", "The blood of monarchs with his prophecies,", " Or be alive again--again all hoar", "With time and trials, and those helpless eyes,", " And heartless daughters--worn--and pale--and poor;", "Would _he_ adore a sultan? _he_ obey", "The intellectual eunuch Castlereagh?", "", "Cold-blooded, smooth-faced, placid miscreant!", " Dabbling its sleek young hands in Erin's gore,", "And thus for wider carnage taught to pant,", " Transferred to gorge upon a sister shore,", "The vulgarest tool that Tyranny could want,", " With just enough of talent, and no more,", "To lengthen fetters by another fixed,", "And offer poison long already mixed.", "", "An orator of such set trash of phrase", " Ineffably--legitimately vile,", "That even its grossest flatterers dare not praise,", " Nor foes--all nations--condescend to smile,--", "Nor even a sprightly blunder's spark can blaze", " From that Ixion grindstone's ceaseless toil,", "That turns and turns to give the world a notion", "Of endless torments and perpetual motion.", "", "A bungler even in its disgusting trade,", " And botching, patching, leaving still behind", "Something of which its masters are afraid--", " States to be curbed, and thoughts to be confined,", "Conspiracy or Congress to be made--", " Cobbling at manacles for all mankind--", "A tinkering slave-maker, who mends old chains,", "With God and Man's abhorrence for its gains.", "", "If we may judge of matter by the mind,", " Emasculated to the marrow _It_", "Hath but two objects, how to serve, and bind,", " Deeming the chain it wears even men may fit,", "Eutropius of its many masters,--blind", " To worth as freedom, wisdom as to wit,", "Fearless--because _no_ feeling dwells in ice,", "Its very courage stagnates to a vice.", "", "Where shall I turn me not to _view_ its bonds,", " For I will never _feel_ them?--Italy!", "Thy late reviving Roman soul desponds", " Beneath the lie this State-thing breathed o'er thee--", "Thy clanking chain, and Erin's yet green wounds,", " Have voices--tongues to cry aloud for me.", "Europe has slaves--allies--kings--armies still--", "And Southey lives to sing them very ill.", "", "Meantime, Sir Laureate, I proceed to dedicate,", " In honest simple verse, this song to you.", "And, if in flattering strains I do not predicate,", " 'T is that I still retain my \"buff and blue;\"", "My politics as yet are all to educate:", " Apostasy's so fashionable, too,", "To keep _one_ creed's a task grown quite Herculean;", "Is it not so, my Tory, ultra-Julian?", "", "DON JUAN", "", "CANTO THE FIRST.", "", "I WANT a hero: an uncommon want,", " When every year and month sends forth a new one,", "Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant,", " The age discovers he is not the true one;", "Of such as these I should not care to vaunt,", " I'll therefore take our ancient friend Don Juan--", "We all have seen him, in the pantomime,", "Sent to the Devil somewhat ere his time.", "", "Vernon, the butcher Cumberland, Wolfe, Hawke,", " Prince Ferdinand, Granby, Burgoyne, Keppel, Howe,", "Evil and good, have had their tithe of talk,", " And filled their sign-posts then, like Wellesley now;", "Each in their turn like Banquo's monarchs stalk,", " Followers of Fame, \"nine farrow\" of that sow:", "France, too, had Buonaparté and Dumourier", "Recorded in the Moniteur and Courier.", "", "Barnave, Brissot, Condorcet, Mirabeau,", " Petion, Clootz, Danton, Marat, La Fayette", "Were French, and famous people, as we know;", " And there were others, scarce forgotten yet,", "Joubert, Hoche, Marceau, Lannes, Desaix, Moreau,", " With many of the military set,", "Exceedingly remarkable at times,", "But not at all adapted to my rhymes.", "", "Nelson was once Britannia's god of War,", " And still should be so, but the tide is turned;", "There's no more to be said of Trafalgar,", " 'T is with our hero quietly inurned;", "Because the army's grown more popular,", " At which the naval people are concerned;", "Besides, the Prince is all for the land-service.", "Forgetting Duncan, Nelson, Howe, and Jervis.", "", "Brave men were living before Agamemnon", " And since, exceeding valorous and sage,", "A good deal like him too, though quite the same none;", " But then they shone not on the poet's page,", "And so have been forgotten:--I condemn none,", " But can't find any in the present age", "Fit for my poem (that is, for my new one);", "So, as I said, I'll take my friend Don Juan.", "", "Most epic poets plunge _\"in medias res\"_", " (Horace makes this the heroic turnpike road),", "And then your hero tells, whene'er you please,", " What went before--by way of episode,", "While seated after dinner at his ease,", " Beside his mistress in some soft abode,", "Palace, or garden, paradise, or cavern,", "Which serves the happy couple for a tavern.", "", "That is the usual method, but not mine--", " My way is to begin with the beginning;", "The regularity of my design", " Forbids all wandering as the worst of sinning,", "And therefore I shall open with a line", " (Although it cost me half an hour in spinning),", "Narrating somewhat of Don Juan's father,", "And also of his mother, if you'd rather.", "", "In Seville was he born, a pleasant city,", " Famous for oranges and women,--he", "Who has not seen it will be much to pity,", " So says the proverb--and I quite agree;", "Of all the Spanish towns is none more pretty,", " Cadiz perhaps--but that you soon may see;--", "Don Juan's parents lived beside the river,", "A noble stream, and called the Guadalquivir.", "", "His father's name was José-_Don_, of course,--", " A true Hidalgo, free from every stain", "Of Moor or Hebrew blood, he traced his source", " Through the most Gothic gentlemen of Spain;", "A better cavalier ne'er mounted horse,", " Or, being mounted, e'er got down again,", "Than José, who begot our hero, who", "Begot--but that's to come----Well, to renew:", "", "His mother was a learnéd lady, famed", " For every branch of every science known--", "In every Christian language ever named,", " With virtues equalled by her wit alone:", "She made the cleverest people quite ashamed,", " And even the good with inward envy groan,", "Finding themselves so very much exceeded,", "In their own way, by all the things that she did.", "", "Her memory was a mine: she knew by heart", " All Calderon and greater part of Lopé;", "So, that if any actor missed his part,", " She could have served him for the prompter's copy;", "For her Feinagle's were an useless art,", " And he himself obliged to shut up shop--he", "Could never make a memory so fine as", "That which adorned the brain of Donna Inez.", "", "Her favourite science was the mathematical,", " Her noblest virtue was her magnanimity,", "Her wit (she sometimes tried at wit) was Attic all,", " Her serious sayings darkened to sublimity;", "In short, in all things she was fairly what I call", " A prodigy--her morning dress was dimity,", "Her evening silk, or, in the summer, muslin,", "And other stuffs, with which I won't stay puzzling.", "", "She knew the Latin--that is, \"the Lord's prayer,\"", " And Greek--the alphabet--I'm nearly sure;", "She read some French romances here and there,", " Although her mode of speaking was not pure;", "For native Spanish she had no great care,", " At least her conversation was obscure;", "Her thoughts were theorems, her words a problem,", "As if she deemed that mystery would ennoble 'em.", "", "She liked the English and the Hebrew tongue,", " And said there was analogy between 'em;", "She proved it somehow out of sacred song,", " But I must leave the proofs to those who've seen 'em;", "But this I heard her say, and can't be wrong,", " And all may think which way their judgments lean 'em,", "\"'T is strange--the Hebrew noun which means 'I am,'", "The English always use to govern d--n.\"", "", "Some women use their tongues--she _looked_ a lecture,", " Each eye a sermon, and her brow a homily,", "An all-in-all sufficient self-director,", " Like the lamented late Sir Samuel Romilly,", "The Law's expounder, and the State's corrector,", " Whose suicide was almost an anomaly--", "One sad example more, that \"All is vanity,\"--", "(The jury brought their verdict in \"Insanity!\")", "", "In short, she was a walking calculation,", " Miss Edgeworth's novels stepping from their covers,", "Or Mrs. Trimmer's books on education,", " Or \"Coelebs' Wife\" set out in quest of lovers,", "Morality's prim personification,", " In which not Envy's self a flaw discovers;", "To others' share let \"female errors fall,\"", "For she had not even one--the worst of all.", "", "Oh! she was perfect past all parallel--", " Of any modern female saint's comparison;", "So far above the cunning powers of Hell,", " Her Guardian Angel had given up his garrison;", "Even her minutest motions went as well", " As those of the best time-piece made by Harrison:", "In virtues nothing earthly could surpass her,", "Save thine \"incomparable oil,\" Macassar!", "", "Perfect she was, but as perfection is", " Insipid in this naughty world of ours,", "Where our first parents never learned to kiss", " Till they were exiled from their earlier bowers,", "Where all was peace, and innocence, and bliss,", " (I wonder how they got through the twelve hours),", "Don José, like a lineal son of Eve,", "Went plucking various fruit without her leave.", "", "He was a mortal of the careless kind,", " With no great love for learning, or the learned,", "Who chose to go where'er he had a mind,", " And never dreamed his lady was concerned;", "The world, as usual, wickedly inclined", " To see a kingdom or a house o'erturned,", "Whispered he had a mistress, some said _two_.", "But for domestic quarrels _one_ will do.", "", "Now Donna Inez had, with all her merit,", " A great opinion of her own good qualities;", "Neglect, indeed, requires a saint to bear it,", " And such, indeed, she was in her moralities;", "But then she had a devil of a spirit,", " And sometimes mixed up fancies with realities,", "And let few opportunities escape", "Of getting her liege lord into a scrape.", "", "This was an easy matter with a man", " Oft in the wrong, and never on his guard;", "And even the wisest, do the best they can,", " Have moments, hours, and days, so unprepared,", "That you might \"brain them with their lady's fan;\"", " And sometimes ladies hit exceeding hard,", "And fans turn into falchions in fair hands,", "And why and wherefore no one understands.", "", "'T is pity learnéd virgins ever wed", " With persons of no sort of education,", "Or gentlemen, who, though well born and bred,", " Grow tired of scientific conversation:", "I don't choose to say much upon this head,", " I'm a plain man, and in a single station,", "But--Oh! ye lords of ladies intellectual,", "Inform us truly, have they not hen-pecked you all?", "", "Don José and his lady quarrelled--_why_,", " Not any of the many could divine,", "Though several thousand people chose to try,", " 'T was surely no concern of theirs nor mine;", "I loathe that low vice--curiosity;", " But if there's anything in which I shine,", "'T is in arranging all my friends' affairs,", "Not having, of my own, domestic cares.", "", "And so I interfered, and with the best", " Intentions, but their treatment was not kind;", "I think the foolish people were possessed,", " For neither of them could I ever find,", "Although their porter afterwards confessed--", " But that's no matter, and the worst's behind,", "For little Juan o'er me threw, down stairs,", "A pail of housemaid's water unawares.", "", "A little curly-headed, good-for-nothing,", " And mischief-making monkey from his birth;", "His parents ne'er agreed except in doting", " Upon the most unquiet imp on earth;", "Instead of quarrelling, had they been but both in", " Their senses, they'd have sent young master forth", "To school, or had him soundly whipped at home,", "To teach him manners for the time to come.", "", "Don José and the Donna Inez led", " For some time an unhappy sort of life,", "Wishing each other, not divorced, but dead;", " They lived respectably as man and wife,", "Their conduct was exceedingly well-bred,", " And gave no outward signs of inward strife,", "Until at length the smothered fire broke out,", "And put the business past all kind of doubt.", "", "For Inez called some druggists and physicians,", " And tried to prove her loving lord was _mad_,", "But as he had some lucid intermissions,", " She next decided he was only _bad_;", "Yet when they asked her for her depositions,", " No sort of explanation could be had,", "Save that her duty both to man and God", "Required this conduct--which seemed very odd.", "", "She kept a journal, where his faults were noted,", " And opened certain trunks of books and letters,", "All which might, if occasion served, be quoted;", " And then she had all Seville for abettors,", "Besides her good old grandmother (who doted);", " The hearers of her case became repeaters,", "Then advocates, inquisitors, and judges,", "Some for amusement, others for old grudges.", "", "And then this best and meekest woman bore", " With such serenity her husband's woes,", "Just as the Spartan ladies did of yore,", " Who saw their spouses killed, and nobly chose", "Never to say a word about them more--", " Calmly she heard each calumny that rose,", "And saw _his_ agonies with such sublimity,", "That all the world exclaimed, \"What magnanimity!\"", "", "No doubt this patience, when the world is damning us,", " Is philosophic in our former friends;", "'T is also pleasant to be deemed magnanimous,", " The more so in obtaining our own ends;", "And what the lawyers call a _\"malus animus\"_", " Conduct like this by no means comprehends:", "Revenge in person's certainly no virtue,", "But then 't is not _my_ fault, if _others_ hurt you.", "", "And if our quarrels should rip up old stories,", " And help them with a lie or two additional,", "_I_'m not to blame, as you well know--no more is", " Any one else--they were become traditional;", "Besides, their resurrection aids our glories", " By contrast, which is what we just were wishing all:", "And Science profits by this resurrection--", "Dead scandals form good subjects for dissection.", "", "Their friends had tried at reconciliation,", " Then their relations, who made matters worse.", "('T were hard to tell upon a like occasion", " To whom it may be best to have recourse--", "I can't say much for friend or yet relation)", " The lawyers did their utmost for divorce,", "But scarce a fee was paid on either side", "Before, unluckily, Don José died.", "", "He died: and most unluckily, because,", " According to all hints I could collect", "From Counsel learnéd in those kinds of laws,", " (Although their talk's obscure and circumspect)", "His death contrived to spoil a charming cause;", " A thousand pities also with respect", "To public feeling, which on this occasion", "Was manifested in a great sensation.", "", "But ah! he died; and buried with him lay", " The public feeling and the lawyers' fees:", "His house was sold, his servants sent away,", " A Jew took one of his two mistresses,", "A priest the other--at least so they say:", " I asked the doctors after his disease--", "He died of the slow fever called the tertian,", "And left his widow to her own aversion.", "", "Yet José was an honourable man,", " That I must say, who knew him very well;", "Therefore his frailties I'll no further scan,", " Indeed there were not many more to tell:", "And if his passions now and then outran", " Discretion, and were not so peaceable", "As Numa's (who was also named Pompilius),", "He had been ill brought up, and was born bilious.", "", "Whate'er might be his worthlessness or worth,", " Poor fellow! he had many things to wound him.", "Let's own--since it can do no good on earth--", " It was a trying moment that which found him", "Standing alone beside his desolate hearth,", " Where all his household gods lay shivered round him:", "No choice was left his feelings or his pride,", "Save Death or Doctors' Commons--so he died.", "", "Dying intestate, Juan was sole heir", " To a chancery suit, and messuages, and lands,", "Which, with a long minority and care,", " Promised to turn out well in proper hands:", "Inez became sole guardian, which was fair,", " And answered but to Nature's just demands;", "An only son left with an only mother", "Is brought up much more wisely than another.", "", "Sagest of women, even of widows, she", " Resolved that Juan should be quite a paragon,", "And worthy of the noblest pedigree,", " (His Sire was of Castile, his Dam from Aragon)", "Then, for accomplishments of chivalry,", " In case our Lord the King should go to war again,", "He learned the arts of riding, fencing, gunnery,", "And how to scale a fortress--or a nunnery.", "", "But that which Donna Inez most desired,", " And saw into herself each day before all", "The learnéd tutors whom for him she hired,", " Was, that his breeding should be strictly moral:", "Much into all his studies she inquired,", " And so they were submitted first to her, all,", "Arts, sciences--no branch was made a mystery", "To Juan's eyes, excepting natural history.", "", "The languages, especially the dead,", " The sciences, and most of all the abstruse,", "The arts, at least all such as could be said", " To be the most remote from common use,", "In all these he was much and deeply read:", " But not a page of anything that's loose,", "Or hints continuation of the species,", "Was ever suffered, lest he should grow vicious.", "", "His classic studies made a little puzzle,", " Because of filthy loves of gods and goddesses,", "Who in the earlier ages raised a bustle,", " But never put on pantaloons or bodices;", "His reverend tutors had at times a tussle,", " And for their Æneids, Iliads, and Odysseys,", "Were forced to make an odd sort of apology,", "For Donna Inez dreaded the Mythology.", "", "Ovid's a rake, as half his verses show him,", " Anacreon's morals are a still worse sample,", "Catullus scarcely has a decent poem,", " I don't think Sappho's Ode a good example,", "Although Longinus tells us there is no hymn", " Where the Sublime soars forth on wings more ample;", "But Virgil's songs are pure, except that horrid one", "Beginning with _\"Formosum Pastor Corydon.\"_", "", "Lucretius' irreligion is too strong", " For early stomachs, to prove wholesome food;", "I can't help thinking Juvenal was wrong,", " Although no doubt his real intent was good,", "For speaking out so plainly in his song,", " So much indeed as to be downright rude;", "And then what proper person can be partial", "To all those nauseous epigrams of Martial?", "", "Juan was taught from out the best edition,", " Expurgated by learned men, who place,", "Judiciously, from out the schoolboy's vision,", " The grosser parts; but, fearful to deface", "Too much their modest bard by this omission,", " And pitying sore his mutilated case,", "They only add them all in an appendix,", "Which saves, in fact, the trouble of an index;", "", "For there we have them all \"at one fell swoop,\"", " Instead of being scattered through the pages;", "They stand forth marshalled in a handsome troop,", " To meet the ingenuous youth of future ages,", "Till some less rigid editor shall stoop", " To call them back into their separate cages,", "Instead of standing staring all together,", "Like garden gods--and not so decent either.", "", "The Missal too (it was the family Missal)", " Was ornamented in a sort of way", "Which ancient mass-books often are, and this all", " Kinds of grotesques illumined; and how they,", "Who saw those figures on the margin kiss all,", " Could turn their optics to the text and pray,", "Is more than I know--But Don Juan's mother", "Kept this herself, and gave her son another.", "", "Sermons he read, and lectures he endured,", " And homilies, and lives of all the saints;", "To Jerome and to Chrysostom inured,", " He did not take such studies for restraints;", "But how Faith is acquired, and then insured,", " So well not one of the aforesaid paints", "As Saint Augustine in his fine Confessions,", "Which make the reader envy his transgressions.", "", "This, too, was a sealed book to little Juan--", " I can't but say that his mamma was right,", "If such an education was the true one.", " She scarcely trusted him from out her sight;", "Her maids were old, and if she took a new one,", " You might be sure she was a perfect fright;", "She did this during even her husband's life--", "I recommend as much to every wife.", "", "Young Juan waxed in goodliness and grace;", " At six a charming child, and at eleven", "With all the promise of as fine a face", " As e'er to Man's maturer growth was given:", "He studied steadily, and grew apace,", " And seemed, at least, in the right road to Heaven,", "For half his days were passed at church, the other", "Between his tutors, confessor, and mother.", "", "At six, I said, he was a charming child,", " At twelve he was a fine, but quiet boy;", "Although in infancy a little wild,", " They tamed him down amongst them: to destroy", "His natural spirit not in vain they toiled,", " At least it seemed so; and his mother's joy", "Was to declare how sage, and still, and steady,", "Her young philosopher was grown already.", "", "I had my doubts, perhaps I have them still,", " But what I say is neither here nor there:", "I knew his father well, and have some skill", " In character--but it would not be fair", "From sire to son to augur good or ill:", " He and his wife were an ill-sorted pair--", "But scandal's my aversion--I protest", "Against all evil speaking, even in jest.", "", "For my part I say nothing--nothing--but", " _This_ I will say--my reasons are my own--", "That if I had an only son to put", " To school (as God be praised that I have none),", "'T is not with Donna Inez I would shut", " Him up to learn his catechism alone,", "No--no--I'd send him out betimes to college,", "For there it was I picked up my own knowledge.", "", "For there one learns--'t is not for me to boast,", " Though I acquired--but I pass over _that_,", "As well as all the Greek I since have lost:", " I say that there's the place--but \"_Verbum sat_,\"", "I think I picked up too, as well as most,", " Knowledge of matters--but no matter _what_--", "I never married--but, I think, I know", "That sons should not be educated so.", "", "Young Juan now was sixteen years of age,", " Tall, handsome, slender, but well knit: he seemed", "Active, though not so sprightly, as a page;", " And everybody but his mother deemed", "Him almost man; but she flew in a rage", " And bit her lips (for else she might have screamed)", "If any said so--for to be precocious", "Was in her eyes a thing the most atrocious.", "", "Amongst her numerous acquaintance, all", " Selected for discretion and devotion,", "There was the Donna Julia, whom to call", " Pretty were but to give a feeble notion", "Of many charms in her as natural", " As sweetness to the flower, or salt to Ocean,", "Her zone to Venus, or his bow to Cupid,", "(But this last simile is trite and stupid.)", "", "The darkness of her Oriental eye", " Accorded with her Moorish origin;", "(Her blood was not all Spanish; by the by,", " In Spain, you know, this is a sort of sin;)", "When proud Granada fell, and, forced to fly,", " Boabdil wept: of Donna Julia's kin", "Some went to Africa, some stayed in Spain--", "Her great great grandmamma chose to remain.", "", "She married (I forget the pedigree)", " With an Hidalgo, who transmitted down", "His blood less noble than such blood should be;", " At such alliances his sires would frown,", "In that point so precise in each degree", " That they bred _in and in_, as might be shown,", "Marrying their cousins--nay, their aunts, and nieces,", "Which always spoils the breed, if it increases.", "", "This heathenish cross restored the breed again,", " Ruined its blood, but much improved its flesh;", "For from a root the ugliest in Old Spain", " Sprung up a branch as beautiful as fresh;", "The sons no more were short, the daughters plain:", " But there's a rumour which I fain would hush,", "'T is said that Donna Julia's grandmamma", "Produced her Don more heirs at love than law.", "", "However this might be, the race went on", " Improving still through every generation,", "Until it centred in an only son,", " Who left an only daughter; my narration", "May have suggested that this single one", " Could be but Julia (whom on this occasion", "I shall have much to speak about), and she", "Was married, charming, chaste, and twenty-three.", "", "Her eye (I'm very fond of handsome eyes)", " Was large and dark, suppressing half its fire", "Until she spoke, then through its soft disguise", " Flashed an expression more of pride than ire,", "And love than either; and there would arise", " A something in them which was not desire,", "But would have been, perhaps, but for the soul", "Which struggled through and chastened down the whole.", "", "Her glossy hair was clustered o'er a brow", " Bright with intelligence, and fair, and smooth;", "Her eyebrow's shape was like the aërial bow,", " Her cheek all purple with the beam of youth,", "Mounting, at times, to a transparent glow,", " As if her veins ran lightning; she, in sooth,", "Possessed an air and grace by no means common:", "Her stature tall--I hate a dumpy woman.", "", "Wedded she was some years, and to a man", " Of fifty, and such husbands are in plenty;", "And yet, I think, instead of such a ONE", " 'T were better to have TWO of five-and-twenty,", "Especially in countries near the sun:", " And now I think on 't, \"_mi vien in mente_\",", "Ladies even of the most uneasy virtue", "Prefer a spouse whose age is short of thirty.", "", "'T is a sad thing, I cannot choose but say,", " And all the fault of that indecent sun,", "Who cannot leave alone our helpless clay,", " But will keep baking, broiling, burning on,", "That howsoever people fast and pray,", " The flesh is frail, and so the soul undone:", "What men call gallantry, and gods adultery,", "Is much more common where the climate's sultry,", "", "Happy the nations of the moral North!", " Where all is virtue, and the winter season", "Sends sin, without a rag on, shivering forth", " ('T was snow that brought St. Anthony to reason);", "Where juries cast up what a wife is worth,", " By laying whate'er sum, in mulct, they please on", "The lover, who must pay a handsome price,", "Because it is a marketable vice.", "", "Alfonso was the name of Julia's lord,", " A man well looking for his years, and who", "Was neither much beloved nor yet abhorred:", " They lived together as most people do,", "Suffering each other's foibles by accord,", " And not exactly either _one_ or _two_;", "Yet he was jealous, though he did not show it,", "For Jealousy dislikes the world to know it.", "", "Julia was--yet I never could see why--", " With Donna Inez quite a favourite friend;", "Between their tastes there was small sympathy,", " For not a line had Julia ever penned:", "Some people whisper (but, no doubt, they lie,", " For Malice still imputes some private end)", "That Inez had, ere Don Alfonso's marriage,", "Forgot with him her very prudent carriage;", "", "And that still keeping up the old connection,", " Which Time had lately rendered much more chaste,", "She took his lady also in affection,", " And certainly this course was much the best:", "She flattered Julia with her sage protection,", " And complimented Don Alfonso's taste;", "And if she could not (who can?) silence scandal,", "At least she left it a more slender handle.", "", "I can't tell whether Julia saw the affair", " With other people's eyes, or if her own", "Discoveries made, but none could be aware", " Of this, at least no symptom e'er was shown;", "Perhaps she did not know, or did not care,", " Indifferent from the first, or callous grown:", "I'm really puzzled what to think or say,", "She kept her counsel in so close a way.", "", "Juan she saw, and, as a pretty child,", " Caressed him often--such a thing might be", "Quite innocently done, and harmless styled,", " When she had twenty years, and thirteen he;", "But I am not so sure I should have smiled", " When he was sixteen, Julia twenty-three;", "These few short years make wondrous alterations,", "Particularly amongst sun-burnt nations.", "", "Whate'er the cause might be, they had become", " Changed; for the dame grew distant, the youth shy,", "Their looks cast down, their greetings almost dumb,", " And much embarrassment in either eye;", "There surely will be little doubt with some", " That Donna Julia knew the reason why,", "But as for Juan, he had no more notion", "Than he who never saw the sea of Ocean.", "", "Yet Julia's very coldness still was kind,", " And tremulously gentle her small hand", "Withdrew itself from his, but left behind", " A little pressure, thrilling, and so bland", "And slight, so very slight, that to the mind", " 'T was but a doubt; but ne'er magician's wand", "Wrought change with all Armida's fairy art", "Like what this light touch left on Juan's heart.", "", "And if she met him, though she smiled no more,", " She looked a sadness sweeter than her smile,", "As if her heart had deeper thoughts in store", " She must not own, but cherished more the while", "For that compression in its burning core;", " Even Innocence itself has many a wile,", "And will not dare to trust itself with truth,", "And Love is taught hypocrisy from youth.", "", "But Passion most dissembles, yet betrays", " Even by its darkness; as the blackest sky", "Foretells the heaviest tempest, it displays", " Its workings through the vainly guarded eye,", "And in whatever aspect it arrays", " Itself, 't is still the same hypocrisy;", "Coldness or Anger, even Disdain or Hate,", "Are masks it often wears, and still too late.", "", "Then there were sighs, the deeper for suppression,", " And stolen glances, sweeter for the theft,", "And burning blushes, though for no transgression,", " Tremblings when met, and restlessness when left;", "All these are little preludes to possession,", " Of which young Passion cannot be bereft,", "And merely tend to show how greatly Love is", "Embarrassed at first starting with a novice.", "", "Poor Julia's heart was in an awkward state;", " She felt it going, and resolved to make", "The noblest efforts for herself and mate,", " For Honour's, Pride's, Religion's, Virtue's sake:", "Her resolutions were most truly great,", " And almost might have made a Tarquin quake:", "She prayed the Virgin Mary for her grace,", "As being the best judge of a lady's case.", "", "She vowed she never would see Juan more,", " And next day paid a visit to his mother,", "And looked extremely at the opening door,", " Which, by the Virgin's grace, let in another;", "Grateful she was, and yet a little sore--", " Again it opens, it can be no other,", "'T is surely Juan now--No! I'm afraid", "That night the Virgin was no further prayed.", "", "She now determined that a virtuous woman", " Should rather face and overcome temptation,", "That flight was base and dastardly, and no man", " Should ever give her heart the least sensation,", "That is to say, a thought beyond the common", " Preference, that we must feel, upon occasion,", "For people who are pleasanter than others,", "But then they only seem so many brothers.", "", "And even if by chance--and who can tell?", " The Devil's so very sly--she should discover", "That all within was not so very well,", " And, if still free, that such or such a lover", "Might please perhaps, a virtuous wife can quell", " Such thoughts, and be the better when they're over;", "And if the man should ask, 't is but denial:", "I recommend young ladies to make trial.", "", "And, then, there are such things as Love divine,", " Bright and immaculate, unmixed and pure,", "Such as the angels think so very fine,", " And matrons, who would be no less secure,", "Platonic, perfect, \"just such love as mine;\"", " Thus Julia said--and thought so, to be sure;", "And so I'd have her think, were _I_ the man", "On whom her reveries celestial ran.", "", "Such love is innocent, and may exist", " Between young persons without any danger.", "A hand may first, and then a lip be kissed;", " For my part, to such doings I'm a stranger,", "But _hear_ these freedoms form the utmost list", " Of all o'er which such love may be a ranger:", "If people go beyond, 't is quite a crime,", "But not my fault--I tell them all in time.", "", "Love, then, but Love within its proper limits,", " Was Julia's innocent determination", "In young Don Juan's favour, and to him its", " Exertion might be useful on occasion;", "And, lighted at too pure a shrine to dim its", " Ethereal lustre, with what sweet persuasion", "He might be taught, by Love and her together--", "I really don't know what, nor Julia either.", "", "Fraught with this fine intention, and well fenced", " In mail of proof--her purity of soul--", "She, for the future, of her strength convinced,", " And that her honour was a rock, or mole,", "Exceeding sagely from that hour dispensed", " With any kind of troublesome control;", "But whether Julia to the task was equal", "Is that which must be mentioned in the sequel.", "", "Her plan she deemed both innocent and feasible,", " And, surely, with a stripling of sixteen", "Not Scandal's fangs could fix on much that's seizable,", " Or if they did so, satisfied to mean", "Nothing but what was good, her breast was peaceable--", " A quiet conscience makes one so serene!", "Christians have burnt each other, quite persuaded", "That all the Apostles would have done as they did.", "", "And if in the mean time her husband died,", " But Heaven forbid that such a thought should cross", "Her brain, though in a dream! (and then she sighed)", " Never could she survive that common loss;", "But just suppose that moment should betide,", " I only say suppose it--_inter nos_:", "(This should be _entre nous_, for Julia thought", "In French, but then the rhyme would go for nought.)", "", "I only say, suppose this supposition:", " Juan being then grown up to man's estate", "Would fully suit a widow of condition,", " Even seven years hence it would not be too late;", "And in the interim (to pursue this vision)", " The mischief, after all, could not be great,", "For he would learn the rudiments of Love,", "I mean the _seraph_ way of those above.", "", "So much for Julia! Now we'll turn to Juan.", " Poor little fellow! he had no idea", "Of his own case, and never hit the true one;", " In feelings quick as Ovid's Miss Medea,", "He puzzled over what he found a new one,", " But not as yet imagined it could be a", "Thing quite in course, and not at all alarming,", "Which, with a little patience, might grow charming.", "", "Silent and pensive, idle, restless, slow,", " His home deserted for the lonely wood,", "Tormented with a wound he could not know,", " His, like all deep grief, plunged in solitude:", "I'm fond myself of solitude or so,", " But then, I beg it may be understood,", "By solitude I mean a Sultan's (not", "A Hermit's), with a haram for a grot.", "", "\"Oh Love! in such a wilderness as this,", " Where Transport and Security entwine,", "Here is the Empire of thy perfect bliss,", " And here thou art a God indeed divine.\"", "The bard I quote from does not sing amiss,", " With the exception of the second line,", "For that same twining \"Transport and Security\"", "Are twisted to a phrase of some obscurity.", "", "The Poet meant, no doubt, and thus appeals", " To the good sense and senses of mankind,", "The very thing which everybody feels,", " As all have found on trial, or may find,", "That no one likes to be disturbed at meals", " Or love.--I won't say more about \"entwined\"", "Or \"Transport,\" as we knew all that before,", "But beg \"Security\" will bolt the door.", "", "Young Juan wandered by the glassy brooks,", " Thinking unutterable things; he threw", "Himself at length within the leafy nooks", " Where the wild branch of the cork forest grew;", "There poets find materials for their books,", " And every now and then we read them through,", "So that their plan and prosody are eligible,", "Unless, like Wordsworth, they prove unintelligible.", "", "He, Juan (and not Wordsworth), so pursued", " His self-communion with his own high soul,", "Until his mighty heart, in its great mood,", " Had mitigated part, though not the whole", "Of its disease; he did the best he could", " With things not very subject to control,", "And turned, without perceiving his condition,", "Like Coleridge, into a metaphysician.", "", "He thought about himself, and the whole earth,", " Of man the wonderful, and of the stars,", "And how the deuce they ever could have birth:", " And then he thought of earthquakes, and of wars,", "How many miles the moon might have in girth,", " Of air-balloons, and of the many bars", "To perfect knowledge of the boundless skies;--", "And then he thought of Donna Julia's eyes.", "", "In thoughts like these true Wisdom may discern", " Longings sublime, and aspirations high,", "Which some are born with, but the most part learn", " To plague themselves withal, they know not why:", "'T was strange that one so young should thus concern", " His brain about the action of the sky;", "If _you_ think 't was Philosophy that this did,", "I can't help thinking puberty assisted.", "", "He pored upon the leaves, and on the flowers,", " And heard a voice in all the winds; and then", "He thought of wood-nymphs and immortal bowers,", " And how the goddesses came down to men:", "He missed the pathway, he forgot the hours,", " And when he looked upon his watch again,", "He found how much old Time had been a winner--", "He also found that he had lost his dinner.", "", "Sometimes he turned to gaze upon his book,", " Boscan, or Garcilasso;--by the wind", "Even as the page is rustled while we look,", " So by the poesy of his own mind", "Over the mystic leaf his soul was shook,", " As if 't were one whereon magicians bind", "Their spells, and give them to the passing gale,", "According to some good old woman's tale.", "", "Thus would he while his lonely hours away", " Dissatisfied, not knowing what he wanted;", "Nor glowing reverie, nor poet's lay,", " Could yield his spirit that for which it panted,", "A bosom whereon he his head might lay,", " And hear the heart beat with the love it granted,", "With----several other things, which I forget,", "Or which, at least, I need not mention yet.", "", "Those lonely walks, and lengthening reveries,", " Could not escape the gentle Julia's eyes;", "She saw that Juan was not at his ease;", " But that which chiefly may, and must surprise,", "Is, that the Donna Inez did not tease", " Her only son with question or surmise;", "Whether it was she did not see, or would not,", "Or, like all very clever people, could not.", "", "This may seem strange, but yet 't is very common;", " For instance--gentlemen, whose ladies take", "Leave to o'erstep the written rights of Woman,", " And break the----Which commandment is 't they break?", "(I have forgot the number, and think no man", " Should rashly quote, for fear of a mistake;)", "I say, when these same gentlemen are jealous,", "They make some blunder, which their ladies tell us.", "", "A real husband always is suspicious,", " But still no less suspects in the wrong place,", "Jealous of some one who had no such wishes,", " Or pandering blindly to his own disgrace,", "By harbouring some dear friend extremely vicious;", " The last indeed's infallibly the case:", "And when the spouse and friend are gone off wholly,", "He wonders at their vice, and not his folly.", "", "Thus parents also are at times short-sighted:", " Though watchful as the lynx, they ne'er discover,", "The while the wicked world beholds delighted,", " Young Hopeful's mistress, or Miss Fanny's lover,", "Till some confounded escapade has blighted", " The plan of twenty years, and all is over;", "And then the mother cries, the father swears,", "And wonders why the devil he got heirs.", "", "But Inez was so anxious, and so clear", " Of sight, that I must think, on this occasion,", "She had some other motive much more near", " For leaving Juan to this new temptation,", "But what that motive was, I sha'n't say here;", " Perhaps to finish Juan's education,", "Perhaps to open Don Alfonso's eyes,", "In case he thought his wife too great a prize.", "", "It was upon a day, a summer's day;--", " Summer's indeed a very dangerous season,", "And so is spring about the end of May;", " The sun, no doubt, is the prevailing reason;", "But whatsoe'er the cause is, one may say,", " And stand convicted of more truth than treason,", "That there are months which nature grows more merry in,--", "March has its hares, and May must have its heroine.", "", "'T was on a summer's day--the sixth of June:", " I like to be particular in dates,", "Not only of the age, and year, but moon;", " They are a sort of post-house, where the Fates", "Change horses, making History change its tune,", " Then spur away o'er empires and o'er states,", "Leaving at last not much besides chronology,", "Excepting the post-obits of theology.", "", "'T was on the sixth of June, about the hour", " Of half-past six--perhaps still nearer seven--", "When Julia sate within as pretty a bower", " As e'er held houri in that heathenish heaven", "Described by Mahomet, and Anacreon Moore,", " To whom the lyre and laurels have been given,", "With all the trophies of triumphant song--", "He won them well, and may he wear them long!", "", "She sate, but not alone; I know not well", " How this same interview had taken place,", "And even if I knew, I should not tell--", " People should hold their tongues in any case;", "No matter how or why the thing befell,", " But there were she and Juan, face to face--", "When two such faces are so, 't would be wise,", "But very difficult, to shut their eyes.", "", "How beautiful she looked! her conscious heart", " Glowed in her cheek, and yet she felt no wrong:", "Oh Love! how perfect is thy mystic art,", " Strengthening the weak, and trampling on the strong!", "How self-deceitful is the sagest part", " Of mortals whom thy lure hath led along!--", "The precipice she stood on was immense,", "So was her creed in her own innocence.", "", "She thought of her own strength, and Juan's youth,", " And of the folly of all prudish fears,", "Victorious Virtue, and domestic Truth,", " And then of Don Alfonso's fifty years:", "I wish these last had not occurred, in sooth,", " Because that number rarely much endears,", "And through all climes, the snowy and the sunny,", "Sounds ill in love, whate'er it may in money.", "", "When people say, \"I've told you _fifty_ times,\"", " They mean to scold, and very often do;", "When poets say, \"I've written _fifty_ rhymes,\"", " They make you dread that they 'll recite them too;", "In gangs of _fifty_, thieves commit their crimes;", " At _fifty_ love for love is rare, 't is true,", "But then, no doubt, it equally as true is,", "A good deal may be bought for _fifty_ Louis.", "", "Julia had honour, virtue, truth, and love", " For Don Alfonso; and she inly swore,", "By all the vows below to Powers above,", " She never would disgrace the ring she wore,", "Nor leave a wish which wisdom might reprove;", " And while she pondered this, besides much more,", "One hand on Juan's carelessly was thrown,", "Quite by mistake--she thought it was her own;", "", "Unconsciously she leaned upon the other,", " Which played within the tangles of her hair;", "And to contend with thoughts she could not smother", " She seemed by the distraction of her air.", "'T was surely very wrong in Juan's mother", " To leave together this imprudent pair,", "She who for many years had watched her son so--", "I'm very certain _mine_ would not have done so.", "", "The hand which still held Juan's, by degrees", " Gently, but palpably confirmed its grasp,", "As if it said, \"Detain me, if you please;\"", " Yet there's no doubt she only meant to clasp", "His fingers with a pure Platonic squeeze;", " She would have shrunk as from a toad, or asp,", "Had she imagined such a thing could rouse", "A feeling dangerous to a prudent spouse.", "", "I cannot know what Juan thought of this,", " But what he did, is much what you would do;", "His young lip thanked it with a grateful kiss,", " And then, abashed at its own joy, withdrew", "In deep despair, lest he had done amiss,--", " Love is so very timid when 't is new:", "She blushed, and frowned not, but she strove to speak,", "And held her tongue, her voice was grown so weak.", "", "The sun set, and up rose the yellow moon:", " The Devil's in the moon for mischief; they", "Who called her CHASTE, methinks, began too soon", " Their nomenclature; there is not a day,", "The longest, not the twenty-first of June,", " Sees half the business in a wicked way,", "On which three single hours of moonshine smile--", "And then she looks so modest all the while!", "", "There is a dangerous silence in that hour,", " A stillness, which leaves room for the full soul", "To open all itself, without the power", " Of calling wholly back its self-control;", "The silver light which, hallowing tree and tower,", " Sheds beauty and deep softness o'er the whole,", "Breathes also to the heart, and o'er it throws", "A loving languor, which is not repose.", "", "And Julia sate with Juan, half embraced", " And half retiring from the glowing arm,", "Which trembled like the bosom where 't was placed;", " Yet still she must have thought there was no harm,", "Or else 't were easy to withdraw her waist;", " But then the situation had its charm,", "And then--God knows what next--I can't go on;", "I'm almost sorry that I e'er begun.", "", "Oh Plato! Plato! you have paved the way,", " With your confounded fantasies, to more", "Immoral conduct by the fancied sway", " Your system feigns o'er the controlless core", "Of human hearts, than all the long array", " Of poets and romancers:--You're a bore,", "A charlatan, a coxcomb--and have been,", "At best, no better than a go-between.", "", "And Julia's voice was lost, except in sighs,", " Until too late for useful conversation;", "The tears were gushing from her gentle eyes,", " I wish, indeed, they had not had occasion;", "But who, alas! can love, and then be wise?", " Not that Remorse did not oppose Temptation;", "A little still she strove, and much repented,", "And whispering \"I will ne'er consent\"--consented.", "", "'T is said that Xerxes offered a reward", " To those who could invent him a new pleasure:", "Methinks the requisition's rather hard,", " And must have cost his Majesty a treasure:", "For my part, I'm a moderate-minded bard,", " Fond of a little love (which I call leisure);", "I care not for new pleasures, as the old", "Are quite enough for me, so they but hold.", "", "Oh Pleasure! you're indeed a pleasant thing,", " Although one must be damned for you, no doubt:", "I make a resolution every spring", " Of reformation, ere the year run out,", "But somehow, this my vestal vow takes wing,", " Yet still, I trust, it may be kept throughout:", "I'm very sorry, very much ashamed,", "And mean, next winter, to be quite reclaimed.", "", "Here my chaste Muse a liberty must take--", " Start not! still chaster reader--she'll be nice hence-", "Forward, and there is no great cause to quake;", " This liberty is a poetic licence,", "Which some irregularity may make", " In the design, and as I have a high sense", "Of Aristotle and the Rules, 't is fit", "To beg his pardon when I err a bit.", "", "This licence is to hope the reader will", " Suppose from June the sixth (the fatal day,", "Without whose epoch my poetic skill", " For want of facts would all be thrown away),", "But keeping Julia and Don Juan still", " In sight, that several months have passed; we'll say", "'T was in November, but I'm not so sure", "About the day--the era's more obscure.", "", "We'll talk of that anon.--'T is sweet to hear", " At midnight on the blue and moonlit deep", "The song and oar of Adria's gondolier,", " By distance mellowed, o'er the waters sweep;", "'T is sweet to see the evening star appear;", " 'T is sweet to listen as the night-winds creep", "From leaf to leaf; 't is sweet to view on high", "The rainbow, based on ocean, span the sky.", "", "'T is sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark", " Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home;", "'T is sweet to know there is an eye will mark", " Our coming, and look brighter when we come;", "'T is sweet to be awakened by the lark,", " Or lulled by falling waters; sweet the hum", "Of bees, the voice of girls, the song of birds,", "The lisp of children, and their earliest words.", "", "Sweet is the vintage, when the showering grapes", " In Bacchanal profusion reel to earth,", "Purple and gushing: sweet are our escapes", " From civic revelry to rural mirth;", "Sweet to the miser are his glittering heaps,", " Sweet to the father is his first-born's birth,", "Sweet is revenge--especially to women--", "Pillage to soldiers, prize-money to seamen.", "", "Sweet is a legacy, and passing sweet", " The unexpected death of some old lady,", "Or gentleman of seventy years complete,", " Who've made \"us youth\" wait too--too long already,", "For an estate, or cash, or country seat,", " Still breaking, but with stamina so steady,", "That all the Israelites are fit to mob its", "Next owner for their double-damned post-obits.", "", "'T is sweet to win, no matter how, one's laurels,", " By blood or ink; 't is sweet to put an end", "To strife; 't is sometimes sweet to have our quarrels,", " Particularly with a tiresome friend:", "Sweet is old wine in bottles, ale in barrels;", " Dear is the helpless creature we defend", "Against the world; and dear the schoolboy spot", "We ne'er forget, though there we are forgot.", "", "But sweeter still than this, than these, than all,", " Is first and passionate Love--it stands alone,", "Like Adam's recollection of his fall;", " The Tree of Knowledge has been plucked--all 's known--", "And Life yields nothing further to recall", " Worthy of this ambrosial sin, so shown,", "No doubt in fable, as the unforgiven", "Fire which Prometheus filched for us from Heaven.", "", "Man's a strange animal, and makes strange use", " Of his own nature, and the various arts,", "And likes particularly to produce", " Some new experiment to show his parts;", "This is the age of oddities let loose,", " Where different talents find their different marts;", "You'd best begin with truth, and when you've lost your", "Labour, there's a sure market for imposture.", "", "What opposite discoveries we have seen!", " (Signs of true genius, and of empty pockets.)", "One makes new noses, one a guillotine,", " One breaks your bones, one sets them in their sockets;", "But Vaccination certainly has been", " A kind antithesis to Congreve's rockets,", "With which the Doctor paid off an old pox,", "By borrowing a new one from an ox.", "", "Bread has been made (indifferent) from potatoes:", " And Galvanism has set some corpses grinning,", "But has not answered like the apparatus", " Of the Humane Society's beginning,", "By which men are unsuffocated gratis:", " What wondrous new machines have late been spinning!", "I said the small-pox has gone out of late;", "Perhaps it may be followed by the great.", "", "'T is said the great came from America;", " Perhaps it may set out on its return,--", "The population there so spreads, they say", " 'T is grown high time to thin it in its turn,", "With war, or plague, or famine--any way,", " So that civilisation they may learn;", "And which in ravage the more loathsome evil is--", "Their real _lues,_ or our pseudo-syphilis?", "", "This is the patent age of new inventions", " For killing bodies, and for saving souls,", "All propagated with the best intentions:", " Sir Humphry Davy's lantern, by which coals", "Are safely mined for in the mode he mentions,", " Tombuctoo travels, voyages to the Poles", "Are ways to benefit mankind, as true,", "Perhaps, as shooting them at Waterloo.", "", "Man's a phenomenon, one knows not what,", " And wonderful beyond all wondrous measure;", "'T is pity though, in this sublime world, that", " Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes Sin's a pleasure;", "Few mortals know what end they would be at,", " But whether Glory, Power, or Love, or Treasure,", "The path is through perplexing ways, and when", "The goal is gained, we die, you know--and then----", "", "What then?--I do not know, no more do you--", " And so good night.--Return we to our story:", "'T was in November, when fine days are few,", " And the far mountains wax a little hoary,", "And clap a white cape on their mantles blue;", " And the sea dashes round the promontory,", "And the loud breaker boils against the rock,", "And sober suns must set at five o'clock.", "", "'T was, as the watchmen say, a cloudy night;", " No moon, no stars, the wind was low or loud", "By gusts, and many a sparkling hearth was bright", " With the piled wood, round which the family crowd;", "There's something cheerful in that sort of light,", " Even as a summer sky's without a cloud:", "I'm fond of fire, and crickets, and all that,", "A lobster salad, and champagne, and chat.", "", "'T was midnight--Donna Julia was in bed,", " Sleeping, most probably,--when at her door", "Arose a clatter might awake the dead,", " If they had never been awoke before,", "And that they have been so we all have read,", " And are to be so, at the least, once more;--", "The door was fastened, but with voice and fist", "First knocks were heard, then \"Madam--Madam--hist!", "", "\"For God's sake, Madam--Madam--here's my master,", " With more than half the city at his back--Was", "ever heard of such a curst disaster!", " 'T is not my fault--I kept good watch--Alack!", "Do pray undo the bolt a little faster--", " They're on the stair just now, and in a crack", "Will all be here; perhaps he yet may fly--", "Surely the window's not so _very_ high!\"", "", "By this time Don Alfonso was arrived,", " With torches, friends, and servants in great number;", "The major part of them had long been wived,", " And therefore paused not to disturb the slumber", "Of any wicked woman, who contrived", " By stealth her husband's temples to encumber:", "Examples of this kind are so contagious,", "Were _one_ not punished, _all_ would be outrageous.", "", "I can't tell how, or why, or what suspicion", " Could enter into Don Alfonso's head;", "But for a cavalier of his condition", " It surely was exceedingly ill-bred,", "Without a word of previous admonition,", " To hold a levee round his lady's bed,", "And summon lackeys, armed with fire and sword,", "To prove himself the thing he most abhorred.", "", "Poor Donna Julia! starting as from sleep,", " (Mind--that I do not say--she had not slept),", "Began at once to scream, and yawn, and weep;", " Her maid, Antonia, who was an adept,", "Contrived to fling the bed-clothes in a heap,", " As if she had just now from out them crept:", "I can't tell why she should take all this trouble", "To prove her mistress had been sleeping double.", "", "But Julia mistress, and Antonia maid,", " Appeared like two poor harmless women, who", "Of goblins, but still more of men afraid,", " Had thought one man might be deterred by two,", "And therefore side by side were gently laid,", " Until the hours of absence should run through,", "And truant husband should return, and say,", "\"My dear,--I was the first who came away.\"", "", "Now Julia found at length a voice, and cried,", " \"In Heaven's name, Don Alfonso, what d' ye mean?", "Has madness seized you? would that I had died", " Ere such a monster's victim I had been!", "What may this midnight violence betide,", " A sudden fit of drunkenness or spleen?", "Dare you suspect me, whom the thought would kill?", "Search, then, the room!\"--Alfonso said, \"I will.\"", "", "_He_ searched, _they_ searched, and rummaged everywhere,", " Closet and clothes' press, chest and window-seat,", "And found much linen, lace, and several pair", " Of stockings, slippers, brushes, combs, complete,", "With other articles of ladies fair,", " To keep them beautiful, or leave them neat:", "Arras they pricked and curtains with their swords,", "And wounded several shutters, and some boards.", "", "Under the bed they searched, and there they found--", " No matter what--it was not that they sought;", "They opened windows, gazing if the ground", " Had signs or footmarks, but the earth said nought;", "And then they stared each others' faces round:", " 'T is odd, not one of all these seekers thought,", "And seems to me almost a sort of blunder,", "Of looking _in_ the bed as well as under.", "", "During this inquisition Julia's tongue", " Was not asleep--\"Yes, search and search,\" she cried,", "\"Insult on insult heap, and wrong on wrong!", " It was for this that I became a bride!", "For this in silence I have suffered long", " A husband like Alfonso at my side;", "But now I'll bear no more, nor here remain,", "If there be law or lawyers in all Spain.", "", "\"Yes, Don Alfonso! husband now no more,", " If ever you indeed deserved the name,", "Is 't worthy of your years?--you have threescore--", " Fifty, or sixty, it is all the same--", "Is 't wise or fitting, causeless to explore", " For facts against a virtuous woman's fame?", "Ungrateful, perjured, barbarous Don Alfonso,", "How dare you think your lady would go on so?", "", "\"Is it for this I have disdained to hold", " The common privileges of my sex?", "That I have chosen a confessor so old", " And deaf, that any other it would vex,", "And never once he has had cause to scold,", " But found my very innocence perplex", "So much, he always doubted I was married--", "How sorry you will be when I've miscarried!", "", "\"Was it for this that no Cortejo e'er", " I yet have chosen from out the youth of Seville?", "Is it for this I scarce went anywhere,", " Except to bull-fights, mass, play, rout, and revel?", "Is it for this, whate'er my suitors were,", " I favoured none--nay, was almost uncivil?", "Is it for this that General Count O'Reilly,", "Who took Algiers, declares I used him vilely?", "", "\"Did not the Italian _Musico_ Cazzani", " Sing at my heart six months at least in vain?", "Did not his countryman, Count Corniani,", " Call me the only virtuous wife in Spain?", "Were there not also Russians, English, many?", " The Count Strongstroganoff I put in pain,", "And Lord Mount Coffeehouse, the Irish peer,", "Who killed himself for love (with wine) last year.", "", "\"Have I not had two bishops at my feet?", " The Duke of Ichar, and Don Fernan Nunez;", "And is it thus a faithful wife you treat?", " I wonder in what quarter now the moon is:", "I praise your vast forbearance not to beat", " Me also, since the time so opportune is--", "Oh, valiant man! with sword drawn and cocked trigger,", "Now, tell me, don't you cut a pretty figure?", "", "\"Was it for this you took your sudden journey,", " Under pretence of business indispensable", "With that sublime of rascals your attorney,", " Whom I see standing there, and looking sensible", "Of having played the fool? though both I spurn, he", " Deserves the worst, his conduct's less defensible,", "Because, no doubt, 't was for his dirty fee,", "And not from any love to you nor me.", "", "\"If he comes here to take a deposition,", " By all means let the gentleman proceed;", "You've made the apartment in a fit condition:--", " There's pen and ink for you, sir, when you need--", "Let everything be noted with precision,", " I would not you for nothing should be fee'd--", "But, as my maid's undressed, pray turn your spies out.\"", "\"Oh!\" sobbed Antonia, \"I could tear their eyes out.\"", "", "\"There is the closet, there the toilet, there", " The antechamber--search them under, over;", "There is the sofa, there the great arm-chair,", " The chimney--which would really hold a lover.", "I wish to sleep, and beg you will take care", " And make no further noise, till you discover", "The secret cavern of this lurking treasure--", "And when 't is found, let me, too, have that pleasure.", "", "\"And now, Hidalgo! now that you have thrown", " Doubt upon me, confusion over all,", "Pray have the courtesy to make it known", " _Who_ is the man you search for? how d' ye call", "Him? what's his lineage? let him but be shown--", " I hope he's young and handsome--is he tall?", "Tell me--and be assured, that since you stain", "My honour thus, it shall not be in vain.", "", "\"At least, perhaps, he has not sixty years,", " At that age he would be too old for slaughter,", "Or for so young a husband's jealous fears--", " (Antonia! let me have a glass of water.)", "I am ashamed of having shed these tears,", " They are unworthy of my father's daughter;", "My mother dreamed not in my natal hour,", "That I should fall into a monster's power.", "", "\"Perhaps 't is of Antonia you are jealous,", " You saw that she was sleeping by my side,", "When you broke in upon us with your fellows:", " Look where you please--we've nothing, sir, to hide;", "Only another time, I trust, you'll tell us,", " Or for the sake of decency abide", "A moment at the door, that we may be", "Dressed to receive so much good company.", "", "\"And now, sir, I have done, and say no more;", " The little I have said may serve to show", "The guileless heart in silence may grieve o'er", " The wrongs to whose exposure it is slow:--", "I leave you to your conscience as before,", " 'T will one day ask you _why_ you used me so?", "God grant you feel not then the bitterest grief!--", "Antonia! where's my pocket-handkerchief?\"", "", "She ceased, and turned upon her pillow; pale", " She lay, her dark eyes flashing through their tears,", "Like skies that rain and lighten; as a veil,", " Waved and o'ershading her wan cheek, appears", "Her streaming hair; the black curls strive, but fail", " To hide the glossy shoulder, which uprears", "Its snow through all;--her soft lips lie apart,", "And louder than her breathing beats her heart.", "", "The Senhor Don Alfonso stood confused;", " Antonia bustled round the ransacked room,", "And, turning up her nose, with looks abused", " Her master, and his myrmidons, of whom", "Not one, except the attorney, was amused;", " He, like Achates, faithful to the tomb,", "So there were quarrels, cared not for the cause,", "Knowing they must be settled by the laws.", "", "With prying snub-nose, and small eyes, he stood,", " Following Antonia's motions here and there,", "With much suspicion in his attitude;", " For reputations he had little care;", "So that a suit or action were made good,", " Small pity had he for the young and fair,", "And ne'er believed in negatives, till these", "Were proved by competent false witnesses.", "", "But Don Alfonso stood with downcast looks,", " And, truth to say, he made a foolish figure;", "When, after searching in five hundred nooks,", " And treating a young wife with so much rigour,", "He gained no point, except some self-rebukes,", " Added to those his lady with such vigour", "Had poured upon him for the last half-hour,", "Quick, thick, and heavy--as a thunder-shower.", "", "At first he tried to hammer an excuse,", " To which the sole reply was tears, and sobs,", "And indications of hysterics, whose", " Prologue is always certain throes, and throbs,", "Gasps, and whatever else the owners choose:", " Alfonso saw his wife, and thought of Job's;", "He saw too, in perspective, her relations,", "And then he tried to muster all his patience.", "", "He stood in act to speak, or rather stammer,", " But sage Antonia cut him short before", "The anvil of his speech received the hammer,", " With \"Pray, sir, leave the room, and say no more,", "Or madam dies.\"--Alfonso muttered, \"D--n her,\"", " But nothing else, the time of words was o'er;", "He cast a rueful look or two, and did,", "He knew not wherefore, that which he was bid.", "", "With him retired his _\"posse comitatus,\"_", " The attorney last, who lingered near the door", "Reluctantly, still tarrying there as late as", " Antonia let him--not a little sore", "At this most strange and unexplained \"_hiatus_\"", " In Don Alfonso's facts, which just now wore", "An awkward look; as he revolved the case,", "The door was fastened in his legal face.", "", "No sooner was it bolted, than--Oh Shame!", " Oh Sin! Oh Sorrow! and Oh Womankind!", "How can you do such things and keep your fame,", " Unless this world, and t' other too, be blind?", "Nothing so dear as an unfilched good name!", " But to proceed--for there is more behind:", "With much heartfelt reluctance be it said,", "Young Juan slipped, half-smothered, from the bed.", "", "He had been hid--I don't pretend to say", " How, nor can I indeed describe the where--", "Young, slender, and packed easily, he lay,", " No doubt, in little compass, round or square;", "But pity him I neither must nor may", " His suffocation by that pretty pair;", "'T were better, sure, to die so, than be shut", "With maudlin Clarence in his Malmsey butt.", "", "And, secondly, I pity not, because", " He had no business to commit a sin,", "Forbid by heavenly, fined by human laws;--", " At least 't was rather early to begin,", "But at sixteen the conscience rarely gnaws", " So much as when we call our old debts in", "At sixty years, and draw the accompts of evil,", "And find a deuced balance with the Devil.", "", "Of his position I can give no notion:", " 'T is written in the Hebrew Chronicle,", "How the physicians, leaving pill and potion,", " Prescribed, by way of blister, a young belle,", "When old King David's blood grew dull in motion,", " And that the medicine answered very well;", "Perhaps 't was in a different way applied,", "For David lived, but Juan nearly died.", "", "What's to be done? Alfonso will be back", " The moment he has sent his fools away.", "Antonia's skill was put upon the rack,", " But no device could be brought into play--", "And how to parry the renewed attack?", " Besides, it wanted but few hours of day:", "Antonia puzzled; Julia did not speak,", "But pressed her bloodless lip to Juan's cheek.", "", "He turned his lip to hers, and with his hand", " Called back the tangles of her wandering hair;", "Even then their love they could not all command,", " And half forgot their danger and despair:", "Antonia's patience now was at a stand--", " \"Come, come, 't is no time now for fooling there,\"", "She whispered, in great wrath--\"I must deposit", "This pretty gentleman within the closet:", "", "\"Pray, keep your nonsense for some luckier night--", " _Who_ can have put my master in this mood?", "What will become on 't--I'm in such a fright,", " The Devil's in the urchin, and no good--", "Is this a time for giggling? this a plight?", " Why, don't you know that it may end in blood?", "You'll lose your life, and I shall lose my place,", "My mistress all, for that half-girlish face.", "", "\"Had it but been for a stout cavalier", " Of twenty-five or thirty--(come, make haste)", "But for a child, what piece of work is here!", " I really, madam, wonder at your taste--", "(Come, sir, get in)--my master must be near:", " There, for the present, at the least, he's fast,", "And if we can but till the morning keep", "Our counsel--(Juan, mind, you must not sleep.)\"", "", "Now, Don Alfonso entering, but alone,", " Closed the oration of the trusty maid:", "She loitered, and he told her to be gone,", " An order somewhat sullenly obeyed;", "However, present remedy was none,", " And no great good seemed answered if she staid:", "Regarding both with slow and sidelong view,", "She snuffed the candle, curtsied, and withdrew.", "", "Alfonso paused a minute--then begun", " Some strange excuses for his late proceeding;", "He would not justify what he had done,", " To say the best, it was extreme ill-breeding;", "But there were ample reasons for it, none", " Of which he specified in this his pleading:", "His speech was a fine sample, on the whole,", "Of rhetoric, which the learned call \"_rigmarole._\"", "", "Julia said nought; though all the while there rose", " A ready answer, which at once enables", "A matron, who her husband's foible knows,", " By a few timely words to turn the tables,", "Which, if it does not silence, still must pose,--", " Even if it should comprise a pack of fables;", "'T is to retort with firmness, and when he", "Suspects with _one_, do you reproach with _three_.", "", "Julia, in fact, had tolerable grounds,--", " Alfonso's loves with Inez were well known;", "But whether 't was that one's own guilt confounds--", " But that can't be, as has been often shown,", "A lady with apologies abounds;--", " It might be that her silence sprang alone", "From delicacy to Don Juan's ear,", "To whom she knew his mother's fame was dear.", "", "There might be one more motive, which makes two;", " Alfonso ne'er to Juan had alluded,--", "Mentioned his jealousy, but never who", " Had been the happy lover, he concluded,", "Concealed amongst his premises; 't is true,", " His mind the more o'er this its mystery brooded;", "To speak of Inez now were, one may say,", "Like throwing Juan in Alfonso's way.", "", "A hint, in tender cases, is enough;", " Silence is best: besides, there is a _tact_--", "(That modern phrase appears to me sad stuff,", " But it will serve to keep my verse compact)--", "Which keeps, when pushed by questions rather rough,", " A lady always distant from the fact:", "The charming creatures lie with such a grace,", "There's nothing so becoming to the face.", "", "They blush, and we believe them; at least I", " Have always done so; 't is of no great use,", "In any case, attempting a reply,", " For then their eloquence grows quite profuse;", "And when at length they're out of breath, they sigh,", " And cast their languid eyes down, and let loose", "A tear or two, and then we make it up;", "And then--and then--and then--sit down and sup.", "", "Alfonso closed his speech, and begged her pardon,", " Which Julia half withheld, and then half granted,", "And laid conditions he thought very hard on,", " Denying several little things he wanted:", "He stood like Adam lingering near his garden,", " With useless penitence perplexed and haunted;", "Beseeching she no further would refuse,", "When, lo! he stumbled o'er a pair of shoes.", "", "A pair of shoes!--what then? not much, if they", " Are such as fit with ladies' feet, but these", "(No one can tell how much I grieve to say)", " Were masculine; to see them, and to seize,", "Was but a moment's act.--Ah! well-a-day!", " My teeth begin to chatter, my veins freeze!", "Alfonso first examined well their fashion,", "And then flew out into another passion.", "", "He left the room for his relinquished sword,", " And Julia instant to the closet flew.", "\"Fly, Juan, fly! for Heaven's sake--not a word--", " The door is open--you may yet slip through", "The passage you so often have explored--", " Here is the garden-key--Fly--fly--Adieu!", "Haste--haste! I hear Alfonso's hurrying feet--", "Day has not broke--there's no one in the street.\"", "", "None can say that this was not good advice,", " The only mischief was, it came too late;", "Of all experience 't is the usual price,", " A sort of income-tax laid on by fate:", "Juan had reached the room-door in a trice,", " And might have done so by the garden-gate,", "But met Alfonso in his dressing-gown,", "Who threatened death--so Juan knocked him down.", "", "Dire was the scuffle, and out went the light;", " Antonia cried out \"Rape!\" and Julia \"Fire!\"", "But not a servant stirred to aid the fight.", " Alfonso, pommelled to his heart's desire,", "Swore lustily he'd be revenged this night;", " And Juan, too, blasphemed an octave higher;", "His blood was up: though young, he was a Tartar,", "And not at all disposed to prove a martyr.", "", "Alfonso's sword had dropped ere he could draw it,", " And they continued battling hand to hand,", "For Juan very luckily ne'er saw it;", " His temper not being under great command,", "If at that moment he had chanced to claw it,", " Alfonso's days had not been in the land", "Much longer.--Think of husbands', lovers' lives!", "And how ye may be doubly widows--wives!", "", "Alfonso grappled to detain the foe,", " And Juan throttled him to get away,", "And blood ('t was from the nose) began to flow;", " At last, as they more faintly wrestling lay,", "Juan contrived to give an awkward blow,", " And then his only garment quite gave way;", "He fled, like Joseph, leaving it; but there,", "I doubt, all likeness ends between the pair.", "", "Lights came at length, and men, and maids, who found", " An awkward spectacle their eyes before;", "Antonia in hysterics, Julia swooned,", " Alfonso leaning, breathless, by the door;", "Some half-torn drapery scattered on the ground,", " Some blood, and several footsteps, but no more:", "Juan the gate gained, turned the key about,", "And liking not the inside, locked the out.", "", "Here ends this canto.--Need I sing, or say,", " How Juan, naked, favoured by the night,", "Who favours what she should not, found his way,", " And reached his home in an unseemly plight?", "The pleasant scandal which arose next day,", " The nine days' wonder which was brought to light,", "And how Alfonso sued for a divorce,", "Were in the English newspapers, of course.", "", "If you would like to see the whole proceedings,", " The depositions, and the Cause at full,", "The names of all the witnesses, the pleadings", " Of Counsel to nonsuit, or to annul,", "There's more than one edition, and the readings", " Are various, but they none of them are dull:", "The best is that in short-hand ta'en by Gurney,", "Who to Madrid on purpose made a journey.", "", "But Donna Inez, to divert the train", " Of one of the most circulating scandals", "That had for centuries been known in Spain,", " At least since the retirement of the Vandals,", "First vowed (and never had she vowed in vain)", " To Virgin Mary several pounds of candles;", "And then, by the advice of some old ladies,", "She sent her son to be shipped off from Cadiz.", "", "She had resolved that he should travel through", " All European climes, by land or sea,", "To mend his former morals, and get new,", " Especially in France and Italy--", "(At least this is the thing most people do.)", " Julia was sent into a convent--she", "Grieved--but, perhaps, her feelings may be better", "Shown in the following copy of her Letter:--", "", "\"They tell me 't is decided you depart:", " 'T is wise--'t is well, but not the less a pain;", "I have no further claim on your young heart,", " Mine is the victim, and would be again:", "To love too much has been the only art", " I used;--I write in haste, and if a stain", "Be on this sheet, 't is not what it appears;", "My eyeballs burn and throb, but have no tears.", "", "\"I loved, I love you, for this love have lost", " State, station, Heaven, Mankind's, my own esteem,", "And yet can not regret what it hath cost,", " So dear is still the memory of that dream;", "Yet, if I name my guilt, 't is not to boast,", " None can deem harshlier of me than I deem:", "I trace this scrawl because I cannot rest--", "I've nothing to reproach, or to request.", "", "\"Man's love is of man's life a thing apart,", " 'T is a Woman's whole existence; Man may range", "The Court, Camp, Church, the Vessel, and the Mart;", " Sword, Gown, Gain, Glory, offer in exchange", "Pride, Fame, Ambition, to fill up his heart,", " And few there are whom these can not estrange;", "Men have all these resources, We but one,", "To love again, and be again undone.\"", "", "\"You will proceed in pleasure, and in pride,", " Beloved and loving many; all is o'er", "For me on earth, except some years to hide", " My shame and sorrow deep in my heart's core:", "These I could bear, but cannot cast aside", " The passion which still rages as before,--", "And so farewell--forgive me, love me--No,", "That word is idle now--but let it go.", "", "\"My breast has been all weakness, is so yet;", " But still I think I can collect my mind;", "My blood still rushes where my spirit's set,", " As roll the waves before the settled wind;", "My heart is feminine, nor can forget--", " To all, except one image, madly blind;", "So shakes the needle, and so stands the pole,", "As vibrates my fond heart to my fixed soul.", "", "\"I have no more to say, but linger still,", " And dare not set my seal upon this sheet,", "And yet I may as well the task fulfil,", " My misery can scarce be more complete;", "I had not lived till now, could sorrow kill;", " Death shuns the wretch who fain the blow would meet,", "And I must even survive this last adieu,", "And bear with life, to love and pray for you!\"", "", "This note was written upon gilt-edged paper", " With a neat little crow-quill, slight and new;", "Her small white hand could hardly reach the taper,", " It trembled as magnetic needles do,", "And yet she did not let one tear escape her;", " The seal a sun-flower; _\"Elle vous suit partout,\"_", "The motto cut upon a white cornelian;", "The wax was superfine, its hue vermilion.", "", "This was Don Juan's earliest scrape; but whether", " I shall proceed with his adventures is", "Dependent on the public altogether;", " We'll see, however, what they say to this:", "Their favour in an author's cap's a feather,", " And no great mischief's done by their caprice;", "And if their approbation we experience,", "Perhaps they'll have some more about a year hence.", "", "My poem's epic, and is meant to be", " Divided in twelve books; each book containing,", "With Love, and War, a heavy gale at sea,", " A list of ships, and captains, and kings reigning,", "New characters; the episodes are three:", " A panoramic view of Hell's in training,", "After the style of Virgil and of Homer,", "So that my name of Epic's no misnomer.", "", "All these things will be specified in time,", " With strict regard to Aristotle's rules,", "The _Vade Mecum_ of the true sublime,", " Which makes so many poets, and some fools:", "Prose poets like blank-verse, I'm fond of rhyme,", " Good workmen never quarrel with their tools;", "I've got new mythological machinery,", "And very handsome supernatural scenery.", "", "There's only one slight difference between", " Me and my epic brethren gone before,", "And here the advantage is my own, I ween", " (Not that I have not several merits more,", "But this will more peculiarly be seen);", " They so embellish, that 't is quite a bore", "Their labyrinth of fables to thread through,", "Whereas this story's actually true.", "", "If any person doubt it, I appeal", " To History, Tradition, and to Facts,", "To newspapers, whose truth all know and feel,", " To plays in five, and operas in three acts;", "All these confirm my statement a good deal,", " But that which more completely faith exacts", "Is, that myself, and several now in Seville,", "_Saw_ Juan's last elopement with the Devil.", "", "If ever I should condescend to prose,", " I'll write poetical commandments, which", "Shall supersede beyond all doubt all those", " That went before; in these I shall enrich", "My text with many things that no one knows,", " And carry precept to the highest pitch:", "I'll call the work \"Longinus o'er a Bottle,", "Or, Every Poet his _own_ Aristotle.\"", "", "Thou shalt believe in Milton, Dryden, Pope;", " Thou shalt not set up Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey;", "Because the first is crazed beyond all hope,", " The second drunk, the third so quaint and mouthy:", "With Crabbe it may be difficult to cope,", " And Campbell's Hippocrene is somewhat drouthy:", "Thou shalt not steal from Samuel Rogers, nor", "Commit--flirtation with the muse of Moore.", "", "Thou shalt not covet Mr. Sotheby's Muse,", " His Pegasus, nor anything that's his;", "Thou shalt not bear false witness like \"the Blues\"--", " (There's _one_, at least, is very fond of this);", "Thou shalt not write, in short, but what I choose:", " This is true criticism, and you may kiss--", "Exactly as you please, or not,--the rod;", "But if you don't, I'll lay it on, by G--d!", "", "If any person should presume to assert", " This story is not moral, first, I pray,", "That they will not cry out before they're hurt,", " Then that they'll read it o'er again, and say", "(But, doubtless, nobody will be so pert)", " That this is not a moral tale, though gay:", "Besides, in Canto Twelfth, I mean to show", "The very place where wicked people go.", "", "If, after all, there should be some so blind", " To their own good this warning to despise,", "Led by some tortuosity of mind,", " Not to believe my verse and their own eyes,", "And cry that they \"the moral cannot find,\"", " I tell him, if a clergyman, he lies;", "Should captains the remark, or critics, make,", "They also lie too--under a mistake.", "", "The public approbation I expect,", " And beg they'll take my word about the moral,", "Which I with their amusement will connect", " (So children cutting teeth receive a coral);", "Meantime they'll doubtless please to recollect", " My epical pretensions to the laurel:", "For fear some prudish readers should grow skittish,", "I've bribed my Grandmother's Review--the British.", "", "I sent it in a letter to the Editor,", " Who thanked me duly by return of post--", "I'm for a handsome article his creditor;", " Yet, if my gentle Muse he please to roast,", "And break a promise after having made it her,", " Denying the receipt of what it cost,", "And smear his page with gall instead of honey,", "All I can say is--that he had the money.", "", "I think that with this holy _new_ alliance", " I may ensure the public, and defy", "All other magazines of art or science,", " Daily, or monthly, or three monthly; I", "Have not essayed to multiply their clients,", " Because they tell me 't were in vain to try,", "And that the Edinburgh Review and Quarterly", "Treat a dissenting author very martyrly.", "", "\"_Non ego hoc ferrem calidus juventâ", " Consule Planco_\" Horace said, and so", "Say I; by which quotation there is meant a", " Hint that some six or seven good years ago", "(Long ere I dreamt of dating from the Brenta)", " I was most ready to return a blow,", "And would not brook at all this sort of thing", "In my hot youth--when George the Third was King.", "", "But now at thirty years my hair is grey--", " (I wonder what it will be like at forty?", "I thought of a peruke the other day--)", " My heart is not much greener; and, in short, I", "Have squandered my whole summer while 't was May,", " And feel no more the spirit to retort; I", "Have spent my life, both interest and principal,", "And deem not, what I deemed--my soul invincible.", "", "No more--no more--Oh! never more on me", " The freshness of the heart can fall like dew,", "Which out of all the lovely things we see", " Extracts emotions beautiful and new,", "Hived in our bosoms like the bag o' the bee.", " Think'st thou the honey with those objects grew?", "Alas! 't was not in them, but in thy power", "To double even the sweetness of a flower.", "", "No more--no more--Oh! never more, my heart,", " Canst thou be my sole world, my universe!", "Once all in all, but now a thing apart,", " Thou canst not be my blessing or my curse:", "The illusion's gone for ever, and thou art", " Insensible, I trust, but none the worse,", "And in thy stead I've got a deal of judgment,", "Though Heaven knows how it ever found a lodgment.", "", "My days of love are over; me no more", " The charms of maid, wife, and still less of widow,", "Can make the fool of which they made before,--", " In short, I must not lead the life I did do;", "The credulous hope of mutual minds is o'er,", " The copious use of claret is forbid too,", "So for a good old-gentlemanly vice,", "I think I must take up with avarice.", "", "Ambition was my idol, which was broken", " Before the shrines of Sorrow, and of Pleasure;", "And the two last have left me many a token", " O'er which reflection may be made at leisure:", "Now, like Friar Bacon's Brazen Head, I've spoken,", " \"Time is, Time was, Time's past:\"--a chymic treasure", "Is glittering Youth, which I have spent betimes--", "My heart in passion, and my head on rhymes.", "", "What is the end of Fame? 't is but to fill", " A certain portion of uncertain paper:", "Some liken it to climbing up a hill,", " Whose summit, like all hills, is lost in vapour;", "For this men write, speak, preach, and heroes kill,", " And bards burn what they call their \"midnight taper,\"", "To have, when the original is dust,", "A name, a wretched picture and worse bust.", "", "What are the hopes of man? Old Egypt's King", " Cheops erected the first Pyramid", "And largest, thinking it was just the thing", " To keep his memory whole, and mummy hid;", "But somebody or other rummaging,", " Burglariously broke his coffin's lid:", "Let not a monument give you or me hopes,", "Since not a pinch of dust remains of Cheops.", "", "But I, being fond of true philosophy,", " Say very often to myself, \"Alas!", "All things that have been born were born to die,", " And flesh (which Death mows down to hay) is grass;", "You've passed your youth not so unpleasantly,", " And if you had it o'er again--'t would pass--", "So thank your stars that matters are no worse,", "And read your Bible, sir, and mind your purse.\"", "", "But for the present, gentle reader! and", " Still gentler purchaser! the Bard--that's I--", "Must, with permission, shake you by the hand,", " And so--\"your humble servant, and Good-bye!\"", "We meet again, if we should understand", " Each other; and if not, I shall not try", "Your patience further than by this short sample--", "'T were well if others followed my example.", "", "\"Go, little Book, from this my solitude!", " I cast thee on the waters--go thy ways!", "And if, as I believe, thy vein be good,", " The World will find thee after many days.\"", "When Southey's read, and Wordsworth understood,", " I can't help putting in my claim to praise--", "The four first rhymes are Southey's every line:", "For God's sake, reader! take them not for mine.", "", "CANTO THE SECOND.", "", "OH ye! who teach the ingenuous youth of nations,", " Holland, France, England, Germany, or Spain,", "I pray ye flog them upon all occasions--", " It mends their morals, never mind the pain:", "The best of mothers and of educations", " In Juan's case were but employed in vain,", "Since, in a way that's rather of the oddest, he", "Became divested of his native modesty.", "", "Had he but been placed at a public school,", " In the third form, or even in the fourth,", "His daily task had kept his fancy cool,", " At least, had he been nurtured in the North;", "Spain may prove an exception to the rule,", " But then exceptions always prove its worth--", "A lad of sixteen causing a divorce", "Puzzled his tutors very much, of course.", "", "I can't say that it puzzles me at all,", " If all things be considered: first, there was", "His lady-mother, mathematical,", " A----never mind;--his tutor, an old ass;", "A pretty woman--(that's quite natural,", " Or else the thing had hardly come to pass)", "A husband rather old, not much in unity", "With his young wife--a time, and opportunity.", "", "Well--well; the World must turn upon its axis,", " And all Mankind turn with it, heads or tails,", "And live and die, make love and pay our taxes,", " And as the veering wind shifts, shift our sails;", "The King commands us, and the Doctor quacks us,", " The Priest instructs, and so our life exhales,", "A little breath, love, wine, ambition, fame,", "Fighting, devotion, dust,--perhaps a name.", "", "I said that Juan had been sent to Cadiz--", " A pretty town, I recollect it well--", "'T is there the mart of the colonial trade is,", " (Or was, before Peru learned to rebel),", "And such sweet girls!--I mean, such graceful ladies,", " Their very walk would make your bosom swell;", "I can't describe it, though so much it strike,", "Nor liken it--I never saw the like:", "", "An Arab horse, a stately stag, a barb", " New broke, a camelopard, a gazelle,", "No--none of these will do;--and then their garb,", " Their veil and petticoat--Alas! to dwell", "Upon such things would very near absorb", " A canto--then their feet and ankles,--well,", "Thank Heaven I've got no metaphor quite ready,", "(And so, my sober Muse--come, let's be steady--", "", "Chaste Muse!--well,--if you must, you must)--the veil", " Thrown back a moment with the glancing hand,", "While the o'erpowering eye, that turns you pale,", " Flashes into the heart:--All sunny land", "Of Love! when I forget you, may I fail", " To----say my prayers--but never was there planned", "A dress through which the eyes give such a volley,", "Excepting the Venetian Fazzioli.", "", "But to our tale: the Donna Inez sent", " Her son to Cadiz only to embark;", "To stay there had not answered her intent,", " But why?--we leave the reader in the dark--", "'T was for a voyage the young man was meant,", " As if a Spanish ship were Noah's ark,", "To wean him from the wickedness of earth,", "And send him like a Dove of Promise forth.", "", "Don Juan bade his valet pack his things", " According to direction, then received", "A lecture and some money: for four springs", " He was to travel; and though Inez grieved", "(As every kind of parting has its stings),", " She hoped he would improve--perhaps believed:", "A letter, too, she gave (he never read it)", "Of good advice--and two or three of credit.", "", "In the mean time, to pass her hours away,", " Brave Inez now set up a Sunday school", "For naughty children, who would rather play", " (Like truant rogues) the devil, or the fool;", "Infants of three years old were taught that day,", " Dunces were whipped, or set upon a stool:", "The great success of Juan's education", "Spurred her to teach another generation.", "", "Juan embarked--the ship got under way,", " The wind was fair, the water passing rough;", "A devil of a sea rolls in that bay,", " As I, who've crossed it oft, know well enough;", "And, standing on the deck, the dashing spray", " Flies in one's face, and makes it weather-tough:", "And there he stood to take, and take again,", "His first--perhaps his last--farewell of Spain.", "", "I can't but say it is an awkward sight", " To see one's native land receding through", "The growing waters; it unmans one quite,", " Especially when life is rather new:", "I recollect Great Britain's coast looks white,", " But almost every other country's blue,", "When gazing on them, mystified by distance,", "We enter on our nautical existence.", "", "So Juan stood, bewildered on the deck:", " The wind sung, cordage strained, and sailors swore,", "And the ship creaked, the town became a speck,", " From which away so fair and fast they bore.", "The best of remedies is a beef-steak", " Against sea-sickness: try it, Sir, before", "You sneer, and I assure you this is true,", "For I have found it answer--so may you.", "", "Don Juan stood, and, gazing from the stern,", " Beheld his native Spain receding far:", "First partings form a lesson hard to learn,", " Even nations feel this when they go to war;", "There is a sort of unexpressed concern,", " A kind of shock that sets one's heart ajar,", "At leaving even the most unpleasant people", "And places--one keeps looking at the steeple.", "", "But Juan had got many things to leave,", " His mother, and a mistress, and no wife,", "So that he had much better cause to grieve", " Than many persons more advanced in life:", "And if we now and then a sigh must heave", " At quitting even those we quit in strife,", "No doubt we weep for those the heart endears--", "That is, till deeper griefs congeal our tears.", "", "So Juan wept, as wept the captive Jews", " By Babel's waters, still remembering Sion:", "I'd weep,--but mine is not a weeping Muse,", " And such light griefs are not a thing to die on;", "Young men should travel, if but to amuse", " Themselves; and the next time their servants tie on", "Behind their carriages their new portmanteau,", "Perhaps it may be lined with this my canto.", "", "And Juan wept, and much he sighed and thought,", " While his salt tears dropped into the salt sea,", "\"Sweets to the sweet;\" (I like so much to quote;", " You must excuse this extract,--'t is where she,", "The Queen of Denmark, for Ophelia brought", " Flowers to the grave;) and, sobbing often, he", "Reflected on his present situation,", "And seriously resolved on reformation.", "", "\"Farewell, my Spain! a long farewell!\" he cried,", " \"Perhaps I may revisit thee no more,", "But die, as many an exiled heart hath died,", " Of its own thirst to see again thy shore:", "Farewell, where Guadalquivir's waters glide!", " Farewell, my mother! and, since all is o'er,", "Farewell, too, dearest Julia!--(here he drew", "Her letter out again, and read it through.)", "", "\"And oh! if e'er I should forget, I swear--", " But that's impossible, and cannot be--", "Sooner shall this blue Ocean melt to air,", " Sooner shall Earth resolve itself to sea,", "Than I resign thine image, oh, my fair!", " Or think of anything, excepting thee;", "A mind diseased no remedy can physic--", "(Here the ship gave a lurch, and he grew sea-sick.)", "", "\"Sooner shall Heaven kiss earth--(here he fell sicker)", " Oh, Julia! what is every other woe?--", "(For God's sake let me have a glass of liquor;", " Pedro, Battista, help me down below.)", "Julia, my love!--(you rascal, Pedro, quicker)--", " Oh, Julia!--(this curst vessel pitches so)--", "Belovéd Julia, hear me still beseeching!\"", "(Here he grew inarticulate with retching.)", "", "He felt that chilling heaviness of heart,", " Or rather stomach, which, alas! attends,", "Beyond the best apothecary's art,", " The loss of Love, the treachery of friends,", "Or death of those we dote on, when a part", " Of us dies with them as each fond hope ends:", "No doubt he would have been much more pathetic,", "But the sea acted as a strong emetic.", "", "Love's a capricious power: I've known it hold", " Out through a fever caused by its own heat,", "But be much puzzled by a cough and cold,", " And find a quinsy very hard to treat;", "Against all noble maladies he's bold,", " But vulgar illnesses don't like to meet,", "Nor that a sneeze should interrupt his sigh,", "Nor inflammations redden his blind eye.", "", "But worst of all is nausea, or a pain", " About the lower region of the bowels;", "Love, who heroically breathes a vein,", " Shrinks from the application of hot towels,", "And purgatives are dangerous to his reign,", " Sea-sickness death: his love was perfect, how else", "Could Juan's passion, while the billows roar,", "Resist his stomach, ne'er at sea before?", "", "The ship, called the most holy \"Trinidada,\"", " Was steering duly for the port Leghorn;", "For there the Spanish family Moncada", " Were settled long ere Juan's sire was born:", "They were relations, and for them he had a", " Letter of introduction, which the morn", "Of his departure had been sent him by", "His Spanish friends for those in Italy.", "", "His suite consisted of three servants and", " A tutor, the licentiate Pedrillo,", "Who several languages did understand,", " But now lay sick and speechless on his pillow", "And, rocking in his hammock, longed for land,", " His headache being increased by every billow;", "And the waves oozing through the port-hole made", "His berth a little damp, and him afraid.", "", "'T was not without some reason, for the wind", " Increased at night, until it blew a gale;", "And though 't was not much to a naval mind,", " Some landsmen would have looked a little pale,", "For sailors are, in fact, a different kind:", " At sunset they began to take in sail,", "For the sky showed it would come on to blow,", "And carry away, perhaps, a mast or so.", "", "At one o'clock the wind with sudden shift", " Threw the ship right into the trough of the sea,", "Which struck her aft, and made an awkward rift,", " Started the stern-post, also shattered the", "Whole of her stern-frame, and, ere she could lift", " Herself from out her present jeopardy,", "The rudder tore away: 't was time to sound", "The pumps, and there were four feet water found.", "", "One gang of people instantly was put", " Upon the pumps, and the remainder set", "To get up part of the cargo, and what not;", " But they could not come at the leak as yet;", "At last they did get at it really, but", " Still their salvation was an even bet:", "The water rushed through in a way quite puzzling,", "While they thrust sheets, shirts, jackets, bales of muslin,", "", "Into the opening; but all such ingredients", " Would have been vain, and they must have gone down,", "Despite of all their efforts and expedients,", " But for the pumps: I'm glad to make them known", "To all the brother tars who may have need hence,", " For fifty tons of water were upthrown", "By them per hour, and they had all been undone,", "But for the maker, Mr. Mann, of London.", "", "As day advanced the weather seemed to abate,", " And then the leak they reckoned to reduce,", "And keep the ship afloat, though three feet yet", " Kept two hand--and one chain-pump still in use.", "The wind blew fresh again: as it grew late", " A squall came on, and while some guns broke loose,", "A gust--which all descriptive power transcends--", "Laid with one blast the ship on her beam ends.", "", "There she lay, motionless, and seemed upset;", " The water left the hold, and washed the decks,", "And made a scene men do not soon forget;", " For they remember battles, fires, and wrecks,", "Or any other thing that brings regret", " Or breaks their hopes, or hearts, or heads, or necks:", "Thus drownings are much talked of by the divers,", "And swimmers, who may chance to be survivors.", "", "Immediately the masts were cut away,", " Both main and mizen; first the mizen went,", "The main-mast followed: but the ship still lay", " Like a mere log, and baffled our intent.", "Foremast and bowsprit were cut down, and they", " Eased her at last (although we never meant", "To part with all till every hope was blighted),", "And then with violence the old ship righted.", "", "It may be easily supposed, while this", " Was going on, some people were unquiet,", "That passengers would find it much amiss", " To lose their lives, as well as spoil their diet;", "That even the able seaman, deeming his", " Days nearly o'er, might be disposed to riot,", "As upon such occasions tars will ask", "For grog, and sometimes drink rum from the cask.", "", "There's nought, no doubt, so much the spirit calms", " As rum and true religion: thus it was,", "Some plundered, some drank spirits, some sung psalms,", " The high wind made the treble, and as bass", "The hoarse harsh waves kept time; fright cured the qualms", " Of all the luckless landsmen's sea-sick maws:", "Strange sounds of wailing, blasphemy, devotion,", "Clamoured in chorus to the roaring Ocean.", "", "Perhaps more mischief had been done, but for", " Our Juan, who, with sense beyond his years,", "Got to the spirit-room, and stood before", " It with a pair of pistols; and their fears,", "As if Death were more dreadful by his door", " Of fire than water, spite of oaths and tears,", "Kept still aloof the crew, who, ere they sunk,", "Thought it would be becoming to die drunk.", "", "\"Give us more grog,\" they cried, \"for it will be", " All one an hour hence.\" Juan answered, \"No!", "'T is true that Death awaits both you and me,", " But let us die like men, not sink below", "Like brutes:\"--and thus his dangerous post kept he,", " And none liked to anticipate the blow;", "And even Pedrillo, his most reverend tutor,", "Was for some rum a disappointed suitor.", "", "The good old gentleman was quite aghast,", " And made a loud and pious lamentation;", "Repented all his sins, and made a last", " Irrevocable vow of reformation;", "Nothing should tempt him more (this peril past)", " To quit his academic occupation,", "In cloisters of the classic Salamanca,", "To follow Juan's wake, like Sancho Panca.", "", "But now there came a flash of hope once more;", " Day broke, and the wind lulled: the masts were gone", "The leak increased; shoals round her, but no shore,", " The vessel swam, yet still she held her own.", "They tried the pumps again, and though before", " Their desperate efforts seemed all useless grown,", "A glimpse of sunshine set some hands to bale--", "The stronger pumped, the weaker thrummed a sail.", "", "Under the vessel's keel the sail was passed,", " And for the moment it had some effect;", "But with a leak, and not a stick of mast,", " Nor rag of canvas, what could they expect?", "But still 't is best to struggle to the last,", " 'T is never too late to be wholly wrecked:", "And though 't is true that man can only die once,", "'T is not so pleasant in the Gulf of Lyons.", "", "There winds and waves had hurled them, and from thence,", " Without their will, they carried them away;", "For they were forced with steering to dispense,", " And never had as yet a quiet day", "On which they might repose, or even commence", " A jurymast or rudder, or could say", "The ship would swim an hour, which, by good luck,", "Still swam--though not exactly like a duck.", "", "The wind, in fact, perhaps, was rather less,", " But the ship laboured so, they scarce could hope", "To weather out much longer; the distress", " Was also great with which they had to cope", "For want of water, and their solid mess", " Was scant enough: in vain the telescope", "Was used--nor sail nor shore appeared in sight,", "Nought but the heavy sea, and coming night.", "", "Again the weather threatened,--again blew", " A gale, and in the fore and after hold", "Water appeared; yet, though the people knew", " All this, the most were patient, and some bold,", "Until the chains and leathers were worn through", " Of all our pumps:--a wreck complete she rolled,", "At mercy of the waves, whose mercies are", "Like human beings during civil war.", "", "Then came the carpenter, at last, with tears", " In his rough eyes, and told the captain, he", "Could do no more: he was a man in years,", " And long had voyaged through many a stormy sea,", "And if he wept at length they were not fears", " That made his eyelids as a woman's be,", "But he, poor fellow, had a wife and children,--", "Two things for dying people quite bewildering.", "", "The ship was evidently settling now", " Fast by the head; and, all distinction gone,", "Some went to prayers again, and made a vow", " Of candles to their saints--but there were none", "To pay them with; and some looked o'er the bow;", " Some hoisted out the boats; and there was one", "That begged Pedrillo for an absolution,", "Who told him to be damned--in his confusion.", "", "Some lashed them in their hammocks; some put on", " Their best clothes, as if going to a fair;", "Some cursed the day on which they saw the Sun,", " And gnashed their teeth, and, howling, tore their hair;", "And others went on as they had begun,", " Getting the boats out, being well aware", "That a tight boat will live in a rough sea,", "Unless with breakers close beneath her lee.", "", "The worst of all was, that in their condition,", " Having been several days in great distress,", "'T was difficult to get out such provision", " As now might render their long suffering less:", "Men, even when dying, dislike inanition;", " Their stock was damaged by the weather's stress:", "Two casks of biscuit, and a keg of butter,", "Were all that could be thrown into the cutter.", "", "But in the long-boat they contrived to stow", " Some pounds of bread, though injured by the wet;", "Water, a twenty-gallon cask or so;", " Six flasks of wine; and they contrived to get", "A portion of their beef up from below,", " And with a piece of pork, moreover, met,", "But scarce enough to serve them for a luncheon--", "Then there was rum, eight gallons in a puncheon.", "", "The other boats, the yawl and pinnace, had", " Been stove in the beginning of the gale;", "And the long-boat's condition was but bad,", " As there were but two blankets for a sail,", "And one oar for a mast, which a young lad", " Threw in by good luck over the ship's rail;", "And two boats could not hold, far less be stored,", "To save one half the people then on board.", "", "'T was twilight, and the sunless day went down", " Over the waste of waters; like a veil,", "Which, if withdrawn, would but disclose the frown", " Of one whose hate is masked but to assail.", "Thus to their hopeless eyes the night was shown,", " And grimly darkled o'er the faces pale,", "And the dim desolate deep: twelve days had Fear", "Been their familiar, and now Death was here.", "", "Some trial had been making at a raft,", " With little hope in such a rolling sea,", "A sort of thing at which one would have laughed,", " If any laughter at such times could be,", "Unless with people who too much have quaffed,", " And have a kind of wild and horrid glee,", "Half epileptical, and half hysterical:--", "Their preservation would have been a miracle.", "", "At half-past eight o'clock, booms, hencoops, spars,", " And all things, for a chance, had been cast loose,", "That still could keep afloat the struggling tars,", " For yet they strove, although of no great use:", "There was no light in heaven but a few stars,", " The boats put off o'ercrowded with their crews;", "She gave a heel, and then a lurch to port,", "And, going down head foremost--sunk, in short.", "", "Then rose from sea to sky the wild farewell--", " Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave,--", "Then some leaped overboard with dreadful yell,", " As eager to anticipate their grave;", "And the sea yawned around her like a hell,", " And down she sucked with her the whirling wave,", "Like one who grapples with his enemy,", "And strives to strangle him before he die.", "", "And first one universal shriek there rushed,", " Louder than the loud Ocean, like a crash", "Of echoing thunder; and then all was hushed,", " Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash", "Of billows; but at intervals there gushed,", " Accompanied by a convulsive splash,", "A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry", "Of some strong swimmer in his agony.", "", "The boats, as stated, had got off before,", " And in them crowded several of the crew;", "And yet their present hope was hardly more", " Than what it had been, for so strong it blew", "There was slight chance of reaching any shore;", " And then they were too many, though so few--", "Nine in the cutter, thirty in the boat,", "Were counted in them when they got afloat.", "", "All the rest perished; near two hundred souls", " Had left their bodies; and what's worse, alas!", "When over Catholics the Ocean rolls,", " They must wait several weeks before a mass", "Takes off one peck of purgatorial coals,", " Because, till people know what's come to pass,", "They won't lay out their money on the dead--", "It costs three francs for every mass that's said.", "", "Juan got into the long-boat, and there", " Contrived to help Pedrillo to a place;", "It seemed as if they had exchanged their care,", " For Juan wore the magisterial face", "Which courage gives, while poor Pedrillo's pair", " Of eyes were crying for their owner's case:", "Battista, though, (a name called shortly Tita),", "Was lost by getting at some aqua-vita.", "", "Pedro, his valet, too, he tried to save,", " But the same cause, conducive to his loss,", "Left him so drunk, he jumped into the wave,", " As o'er the cutter's edge he tried to cross,", "And so he found a wine-and-watery grave;", " They could not rescue him although so close,", "Because the sea ran higher every minute,", "And for the boat--the crew kept crowding in it.", "", "A small old spaniel,--which had been Don José's,", " His father's, whom he loved, as ye may think,", "For on such things the memory reposes", " With tenderness--stood howling on the brink,", "Knowing, (dogs have such intellectual noses!)", " No doubt, the vessel was about to sink;", "And Juan caught him up, and ere he stepped", "Off threw him in, then after him he leaped.", "", "He also stuffed his money where he could", " About his person, and Pedrillo's too,", "Who let him do, in fact, whate'er he would,", " Not knowing what himself to say, or do,", "As every rising wave his dread renewed;", " But Juan, trusting they might still get through,", "And deeming there were remedies for any ill,", "Thus re-embarked his tutor and his spaniel.", "", "'T was a rough night, and blew so stiffly yet,", " That the sail was becalmed between the seas,", "Though on the wave's high top too much to set,", " They dared not take it in for all the breeze:", "Each sea curled o'er the stern, and kept them wet,", " And made them bale without a moment's ease,", "So that themselves as well as hopes were damped,", "And the poor little cutter quickly swamped.", "", "Nine souls more went in her: the long-boat still", " Kept above water, with an oar for mast,", "Two blankets stitched together, answering ill", " Instead of sail, were to the oar made fast;", "Though every wave rolled menacing to fill,", " And present peril all before surpassed,", "They grieved for those who perished with the cutter,", "And also for the biscuit-casks and butter.", "", "The sun rose red and fiery, a sure sign", " Of the continuance of the gale: to run", "Before the sea until it should grow fine,", " Was all that for the present could be done:", "A few tea-spoonfuls of their rum and wine", " Were served out to the people, who begun", "To faint, and damaged bread wet through the bags,", "And most of them had little clothes but rags.", "", "They counted thirty, crowded in a space", " Which left scarce room for motion or exertion;", "They did their best to modify their case,", " One half sate up, though numbed with the immersion,", "While t' other half were laid down in their place,", " At watch and watch; thus, shivering like the tertian", "Ague in its cold fit, they filled their boat,", "With nothing but the sky for a great coat.", "", "'T is very certain the desire of life", " Prolongs it: this is obvious to physicians,", "When patients, neither plagued with friends nor wife,", " Survive through very desperate conditions,", "Because they still can hope, nor shines the knife", " Nor shears of Atropos before their visions:", "Despair of all recovery spoils longevity,", "And makes men's misery of alarming brevity.", "", "'T is said that persons living on annuities", " Are longer lived than others,--God knows why,", "Unless to plague the grantors,--yet so true it is,", " That some, I really think, _do_ never die:", "Of any creditors the worst a Jew it is,", " And _that's_ their mode of furnishing supply:", "In my young days they lent me cash that way,", "Which I found very troublesome to pay.", "", "'T is thus with people in an open boat,", " They live upon the love of Life, and bear", "More than can be believed, or even thought,", " And stand like rocks the tempest's wear and tear;", "And hardship still has been the sailor's lot,", " Since Noah's ark went cruising here and there;", "She had a curious crew as well as cargo,", "Like the first old Greek privateer, the Argo.", "", "But man is a carnivorous production,", " And must have meals, at least one meal a day;", "He cannot live, like woodcocks, upon suction,", " But, like the shark and tiger, must have prey;", "Although his anatomical construction", " Bears vegetables, in a grumbling way,", "Your labouring people think, beyond all question,", "Beef, veal, and mutton, better for digestion.", "", "And thus it was with this our hapless crew;", " For on the third day there came on a calm,", "And though at first their strength it might renew,", " And lying on their weariness like balm,", "Lulled them like turtles sleeping on the blue", " Of Ocean, when they woke they felt a qualm,", "And fell all ravenously on their provision,", "Instead of hoarding it with due precision.", "", "The consequence was easily foreseen--", " They ate up all they had, and drank their wine,", "In spite of all remonstrances, and then", " On what, in fact, next day were they to dine?", "They hoped the wind would rise, these foolish men!", " And carry them to shore; these hopes were fine,", "But as they had but one oar, and that brittle,", "It would have been more wise to save their victual.", "", "The fourth day came, but not a breath of air,", " And Ocean slumbered like an unweaned child:", "The fifth day, and their boat lay floating there,", " The sea and sky were blue, and clear, and mild--", "With their one oar (I wish they had had a pair)", " What could they do? and Hunger's rage grew wild:", "So Juan's spaniel, spite of his entreating,", "Was killed, and portioned out for present eating.", "", "On the sixth day they fed upon his hide,", " And Juan, who had still refused, because", "The creature was his father's dog that died,", " Now feeling all the vulture in his jaws,", "With some remorse received (though first denied)", " As a great favour one of the fore-paws,", "Which he divided with Pedrillo, who", "Devoured it, longing for the other too.", "", "The seventh day, and no wind--the burning sun", " Blistered and scorched, and, stagnant on the sea,", "They lay like carcasses; and hope was none,", " Save in the breeze that came not: savagely", "They glared upon each other--all was done,", " Water, and wine, and food,--and you might see", "The longings of the cannibal arise", "(Although they spoke not) in their wolfish eyes.", "", "At length one whispered his companion, who", " Whispered another, and thus it went round,", "And then into a hoarser murmur grew,", " An ominous, and wild, and desperate sound;", "And when his comrade's thought each sufferer knew,", " 'T was but his own, suppressed till now, he found:", "And out they spoke of lots for flesh and blood,", "And who should die to be his fellow's food.", "", "But ere they came to this, they that day shared", " Some leathern caps, and what remained of shoes;", "And then they looked around them, and despaired,", " And none to be the sacrifice would choose;", "At length the lots were torn up, and prepared,", " But of materials that must shock the Muse--", "Having no paper, for the want of better,", "They took by force from Juan Julia's letter.", "", "The lots were made, and marked, and mixed, and handed,", " In silent horror, and their distribution", "Lulled even the savage hunger which demanded,", " Like the Promethean vulture, this pollution;", "None in particular had sought or planned it,", " 'T was Nature gnawed them to this resolution,", "By which none were permitted to be neuter--", "And the lot fell on Juan's luckless tutor.", "", "He but requested to be bled to death:", " The surgeon had his instruments, and bled", "Pedrillo, and so gently ebbed his breath,", " You hardly could perceive when he was dead.", "He died as born, a Catholic in faith,", " Like most in the belief in which they're bred,", "And first a little crucifix he kissed,", "And then held out his jugular and wrist.", "", "The surgeon, as there was no other fee,", " Had his first choice of morsels for his pains;", "But being thirstiest at the moment, he", " Preferred a draught from the fast-flowing veins:", "Part was divided, part thrown in the sea,", " And such things as the entrails and the brains", "Regaled two sharks, who followed o'er the billow--", "The sailors ate the rest of poor Pedrillo.", "", "The sailors ate him, all save three or four,", " Who were not quite so fond of animal food;", "To these was added Juan, who, before", " Refusing his own spaniel, hardly could", "Feel now his appetite increased much more;", " 'T was not to be expected that he should,", "Even in extremity of their disaster,", "Dine with them on his pastor and his master.", "", "'T was better that he did not; for, in fact,", " The consequence was awful in the extreme;", "For they, who were most ravenous in the act,", " Went raging mad--Lord! how they did blaspheme!", "And foam, and roll, with strange convulsions racked,", " Drinking salt-water like a mountain-stream,", "Tearing, and grinning, howling, screeching, swearing,", "And, with hyæna-laughter, died despairing.", "", "Their numbers were much thinned by this infliction,", " And all the rest were thin enough, Heaven knows;", "And some of them had lost their recollection,", " Happier than they who still perceived their woes;", "But others pondered on a new dissection,", " As if not warned sufficiently by those", "Who had already perished, suffering madly,", "For having used their appetites so sadly.", "", "And next they thought upon the master's mate,", " As fattest; but he saved himself, because,", "Besides being much averse from such a fate,", " There were some other reasons: the first was,", "He had been rather indisposed of late;", " And--that which chiefly proved his saving clause--", "Was a small present made to him at Cadiz,", "By general subscription of the ladies.", "", "Of poor Pedrillo something still remained,", " But was used sparingly,--some were afraid,", "And others still their appetites constrained,", " Or but at times a little supper made;", "All except Juan, who throughout abstained,", " Chewing a piece of bamboo, and some lead:", "At length they caught two Boobies, and a Noddy,", "And then they left off eating the dead body.", "", "And if Pedrillo's fate should shocking be,", " Remember Ugolino condescends", "To eat the head of his arch-enemy", " The moment after he politely ends", "His tale: if foes be food in Hell, at sea", " 'T is surely fair to dine upon our friends,", "When Shipwreck's short allowance grows too scanty,", "Without being much more horrible than Dante.", "", "And the same night there fell a shower of rain,", " For which their mouths gaped, like the cracks of earth", "When dried to summer dust; till taught by pain,", " Men really know not what good water's worth;", "If you had been in Turkey or in Spain,", " Or with a famished boat's-crew had your berth,", "Or in the desert heard the camel's bell,", "You'd wish yourself where Truth is--in a well.", "", "It poured down torrents, but they were no richer", " Until they found a ragged piece of sheet,", "Which served them as a sort of spongy pitcher,", " And when they deemed its moisture was complete,", "They wrung it out, and though a thirsty ditcher", " Might not have thought the scanty draught so sweet", "As a full pot of porter, to their thinking", "They ne'er till now had known the joys of drinking.", "", "And their baked lips, with many a bloody crack,", " Sucked in the moisture, which like nectar streamed;", "Their throats were ovens, their swoln tongues were black,", " As the rich man's in Hell, who vainly screamed", "To beg the beggar, who could not rain back", "A drop of dew, when every drop had seemed", "To taste of Heaven--If this be true, indeed,", "Some Christians have a comfortable creed.", "", "There were two fathers in this ghastly crew,", " And with them their two sons, of whom the one", "Was more robust and hardy to the view,", " But he died early; and when he was gone,", "His nearest messmate told his sire, who threw", " One glance at him, and said, \"Heaven's will be done!", "I can do nothing,\" and he saw him thrown", "Into the deep without a tear or groan.", "", "The other father had a weaklier child,", " Of a soft cheek, and aspect delicate;", "But the boy bore up long, and with a mild", " And patient spirit held aloof his fate;", "Little he said, and now and then he smiled,", " As if to win a part from off the weight", "He saw increasing on his father's heart,", "With the deep deadly thought, that they must part.", "", "And o'er him bent his sire, and never raised", " His eyes from off his face, but wiped the foam", "From his pale lips, and ever on him gazed,", " And when the wished-for shower at length was come,", "And the boy's eyes, which the dull film half glazed,", " Brightened, and for a moment seemed to roam,", "He squeezed from out a rag some drops of rain", "Into his dying child's mouth--but in vain.", "", "The boy expired--the father held the clay,", " And looked upon it long, and when at last", "Death left no doubt, and the dead burthen lay", " Stiff on his heart, and pulse and hope were past,", "He watched it wistfully, until away", " 'T was borne by the rude wave wherein't was cast;", "Then he himself sunk down all dumb and shivering,", "And gave no sign of life, save his limbs quivering.", "", "Now overhead a rainbow, bursting through", " The scattering clouds, shone, spanning the dark sea,", "Resting its bright base on the quivering blue;", " And all within its arch appeared to be", "Clearer than that without, and its wide hue", " Waxed broad and waving, like a banner free,", "Then changed like to a bow that's bent, and then", "Forsook the dim eyes of these shipwrecked men.", "", "It changed, of course; a heavenly Chameleon,", " The airy child of vapour and the sun,", "Brought forth in purple, cradled in vermilion,", " Baptized in molten gold, and swathed in dun,", "Glittering like crescents o'er a Turk's pavilion,", " And blending every colour into one,", "Just like a black eye in a recent scuffle", "(For sometimes we must box without the muffle).", "", "Our shipwrecked seamen thought it a good omen--", " It is as well to think so, now and then;", "'T was an old custom of the Greek and Roman,", " And may become of great advantage when", "Folks are discouraged; and most surely no men", " Had greater need to nerve themselves again", "Than these, and so this rainbow looked like Hope--", "Quite a celestial Kaleidoscope.", "", "About this time a beautiful white bird,", " Webfooted, not unlike a dove in size", "And plumage (probably it might have erred", " Upon its course), passed oft before their eyes,", "And tried to perch, although it saw and heard", " The men within the boat, and in this guise", "It came and went, and fluttered round them till", "Night fell:--this seemed a better omen still.", "", "But in this case I also must remark,", " 'T was well this bird of promise did not perch,", "Because the tackle of our shattered bark", " Was not so safe for roosting as a church;", "And had it been the dove from Noah's ark,", " Returning there from her successful search,", "Which in their way that moment chanced to fall,", "They would have eat her, olive-branch and all.", "", "With twilight it again came on to blow,", " But not with violence; the stars shone out,", "The boat made way; yet now they were so low,", " They knew not where nor what they were about;", "Some fancied they saw land, and some said \"No!\"", " The frequent fog-banks gave them cause to doubt--", "Some swore that they heard breakers, others guns,", "And all mistook about the latter once.", "", "As morning broke, the light wind died away,", " When he who had the watch sung out and swore,", "If 't was not land that rose with the Sun's ray,", " He wished that land he never might see more;", "And the rest rubbed their eyes and saw a bay,", " Or thought they saw, and shaped their course for shore;", "For shore it was, and gradually grew", "Distinct, and high, and palpable to view.", "", "And then of these some part burst into tears,", " And others, looking with a stupid stare,", "Could not yet separate their hopes from fears,", " And seemed as if they had no further care;", "While a few prayed--(the first time for some years)--", " And at the bottom of the boat three were", "Asleep: they shook them by the hand and head,", "And tried to awaken them, but found them dead.", "", "The day before, fast sleeping on the water,", " They found a turtle of the hawk's-bill kind,", "And by good fortune, gliding softly, caught her,", "Which yielded a day's life, and to their mind", "Proved even still a more nutritious matter,", " Because it left encouragement behind:", "They thought that in such perils, more than chance", "Had sent them this for their deliverance.", "", "The land appeared a high and rocky coast,", " And higher grew the mountains as they drew,", "Set by a current, toward it: they were lost", " In various conjectures, for none knew", "To what part of the earth they had been tost,", " So changeable had been the winds that blew;", "Some thought it was Mount Ætna, some the highlands", "Of Candia, Cyprus, Rhodes, or other islands.", "", "Meantime the current, with a rising gale,", " Still set them onwards to the welcome shore,", "Like Charon's bark of spectres, dull and pale:", " Their living freight was now reduced to four,", "And three dead, whom their strength could not avail", " To heave into the deep with those before,", "Though the two sharks still followed them, and dashed", "The spray into their faces as they splashed.", "", "Famine--despair--cold--thirst and heat, had done", " Their work on them by turns, and thinned them to", "Such things a mother had not known her son", " Amidst the skeletons of that gaunt crew;", "By night chilled, by day scorched, thus one by one", " They perished, until withered to these few,", "But chiefly by a species of self-slaughter,", "In washing down Pedrillo with salt water.", "", "As they drew nigh the land, which now was seen", " Unequal in its aspect here and there,", "They felt the freshness of its growing green,", " That waved in forest-tops, and smoothed the air,", "And fell upon their glazed eyes like a screen", " From glistening waves, and skies so hot and bare--", "Lovely seemed any object that should sweep", "Away the vast--salt--dread--eternal Deep.", "", "The shore looked wild, without a trace of man,", " And girt by formidable waves; but they", "Were mad for land, and thus their course they ran,", " Though right ahead the roaring breakers lay:", "A reef between them also now began", " To show its boiling surf and bounding spray,", "But finding no place for their landing better,", "They ran the boat for shore,--and overset her.", "", "But in his native stream, the Guadalquivir,", " Juan to lave his youthful limbs was wont;", "And having learnt to swim in that sweet river,", " Had often turned the art to some account:", "A better swimmer you could scarce see ever,", " He could, perhaps, have passed the Hellespont,", "As once (a feat on which ourselves we prided)", "Leander, Mr. Ekenhead, and I did.", "", "So here, though faint, emaciated, and stark,", " He buoyed his boyish limbs, and strove to ply", "With the quick wave, and gain, ere it was dark,", " The beach which lay before him, high and dry:", "The greatest danger here was from a shark,", " That carried off his neighbour by the thigh;", "As for the other two, they could not swim,", "So nobody arrived on shore but him.", "", "Nor yet had he arrived but for the oar,", " Which, providentially for him, was washed", "Just as his feeble arms could strike no more,", " And the hard wave o'erwhelmed him as 't was dashed", "Within his grasp; he clung to it, and sore", " The waters beat while he thereto was lashed;", "At last, with swimming, wading, scrambling, he", "Rolled on the beach, half-senseless, from the sea:", "", "There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung", " Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave,", "From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung,", " Should suck him back to her insatiate grave:", "And there he lay, full length, where he was flung,", " Before the entrance of a cliff-worn cave,", "With just enough of life to feel its pain,", "And deem that it was saved, perhaps, in vain.", "", "With slow and staggering effort he arose,", " But sunk again upon his bleeding knee", "And quivering hand; and then he looked for those", " Who long had been his mates upon the sea;", "But none of them appeared to share his woes,", " Save one, a corpse, from out the famished three,", "Who died two days before, and now had found", "An unknown barren beach for burial ground.", "", "And as he gazed, his dizzy brain spun fast,", " And down he sunk; and as he sunk, the sand", "Swam round and round, and all his senses passed:", " He fell upon his side, and his stretched hand", "Drooped dripping on the oar (their jury-mast),", " And, like a withered lily, on the land", "His slender frame and pallid aspect lay,", "As fair a thing as e'er was formed of clay.", "", "How long in his damp trance young Juan lay", " He knew not, for the earth was gone for him,", "And Time had nothing more of night nor day", " For his congealing blood, and senses dim;", "And how this heavy faintness passed away", " He knew not, till each painful pulse and limb,", "And tingling vein, seemed throbbing back to life,", "For Death, though vanquished, still retired with strife.", "", "His eyes he opened, shut, again unclosed,", " For all was doubt and dizziness; he thought", "He still was in the boat, and had but dozed,", " And felt again with his despair o'erwrought,", "And wished it Death in which he had reposed,", " And then once more his feelings back were brought,", "And slowly by his swimming eyes was seen", "A lovely female face of seventeen.", "", "'T was bending close o'er his, and the small mouth", " Seemed almost prying into his for breath;", "And chafing him, the soft warm hand of youth", " Recalled his answering spirits back from Death:", "And, bathing his chill temples, tried to soothe", " Each pulse to animation, till beneath", "Its gentle touch and trembling care, a sigh", "To these kind efforts made a low reply.", "", "Then was the cordial poured, and mantle flung", " Around his scarce-clad limbs; and the fair arm", "Raised higher the faint head which o'er it hung;", " And her transparent cheek, all pure and warm,", "Pillowed his death-like forehead; then she wrung", " His dewy curls, long drenched by every storm;", "And watched with eagerness each throb that drew", "A sigh from his heaved bosom--and hers, too.", "", "And lifting him with care into the cave,", " The gentle girl, and her attendant,--one", "Young, yet her elder, and of brow less grave,", " And more robust of figure,--then begun", "To kindle fire, and as the new flames gave", " Light to the rocks that roofed them, which the sun", "Had never seen, the maid, or whatsoe'er", "She was, appeared distinct, and tall, and fair.", "", "Her brow was overhung with coins of gold,", " That sparkled o'er the auburn of her hair--", "Her clustering hair, whose longer locks were rolled", " In braids behind; and though her stature were", "Even of the highest for a female mould,", " They nearly reached her heel; and in her air", "There was a something which bespoke command,", "As one who was a Lady in the land.", "", "Her hair, I said, was auburn; but her eyes", " Were black as Death, their lashes the same hue,", "Of downcast length, in whose silk shadow lies", " Deepest attraction; for when to the view", "Forth from its raven fringe the full glance flies,", " Ne'er with such force the swiftest arrow flew;", "'T is as the snake late coiled, who pours his length,", "And hurls at once his venom and his strength.", "", "Her brow was white and low, her cheek's pure dye", " Like twilight rosy still with the set sun;", "Short upper lip--sweet lips! that make us sigh", " Ever to have seen such; for she was one", "Fit for the model of a statuary", " (A race of mere impostors, when all's done--", "I've seen much finer women, ripe and real,", "Than all the nonsense of their stone ideal).", "", "I'll tell you why I say so, for 't is just", " One should not rail without a decent cause:", "There was an Irish lady, to whose bust", " I ne'er saw justice done, and yet she was", "A frequent model; and if e'er she must", " Yield to stern Time and Nature's wrinkling laws,", "They will destroy a face which mortal thought", "Ne'er compassed, nor less mortal chisel wrought.", "", "And such was she, the lady of the cave:", " Her dress was very different from the Spanish,", "Simpler, and yet of colours not so grave;", " For, as you know, the Spanish women banish", "Bright hues when out of doors, and yet, while wave", " Around them (what I hope will never vanish)", "The basquiña and the mantilla, they", "Seem at the same time mystical and gay.", "", "But with our damsel this was not the case:", " Her dress was many-coloured, finely spun;", "Her locks curled negligently round her face,", " But through them gold and gems profusely shone:", "Her girdle sparkled, and the richest lace", " Flowed in her veil, and many a precious stone", "Flashed on her little hand; but, what was shocking,", "Her small snow feet had slippers, but no stocking.", "", "The other female's dress was not unlike,", " But of inferior materials: she", "Had not so many ornaments to strike,", " Her hair had silver only, bound to be", "Her dowry; and her veil, in form alike,", " Was coarser; and her air, though firm, less free;", "Her hair was thicker, but less long; her eyes", "As black, but quicker, and of smaller size.", "", "And these two tended him, and cheered him both", " With food and raiment, and those soft attentions,", "Which are--as I must own--of female growth,", " And have ten thousand delicate inventions:", "They made a most superior mess of broth,", " A thing which poesy but seldom mentions,", "But the best dish that e'er was cooked since Homer's", "Achilles ordered dinner for new comers.", "", "I'll tell you who they were, this female pair,", " Lest they should seem Princesses in disguise;", "Besides, I hate all mystery, and that air", " Of clap-trap, which your recent poets prize;", "And so, in short, the girls they really were", " They shall appear before your curious eyes,", "Mistress and maid; the first was only daughter", "Of an old man, who lived upon the water.", "", "A fisherman he had been in his youth,", " And still a sort of fisherman was he;", "But other speculations were, in sooth,", " Added to his connection with the sea,", "Perhaps not so respectable, in truth:", " A little smuggling, and some piracy,", "Left him, at last, the sole of many masters", "Of an ill-gotten million of piastres.", "", "A fisher, therefore, was he,--though of men,", " Like Peter the Apostle, and he fished", "For wandering merchant-vessels, now and then,", " And sometimes caught as many as he wished;", "The cargoes he confiscated, and gain", " He sought in the slave-market too, and dished", "Full many a morsel for that Turkish trade,", "By which, no doubt, a good deal may be made.", "", "He was a Greek, and on his isle had built", " (One of the wild and smaller Cyclades)", "A very handsome house from out his guilt,", " And there he lived exceedingly at ease;", "Heaven knows what cash he got, or blood he spilt,", " A sad old fellow was he, if you please;", "But this I know, it was a spacious building,", "Full of barbaric carving, paint, and gilding.", "", "He had an only daughter, called Haidée,", " The greatest heiress of the Eastern Isles;", "Besides, so very beautiful was she,", " Her dowry was as nothing to her smiles:", "Still in her teens, and like a lovely tree", " She grew to womanhood, and between whiles", "Rejected several suitors, just to learn", "How to accept a better in his turn.", "", "And walking out upon the beach, below", " The cliff, towards sunset, on that day she found,", "Insensible,--not dead, but nearly so,--", " Don Juan, almost famished, and half drowned;", "But being naked, she was shocked, you know,", " Yet deemed herself in common pity bound,", "As far as in her lay, \"to take him in,", "A stranger\" dying--with so white a skin.", "", "But taking him into her father's house", " Was not exactly the best way to save,", "But like conveying to the cat the mouse,", " Or people in a trance into their grave;", "Because the good old man had so much \"νους\",", " Unlike the honest Arab thieves so brave,", "He would have hospitably cured the stranger,", "And sold him instantly when out of danger.", "", "And therefore, with her maid, she thought it best", " (A virgin always on her maid relies)", "To place him in the cave for present rest:", " And when, at last, he opened his black eyes,", "Their charity increased about their guest;", " And their compassion grew to such a size,", "It opened half the turnpike-gates to Heaven--", "(St. Paul says, 't is the toll which must be given).", "", "They made a fire,--but such a fire as they", " Upon the moment could contrive with such", "Materials as were cast up round the bay,--", " Some broken planks, and oars, that to the touch", "Were nearly tinder, since, so long they lay,", " A mast was almost crumbled to a crutch;", "But, by God's grace, here wrecks were in such plenty,", "That there was fuel to have furnished twenty.", "", "He had a bed of furs, and a pelisse,", " For Haidée stripped her sables off to make", "His couch; and, that he might be more at ease,", " And warm, in case by chance he should awake,", "They also gave a petticoat apiece,", " She and her maid,--and promised by daybreak", "To pay him a fresh visit, with a dish", "For breakfast, of eggs, coffee, bread, and fish.", "", "And thus they left him to his lone repose:", " Juan slept like a top, or like the dead,", "Who sleep at last, perhaps (God only knows),", " Just for the present; and in his lulled head", "Not even a vision of his former woes", " Throbbed in accurséd dreams, which sometimes spread", "Unwelcome visions of our former years,", "Till the eye, cheated, opens thick with tears.", "", "Young Juan slept all dreamless:--but the maid,", " Who smoothed his pillow, as she left the den", "Looked back upon him, and a moment stayed,", " And turned, believing that he called again.", "He slumbered; yet she thought, at least she said", " (The heart will slip, even as the tongue and pen),", "He had pronounced her name--but she forgot", "That at this moment Juan knew it not.", "", "And pensive to her father's house she went,", " Enjoining silence strict to Zoe, who", "Better than her knew what, in fact, she meant,", " She being wiser by a year or two:", "A year or two's an age when rightly spent,", " And Zoe spent hers, as most women do,", "In gaining all that useful sort of knowledge", "Which is acquired in Nature's good old college.", "", "The morn broke, and found Juan slumbering still", " Fast in his cave, and nothing clashed upon", "His rest; the rushing of the neighbouring rill,", " And the young beams of the excluded Sun,", "Troubled him not, and he might sleep his fill;", " And need he had of slumber yet, for none", "Had suffered more--his hardships were comparative", "To those related in my grand-dad's \"Narrative.\"", "", "Not so Haidée: she sadly tossed and tumbled,", " And started from her sleep, and, turning o'er,", "Dreamed of a thousand wrecks, o'er which she stumbled,", " And handsome corpses strewed upon the shore;", "And woke her maid so early that she grumbled,", " And called her father's old slaves up, who swore", "In several oaths--Armenian, Turk, and Greek--", "They knew not what to think of such a freak.", "", "But up she got, and up she made them get,", " With some pretence about the Sun, that makes", "Sweet skies just when he rises, or is set;", " And 't is, no doubt, a sight to see when breaks", "Bright Phoebus, while the mountains still are wet", " With mist, and every bird with him awakes,", "And night is flung off like a mourning suit", "Worn for a husband,--or some other brute.", "", "I say, the Sun is a most glorious sight,", " I've seen him rise full oft, indeed of late", "I have sat up on purpose all the night,", " Which hastens, as physicians say, one's fate;", "And so all ye, who would be in the right", " In health and purse, begin your day to date", "From daybreak, and when coffined at fourscore,", "Engrave upon the plate, you rose at four.", "", "And Haidée met the morning face to face;", " Her own was freshest, though a feverish flush", "Had dyed it with the headlong blood, whose race", " From heart to cheek is curbed into a blush,", "Like to a torrent which a mountain's base,", " That overpowers some Alpine river's rush,", "Checks to a lake, whose waves in circles spread;", "Or the Red Sea--but the sea is not red.", "", "And down the cliff the island virgin came,", " And near the cave her quick light footsteps drew,", "While the Sun smiled on her with his first flame,", " And young Aurora kissed her lips with dew,", "Taking her for a sister; just the same", " Mistake you would have made on seeing the two,", "Although the mortal, quite as fresh and fair,", "Had all the advantage, too, of not being air.", "", "And when into the cavern Haidée stepped", " All timidly, yet rapidly, she saw", "That like an infant Juan sweetly slept;", " And then she stopped, and stood as if in awe", "(For sleep is awful), and on tiptoe crept", " And wrapped him closer, lest the air, too raw,", "Should reach his blood, then o'er him still as Death", "Bent, with hushed lips, that drank his scarce-drawn breath.", "", "And thus like to an Angel o'er the dying", " Who die in righteousness, she leaned; and there", "All tranquilly the shipwrecked boy was lying,", " As o'er him lay the calm and stirless air:", "But Zoe the meantime some eggs was frying,", " Since, after all, no doubt the youthful pair", "Must breakfast--and, betimes, lest they should ask it,", "She drew out her provision from the basket.", "", "She knew that the best feelings must have victual,", " And that a shipwrecked youth would hungry be;", "Besides, being less in love, she yawned a little,", " And felt her veins chilled by the neighbouring sea;", "And so, she cooked their breakfast to a tittle;", " I can't say that she gave them any tea,", "But there were eggs, fruit, coffee, bread, fish, honey,", "With Scio wine,--and all for love, not money.", "", "And Zoe, when the eggs were ready, and", " The coffee made, would fain have wakened Juan;", "But Haidée stopped her with her quick small hand,", " And without word, a sign her finger drew on", "Her lip, which Zoe needs must understand;", " And, the first breakfast spoilt, prepared a new one,", "Because her mistress would not let her break", "That sleep which seemed as it would ne'er awake.", "", "For still he lay, and on his thin worn cheek", " A purple hectic played like dying day", "On the snow-tops of distant hills; the streak", " Of sufferance yet upon his forehead lay,", "Where the blue veins looked shadowy, shrunk, and weak;", " And his black curls were dewy with the spray,", "Which weighed upon them yet, all damp and salt,", "Mixed with the stony vapours of the vault.", "", "And she bent o'er him, and he lay beneath,", " Hushed as the babe upon its mother's breast,", "Drooped as the willow when no winds can breathe,", " Lulled like the depth of Ocean when at rest,", "Fair as the crowning rose of the whole wreath,", " Soft as the callow cygnet in its nest;", "In short, he was a very pretty fellow,", "Although his woes had turned him rather yellow.", "", "He woke and gazed, and would have slept again,", " But the fair face which met his eyes forbade", "Those eyes to close, though weariness and pain", " Had further sleep a further pleasure made:", "For Woman's face was never formed in vain", " For Juan, so that even when he prayed", "He turned from grisly saints, and martyrs hairy,", "To the sweet portraits of the Virgin Mary.", "", "And thus upon his elbow he arose,", " And looked upon the lady, in whose cheek", "The pale contended with the purple rose,", " As with an effort she began to speak;", "Her eyes were eloquent, her words would pose,", " Although she told him, in good modern Greek,", "With an Ionian accent, low and sweet,", "That he was faint, and must not talk, but eat.", "", "Now Juan could not understand a word,", " Being no Grecian; but he had an ear,", "And her voice was the warble of a bird,", " So soft, so sweet, so delicately clear,", "That finer, simpler music ne'er was heard;", " The sort of sound we echo with a tear,", "Without knowing why--an overpowering tone,", "Whence Melody descends as from a throne.", "", "And Juan gazed as one who is awoke", " By a distant organ, doubting if he be", "Not yet a dreamer, till the spell is broke", " By the watchman, or some such reality,", "Or by one's early valet's curséd knock;", " At least it is a heavy sound to me,", "Who like a morning slumber--for the night", "Shows stars and women in a better light.", "", "And Juan, too, was helped out from his dream,", " Or sleep, or whatsoe'er it was, by feeling", "A most prodigious appetite; the steam", " Of Zoe's cookery no doubt was stealing", "Upon his senses, and the kindling beam", " Of the new fire, which Zoe kept up, kneeling,", "To stir her viands, made him quite awake", "And long for food, but chiefly a beef-steak.", "", "But beef is rare within these oxless isles;", " Goat's flesh there is, no doubt, and kid, and mutton,", "And, when a holiday upon them smiles,", " A joint upon their barbarous spits they put on:", "But this occurs but seldom, between whiles,", " For some of these are rocks with scarce a hut on;", "Others are fair and fertile, among which", "This, though not large, was one of the most rich.", "", "I say that beef is rare, and can't help thinking", " That the old fable of the Minotaur--From", "which our modern morals, rightly shrinking,", " Condemn the royal lady's taste who wore", "A cow's shape for a mask--was only (sinking", " The allegory) a mere type, no more,", "That Pasiphae promoted breeding cattle,", "To make the Cretans bloodier in battle.", "", "For we all know that English people are", " Fed upon beef--I won't say much of beer,", "Because 't is liquor only, and being far", " From this my subject, has no business here;", "We know, too, they are very fond of war,", " A pleasure--like all pleasures--rather dear;", "So were the Cretans--from which I infer,", "That beef and battles both were owing to her.", "", "But to resume. The languid Juan raised", " His head upon his elbow, and he saw", "A sight on which he had not lately gazed,", " As all his latter meals had been quite raw,", "Three or four things, for which the Lord he praised,", " And, feeling still the famished vulture gnaw,", "He fell upon whate'er was offered, like", "A priest, a shark, an alderman, or pike.", "", "He ate, and he was well supplied; and she,", " Who watched him like a mother, would have fed", "Him past all bounds, because she smiled to see", " Such appetite in one she had deemed dead:", "But Zoe, being older than Haidée,", " Knew (by tradition, for she ne'er had read)", "That famished people must be slowly nurst,", "And fed by spoonfuls, else they always burst.", "", "And so she took the liberty to state,", " Rather by deeds than words, because the case", "Was urgent, that the gentleman, whose fate", " Had made her mistress quit her bed to trace", "The sea-shore at this hour, must leave his plate,", " Unless he wished to die upon the place--", "She snatched it, and refused another morsel,", "Saying, he had gorged enough to make a horse ill.", "", "Next they--he being naked, save a tattered", " Pair of scarce decent trowsers--went to work,", "And in the fire his recent rags they scattered,", " And dressed him, for the present, like a Turk,", "Or Greek--that is, although it not much mattered,", " Omitting turban, slippers, pistol, dirk,--", "They furnished him, entire, except some stitches,", "With a clean shirt, and very spacious breeches.", "", "And then fair Haidée tried her tongue at speaking,", " But not a word could Juan comprehend,", "Although he listened so that the young Greek in", " Her earnestness would ne'er have made an end;", "And, as he interrupted not, went eking", " Her speech out to her protégé and friend,", "Till pausing at the last her breath to take,", "She saw he did not understand Romaic.", "", "And then she had recourse to nods, and signs,", " And smiles, and sparkles of the speaking eye,", "And read (the only book she could) the lines", " Of his fair face, and found, by sympathy,", "The answer eloquent, where the Soul shines", " And darts in one quick glance a long reply;", "And thus in every look she saw expressed", "A world of words, and things at which she guessed.", "", "And now, by dint of fingers and of eyes,", " And words repeated after her, he took", "A lesson in her tongue; but by surmise,", " No doubt, less of her language than her look:", "As he who studies fervently the skies", " Turns oftener to the stars than to his book,", "Thus Juan learned his _alpha beta_ better", "From Haidée's glance than any graven letter.", "", "'T is pleasing to be schooled in a strange tongue", " By female lips and eyes--that is, I mean,", "When both the teacher and the taught are young,", " As was the case, at least, where I have been;", "They smile so when one's right, and when one's wrong", " They smile still more, and then there intervene", "Pressure of hands, perhaps even a chaste kiss;--", "I learned the little that I know by this:", "", "That is, some words of Spanish, Turk, and Greek,", " Italian not at all, having no teachers;", "Much English I cannot pretend to speak,", " Learning that language chiefly from its preachers,", "Barrow, South, Tillotson, whom every week", " I study, also Blair--the highest reachers", "Of eloquence in piety and prose--", "I hate your poets, so read none of those.", "", "As for the ladies, I have nought to say,", " A wanderer from the British world of Fashion,", "Where I, like other \"dogs, have had my day,\"", " Like other men, too, may have had my passion--", "But that, like other things, has passed away,", " And all her fools whom I _could_ lay the lash on:", "Foes, friends, men, women, now are nought to me", "But dreams of what has been, no more to be.", "", "Return we to Don Juan. He begun", " To hear new words, and to repeat them; but", "Some feelings, universal as the Sun,", " Were such as could not in his breast be shut", "More than within the bosom of a nun:", " He was in love,--as you would be, no doubt,", "With a young benefactress,--so was she,", "Just in the way we very often see.", "", "And every day by daybreak--rather early", " For Juan, who was somewhat fond of rest--", "She came into the cave, but it was merely", " To see her bird reposing in his nest;", "And she would softly stir his locks so curly,", " Without disturbing her yet slumbering guest,", "Breathing all gently o'er his cheek and mouth,", "As o'er a bed of roses the sweet South.", "", "And every morn his colour freshlier came,", " And every day helped on his convalescence;", "'T was well, because health in the human frame", " Is pleasant, besides being true Love's essence,", "For health and idleness to Passion's flame", " Are oil and gunpowder; and some good lessons", "Are also learnt from Ceres and from Bacchus,", "Without whom Venus will not long attack us.", "", "While Venus fills the heart, (without heart really", " Love, though good always, is not quite so good,)", "Ceres presents a plate of vermicelli,--", " For Love must be sustained like flesh and blood,--While", "Bacchus pours out wine, or hands a jelly:", " Eggs, oysters, too, are amatory food;", "But who is their purveyor from above", "Heaven knows,--it may be Neptune, Pan, or Jove.", "", "When Juan woke he found some good things ready,", " A bath, a breakfast, and the finest eyes", "That ever made a youthful heart less steady,", " Besides her maid's, as pretty for their size;", "But I have spoken of all this already--", " A repetition's tiresome and unwise,--", "Well--Juan, after bathing in the sea,", "Came always back to coffee and Haidée.", "", "Both were so young, and one so innocent,", " That bathing passed for nothing; Juan seemed", "To her, as 't were, the kind of being sent,", " Of whom these two years she had nightly dreamed,", "A something to be loved, a creature meant", " To be her happiness, and whom she deemed", "To render happy; all who joy would win", "Must share it,--Happiness was born a Twin.", "", "It was such pleasure to behold him, such", " Enlargement of existence to partake", "Nature with him, to thrill beneath his touch,", " To watch him slumbering, and to see him wake:", "To live with him for ever were too much;", " But then the thought of parting made her quake;", "He was her own, her ocean-treasure, cast", "Like a rich wreck--her first love, and her last.", "", "And thus a moon rolled on, and fair Haidée", " Paid daily visits to her boy, and took", "Such plentiful precautions, that still he", " Remained unknown within his craggy nook;", "At last her father's prows put out to sea,", " For certain merchantmen upon the look,", "Not as of yore to carry off an Io,", "But three Ragusan vessels, bound for Scio.", "", "Then came her freedom, for she had no mother,", " So that, her father being at sea, she was", "Free as a married woman, or such other", " Female, as where she likes may freely pass,", "Without even the encumbrance of a brother,", " The freest she that ever gazed on glass:", "I speak of Christian lands in this comparison,", "Where wives, at least, are seldom kept in garrison.", "", "Now she prolonged her visits and her talk", " (For they must talk), and he had learnt to say", "So much as to propose to take a walk,--", " For little had he wandered since the day", "On which, like a young flower snapped from the stalk,", " Drooping and dewy on the beach he lay,--", "And thus they walked out in the afternoon,", "And saw the sun set opposite the moon.", "", "It was a wild and breaker-beaten coast,", " With cliffs above, and a broad sandy shore,", "Guarded by shoals and rocks as by an host,", " With here and there a creek, whose aspect wore", "A better welcome to the tempest-tost;", " And rarely ceased the haughty billow's roar,", "Save on the dead long summer days, which make", "The outstretched Ocean glitter like a lake.", "", "And the small ripple spilt upon the beach", " Scarcely o'erpassed the cream of your champagne,", "When o'er the brim the sparkling bumpers reach,", " That spring-dew of the spirit! the heart's rain!", "Few things surpass old wine; and they may preach", " Who please,--the more because they preach in vain,--", "Let us have Wine and Woman, Mirth and Laughter,", "Sermons and soda-water the day after.", "", "Man, being reasonable, must get drunk;", " The best of Life is but intoxication:", "Glory, the Grape, Love, Gold, in these are sunk", " The hopes of all men, and of every nation;", "Without their sap, how branchless were the trunk", " Of Life's strange tree, so fruitful on occasion!", "But to return,--Get very drunk, and when", "You wake with headache--you shall see what then!", "", "Ring for your valet--bid him quickly bring", " Some hock and soda-water, then you'll know", "A pleasure worthy Xerxes the great king;", " For not the blest sherbet, sublimed with snow,", "Nor the first sparkle of the desert-spring,", " Nor Burgundy in all its sunset glow,", "After long travel, Ennui, Love, or Slaughter,", "Vie with that draught of hock and soda-water!", "", "The coast--I think it was the coast that I", " Was just describing--Yes, it _was_ the coast--", "Lay at this period quiet as the sky,", " The sands untumbled, the blue waves untossed,", "And all was stillness, save the sea-bird's cry,", " And dolphin's leap, and little billow crossed", "By some low rock or shelve, that made it fret", "Against the boundary it scarcely wet.", "", "And forth they wandered, her sire being gone,", " As I have said, upon an expedition;", "And mother, brother, guardian, she had none,", " Save Zoe, who, although with due precision", "She waited on her lady with the Sun,", " Thought daily service was her only mission,", "Bringing warm water, wreathing her long tresses,", "And asking now and then for cast-off dresses.", "", "It was the cooling hour, just when the rounded", " Red sun sinks down behind the azure hill,", "Which then seems as if the whole earth it bounded,", " Circling all Nature, hushed, and dim, and still,", "With the far mountain-crescent half surrounded", " On one side, and the deep sea calm and chill", "Upon the other, and the rosy sky", "With one star sparkling through it like an eye.", "", "And thus they wandered forth, and hand in hand,", " Over the shining pebbles and the shells,", "Glided along the smooth and hardened sand,", " And in the worn and wild receptacles", "Worked by the storms, yet worked as it were planned", " In hollow halls, with sparry roofs and cells,", "They turned to rest; and, each clasped by an arm,", "Yielded to the deep Twilight's purple charm.", "", "They looked up to the sky, whose floating glow", " Spread like a rosy Ocean, vast and bright;", "They gazed upon the glittering sea below,", " Whence the broad Moon rose circling into sight;", "They heard the waves' splash, and the wind so low,", " And saw each other's dark eyes darting light", "Into each other--and, beholding this,", "Their lips drew near, and clung into a kiss;", "", "A long, long kiss, a kiss of Youth, and Love,", " And Beauty, all concentrating like rays", "Into one focus, kindled from above;", " Such kisses as belong to early days,", "Where Heart, and Soul, and Sense, in concert move,", " And the blood's lava, and the pulse a blaze,", "Each kiss a heart-quake,--for a kiss's strength,", "I think, it must be reckoned by its length.", "", "By length I mean duration; theirs endured", " Heaven knows how long--no doubt they never reckoned;", "And if they had, they could not have secured", " The sum of their sensations to a second:", "They had not spoken, but they felt allured,", " As if their souls and lips each other beckoned,", "Which, being joined, like swarming bees they clung--", "Their hearts the flowers from whence the honey sprung.", "", "They were alone, but not alone as they", " Who shut in chambers think it loneliness;", "The silent Ocean, and the starlight bay,", " The twilight glow, which momently grew less,", "The voiceless sands, and dropping caves, that lay", " Around them, made them to each other press,", "As if there were no life beneath the sky", "Save theirs, and that their life could never die.", "", "They feared no eyes nor ears on that lone beach;", " They felt no terrors from the night; they were", "All in all to each other: though their speech", " Was broken words, they _thought_ a language there,--", "And all the burning tongues the Passions teach", " Found in one sigh the best interpreter", "Of Nature's oracle--first love,--that all", "Which Eve has left her daughters since her fall.", "", "Haidée spoke not of scruples, asked no vows,", " Nor offered any; she had never heard", "Of plight and promises to be a spouse,", " Or perils by a loving maid incurred;", "She was all which pure Ignorance allows,", " And flew to her young mate like a young bird;", "And, never having dreamt of falsehood, she", "Had not one word to say of constancy.", "", "She loved, and was belovéd--she adored,", " And she was worshipped after Nature's fashion--", "Their intense souls, into each other poured,", " If souls could die, had perished in that passion,--", "But by degrees their senses were restored,", " Again to be o'ercome, again to dash on;", "And, beating 'gainst _his_ bosom, Haidée's heart", "Felt as if never more to beat apart.", "", "Alas! they were so young, so beautiful,", " So lonely, loving, helpless, and the hour", "Was that in which the Heart is always full,", " And, having o'er itself no further power,", "Prompts deeds Eternity can not annul,", " But pays off moments in an endless shower", "Of hell-fire--all prepared for people giving", "Pleasure or pain to one another living.", "", "Alas! for Juan and Haidée! they were", " So loving and so lovely--till then never,", "Excepting our first parents, such a pair", " Had run the risk of being damned for ever:", "And Haidée, being devout as well as fair,", " Had, doubtless, heard about the Stygian river,", "And Hell and Purgatory--but forgot", "Just in the very crisis she should not.", "", "They look upon each other, and their eyes", " Gleam in the moonlight; and her white arm clasps", "Round Juan's head, and his around her lies", " Half buried in the tresses which it grasps;", "She sits upon his knee, and drinks his sighs,", " He hers, until they end in broken gasps;", "And thus they form a group that's quite antique,", "Half naked, loving, natural, and Greek.", "", "And when those deep and burning moments passed,", " And Juan sunk to sleep within her arms,", "She slept not, but all tenderly, though fast,", " Sustained his head upon her bosom's charms;", "And now and then her eye to Heaven is cast,", " And then on the pale cheek her breast now warms,", "Pillowed on her o'erflowing heart, which pants", "With all it granted, and with all it grants.", "", "An infant when it gazes on a light,", " A child the moment when it drains the breast,", "A devotee when soars the Host in sight,", " An Arab with a stranger for a guest,", "A sailor when the prize has struck in fight,", " A miser filling his most hoarded chest,", "Feel rapture; but not such true joy are reaping", "As they who watch o'er what they love while sleeping.", "", "For there it lies so tranquil, so beloved,", " All that it hath of Life with us is living;", "So gentle, stirless, helpless, and unmoved,", " And all unconscious of the joy 't is giving;", "All it hath felt, inflicted, passed, and proved,", " Hushed into depths beyond the watcher's diving:", "There lies the thing we love with all its errors", "And all its charms, like Death without its terrors.", "", "The Lady watched her lover--and that hour", " Of Love's, and Night's, and Ocean's solitude", "O'erflowed her soul with their united power;", " Amidst the barren sand and rocks so rude", "She and her wave-worn love had made their bower,", " Where nought upon their passion could intrude,", "And all the stars that crowded the blue space", "Saw nothing happier than her glowing face.", "", "Alas! the love of Women! it is known", " To be a lovely and a fearful thing;", "For all of theirs upon that die is thrown,", " And if 't is lost, Life hath no more to bring", "To them but mockeries of the past alone,", " And their revenge is as the tiger's spring,", "Deadly, and quick, and crushing; yet, as real", "Torture is theirs--what they inflict they feel.", "", "They are right; for Man, to man so oft unjust,", " Is always so to Women: one sole bond", "Awaits them--treachery is all their trust;", " Taught to conceal their bursting hearts despond", "Over their idol, till some wealthier lust", " Buys them in marriage--and what rests beyond?", "A thankless husband--next, a faithless lover--", "Then dressing, nursing, praying--and all's over.", "", "Some take a lover, some take drams or prayers,", " Some mind their household, others dissipation,", "Some run away, and but exchange their cares,", " Losing the advantage of a virtuous station;", "Few changes e'er can better their affairs,", " Theirs being an unnatural situation,", "From the dull palace to the dirty hovel:", "Some play the devil, and then write a novel.", "", "Haidée was Nature's bride, and knew not this;", " Haidée was Passion's child, born where the Sun", "Showers triple light, and scorches even the kiss", " Of his gazelle-eyed daughters; she was one", "Made but to love, to feel that she was his", " Who was her chosen: what was said or done", "Elsewhere was nothing. She had nought to fear,", "Hope, care, nor love, beyond,--her heart beat _here_.", "", "And oh! that quickening of the heart, that beat!", " How much it costs us! yet each rising throb", "Is in its cause as its effect so sweet,", " That Wisdom, ever on the watch to rob", "Joy of its alchemy, and to repeat", " Fine truths; even Conscience, too, has a tough job", "To make us understand each good old maxim,", "So good--I wonder Castlereagh don't tax 'em.", "", "And now 't was done--on the lone shore were plighted", " Their hearts; the stars, their nuptial torches, shed", "Beauty upon the beautiful they lighted:", " Ocean their witness, and the cave their bed,", "By their own feelings hallowed and united,", " Their priest was Solitude, and they were wed:", "And they were happy--for to their young eyes", "Each was an angel, and earth Paradise.", "", "Oh, Love! of whom great Cæsar was the suitor,", " Titus the master, Antony the slave,", "Horace, Catullus, scholars--Ovid tutor--", " Sappho the sage blue-stocking, in whose grave", "All those may leap who rather would be neuter--", " (Leucadia's rock still overlooks the wave)--", "Oh, Love! thou art the very God of evil,", "For, after all, we cannot call thee Devil.", "", "Thou mak'st the chaste connubial state precarious,", " And jestest with the brows of mightiest men:", "Cæsar and Pompey, Mahomet, Belisarius,", " Have much employed the Muse of History's pen:", "Their lives and fortunes were extremely various,", " Such worthies Time will never see again;", "Yet to these four in three things the same luck holds,", "They all were heroes, conquerors, and cuckolds.", "", "Thou mak'st philosophers; there's Epicurus", " And Aristippus, a material crew!", "Who to immoral courses would allure us", " By theories quite practicable too;", "If only from the Devil they would insure us,", " How pleasant were the maxim (not quite new),", "\"Eat, drink, and love, what can the rest avail us?\"", "So said the royal sage Sardanapalus.", "", "But Juan! had he quite forgotten Julia?", " And should he have forgotten her so soon?", "I can't but say it seems to me most truly a", " Perplexing question; but, no doubt, the moon", "Does these things for us, and whenever newly a", " Strong palpitation rises, 't is her boon,", "Else how the devil is it that fresh features", "Have such a charm for us poor human creatures?", "", "I hate inconstancy--I loathe, detest,", " Abhor, condemn, abjure the mortal made", "Of such quicksilver clay that in his breast", " No permanent foundation can be laid;", "Love, constant love, has been my constant guest,", " And yet last night, being at a masquerade,", "I saw the prettiest creature, fresh from Milan,", "Which gave me some sensations like a villain.", "", "But soon Philosophy came to my aid,", " And whispered, \"Think of every sacred tie!\"", "\"I will, my dear Philosophy!\" I said,", " \"But then her teeth, and then, oh, Heaven! her eye!", "I'll just inquire if she be wife or maid,", " Or neither--out of curiosity.\"", "\"Stop!\" cried Philosophy, with air so Grecian,", "(Though she was masqued then as a fair Venetian;)", "", "\"Stop!\" so I stopped.--But to return: that which", " Men call inconstancy is nothing more", "Than admiration due where Nature's rich", " Profusion with young beauty covers o'er", "Some favoured object; and as in the niche", " A lovely statue we almost adore,", "This sort of adoration of the real", "Is but a heightening of the _beau ideal_.", "", "'T is the perception of the Beautiful,", " A fine extension of the faculties,", "Platonic, universal, wonderful,", " Drawn from the stars, and filtered through the skies,", "Without which Life would be extremely dull;", " In short, it is the use of our own eyes,", "With one or two small senses added, just", "To hint that flesh is formed of fiery dust.", "", "Yet 't is a painful feeling, and unwilling,", " For surely if we always could perceive", "In the same object graces quite as killing", " As when she rose upon us like an Eve,", "'T would save us many a heartache, many a shilling,", " (For we must get them anyhow, or grieve),", "Whereas if one sole lady pleased for ever,", "How pleasant for the heart, as well as liver!", "", "The Heart is like the sky, a part of Heaven,", " But changes night and day, too, like the sky;", "Now o'er it clouds and thunder must be driven,", " And Darkness and Destruction as on high:", "But when it hath been scorched, and pierced, and riven,", " Its storms expire in water-drops; the eye", "Pours forth at last the Heart's blood turned to tears,", "Which make the English climate of our years.", "", "The liver is the lazaret of bile,", " But very rarely executes its function,", "For the first passion stays there such a while,", " That all the rest creep in and form a junction,", "Like knots of vipers on a dunghill's soil--", " Rage, fear, hate, jealousy, revenge, compunction--", "So that all mischiefs spring up from this entrail,", "Like Earthquakes from the hidden fire called \"central.\"", "", "In the mean time, without proceeding more", " In this anatomy, I've finished now", "Two hundred and odd stanzas as before,", " That being about the number I'll allow", "Each canto of the twelve, or twenty-four;", " And, laying down my pen, I make my bow,", "Leaving Don Juan and Haidée to plead", "For them and theirs with all who deign to read.", "", "CANTO THE THIRD.", "", "HAIL, Muse! _et cetera._--We left Juan sleeping,", " Pillowed upon a fair and happy breast,", "And watched by eyes that never yet knew weeping,", " And loved by a young heart, too deeply blest", "To feel the poison through her spirit creeping,", " Or know who rested there, a foe to rest,", "Had soiled the current of her sinless years,", "And turned her pure heart's purest blood to tears!", "", "Oh, Love! what is it in this world of ours", " Which makes it fatal to be loved? Ah why", "With cypress branches hast thou wreathed thy bowers,", " And made thy best interpreter a sigh?", "As those who dote on odours pluck the flowers,", " And place them on their breast--but place to die--", "Thus the frail beings we would fondly cherish", "Are laid within our bosoms but to perish.", "", "In her first passion Woman loves her lover,", " In all the others all she loves is Love,", "Which grows a habit she can ne'er get over,", " And fits her loosely--like an easy glove,", "As you may find, whene'er you like to prove her:", " One man alone at first her heart can move;", "She then prefers him in the plural number,", "Not finding that the additions much encumber.", "", "I know not if the fault be men's or theirs;", " But one thing's pretty sure; a woman planted", "(Unless at once she plunge for life in prayers)--", " After a decent time must be gallanted;", "Although, no doubt, her first of love affairs", " Is that to which her heart is wholly granted;", "Yet there are some, they say, who have had _none_,", "But those who have ne'er end with only _one_.", "", "'T is melancholy, and a fearful sign", " Of human frailty, folly, also crime,", "That Love and Marriage rarely can combine,", " Although they both are born in the same clime;", "Marriage from Love, like vinegar from wine--", " A sad, sour, sober beverage--by Time", "Is sharpened from its high celestial flavour", "Down to a very homely household savour.", "", "There's something of antipathy, as 't were,", " Between their present and their future state;", "A kind of flattery that's hardly fair", " Is used until the truth arrives too late--", "Yet what can people do, except despair?", " The same things change their names at such a rate;", "For instance--Passion in a lover's glorious,", "But in a husband is pronounced uxorious.", "", "Men grow ashamed of being so very fond;", " They sometimes also get a little tired", "(But that, of course, is rare), and then despond:", " The same things cannot always be admired,", "Yet 't is \"so nominated in the bond,\"", " That both are tied till one shall have expired.", "Sad thought! to lose the spouse that was adorning", "Our days, and put one's servants into mourning.", "", "There's doubtless something in domestic doings", " Which forms, in fact, true Love's antithesis;", "Romances paint at full length people's wooings,", " But only give a bust of marriages;", "For no one cares for matrimonial cooings,", " There's nothing wrong in a connubial kiss:", "Think you, if Laura had been Petrarch's wife,", "He would have written sonnets all his life?", "", "All tragedies are finished by a death,", " All comedies are ended by a marriage;", "The future states of both are left to faith,", " For authors fear description might disparage", "The worlds to come of both, or fall beneath,", " And then both worlds would punish their miscarriage;", "So leaving each their priest and prayer-book ready,", "They say no more of Death or of the Lady.", "", "The only two that in my recollection,", " Have sung of Heaven and Hell, or marriage, are", "Dante and Milton, and of both the affection", " Was hapless in their nuptials, for some bar", "Of fault or temper ruined the connection", " (Such things, in fact, it don't ask much to mar);", "But Dante's Beatrice and Milton's Eve", "Were not drawn from their spouses, you conceive.", "", "Some persons say that Dante meant Theology", " By Beatrice, and not a mistress--I,", "Although my opinion may require apology,", " Deem this a commentator's phantasy,", "Unless indeed it was from his own knowledge he", " Decided thus, and showed good reason why;", "I think that Dante's more abstruse ecstatics", "Meant to personify the Mathematics.", "", "Haidée and Juan were not married, but", " The fault was theirs, not mine: it is not fair,", "Chaste reader, then, in any way to put", " The blame on me, unless you wish they were;", "Then if you'd have them wedded, please to shut", " The book which treats of this erroneous pair,", "Before the consequences grow too awful;", "'T is dangerous to read of loves unlawful.", "", "Yet they were happy,--happy in the illicit", " Indulgence of their innocent desires;", "But more imprudent grown with every visit,", " Haidée forgot the island was her Sire's;", "When we have what we like 't is hard to miss it,", " At least in the beginning, ere one tires;", "Thus she came often, not a moment losing,", "Whilst her piratical papa was cruising.", "", "Let not his mode of raising cash seem strange,", " Although he fleeced the flags of every nation,", "For into a Prime Minister but change", " His title, and 't is nothing but taxation;", "But he, more modest, took an humbler range", " Of Life, and in an honester vocation", "Pursued o'er the high seas his watery journey,", "And merely practised as a sea-attorney.", "", "The good old gentleman had been detained", " By winds and waves, and some important captures;", "And, in the hope of more, at sea remained,", " Although a squall or two had damped his raptures,", "By swamping one of the prizes; he had chained", " His prisoners, dividing them like chapters", "In numbered lots; they all had cuffs and collars,", "And averaged each from ten to a hundred dollars.", "", "Some he disposed of off Cape Matapan,", " Among his friends the Mainots; some he sold", "To his Tunis correspondents, save one man", " Tossed overboard unsaleable (being old);", "The rest--save here and there some richer one,", " Reserved for future ransom--in the hold,", "Were linked alike, as, for the common people, he", "Had a large order from the Dey of Tripoli.", "", "The merchandise was served in the same way,", " Pieced out for different marts in the Levant,", "Except some certain portions of the prey,", " Light classic articles of female want,", "French stuffs, lace, tweezers, toothpicks, teapot, tray,", " Guitars and castanets from Alicant,", "All which selected from the spoil he gathers,", "Robbed for his daughter by the best of fathers.", "", "A monkey, a Dutch mastiff, a mackaw,", " Two parrots, with a Persian cat and kittens,", "He chose from several animals he saw--", " A terrier, too, which once had been a Briton's,", "Who dying on the coast of Ithaca,", " The peasants gave the poor dumb thing a pittance:", "These to secure in this strong blowing weather,", "He caged in one huge hamper altogether.", "", "Then, having settled his marine affairs,", " Despatching single cruisers here and there,", "His vessel having need of some repairs,", " He shaped his course to where his daughter fair", "Continued still her hospitable cares;", " But that part of the coast being shoal and bare,", "And rough with reefs which ran out many a mile,", "His port lay on the other side o' the isle.", "", "And there he went ashore without delay,", " Having no custom-house nor quarantine", "To ask him awkward questions on the way,", " About the time and place where he had been:", "He left his ship to be hove down next day,", " With orders to the people to careen;", "So that all hands were busy beyond measure,", "In getting out goods, ballast, guns, and treasure.", "", "Arriving at the summit of a hill", " Which overlooked the white walls of his home,", "He stopped.--What singular emotions fill", " Their bosoms who have been induced to roam!", "With fluttering doubts if all be well or ill--", " With love for many, and with fears for some;", "All feelings which o'erleap the years long lost,", "And bring our hearts back to their starting-post.", "", "The approach of home to husbands and to sires,", " After long travelling by land or water,", "Most naturally some small doubt inspires--", " A female family's a serious matter,", "(None trusts the sex more, or so much admires--", " But they hate flattery, so I never flatter);", "Wives in their husbands' absences grow subtler,", "And daughters sometimes run off with the butler.", "", "An honest gentleman at his return", " May not have the good fortune of Ulysses;", "Not all lone matrons for their husbands mourn,", " Or show the same dislike to suitors' kisses;", "The odds are that he finds a handsome urn", " To his memory--and two or three young misses", "Born to some friend, who holds his wife and riches--", "And that _his_ Argus--bites him by the breeches.", "", "If single, probably his plighted Fair", " Has in his absence wedded some rich miser;", "But all the better, for the happy pair", " May quarrel, and, the lady growing wiser,", "He may resume his amatory care", " As cavalier servente, or despise her;", "And that his sorrow may not be a dumb one,", "Writes odes on the Inconstancy of Woman.", "", "And oh! ye gentlemen who have already", " Some chaste _liaison_ of the kind--I mean", "An honest friendship with a married lady--", " The only thing of this sort ever seen", "To last--of all connections the most steady,", " And the true Hymen, (the first's but a screen)--", "Yet, for all that, keep not too long away--", "I've known the absent wronged four times a day.", "", "Lambro, our sea-solicitor, who had", " Much less experience of dry land than Ocean,", "On seeing his own chimney-smoke, felt glad;", " But not knowing metaphysics, had no notion", "Of the true reason of his not being sad,", " Or that of any other strong emotion;", "He loved his child, and would have wept the loss of her,", "But knew the cause no more than a philosopher.", "", "He saw his white walls shining in the sun,", " His garden trees all shadowy and green;", "He heard his rivulet's light bubbling run,", " The distant dog-bark; and perceived between", "The umbrage of the wood, so cool and dun,", " The moving figures, and the sparkling sheen", "Of arms (in the East all arm)--and various dyes", "Of coloured garbs, as bright as butterflies.", "", "And as the spot where they appear he nears,", " Surprised at these unwonted signs of idling,", "He hears--alas! no music of the spheres,", " But an unhallowed, earthly sound of fiddling!", "A melody which made him doubt his ears,", " The cause being past his guessing or unriddling;", "A pipe, too, and a drum, and shortly after--", "A most unoriental roar of laughter.", "", "And still more nearly to the place advancing,", " Descending rather quickly the declivity,", "Through the waved branches o'er the greensward glancing,", " 'Midst other indications of festivity,", "Seeing a troop of his domestics dancing", " Like Dervises, who turn as on a pivot, he", "Perceived it was the Pyrrhic dance so martial,", "To which the Levantines are very partial.", "", "And further on a troop of Grecian girls,", " The first and tallest her white kerchief waving,", "Were strung together like a row of pearls,", " Linked hand in hand, and dancing; each too having", "Down her white neck long floating auburn curls--", " (The least of which would set ten poets raving);", "Their leader sang--and bounded to her song", "With choral step and voice the virgin throng.", "", "And here, assembled cross-legged round their trays,", " Small social parties just begun to dine;", "Pilaus and meats of all sorts met the gaze,", " And flasks of Samian and of Chian wine,", "And sherbet cooling in the porous vase;", " Above them their dessert grew on its vine;--", "The orange and pomegranate nodding o'er,", "Dropped in their laps, scarce plucked, their mellow store.", "", "A band of children, round a snow-white ram,", " There wreathe his venerable horns with flowers;", "While peaceful as if still an unweaned lamb,", " The patriarch of the flock all gently cowers", "His sober head, majestically tame,", " Or eats from out the palm, or playful lowers", "His brow, as if in act to butt, and then", "Yielding to their small hands, draws back again.", "", "Their classical profiles, and glittering dresses,", " Their large black eyes, and soft seraphic cheeks,", "Crimson as cleft pomegranates, their long tresses,", " The gesture which enchants, the eye that speaks,", "The innocence which happy childhood blesses,", " Made quite a picture of these little Greeks;", "So that the philosophical beholder", "Sighed for their sakes--that they should e'er grow older.", "", "Afar, a dwarf buffoon stood telling tales", " To a sedate grey circle of old smokers,", "Of secret treasures found in hidden vales,", " Of wonderful replies from Arab jokers,", "Of charms to make good gold and cure bad ails,", " Of rocks bewitched that open to the knockers,", "Of magic ladies who, by one sole act,", "Transformed their lords to beasts (but that's a fact).", "", "Here was no lack of innocent diversion", " For the imagination or the senses,", "Song, dance, wine, music, stories from the Persian,", " All pretty pastimes in which no offence is;", "But Lambro saw all these things with aversion,", " Perceiving in his absence such expenses,", "Dreading that climax of all human ills,", "The inflammation of his weekly bills.", "", "Ah! what is man? what perils still environ", " The happiest mortals even after dinner!", "A day of gold from out an age of iron", " Is all that Life allows the luckiest sinner;", "Pleasure (whene'er she sings, at least) 's a Siren,", " That lures, to flay alive, the young beginner;", "Lambro's reception at his people's banquet", "Was such as fire accords to a wet blanket.", "", "He--being a man who seldom used a word", " Too much, and wishing gladly to surprise", "(In general he surprised men with the sword)", " His daughter--had not sent before to advise", "Of his arrival, so that no one stirred;", " And long he paused to re-assure his eyes,", "In fact much more astonished than delighted,", "To find so much good company invited.", "", "He did not know (alas! how men will lie)", " That a report (especially the Greeks)", "Avouched his death (such people never die),", " And put his house in mourning several weeks,--", "But now their eyes and also lips were dry;", " The bloom, too, had returned to Haidée's cheeks:", "Her tears, too, being returned into their fount,", "She now kept house upon her own account.", "", "Hence all this rice, meat, dancing, wine, and fiddling,", " Which turned the isle into a place of pleasure;", "The servants all were getting drunk or idling,", " A life which made them happy beyond measure.", "Her father's hospitality seemed middling,", " Compared with what Haidée did with his treasure;", "'T was wonderful how things went on improving,", "While she had not one hour to spare from loving.", "", "Perhaps you think, in stumbling on this feast,", " He flew into a passion, and in fact", "There was no mighty reason to be pleased;", " Perhaps you prophesy some sudden act,", "The whip, the rack, or dungeon at the least,", " To teach his people to be more exact,", "And that, proceeding at a very high rate,", "He showed the royal _penchants_ of a pirate.", "", "You're wrong.--He was the mildest mannered man", " That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat;", "With such true breeding of a gentleman,", " You never could divine his real thought;", "No courtier could, and scarcely woman can", " Gird more deceit within a petticoat;", "Pity he loved adventurous life's variety,", "He was so great a loss to good society.", "", "Advancing to the nearest dinner tray,", " Tapping the shoulder of the nighest guest,", "With a peculiar smile, which, by the way,", " Boded no good, whatever it expressed,", "He asked the meaning of this holiday;", " The vinous Greek to whom he had addressed", "His question, much too merry to divine", "The questioner, filled up a glass of wine,", "", "And without turning his facetious head,", " Over his shoulder, with a Bacchant air,", "Presented the o'erflowing cup, and said,", " \"Talking's dry work, I have no time to spare.\"", "A second hiccuped, \"Our old Master's dead,", " You'd better ask our Mistress who's his heir.\"", "\"Our Mistress!\" quoth a third: \"Our Mistress!--pooh!--", "You mean our Master--not the old, but new.\"", "", "These rascals, being new comers, knew not whom", " They thus addressed--and Lambro's visage fell--", "And o'er his eye a momentary gloom", " Passed, but he strove quite courteously to quell", "The expression, and endeavouring to resume", " His smile, requested one of them to tell", "The name and quality of his new patron,", "Who seemed to have turned Haidée into a matron.", "", "\"I know not,\" quoth the fellow, \"who or what", " He is, nor whence he came--and little care;", "But this I know, that this roast capon's fat,", " And that good wine ne'er washed down better fare;", "And if you are not satisfied with that,", " Direct your questions to my neighbour there;", "He'll answer all for better or for worse,", "For none likes more to hear himself converse.\"", "", "I said that Lambro was a man of patience,", " And certainly he showed the best of breeding,", "Which scarce even France, the Paragon of nations,", " E'er saw her most polite of sons exceeding;", "He bore these sneers against his near relations,", " His own anxiety, his heart, too, bleeding,", "The insults, too, of every servile glutton,", "Who all the time was eating up his mutton.", "", "Now in a person used to much command--", " To bid men come, and go, and come again--", "To see his orders done, too, out of hand--", " Whether the word was death, or but the chain--", "It may seem strange to find his manners bland;", " Yet such things are, which I cannot explain,", "Though, doubtless, he who can command himself", "Is good to govern--almost as a Guelf.", "", "Not that he was not sometimes rash or so,", " But never in his real and serious mood;", "Then calm, concentrated, and still, and slow,", " He lay coiled like the Boa in the wood;", "With him it never was a word and blow,", " His angry word once o'er, he shed no blood,", "But in his silence there was much to rue,", "And his _one_ blow left little work for _two_.", "", "He asked no further questions, and proceeded", " On to the house, but by a private way,", "So that the few who met him hardly heeded,", " So little they expected him that day;", "If love paternal in his bosom pleaded", " For Haidée's sake, is more than I can say,", "But certainly to one deemed dead returning,", "This revel seemed a curious mode of mourning.", "", "If all the dead could now return to life,", " (Which God forbid!) or some, or a great many,", "For instance, if a husband or his wife", " (Nuptial examples are as good as any),", "No doubt whate'er might be their former strife,", " The present weather would be much more rainy--", "Tears shed into the grave of the connection", "Would share most probably its resurrection.", "", "He entered in the house no more his home,", " A thing to human feelings the most trying,", "And harder for the heart to overcome,", " Perhaps, than even the mental pangs of dying;", "To find our hearthstone turned into a tomb,", " And round its once warm precincts palely lying", "The ashes of our hopes, is a deep grief,", "Beyond a _single gentleman's_ belief.", "", "He entered in the house--his home no more,", " For without hearts there is no home;--and felt", "The solitude of passing his own door", " Without a welcome: _there_ he long had dwelt,", "There his few peaceful days Time had swept o'er,", " There his worn bosom and keen eye would melt", "Over the innocence of that sweet child,", "His only shrine of feelings undefiled.", "", "He was a man of a strange temperament,", " Of mild demeanour though of savage mood,", "Moderate in all his habits, and content", " With temperance in pleasure, as in food,", "Quick to perceive, and strong to bear, and meant", " For something better, if not wholly good;", "His Country's wrongs and his despair to save her", "Had stung him from a slave to an enslaver.", "", "The love of power, and rapid gain of gold,", " The hardness by long habitude produced,", "The dangerous life in which he had grown old,", " The mercy he had granted oft abused,", "The sights he was accustomed to behold,", " The wild seas, and wild men with whom he cruised,", "Had cost his enemies a long repentance,", "And made him a good friend, but bad acquaintance.", "", "But something of the spirit of old Greece", " Flashed o'er his soul a few heroic rays,", "Such as lit onward to the Golden Fleece", " His predecessors in the Colchian days;", "'T is true he had no ardent love for peace--", " Alas! his country showed no path to praise:", "Hate to the world and war with every nation", "He waged, in vengeance of her degradation.", "", "Still o'er his mind the influence of the clime", " Shed its Ionian elegance, which showed", "Its power unconsciously full many a time,--", " A taste seen in the choice of his abode,", "A love of music and of scenes sublime,", " A pleasure in the gentle stream that flowed", "Past him in crystal, and a joy in flowers,", "Bedewed his spirit in his calmer hours.", "", "But whatsoe'er he had of love reposed", " On that belovéd daughter; she had been", "The only thing which kept his heart unclosed", " Amidst the savage deeds he had done and seen,", "A lonely pure affection unopposed:", " There wanted but the loss of this to wean", "His feelings from all milk of human kindness,", "And turn him like the Cyclops mad with blindness.", "", "The cubless tigress in her jungle raging", " Is dreadful to the shepherd and the flock;", "The Ocean when its yeasty war is waging", " Is awful to the vessel near the rock;", "But violent things will sooner bear assuaging,", " Their fury being spent by its own shock,", "Than the stern, single, deep, and wordless ire", "Of a strong human heart, and in a Sire.", "", "It is a hard although a common case", " To find our children running restive--they", "In whom our brightest days we would retrace,", " Our little selves re-formed in finer clay,", "Just as old age is creeping on apace,", " And clouds come o'er the sunset of our day,", "They kindly leave us, though not quite alone,", "But in good company--the gout or stone.", "", "Yet a fine family is a fine thing", " (Provided they don't come in after dinner);", "'T is beautiful to see a matron bring", " Her children up (if nursing them don't thin her);", "Like cherubs round an altar-piece they cling", " To the fire-side (a sight to touch a sinner).", "A lady with her daughters or her nieces", "Shine like a guinea and seven-shilling pieces.", "", "Old Lambro passed unseen a private gate,", " And stood within his hall at eventide;", "Meantime the lady and her lover sate", " At wassail in their beauty and their pride:", "An ivory inlaid table spread with state", " Before them, and fair slaves on every side;", "Gems, gold, and silver, formed the service mostly,", "Mother of pearl and coral the less costly.", "", "The dinner made about a hundred dishes;", " Lamb and pistachio nuts--in short, all meats,", "And saffron soups, and sweetbreads; and the fishes", " Were of the finest that e'er flounced in nets,", "Dressed to a Sybarite's most pampered wishes;", " The beverage was various sherbets", "Of raisin, orange, and pomegranate juice,", "Squeezed through the rind, which makes it best for use.", "", "These were ranged round, each in its crystal ewer,", " And fruits, and date-bread loaves closed the repast,", "And Mocha's berry, from Arabia pure,", " In small fine China cups, came in at last;", "Gold cups of filigree, made to secure", " The hand from burning, underneath them placed;", "Cloves, cinnamon, and saffron too were boiled", "Up with the coffee, which (I think) they spoiled.", "", "The hangings of the room were tapestry, made", " Of velvet panels, each of different hue,", "And thick with damask flowers of silk inlaid;", " And round them ran a yellow border too;", "The upper border, richly wrought, displayed,", " Embroidered delicately o'er with blue,", "Soft Persian sentences, in lilac letters,", "From poets, or the moralists their betters.", "", "These Oriental writings on the wall,", " Quite common in those countries, are a kind", "Of monitors adapted to recall,", " Like skulls at Memphian banquets, to the mind,", "The words which shook Belshazzar in his hall,", " And took his kingdom from him: You will find,", "Though sages may pour out their wisdom's treasure,", "There is no sterner moralist than Pleasure.", "", "A Beauty at the season's close grown hectic,", " A Genius who has drunk himself to death,", "A Rake turned methodistic, or Eclectic--", " (For that's the name they like to pray beneath)--", "But most, an Alderman struck apoplectic,", " Are things that really take away the breath,--", "And show that late hours, wine, and love are able", "To do not much less damage than the table.", "", "Haidée and Juan carpeted their feet", " On crimson satin, bordered with pale blue;", "Their sofa occupied three parts complete", " Of the apartment--and appeared quite new;", "The velvet cushions (for a throne more meet)", " Were scarlet, from whose glowing centre grew", "A sun embossed in gold, whose rays of tissue,", "Meridian-like, were seen all light to issue.", "", "Crystal and marble, plate and porcelain,", " Had done their work of splendour; Indian mats", "And Persian carpets, which the heart bled to stain,", " Over the floors were spread; gazelles and cats,", "And dwarfs and blacks, and such like things, that gain", " Their bread as ministers and favourites (that's", "To say, by degradation) mingled there", "As plentiful as in a court, or fair.", "", "There was no want of lofty mirrors, and", " The tables, most of ebony inlaid", "With mother of pearl or ivory, stood at hand,", " Or were of tortoise-shell or rare woods made,", "Fretted with gold or silver:--by command", " The greater part of these were ready spread", "With viands and sherbets in ice--and wine--", "Kept for all comers at all hours to dine.", "", "Of all the dresses I select Haidée's:", " She wore two jelicks--one was of pale yellow;", "Of azure, pink, and white was her chemise--", " 'Neath which her breast heaved like a little billow:", "With buttons formed of pearls as large as peas,", " All gold and crimson shone her jelick's fellow,", "And the striped white gauze baracan that bound her,", "Like fleecy clouds about the moon, flowed round her.", "", "One large gold bracelet clasped each lovely arm,", " Lockless--so pliable from the pure gold", "That the hand stretched and shut it without harm,", " The limb which it adorned its only mould;", "So beautiful--its very shape would charm,", " And clinging, as if loath to lose its hold,", "The purest ore enclosed the whitest skin", "That e'er by precious metal was held in.", "", "Around, as Princess of her father's land,", " A like gold bar above her instep rolled", "Announced her rank; twelve rings were on her hand;", " Her hair was starred with gems; her veil's fine fold", "Below her breast was fastened with a band", " Of lavish pearls, whose worth could scarce be told;", "Her orange silk full Turkish trousers furled", "About the prettiest ankle in the world.", "", "Her hair's long auburn waves down to her heel", " Flowed like an Alpine torrent which the sun", "Dyes with his morning light,--and would conceal", " Her person if allowed at large to run,", "And still they seemed resentfully to feel", " The silken fillet's curb, and sought to shun", "Their bonds whene'er some Zephyr caught began", "To offer his young pinion as her fan.", "", "Round her she made an atmosphere of life,", " The very air seemed lighter from her eyes,", "They were so soft and beautiful, and rife", " With all we can imagine of the skies,", "And pure as Psyche ere she grew a wife--", " Too pure even for the purest human ties;", "Her overpowering presence made you feel", "It would not be idolatry to kneel.", "", "Her eyelashes, though dark as night, were tinged", " (It is the country's custom, but in vain),", "For those large black eyes were so blackly fringed,", " The glossy rebels mocked the jetty stain,", "And in their native beauty stood avenged:", " Her nails were touched with henna; but, again,", "The power of Art was turned to nothing, for", "They could not look more rosy than before.", "", "The henna should be deeply dyed to make", " The skin relieved appear more fairly fair;", "She had no need of this, day ne'er will break", " On mountain tops more heavenly white than her:", "The eye might doubt if it were well awake,", " She was so like a vision; I might err,", "But Shakespeare also says, 't is very silly", "\"To gild refinéd gold, or paint the lily.\"", "", "Juan had on a shawl of black and gold,", " But a white baracan, and so transparent", "The sparkling gems beneath you might behold,", " Like small stars through the milky way apparent;", "His turban, furled in many a graceful fold,", " An emerald aigrette, with Haidée's hair in 't,", "Surmounted as its clasp--a glowing crescent,", "Whose rays shone ever trembling, but incessant.", "", "And now they were diverted by their suite,", " Dwarfs, dancing girls, black eunuchs, and a poet,", "Which made their new establishment complete;", " The last was of great fame, and liked to show it;", "His verses rarely wanted their due feet--", " And for his theme--he seldom sung below it,", "He being paid to satirise or flatter,", "As the Psalm says, \"inditing a good matter.\"", "", "He praised the present, and abused the past,", " Reversing the good custom of old days,", "An Eastern anti-jacobin at last", " He turned, preferring pudding to _no_ praise--", "For some few years his lot had been o'ercast", " By his seeming independent in his lays,", "But now he sung the Sultan and the Pacha--", "With truth like Southey, and with verse like Crashaw.", "", "He was a man who had seen many changes,", " And always changed as true as any needle;", "His Polar Star being one which rather ranges,", " And not the fixed--he knew the way to wheedle:", "So vile he 'scaped the doom which oft avenges;", " And being fluent (save indeed when fee'd ill),", "He lied with such a fervour of intention--", "There was no doubt he earned his laureate pension.", "", "But _he_ had genius,--when a turncoat has it,", " The _Vates irritabilis_ takes care", "That without notice few full moons shall pass it;", " Even good men like to make the public stare:--", "But to my subject--let me see--what was it?--", " Oh!--the third canto--and the pretty pair--", "Their loves, and feasts, and house, and dress, and mode", "Of living in their insular abode.", "", "Their poet, a sad trimmer, but, no less,", " In company a very pleasant fellow,", "Had been the favourite of full many a mess", " Of men, and made them speeches when half mellow;", "And though his meaning they could rarely guess,", " Yet still they deigned to hiccup or to bellow", "The glorious meed of popular applause,", "Of which the first ne'er knows the second cause.", "", "But now being lifted into high society,", " And having picked up several odds and ends", "Of free thoughts in his travels for variety,", " He deemed, being in a lone isle, among friends,", "That, without any danger of a riot, he", " Might for long lying make himself amends;", "And, singing as he sung in his warm youth,", "Agree to a short armistice with Truth.", "", "He had travelled 'mongst the Arabs, Turks, and Franks,", " And knew the self-loves of the different nations;", "And having lived with people of all ranks,", " Had something ready upon most occasions--", "Which got him a few presents and some thanks.", " He varied with some skill his adulations;", "To \"do at Rome as Romans do,\" a piece", "Of conduct was which _he_ observed in Greece.", "", "Thus, usually, when _he_ was asked to sing,", " He gave the different nations something national;", "'T was all the same to him--\"God save the King,\"", " Or \"Ça ira,\" according to the fashion all:", "His Muse made increment of anything,", " From the high lyric down to the low rational;", "If Pindar sang horse-races, what should hinder", "Himself from being as pliable as Pindar?", "", "In France, for instance, he would write a chanson;", " In England a six canto quarto tale;", "In Spain he'd make a ballad or romance on", " The last war--much the same in Portugal;", "In Germany, the Pegasus he'd prance on", " Would be old Goethe's--(see what says De Staël);", "In Italy he'd ape the \"Trecentisti;\"", "In Greece, he'd sing some sort of hymn like this t' ye:", "", "The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece!", " Where burning Sappho loved and sung,", "Where grew the arts of War and Peace,", " Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung!", "Eternal summer gilds them yet,", "But all, except their Sun, is set.", "", "The Scian and the Teian muse,", " The Hero's harp, the Lover's lute,", "Have found the fame your shores refuse:", " Their place of birth alone is mute", "To sounds which echo further west", "Than your Sires' \"Islands of the Blest.\"", "", "The mountains look on Marathon--", " And Marathon looks on the sea;", "And musing there an hour alone,", " I dreamed that Greece might still be free;", "For standing on the Persians' grave,", "I could not deem myself a slave.", "", "A King sate on the rocky brow", " Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis;", "And ships, by thousands, lay below,", " And men in nations;--all were his!", "He counted them at break of day--", "And, when the Sun set, where were they?", "", "And where are they? and where art thou,", " My Country? On thy voiceless shore", "The heroic lay is tuneless now--", " The heroic bosom beats no more!", "And must thy Lyre, so long divine,", "Degenerate into hands like mine?", "", "'T is something, in the dearth of Fame,", " Though linked among a fettered race,", "To feel at least a patriot's shame,", " Even as I sing, suffuse my face;", "For what is left the poet here?", "For Greeks a blush--for Greece a tear.", "", "Must _we_ but weep o'er days more blest?", " Must _we_ but blush?--Our fathers bled.", "Earth! render back from out thy breast", " A remnant of our Spartan dead!", "Of the three hundred grant but three,", "To make a new Thermopylæ!", "", "What, silent still? and silent all?", " Ah! no;--the voices of the dead", "Sound like a distant torrent's fall,", " And answer, \"Let one living head,", "But one arise,--we come, we come!\"", "'T is but the living who are dumb.", "", "In vain--in vain: strike other chords;", " Fill high the cup with Samian wine!", "Leave battles to the Turkish hordes,", " And shed the blood of Scio's vine!", "Hark! rising to the ignoble call--", "How answers each bold Bacchanal!", "", "You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet,", " Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx gone?", "Of two such lessons, why forget", " The nobler and the manlier one?", "You have the letters Cadmus gave--", "Think ye he meant them for a slave?", "", "Fill high the bowl with Samian wine!", " We will not think of themes like these!", "It made Anacreon's song divine:", " He served--but served Polycrates--", "A Tyrant; but our masters then", "Were still, at least, our countrymen.", "", "The Tyrant of the Chersonese", " Was Freedom's best and bravest friend;", "_That_ tyrant was Miltiades!", " Oh! that the present hour would lend", "Another despot of the kind!", "Such chains as his were sure to bind.", "", "Fill high the bowl with Samian wine!", " On Suli's rock, and Parga's shore,", "Exists the remnant of a line", " Such as the Doric mothers bore;", "And there, perhaps, some seed is sown,", "The Heracleidan blood might own.", "", "Trust not for freedom to the Franks--", " They have a king who buys and sells;", "In native swords, and native ranks,", " The only hope of courage dwells;", "But Turkish force, and Latin fraud,", "Would break your shield, however broad.", "", "Fill high the bowl with Samian wine!", " Our virgins dance beneath the shade--", "I see their glorious black eyes shine;", " But gazing on each glowing maid,", "My own the burning tear-drop laves,", "To think such breasts must suckle slaves.", "", "Place me on Sunium's marbled steep,", " Where nothing, save the waves and I,", "May hear our mutual murmurs sweep;", " There, swan-like, let me sing and die:", "A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine--", "Dash down yon cup of Samian wine!", "", "Thus sung, or would, or could, or should have sung,", " The modern Greek, in tolerable verse;", "If not like Orpheus quite, when Greece was young,", " Yet in these times he might have done much worse:", "His strain displayed some feeling--right or wrong;", " And feeling, in a poet, is the source", "Of others' feeling; but they are such liars,", "And take all colours--like the hands of dyers.", "", "But words are things, and a small drop of ink,", " Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces", "That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think;", " 'T is strange, the shortest letter which man uses", "Instead of speech, may form a lasting link", " Of ages; to what straits old Time reduces", "Frail man, when paper--even a rag like this,", "Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his!", "", "And when his bones are dust, his grave a blank,", " His station, generation, even his nation,", "Become a thing, or nothing, save to rank", " In chronological commemoration,", "Some dull MS. Oblivion long has sank,", " Or graven stone found in a barrack's station", "In digging the foundation of a closet,", "May turn his name up, as a rare deposit.", "", "And Glory long has made the sages smile;", " 'T is something, nothing, words, illusion, wind--", "Depending more upon the historian's style", " Than on the name a person leaves behind:", "Troy owes to Homer what whist owes to Hoyle:", " The present century was growing blind", "To the great Marlborough's skill in giving knocks,", "Until his late Life by Archdeacon Coxe.", "", "Milton's the Prince of poets--so we say;", " A little heavy, but no less divine:", "An independent being in his day--", " Learned, pious, temperate in love and wine;", "But, his life falling into Johnson's way,", " We're told this great High Priest of all the Nine", "Was whipped at college--a harsh sire--odd spouse,", "For the first Mrs. Milton left his house.", "", "All these are, _certes_, entertaining facts,", " Like Shakespeare's stealing deer, Lord Bacon's bribes;", "Like Titus' youth, and Cæsar's earliest acts;", " Like Burns (whom Doctor Currie well describes);", "Like Cromwell's pranks;--but although Truth exacts", " These amiable descriptions from the scribes,", "As most essential to their Hero's story,", "They do not much contribute to his glory.", "", "All are not moralists, like Southey, when", " He prated to the world of \"Pantisocracy;\"", "Or Wordsworth unexcised, unhired, who then", " Seasoned his pedlar poems with Democracy;", "Or Coleridge long before his flighty pen", " Let to the Morning Post its aristocracy;", "When he and Southey, following the same path,", "Espoused two partners (milliners of Bath).", "", "Such names at present cut a convict figure,", " The very Botany Bay in moral geography;", "Their loyal treason, renegado rigour,", " Are good manure for their more bare biography;", "Wordsworth's last quarto, by the way, is bigger", " Than any since the birthday of typography;", "A drowsy, frowzy poem, called the \"Excursion,\"", "Writ in a manner which is my aversion.", "", "He there builds up a formidable dyke", " Between his own and others' intellect;", "But Wordsworth's poem, and his followers, like", " Joanna Southcote's Shiloh and her sect,", "Are things which in this century don't strike", " The public mind,--so few are the elect;", "And the new births of both their stale Virginities", "Have proved but Dropsies, taken for Divinities.", "", "But let me to my story: I must own,", " If I have any fault, it is digression,", "Leaving my people to proceed alone,", " While I soliloquize beyond expression:", "But these are my addresses from the throne,", " Which put off business to the ensuing session:", "Forgetting each omission is a loss to", "The world, not quite so great as Ariosto.", "", "I know that what our neighbours call _\"longueurs,\"_", " (We've not so good a _word_, but have the _thing_,", "In that complete perfection which insures", " An epic from Bob Southey every spring--)", "Form not the true temptation which allures", " The reader; but 't would not be hard to bring", "Some fine examples of the _Epopée_,", "To prove its grand ingredient is _Ennui_.", "", "We learn from Horace, \"Homer sometimes sleeps;\"", " We feel without him,--Wordsworth sometimes wakes,--", "To show with what complacency he creeps,", " With his dear \"_Waggoners_,\" around his lakes.", "He wishes for \"a boat\" to sail the deeps--", " Of Ocean?--No, of air; and then he makes", "Another outcry for \"a little boat,\"", "And drivels seas to set it well afloat.", "", "If he must fain sweep o'er the ethereal plain,", " And Pegasus runs restive in his \"Waggon,\"", "Could he not beg the loan of Charles's Wain?", " Or pray Medea for a single dragon?", "Or if, too classic for his vulgar brain,", " He feared his neck to venture such a nag on,", "And he must needs mount nearer to the moon,", "Could not the blockhead ask for a balloon?", "", "\"Pedlars,\" and \"Boats,\" and \"Waggons!\" Oh! ye shades", " Of Pope and Dryden, are we come to this?", "That trash of such sort not alone evades", " Contempt, but from the bathos' vast abyss", "Floats scumlike uppermost, and these Jack Cades", " Of sense and song above your graves may hiss--", "The \"little boatman\" and his _Peter Bell_", "Can sneer at him who drew \"Achitophel!\"", "", "T' our tale.--The feast was over, the slaves gone,", " The dwarfs and dancing girls had all retired;", "The Arab lore and Poet's song were done,", " And every sound of revelry expired;", "The lady and her lover, left alone,", " The rosy flood of Twilight's sky admired;--", "Ave Maria! o'er the earth and sea,", "That heavenliest hour of Heaven is worthiest thee!", "", "Ave Maria! blesséd be the hour!", " The time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft", "Have felt that moment in its fullest power", " Sink o'er the earth--so beautiful and soft--", "While swung the deep bell in the distant tower,", " Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft,", "And not a breath crept through the rosy air,", "And yet the forest leaves seemed stirred with prayer.", "", "Ave Maria! 't is the hour of prayer!", " Ave Maria! 't is the hour of Love!", "Ave Maria! may our spirits dare", " Look up to thine and to thy Son's above!", "Ave Maria! oh that face so fair!", " Those downcast eyes beneath the Almighty Dove--", "What though 't is but a pictured image?--strike--", "That painting is no idol,--'t is too like.", "", "Some kinder casuists are pleased to say,", " In nameless print--that I have no devotion;", "But set those persons down with me to pray,", " And you shall see who has the properest notion", "Of getting into Heaven the shortest way;", " My altars are the mountains and the Ocean,", "Earth--air--stars,--all that springs from the great Whole,", "Who hath produced, and will receive the Soul.", "", "Sweet Hour of Twilight!--in the solitude", " Of the pine forest, and the silent shore", "Which bounds Ravenna's immemorial wood,", " Rooted where once the Adrian wave flowed o'er,", "To where the last Cæsarean fortress stood,", " Evergreen forest! which Boccaccio's lore", "And Dryden's lay made haunted ground to me,", "How have I loved the twilight hour and thee!", "", "The shrill cicalas, people of the pine,", " Making their summer lives one ceaseless song,", "Were the sole echoes, save my steed's and mine,", " And Vesper bell's that rose the boughs along;", "The spectre huntsman of Onesti's line,", " His hell-dogs, and their chase, and the fair throng", "Which learned from this example not to fly", "From a true lover,--shadowed my mind's eye.", "", "Oh, Hesperus! thou bringest all good things--", " Home to the weary, to the hungry cheer,", "To the young bird the parent's brooding wings,", " The welcome stall to the o'erlaboured steer;", "Whate'er of peace about our hearthstone clings,", " Whate'er our household gods protect of dear,", "Are gathered round us by thy look of rest;", "Thou bring'st the child, too, to the mother's breast.", "", "Soft Hour! which wakes the wish and melts the heart", " Of those who sail the seas, on the first day", "When they from their sweet friends are torn apart;", " Or fills with love the pilgrim on his way", "As the far bell of Vesper makes him start,", " Seeming to weep the dying day's decay;", "Is this a fancy which our reason scorns?", "Ah! surely Nothing dies but Something mourns!", "", "When Nero perished by the justest doom", " Which ever the Destroyer yet destroyed,", "Amidst the roar of liberated Rome,", " Of nations freed, and the world overjoyed,", "Some hands unseen strewed flowers upon his tomb:", " Perhaps the weakness of a heart not void", "Of feeling for some kindness done, when Power", "Had left the wretch an uncorrupted hour.", "", "But I'm digressing; what on earth has Nero,", " Or any such like sovereign buffoons,", "To do with the transactions of my hero,", " More than such madmen's fellow man--the moon's?", "Sure my invention must be down at zero,", " And I grown one of many \"Wooden Spoons\"", "Of verse, (the name with which we Cantabs please", "To dub the last of honours in degrees).", "", "I feel this tediousness will never do--", " T' is being _too_ epic, and I must cut down", "(In copying) this long canto into two;", " They'll never find it out, unless I own", "The fact, excepting some experienced few;", " And then as an improvement 't will be shown:", "I'll prove that such the opinion of the critic is", "From Aristotle _passim_.--See ΠΟΙΗΤΙΚΗΣ.", "", "CANTO THE FOURTH.", "", "NOTHING so difficult as a beginning", " In poesy, unless perhaps the end;", "For oftentimes when Pegasus seems winning", " The race, he sprains a wing, and down we tend,", "Like Lucifer when hurled from Heaven for sinning;", " Our sin the same, and hard as his to mend,", "Being Pride, which leads the mind to soar too far,", "Till our own weakness shows us what we are.", "", "But Time, which brings all beings to their level,", " And sharp Adversity, will teach at last", "Man,--and, as we would hope,--perhaps the Devil,", " That neither of their intellects are vast:", "While Youth's hot wishes in our red veins revel,", " We know not this--the blood flows on too fast;", "But as the torrent widens towards the Ocean,", "We ponder deeply on each past emotion.", "", "As boy, I thought myself a clever fellow,", " And wished that others held the same opinion;", "They took it up when my days grew more mellow,", " And other minds acknowledged my dominion:", "Now my sere Fancy \"falls into the yellow", " Leaf,\" and Imagination droops her pinion,", "And the sad truth which hovers o'er my desk", "Turns what was once romantic to burlesque.", "", "And if I laugh at any mortal thing,", " 'T is that I may not weep; and if I weep,", "'T is that our nature cannot always bring", " Itself to apathy, for we must steep", "Our hearts first in the depths of Lethe's spring,", " Ere what we least wish to behold will sleep:", "Thetis baptized her mortal son in Styx;", "A mortal mother would on Lethe fix.", "", "Some have accused me of a strange design", " Against the creed and morals of the land,", "And trace it in this poem every line:", " I don't pretend that I quite understand", "My own meaning when I would be _very_ fine;", " But the fact is that I have nothing planned,", "Unless it were to be a moment merry--", "A novel word in my vocabulary.", "", "To the kind reader of our sober clime", " This way of writing will appear exotic;", "Pulci was sire of the half-serious rhyme,", " Who sang when Chivalry was more quixotic,", "And revelled in the fancies of the time,", " True Knights, chaste Dames, huge Giants, Kings despotic;", "But all these, save the last, being obsolete,", "I chose a modern subject as more meet.", "", "How I have treated it, I do not know;", " Perhaps no better than _they_ have treated me,", "Who have imputed such designs as show", " Not what they saw, but what they wished to see:", "But if it gives them pleasure, be it so;", " This is a liberal age, and thoughts are free:", "Meantime Apollo plucks me by the ear,", "And tells me to resume my story here.", "", "Young Juan and his lady-love were left", " To their own hearts' most sweet society;", "Even Time the pitiless in sorrow cleft", " With his rude scythe such gentle bosoms; he", "Sighed to behold them of their hours bereft,", " Though foe to Love; and yet they could not be", "Meant to grow old, but die in happy Spring,", "Before one charm or hope had taken wing.", "", "Their faces were not made for wrinkles, their", " Pure blood to stagnate, their great hearts to fail;", "The blank grey was not made to blast their hair,", " But like the climes that know nor snow nor hail,", "They were all summer; lightning might assail", " And shiver them to ashes, but to trail", "A long and snake-like life of dull decay", "Was not for them--they had too little clay.", "", "They were alone once more; for them to be", " Thus was another Eden; they were never", "Weary, unless when separate: the tree", " Cut from its forest root of years--the river", "Dammed from its fountain--the child from the knee", " And breast maternal weaned at once for ever,--", "Would wither less than these two torn apart;", "Alas! there is no instinct like the Heart--", "", "The Heart--which may be broken: happy they!", " Thrice fortunate! who of that fragile mould,", "The precious porcelain of human clay,", " Break with the first fall: they can ne'er behold", "The long year linked with heavy day on day,", " And all which must be borne, and never told;", "While Life's strange principle will often lie", "Deepest in those who long the most to die.", "", "\"Whom the gods love die young,\" was said of yore,", " And many deaths do they escape by this:", "The death of friends, and that which slays even more--", " The death of Friendship, Love, Youth, all that is,", "Except mere breath; and since the silent shore", " Awaits at last even those who longest miss", "The old Archer's shafts, perhaps the early grave", "Which men weep over may be meant to save.", "", "Haidée and Juan thought not of the dead--", " The Heavens, and Earth, and Air, seemed made for them:", "They found no fault with Time, save that he fled;", " They saw not in themselves aught to condemn:", "Each was the other's mirror, and but read", " Joy sparkling in their dark eyes like a gem.", "And knew such brightness was but the reflection", "Of their exchanging glances of affection.", "", "The gentle pressure, and the thrilling touch,", " The least glance better understood than words,", "Which still said all, and ne'er could say too much;", " A language, too, but like to that of birds,", "Known but to them, at least appearing such", " As but to lovers a true sense affords;", "Sweet playful phrases, which would seem absurd", "To those who have ceased to hear such, or ne'er heard--", "", "All these were theirs, for they were children still,", " And children still they should have ever been;", "They were not made in the real world to fill", " A busy character in the dull scene,", "But like two beings born from out a rill,", " A Nymph and her belovéd, all unseen", "To pass their lives in fountains and on flowers,", "And never know the weight of human hours.", "", "Moons changing had rolled on, and changeless found", " Those their bright rise had lighted to such joys", "As rarely they beheld throughout their round;", " And these were not of the vain kind which cloys,", "For theirs were buoyant spirits, never bound", " By the mere senses; and that which destroys", "Most love--possession--unto them appeared", "A thing which each endearment more endeared.", "", "Oh beautiful! and rare as beautiful!", " But theirs was Love in which the Mind delights", "To lose itself, when the old world grows dull,", " And we are sick of its hack sounds and sights,", "Intrigues, adventures of the common school,", " Its petty passions, marriages, and flights,", "Where Hymen's torch but brands one strumpet more,", "Whose husband only knows her not a whore.", "", "Hard words--harsh truth! a truth which many know.", " Enough.--The faithful and the fairy pair,", "Who never found a single hour too slow,", " What was it made them thus exempt from care?", "Young innate feelings all have felt below,", " Which perish in the rest, but in them were", "Inherent--what we mortals call romantic,", "And always envy, though we deem it frantic.", "", "This is in others a factitious state,", " An opium dream of too much youth and reading,", "But was in them their nature or their fate:", " No novels e'er had set their young hearts bleeding,", "For Haidée's knowledge was by no means great,", " And Juan was a boy of saintly breeding;", "So that there was no reason for their loves", "More than for those of nightingales or doves.", "", "They gazed upon the sunset; 't is an hour", " Dear unto all, but dearest to _their_ eyes,", "For it had made them what they were: the power", " Of Love had first o'erwhelmed them from such skies,", "When Happiness had been their only dower,", " And Twilight saw them linked in Passion's ties;", "Charmed with each other, all things charmed that brought", "The past still welcome as the present thought.", "", "I know not why, but in that hour to-night,", " Even as they gazed, a sudden tremor came,", "And swept, as 't were, across their hearts' delight,", " Like the wind o'er a harp-string, or a flame,", "When one is shook in sound, and one in sight:", " And thus some boding flashed through either frame,", "And called from Juan's breast a faint low sigh,", "While one new tear arose in Haidée's eye.", "", "That large black prophet eye seemed to dilate", " And follow far the disappearing sun,", "As if their last day of a happy date", " With his broad, bright, and dropping orb were gone;", "Juan gazed on her as to ask his fate--", " He felt a grief, but knowing cause for none,", "His glance inquired of hers for some excuse", "For feelings causeless, or at least abstruse.", "", "She turned to him, and smiled, but in that sort", " Which makes not others smile; then turned aside:", "Whatever feeling shook her, it seemed short,", " And mastered by her wisdom or her pride;", "When Juan spoke, too--it might be in sport--", " Of this their mutual feeling, she replied--", "\"If it should be so,--but--it cannot be--", "Or I at least shall not survive to see.\"", "", "Juan would question further, but she pressed", " His lip to hers, and silenced him with this,", "And then dismissed the omen from her breast,", " Defying augury with that fond kiss;", "And no doubt of all methods 't is the best:", " Some people prefer wine--'t is not amiss;", "I have tried both--so those who would a part take", "May choose between the headache and the heartache.", "", "One of the two, according to your choice,", " Woman or wine, you'll have to undergo;", "Both maladies are taxes on our joys:", " But which to choose, I really hardly know;", "And if I had to give a casting voice,", " For both sides I could many reasons show,", "And then decide, without great wrong to either,", "It were much better to have both than neither.", "", "Juan and Haidée gazed upon each other", " With swimming looks of speechless tenderness,", "Which mixed all feelings--friend, child, lover, brother--", " All that the best can mingle and express", "When two pure hearts are poured in one another,", " And love too much, and yet can not love less;", "But almost sanctify the sweet excess", "By the immortal wish and power to bless.", "", "Mixed in each other's arms, and heart in heart,", " Why did they not then die?--they had lived too long", "Should an hour come to bid them breathe apart;", " Years could but bring them cruel things or wrong;", "The World was not for them--nor the World's art", " For beings passionate as Sappho's song;", "Love was born _with_ them, _in_ them, so intense,", "It was their very Spirit--not a sense.", "", "They should have lived together deep in woods,", " Unseen as sings the nightingale; they were", "Unfit to mix in these thick solitudes", " Called social, haunts of Hate, and Vice, and Care:", "How lonely every freeborn creature broods!", " The sweetest song-birds nestle in a pair;", "The eagle soars alone; the gull and crow", "Flock o'er their carrion, just like men below.", "", "Now pillowed cheek to cheek, in loving sleep,", " Haidée and Juan their siesta took,", "A gentle slumber, but it was not deep,", " For ever and anon a something shook", "Juan, and shuddering o'er his frame would creep;", " And Haidée's sweet lips murmured like a brook", "A wordless music, and her face so fair", "Stirred with her dream, as rose-leaves with the air.", "", "Or as the stirring of a deep clear stream", " Within an Alpine hollow, when the wind", "Walks o'er it, was she shaken by the dream,", " The mystical Usurper of the mind--", "O'erpowering us to be whate'er may seem", " Good to the soul which we no more can bind;", "Strange state of being! (for 't is still to be)", "Senseless to feel, and with sealed eyes to see.", "", "She dreamed of being alone on the sea-shore,", " Chained to a rock; she knew not how, but stir", "She could not from the spot, and the loud roar", " Grew, and each wave rose roughly, threatening her;", "And o'er her upper lip they seemed to pour,", " Until she sobbed for breath, and soon they were", "Foaming o'er her lone head, so fierce and high--", "Each broke to drown her, yet she could not die.", "", "Anon--she was released, and then she strayed", " O'er the sharp shingles with her bleeding feet,", "And stumbled almost every step she made:", " And something rolled before her in a sheet,", "Which she must still pursue howe'er afraid:", " 'T was white and indistinct, nor stopped to meet", "Her glance nor grasp, for still she gazed and grasped,", "And ran, but it escaped her as she clasped.", "", "The dream changed:--in a cave she stood, its walls", " Were hung with marble icicles; the work", "Of ages on its water-fretted halls,", " Where waves might wash, and seals might breed and lurk;", "Her hair was dripping, and the very balls", " Of her black eyes seemed turned to tears, and mirk", "The sharp rocks looked below each drop they caught,", "Which froze to marble as it fell,--she thought.", "", "And wet, and cold, and lifeless at her feet,", " Pale as the foam that frothed on his dead brow,", "Which she essayed in vain to clear, (how sweet", " Were once her cares, how idle seemed they now!)", "Lay Juan, nor could aught renew the beat", " Of his quenched heart: and the sea dirges low", "Rang in her sad ears like a Mermaid's song,", "And that brief dream appeared a life too long.", "", "And gazing on the dead, she thought his face", " Faded, or altered into something new--", "Like to her Father's features, till each trace", " More like and like to Lambro's aspect grew--", "With all his keen worn look and Grecian grace;", " And starting, she awoke, and what to view?", "Oh! Powers of Heaven! what dark eye meets she there?", "'T is--'t is her Father's--fixed upon the pair!", "", "Then shrieking, she arose, and shrieking fell,", " With joy and sorrow, hope and fear, to see", "Him whom she deemed a habitant where dwell", " The ocean-buried, risen from death, to be", "Perchance the death of one she loved too well:", " Dear as her father had been to Haidée,", "It was a moment of that awful kind--", "I have seen such--but must not call to mind.", "", "Up Juan sprang to Haidée's bitter shriek,", " And caught her falling, and from off the wall", "Snatched down his sabre, in hot haste to wreak", " Vengeance on him who was the cause of all:", "Then Lambro, who till now forbore to speak,", " Smiled scornfully, and said, \"Within my call,", "A thousand scimitars await the word;", "Put up, young man, put up your silly sword.\"", "", "And Haidée clung around him; \"Juan, 't is--", " 'T is Lambro--'t is my father! Kneel with me--", "He will forgive us--yes--it must be--yes.", " Oh! dearest father, in this agony", "Of pleasure and of pain--even while I kiss", " Thy garment's hem with transport, can it be", "That doubt should mingle with my filial joy?", "Deal with me as thou wilt, but spare this boy.\"", "", "High and inscrutable the old man stood,", " Calm in his voice, and calm within his eye--", "Not always signs with him of calmest mood:", " He looked upon her, but gave no reply;", "Then turned to Juan, in whose cheek the blood", " Oft came and went, as there resolved to die;", "In arms, at least, he stood, in act to spring", "On the first foe whom Lambro's call might bring.", "", "\"Young man, your sword;\" so Lambro once more said:", " Juan replied, \"Not while this arm is free.\"", "The old man's cheek grew pale, but not with dread,", " And drawing from his belt a pistol he", "Replied, \"Your blood be then on your own head.\"", " Then looked close at the flint, as if to see", "'T was fresh--for he had lately used the lock--", "And next proceeded quietly to cock.", "", "It has a strange quick jar upon the ear,", " That cocking of a pistol, when you know", "A moment more will bring the sight to bear", " Upon your person, twelve yards off, or so;", "A gentlemanly distance, not too near,", " If you have got a former friend for foe;", "But after being fired at once or twice,", "The ear becomes more Irish, and less nice.", "", "Lambro presented, and one instant more", " Had stopped this Canto, and Don Juan's breath,", "When Haidée threw herself her boy before;", " Stern as her sire: \"On me,\" she cried, \"let Death", "Descend--the fault is mine; this fatal shore", " He found--but sought not. I have pledged my faith;", "I love him--I will die with him: I knew", "Your nature's firmness--know your daughter's too.\"", "", "A minute past, and she had been all tears,", " And tenderness, and infancy; but now", "She stood as one who championed human fears--", " Pale, statue-like, and stern, she wooed the blow;", "And tall beyond her sex, and their compeers,", " She drew up to her height, as if to show", "A fairer mark; and with a fixed eye scanned", "Her Father's face--but never stopped his hand.", "", "He gazed on her, and she on him; 't was strange", " How like they looked! the expression was the same;", "Serenely savage, with a little change", " In the large dark eye's mutual--darted flame;", "For she, too, was as one who could avenge,", " If cause should be--a Lioness, though tame.", "Her Father's blood before her Father's face", "Boiled up, and proved her truly of his race.", "", "I said they were alike, their features and", " Their stature, differing but in sex and years;", "Even to the delicacy of their hand", " There was resemblance, such as true blood wears;", "And now to see them, thus divided, stand", " In fixed ferocity, when joyous tears", "And sweet sensations should have welcomed both,", "Shows what the passions are in their full growth.", "", "The father paused a moment, then withdrew", " His weapon, and replaced it; but stood still,", "And looking on her, as to look her through,", " \"Not _I_,\" he said, \"have sought this stranger's ill;", "Not _I_ have made this desolation: few", " Would bear such outrage, and forbear to kill;", "But I must do my duty--how thou hast", "Done thine, the present vouches for the past.", "", "\"Let him disarm; or, by my father's head,", " His own shall roll before you like a ball!\"", "He raised his whistle, as the word he said,", " And blew; another answered to the call,", "And rushing in disorderly, though led,", " And armed from boot to turban, one and all,", "Some twenty of his train came, rank on rank;", "He gave the word,--\"Arrest or slay the Frank.\"", "", "Then, with a sudden movement, he withdrew", " His daughter; while compressed within his clasp,", "Twixt her and Juan interposed the crew;", " In vain she struggled in her father's grasp--", "His arms were like a serpent's coil: then flew", " Upon their prey, as darts an angry asp,", "The file of pirates--save the foremost, who", "Had fallen, with his right shoulder half cut through.", "", "The second had his cheek laid open; but", " The third, a wary, cool old sworder, took", "The blows upon his cutlass, and then put", " His own well in; so well, ere you could look,", "His man was floored, and helpless at his foot,", " With the blood running like a little brook", "From two smart sabre gashes, deep and red--", "One on the arm, the other on the head.", "", "And then they bound him where he fell, and bore", " Juan from the apartment: with a sign", "Old Lambro bade them take him to the shore,", " Where lay some ships which were to sail at nine.", "They laid him in a boat, and plied the oar", " Until they reached some galliots, placed in line;", "On board of one of these, and under hatches,", "They stowed him, with strict orders to the watches.", "", "The world is full of strange vicissitudes,", " And here was one exceedingly unpleasant:", "A gentleman so rich in the world's goods,", " Handsome and young, enjoying all the present,", "Just at the very time when he least broods", " On such a thing, is suddenly to sea sent,", "Wounded and chained, so that he cannot move,", "And all because a lady fell in love.", "", "Here I must leave him, for I grow pathetic,", " Moved by the Chinese nymph of tears, green tea!", "Than whom Cassandra was not more prophetic;", " For if my pure libations exceed three,", "I feel my heart become so sympathetic,", " That I must have recourse to black Bohea:", "'T is pity wine should be so deleterious,", "For tea and coffee leave us much more serious,", "", "Unless when qualified with thee, Cogniac!", " Sweet Naïad of the Phlegethontic rill!", "Ah! why the liver wilt thou thus attack,--", " And make, like other nymphs, thy lovers ill?", "I would take refuge in weak punch, but _rack_", " (In each sense of the word), whene'er I fill", "My mild and midnight beakers to the brim,", "Wakes me next morning with its synonym.", "", "I leave Don Juan for the present, safe--", " Not sound, poor fellow, but severely wounded;", "Yet could his corporal pangs amount to half", " Of those with which his Haidée's bosom bounded?", "She was not one to weep, and rave, and chafe,", " And then give way, subdued because surrounded;", "Her mother was a Moorish maid from Fez,", "Where all is Eden, or a wilderness.", "", "There the large olive rains its amber store", " In marble fonts; there grain, and flower, and fruit,", "Gush from the earth until the land runs o'er;", " But there, too, many a poison-tree has root,", "And Midnight listens to the lion's roar,", " And long, long deserts scorch the camel's foot,", "Or heaving whelm the helpless caravan;", "And as the soil is, so the heart of man.", "", "Afric is all the Sun's, and as her earth", " Her human clay is kindled; full of power", "For good or evil, burning from its birth,", " The Moorish blood partakes the planet's hour,", "And like the soil beneath it will bring forth:", " Beauty and love were Haidée's mother's dower;", "But her large dark eye showed deep Passion's force,", "Though sleeping like a lion near a source.", "", "Her daughter, tempered with a milder ray,", " Like summer clouds all silvery, smooth, and fair,", "Till slowly charged with thunder they display", " Terror to earth, and tempest to the air,", "Had held till now her soft and milky way;", " But overwrought with Passion and Despair,", "The fire burst forth from her Numidian veins,", "Even as the Simoom sweeps the blasted plains.", "", "The last sight which she saw was Juan's gore,", " And he himself o'ermastered and cut down;", "His blood was running on the very floor", " Where late he trod, her beautiful, her own;", "Thus much she viewed an instant and no more,--", " Her struggles ceased with one convulsive groan;", "On her Sire's arm, which until now scarce held", "Her writhing, fell she like a cedar felled.", "", "A vein had burst, and her sweet lips' pure dyes", " Were dabbled with the deep blood which ran o'er;", "And her head drooped, as when the lily lies", " O'ercharged with rain: her summoned handmaids bore", "Their lady to her couch with gushing eyes;", " Of herbs and cordials they produced their store,", "But she defied all means they could employ,", "Like one Life could not hold, nor Death destroy.", "", "Days lay she in that state unchanged, though chill--", " With nothing livid, still her lips were red;", "She had no pulse, but Death seemed absent still;", " No hideous sign proclaimed her surely dead;", "Corruption came not in each mind to kill", " All hope; to look upon her sweet face bred", "New thoughts of Life, for it seemed full of soul--", "She had so much, Earth could not claim the whole.", "", "The ruling passion, such as marble shows", " When exquisitely chiselled, still lay there,", "But fixed as marble's unchanged aspect throws", " O'er the fair Venus, but for ever fair;", "O'er the Laocoon's all eternal throes,", " And ever-dying Gladiator's air,", "Their energy like life forms all their fame,", "Yet looks not life, for they are still the same.--", "", "She woke at length, but not as sleepers wake,", " Rather the dead, for Life seemed something new,", "A strange sensation which she must partake", " Perforce, since whatsoever met her view", "Struck not on memory, though a heavy ache", " Lay at her heart, whose earliest beat still true", "Brought back the sense of pain without the cause,", "For, for a while, the Furies made a pause.", "", "She looked on many a face with vacant eye,", " On many a token without knowing what:", "She saw them watch her without asking why,", " And recked not who around her pillow sat;", "Not speechless, though she spoke not--not a sigh", " Relieved her thoughts--dull silence and quick chat", "Were tried in vain by those who served; she gave", "No sign, save breath, of having left the grave.", "", "Her handmaids tended, but she heeded not;", " Her Father watched, she turned her eyes away;", "She recognised no being, and no spot,", " However dear or cherished in their day;", "They changed from room to room--but all forgot--", " Gentle, but without memory she lay;", "At length those eyes, which they would fain be weaning", "Back to old thoughts, waxed full of fearful meaning.", "", "And then a slave bethought her of a harp;", " The harper came, and tuned his instrument;", "At the first notes, irregular and sharp,", " On him her flashing eyes a moment bent,", "Then to the wall she turned as if to warp", " Her thoughts from sorrow through her heart re-sent;", "And he began a long low island-song", "Of ancient days, ere Tyranny grew strong.", "", "Anon her thin wan fingers beat the wall", " In time to his old tune: he changed the theme,", "And sung of Love; the fierce name struck through all", " Her recollection; on her flashed the dream", "Of what she was, and is, if ye could call", " To be so being; in a gushing stream", "The tears rushed forth from her o'erclouded brain,", "Like mountain mists at length dissolved in rain.", "", "Short solace, vain relief!--Thought came too quick,", " And whirled her brain to madness; she arose", "As one who ne'er had dwelt among the sick,", " And flew at all she met, as on her foes;", "But no one ever heard her speak or shriek,", " Although her paroxysm drew towards its close;--", "Hers was a frenzy which disdained to rave,", "Even when they smote her, in the hope to save.", "", "Yet she betrayed at times a gleam of sense;", " Nothing could make her meet her Father's face,", "Though on all other things with looks intense", " She gazed, but none she ever could retrace;", "Food she refused, and raiment; no pretence", " Availed for either; neither change of place,", "Nor time, nor skill, nor remedy, could give her", "Senses to sleep--the power seemed gone for ever.", "", "Twelve days and nights she withered thus; at last,", " Without a groan, or sigh, or glance, to show", "A parting pang, the spirit from her passed:", " And they who watched her nearest could not know", "The very instant, till the change that cast", " Her sweet face into shadow, dull and slow,", "Glazed o'er her eyes--the beautiful, the black--", "Oh! to possess such lustre--and then lack!", "", "She died, but not alone; she held, within,", " A second principle of Life, which might", "Have dawned a fair and sinless child of sin;", " But closed its little being without light,", "And went down to the grave unborn, wherein", " Blossom and bough lie withered with one blight;", "In vain the dews of Heaven descend above", "The bleeding flower and blasted fruit of Love.", "", "Thus lived--thus died she; never more on her", " Shall Sorrow light, or Shame. She was not made", "Through years or moons the inner weight to bear,", " Which colder hearts endure till they are laid", "By age in earth: her days and pleasures were", " Brief, but delightful--such as had not staid", "Long with her destiny; but she sleeps well", "By the sea-shore, whereon she loved to dwell.", "", "That isle is now all desolate and bare,", " Its dwellings down, its tenants passed away;", "None but her own and Father's grave is there,", " And nothing outward tells of human clay;", "Ye could not know where lies a thing so fair,", " No stone is there to show, no tongue to say,", "What was; no dirge, except the hollow sea's,", "Mourns o'er the beauty of the Cyclades.", "", "But many a Greek maid in a loving song", " Sighs o'er her name; and many an islander", "With her Sire's story makes the night less long;", " Valour was his, and Beauty dwelt with her:", "If she loved rashly, her life paid for wrong--", " A heavy price must all pay who thus err,", "In some shape; let none think to fly the danger,", "For soon or late Love is his own avenger.", "", "But let me change this theme, which grows too sad,", " And lay this sheet of sorrows on the shelf;", "I don't much like describing people mad,", " For fear of seeming rather touched myself--", "Besides, I've no more on this head to add;", " And as my Muse is a capricious elf,", "We'll put about, and try another tack", "With Juan, left half-killed some stanzas back.", "", "Wounded and fettered, \"cabined, cribbed, confined,\"", " Some days and nights elapsed before that he", "Could altogether call the past to mind;", " And when he did, he found himself at sea,", "Sailing six knots an hour before the wind;", " The shores of Ilion lay beneath their lee--", "Another time he might have liked to see 'em,", "But now was not much pleased with Cape Sigeum.", "", "There, on the green and village-cotted hill, is", " (Flanked by the Hellespont, and by the sea)", "Entombed the bravest of the brave, Achilles;", " They say so--(Bryant says the contrary):", "And further downward, tall and towering still, is", " The tumulus--of whom? Heaven knows! 't may be", "Patroclus, Ajax, or Protesilaus--", "All heroes, who if living still would slay us.", "", "High barrows, without marble, or a name,", " A vast, untilled, and mountain-skirted plain,", "And Ida in the distance, still the same,", " And old Scamander (if 't is he) remain;", "The situation seems still formed for fame--", " A hundred thousand men might fight again,", "With ease; but where I sought for Ilion's walls,", "The quiet sheep feeds, and the tortoise crawls;", "", "Troops of untended horses; here and there", " Some little hamlets, with new names uncouth;", "Some shepherds (unlike Paris) led to stare", " A moment at the European youth", "Whom to the spot their school-boy feelings bear;", " A Turk, with beads in hand, and pipe in mouth,", "Extremely taken with his own religion,", "Are what I found there--but the devil a Phrygian.", "", "Don Juan, here permitted to emerge", " From his dull cabin, found himself a slave;", "Forlorn, and gazing on the deep blue surge,", " O'ershadowed there by many a Hero's grave;", "Weak still with loss of blood, he scarce could urge", " A few brief questions; and the answers gave", "No very satisfactory information", "About his past or present situation.", "", "He saw some fellow captives, who appeared", " To be Italians (as they were in fact)--", "From them, at least, _their_ destiny he heard,", " Which was an odd one; a troop going to act", "In Sicily--all singers, duly reared", " In their vocation, had not been attacked", "In sailing from Livorno by the pirate,", "But sold by the _impresario_ at no high rate.", "", "By one of these, the _buffo_ of the party,", " Juan was told about their curious case;", "For although destined to the Turkish mart, he", " Still kept his spirits up--at least his face;", "The little fellow really looked quite hearty,", " And bore him with some gaiety and grace,", "Showing a much more reconciled demeanour,", "Than did the prima donna and the tenor.", "", "In a few words he told their hapless story,", " Saying, \"Our Machiavelian _impresario_,", "Making a signal off some promontory,", " Hailed a strange brig--_Corpo di Caio Mario!_", "We were transferred on board her in a hurry,", " Without a single scudo of _salario_;", "But if the Sultan has a taste for song,", "We will revive our fortunes before long.", "", "\"The prima donna, though a little old,", " And haggard with a dissipated life,", "And subject, when the house is thin, to cold,", " Has some good notes; and then the tenor's wife,", "With no great voice, is pleasing to behold;", " Last carnival she made a deal of strife,", "By carrying off Count Cesare Cicogna", "From an old Roman Princess at Bologna.", "", "\"And then there are the dancers; there's the Nini,", " With more than one profession gains by all;", "Then there's that laughing slut the Pelegrini,", " She, too, was fortunate last Carnival,", "And made at least five hundred good _zecchini_,", " But spends so fast, she has not now a paul;", "And then there's the Grotesca--such a dancer!", "Where men have souls or bodies she must answer.", "", "\"As for the _figuranti_, they are like", " The rest of all that tribe; with here and there", "A pretty person, which perhaps may strike--", " The rest are hardly fitted for a fair;", "There's one, though tall and stiffer than a pike,", " Yet has a sentimental kind of air", "Which might go far, but she don't dance with vigour--", "The more's the pity, with her face and figure.", "", "\"As for the men, they are a middling set;", " The _musico_ is but a cracked old basin,", "But, being qualified in one way yet,", " May the seraglio do to set his face in,", "And as a servant some preferment get;", " His singing I no further trust can place in:", "From all the Pope makes yearly 't would perplex", "To find three perfect pipes of the _third_ sex.", "", "\"The tenor's voice is spoilt by affectation;", " And for the bass, the beast can only bellow--", "In fact, he had no singing education,", " An ignorant, noteless, timeless, tuneless fellow;", "But being the prima donna's near relation,", " Who swore his voice was very rich and mellow,", "They hired him, though to hear him you'd believe", "An ass was practising recitative.", "", "\"'T would not become myself to dwell upon", " My own merits, and though young--I see, Sir--you", "Have got a travelled air, which speaks you one", " To whom the opera is by no means new:", "You've heard of Raucocanti?--I'm the man;", " The time may come when you may hear me too;", "You was not last year at the fair of Lugo,", "But next, when I'm engaged to sing there--do go.", "", "\"Our baritone I almost had forgot,", " A pretty lad, but bursting with conceit;", "With graceful action, science not a jot,", " A voice of no great compass, and not sweet,", "He always is complaining of his lot,", " Forsooth, scarce fit for ballads in the street;", "In lovers' parts his passion more to breathe,", "Having no heart to show, he shows his teeth.\"", "", "Here Raucocanti's eloquent recital", " Was interrupted by the pirate crew,", "Who came at stated moments to invite all", " The captives back to their sad berths; each threw", "A rueful glance upon the waves, (which bright all", " From the blue skies derived a double blue,", "Dancing all free and happy in the sun,)", "And then went down the hatchway one by one.", "", "They heard next day--that in the Dardanelles,", " Waiting for his Sublimity's firman,", "The most imperative of sovereign spells,", " Which everybody does without who can,", "More to secure them in their naval cells,", " Lady to lady, well as man to man,", "Were to be chained and lotted out per couple,", "For the slave market of Constantinople.", "", "It seems when this allotment was made out,", " There chanced to be an odd male, and odd female,", "Who (after some discussion and some doubt,", " If the soprano might be deemed to be male,", "They placed him o'er the women as a scout)", " Were linked together, and it happened the male", "Was Juan,--who, an awkward thing at his age,", "Paired off with a Bacchante blooming visage.", "", "With Raucocanti lucklessly was chained", " The tenor; these two hated with a hate", "Found only on the stage, and each more pained", " With this his tuneful neighbour than his fate;", "Sad strife arose, for they were so cross-grained,", " Instead of bearing up without debate,", "That each pulled different ways with many an oath,", "\"Arcades ambo,\" _id est_--blackguards both.", "", "Juan's companion was a Romagnole,", " But bred within the march of old Ancona,", "With eyes that looked into the very soul", " (And other chief points of a _bella donna_),", "Bright--and as black and burning as a coal;", " And through her clear brunette complexion shone a", "Great wish to please--a most attractive dower,", "Especially when added to the power.", "", "But all that power was wasted upon him,", " For Sorrow o'er each sense held stern command;", "Her eye might flash on his, but found it dim:", " And though thus chained, as natural her hand", "Touched his, nor that--nor any handsome limb", " (And she had some not easy to withstand)", "Could stir his pulse, or make his faith feel brittle;", "Perhaps his recent wounds might help a little.", "", "No matter; we should ne'er too much inquire,", " But facts are facts: no Knight could be more true,", "And firmer faith no Ladye-love desire;", " We will omit the proofs, save one or two:", "'T is said no one in hand \"can hold a fire", " By thought of frosty Caucasus\"--but few,", "I really think--yet Juan's then ordeal", "Was more triumphant, and not much less real.", "", "Here I might enter on a chaste description,", " Having withstood temptation in my youth,", "But hear that several people take exception", " At the first two books having too much truth;", "Therefore I'll make Don Juan leave the ship soon,", " Because the publisher declares, in sooth,", "Through needles' eyes it easier for the camel is", "To pass, than those two cantos into families.", "", "'T is all the same to me; I'm fond of yielding,", " And therefore leave them to the purer page", "Of Smollett, Prior, Ariosto, Fielding,", " Who say strange things for so correct an age;", "I once had great alacrity in wielding", " My pen, and liked poetic war to wage,", "And recollect the time when all this cant", "Would have provoked remarks--which now it shan't.", "", "As boys love rows, my boyhood liked a squabble;", " But at this hour I wish to part in peace,", "Leaving such to the literary rabble;", " Whether my verse's fame be doomed to cease", "While the right hand which wrote it still is able,", " Or of some centuries to take a lease,", "The grass upon my grave will grow as long,", "And sigh to midnight winds, but not to song.", "", "Of poets who come down to us through distance", " Of time and tongues, the foster-babes of Fame,", "Life seems the smallest portion of existence;", " Where twenty ages gather o'er a name,", "'T is as a snowball which derives assistance", " From every flake, and yet rolls on the same,", "Even till an iceberg it may chance to grow;", "But, after all, 't is nothing but cold snow.", "", "And so great names are nothing more than nominal,", " And love of Glory's but an airy lust,", "Too often in its fury overcoming all", " Who would as 't were identify their dust", "From out the wide destruction, which, entombing all,", " Leaves nothing till \"the coming of the just\"--", "Save change: I've stood upon Achilles' tomb,", "And heard Troy doubted; Time will doubt of Rome.", "", "The very generations of the dead", " Are swept away, and tomb inherits tomb,", "Until the memory of an Age is fled,", " And, buried, sinks beneath its offspring's doom:", "Where are the epitaphs our fathers read?", " Save a few gleaned from the sepulchral gloom", "Which once-named myriads nameless lie beneath,", "And lose their own in universal Death.", "", "I canter by the spot each afternoon", " Where perished in his fame the hero-boy,", "Who lived too long for men, but died too soon", " For human vanity, the young De Foix!", "A broken pillar, not uncouthly hewn,", " But which Neglect is hastening to destroy,", "Records Ravenna's carnage on its face,", "While weeds and ordure rankle round the base.", "", "I pass each day where Dante's bones are laid:", " A little cupola, more neat than solemn,", "Protects his dust, but reverence here is paid", " To the Bard's tomb, and not the Warrior's column:", "The time must come, when both alike decayed,", " The Chieftain's trophy, and the Poet's volume,", "Will sink where lie the songs and wars of earth,", "Before Pelides' death, or Homer's birth.", "", "With human blood that column was cemented,", " With human filth that column is defiled,", "As if the peasant's coarse contempt were vented", " To show his loathing of the spot he soiled:", "Thus is the trophy used, and thus lamented", " Should ever be those blood-hounds, from whose wild", "Instinct of gore and glory Earth has known", "Those sufferings Dante saw in Hell alone.", "", "Yet there will still be bards: though Fame is smoke,", " Its fumes are frankincense to human thought;", "And the unquiet feelings, which first woke", " Song in the world, will seek what then they sought;", "As on the beach the waves at last are broke,", " Thus to their extreme verge the passions brought", "Dash into poetry, which is but Passion,", "Or, at least, was so ere it grew a fashion.", "", "If in the course of such a life as was", " At once adventurous and contemplative,", "Men who partake all passions as they pass,", " Acquire the deep and bitter power to give", "Their images again as in a glass,", " And in such colours that they seem to live;", "You may do right forbidding them to show 'em,", "But spoil (I think) a very pretty poem.", "", "Oh! ye, who make the fortunes of all books!", " Benign Ceruleans of the second sex!", "Who advertise new poems by your looks,", " Your \"Imprimatur\" will ye not annex?", "What! must I go to the oblivious cooks,", " Those Cornish plunderers of Parnassian wrecks?", "Ah! must I then the only minstrel be,", "Proscribed from tasting your Castalian tea!", "", "What! can I prove \"a lion\" then no more?", " A ball-room bard, a foolscap, hot-press darling?", "To bear the compliments of many a bore,", " And sigh, \"I can't get out,\" like Yorick's starling;", "Why then I'll swear, as poet Wordy swore", " (Because the world won't read him, always snarling),", "That Taste is gone, that Fame is but a lottery,", "Drawn by the blue-coat misses of a coterie.", "", "Oh! \"darkly, deeply, beautifully blue,\"", " As some one somewhere sings about the sky,", "And I, ye learnéd ladies, say of you;", " They say your stockings are so--(Heaven knows why,", "I have examined few pair of that hue);", " Blue as the garters which serenely lie", "Round the Patrician left-legs, which adorn", "The festal midnight, and the levee morn.", "", "Yet some of you are most seraphic creatures--", " But times are altered since, a rhyming lover,", "You read my stanzas, and I read your features:", " And--but no matter, all those things are over;", "Still I have no dislike to learnéd natures,", " For sometimes such a world of virtues cover;", "I knew one woman of that purple school,", "The loveliest, chastest, best, but--quite a fool.", "", "Humboldt, \"the first of travellers,\" but not", " The last, if late accounts be accurate,", "Invented, by some name I have forgot,", " As well as the sublime discovery's date,", "An airy instrument, with which he sought", " To ascertain the atmospheric state,", "By measuring \"the _intensity of blue:_\"", "Oh, Lady Daphne! let me measure you!", "", "But to the narrative:--The vessel bound", " With slaves to sell off in the capital,", "After the usual process, might be found", " At anchor under the seraglio wall;", "Her cargo, from the plague being safe and sound,", " Were landed in the market, one and all;", "And, there, with Georgians, Russians, and Circassians,", "Bought up for different purposes and passions.", "", "Some went off dearly; fifteen hundred dollars", " For one Circassian, a sweet girl, were given,", "Warranted virgin; Beauty's brightest colours", " Had decked her out in all the hues of heaven:", "Her sale sent home some disappointed bawlers,", " Who bade on till the hundreds reached eleven;", "But when the offer went beyond, they knew", "'T was for the Sultan, and at once withdrew.", "", "Twelve negresses from Nubia brought a price", " Which the West Indian market scarce could bring--", "Though Wilberforce, at last, has made it twice", " What 't was ere Abolition; and the thing", "Need not seem very wonderful, for Vice", " Is always much more splendid than a King:", "The Virtues, even the most exalted, Charity,", "Are saving--Vice spares nothing for a rarity.", "", "But for the destiny of this young troop,", " How some were bought by Pachas, some by Jews,", "How some to burdens were obliged to stoop,", " And others rose to the command of crews", "As renegadoes; while in hapless group,", " Hoping no very old Vizier might choose,", "The females stood, as one by one they picked 'em,", "To make a mistress, or fourth wife, or victim:", "", "All this must be reserved for further song;", " Also our Hero's lot, howe'er unpleasant", "(Because this Canto has become too long),", " Must be postponed discreetly for the present;", "I'm sensible redundancy is wrong,", " But could not for the Muse of me put less in 't:", "And now delay the progress of Don Juan,", "Till what is called in Ossian the fifth Duan.", "", "CANTO THE FIFTH.", "", "WHEN amatory poets sing their loves", " In liquid lines mellifluously bland,", "And pair their rhymes as Venus yokes her doves,", " They little think what mischief is in hand;", "The greater their success the worse it proves,", " As Ovid's verse may give to understand;", "Even Petrarch's self, if judged with due severity,", "Is the Platonic pimp of all posterity.", "", "I therefore do denounce all amorous writing,", " Except in such a way as not to attract;", "Plain--simple--short, and by no means inviting,", " But with a moral to each error tacked,", "Formed rather for instructing than delighting,", " And with all passions in their turn attacked;", "Now, if my Pegasus should not be shod ill,", "This poem will become a moral model.", "", "The European with the Asian shore", " Sprinkled with palaces--the Ocean stream", "Here and there studded with a seventy-four,", " Sophia's Cupola with golden gleam,", "The cypress groves, Olympus high and hoar,", " The twelve isles, and the more than I could dream,", "Far less describe, present the very view", "Which charmed the charming Mary Montagu.", "", "I have a passion for the name of \"Mary,\"", " For once it was a magic sound to me;", "And still it half calls up the realms of Fairy,", " Where I beheld what never was to be;", "All feelings changed, but this was last to vary,", " A spell from which even yet I am not quite free:", "But I grow sad--and let a tale grow cold,", "Which must not be pathetically told.", "", "The wind swept down the Euxine, and the wave", " Broke foaming o'er the blue Symplegades;", "'T is a grand sight from off \"the Giant's Grave\"", " To watch the progress of those rolling seas", "Between the Bosphorus, as they lash and lave", " Europe and Asia, you being quite at ease:", "There's not a sea the passenger e'er pukes in,", "Turns up more dangerous breakers than the Euxine.", "", "'T was a raw day of Autumn's bleak beginning,", " When nights are equal, but not so the days;", "The Parcæ then cut short the further spinning", " Of seamen's fates, and the loud tempests raise", "The waters, and repentance for past sinning", " In all, who o'er the great deep take their ways:", "They vow to amend their lives, and yet they don't;", "Because if drowned, they can't--if spared, they won't.", "", "A crowd of shivering slaves of every nation,", " And age, and sex, were in the market ranged;", "Each bevy with the merchant in his station:", " Poor creatures! their good looks were sadly changed.", "All save the blacks seemed jaded with vexation,", " From friends, and home, and freedom far estranged;", "The negroes more philosophy displayed,--", "Used to it, no doubt, as eels are to be flayed.", "", "Juan was juvenile, and thus was full,", " As most at his age are, of hope, and health;", "Yet I must own, he looked a little dull,", " And now and then a tear stole down by stealth;", "Perhaps his recent loss of blood might pull", " His spirit down; and then the loss of wealth,", "A mistress, and such comfortable quarters,", "To be put up for auction amongst Tartars,", "", "Were things to shake a Stoic; ne'ertheless,", " Upon the whole his carriage was serene:", "His figure, and the splendour of his dress,", " Of which some gilded remnants still were seen,", "Drew all eyes on him, giving them to guess", " He was above the vulgar by his mien;", "And then, though pale, he was so very handsome;", "And then--they calculated on his ransom.", "", "Like a backgammon board the place was dotted", " With whites and blacks, in groups on show for sale,", "Though rather more irregularly spotted:", " Some bought the jet, while others chose the pale.", "It chanced amongst the other people lotted,", " A man of thirty, rather stout and hale,", "With resolution in his dark grey eye,", "Next Juan stood, till some might choose to buy.", "", "He had an English look; that is, was square", " In make, of a complexion white and ruddy,", "Good teeth, with curling rather dark brown hair,", " And, it might be from thought, or toil, or study,", "An open brow a little marked with care:", " One arm had on a bandage rather bloody;", "And there he stood with such _sang froid,_ that greater", "Could scarce be shown even by a mere spectator.", "", "But seeing at his elbow a mere lad,", " Of a high spirit evidently, though", "At present weighed down by a doom which had", " O'erthrown even men, he soon began to show", "A kind of blunt compassion for the sad", " Lot of so young a partner in the woe,", "Which for himself he seemed to deem no worse", "Than any other scrape, a thing of course.", "", "\"My boy!\"--said he, \"amidst this motley crew", " Of Georgians, Russians, Nubians, and what not,", "All ragamuffins differing but in hue,", " With whom it is our luck to cast our lot,", "The only gentlemen seem I and you;", " So let us be acquainted, as we ought:", "If I could yield you any consolation,", "'T would give me pleasure.--Pray, what is your nation?\"", "", "When Juan answered--\"Spanish!\" he replied,", " \"I thought, in fact, you could not be a Greek;", "Those servile dogs are not so proudly eyed:", " Fortune has played you here a pretty freak,", "But that's her way with all men, till they're tried;", " But never mind,--she'll turn, perhaps, next week;", "She has served me also much the same as you,", "Except that I have found it nothing new.\"", "", "\"Pray, sir,\" said Juan, \"if I may presume,", " _What_ brought you here?\"--\"Oh! nothing very rare--", "Six Tartars and a drag-chain----\"--\"To this doom", " But what conducted, if the question 's fair,", "Is that which I would learn.\"--\"I served for some", " Months with the Russian army here and there;", "And taking lately, by Suwarrow's bidding,", "A town, was ta'en myself instead of Widdin.\"", "", "\"Have you no friends?\"--\"I had--but, by God's blessing,", " Have not been troubled with them lately. Now", "I have answered all your questions without pressing,", " And you an equal courtesy should show.\"", "\"Alas!\" said Juan, \"'t were a tale distressing,", " And long besides.\"--\"Oh! if 't is really so,", "You're right on both accounts to hold your tongue;", "A sad tale saddens doubly when 't is long.", "", "\"But droop not: Fortune at your time of life,", " Although a female moderately fickle,", "Will hardly leave you (as she's not your wife)", " For any length of days in such a pickle.", "To strive, too, with our fate were such a strife", " As if the corn-sheaf should oppose the sickle:", "Men are the sport of circumstances, when", "The circumstances seem the sport of men.\"", "", "\"'T is not,\" said Juan, \"for my present doom", " I mourn, but for the past;--I loved a maid:\"--", "He paused, and his dark eye grew full of gloom;", " A single tear upon his eyelash staid", "A moment, and then dropped; \"but to resume,", " 'Tis not my present lot, as I have said,", "Which I deplore so much; for I have borne", "Hardships which have the hardiest overworn,", "", "\"On the rough deep. But this last blow--\" and here", " He stopped again, and turned away his face.", "\"Aye,\" quoth his friend, \"I thought it would appear", " That there had been a lady in the case;", "And these are things which ask a tender tear,", " Such as I, too, would shed if in your place:", "I cried upon my first wife's dying day,", "And also when my second ran away:", "", "\"My third----\"--\"Your third!\" quoth Juan, turning round;", " \"You scarcely can be thirty: have you three?\"", "\"No--only two at present above ground:", " Surely 't is nothing wonderful to see", "One person thrice in holy wedlock bound!\"", " \"Well, then, your third,\" said Juan; \"what did she?", "She did not run away, too,--did she, sir?\"", "\"No, faith.\"--\"What then?\"--\"I ran away from her.\"", "", "\"You take things coolly, sir,\" said Juan. \"Why,\"", " Replied the other, \"what can a man do?", "There still are many rainbows in your sky,", " But mine have vanished. All, when Life is new,", "Commence with feelings warm, and prospects high;", " But Time strips our illusions of their hue,", "And one by one in turn, some grand mistake", "Casts off its bright skin yearly like the snake.", "", "\"'T is true, it gets another bright and fresh,", " Or fresher, brighter; but the year gone through,", "This skin must go the way, too, of all flesh,", " Or sometimes only wear a week or two;--", "Love's the first net which spreads its deadly mesh;", " Ambition, Avarice, Vengeance, Glory, glue", "The glittering lime-twigs of our latter days,", "Where still we flutter on for pence or praise.\"", "", "\"All this is very fine, and may be true,\"", " Said Juan; \"but I really don't see how", "It betters present times with me or you.\"", " \"No?\" quoth the other; \"yet you will allow", "By setting things in their right point of view,", " Knowledge, at least, is gained; for instance, now,", "We know what slavery is, and our disasters", "May teach us better to behave when masters.\"", "", "\"Would we were masters now, if but to try", " Their present lessons on our Pagan friends here,\"", "Said Juan,--swallowing a heart-burning sigh:", " \"Heaven help the scholar, whom his fortune sends here!\"", "\"Perhaps we shall be one day, by and by,\"", " Rejoined the other, \"when our bad luck mends here;", "Meantime (yon old black eunuch seems to eye us)", "I wish to G--d that somebody would buy us.", "", "\"But after all, what _is_ our present state?", " 'T is bad, and may be better--all men's lot:", "Most men are slaves, none more so than the great,", " To their own whims and passions, and what not;", "Society itself, which should create", " Kindness, destroys what little we had got:", "To feel for none is the true social art", "Of the world's Stoics--men without a heart.\"", "", "Just now a black old neutral personage", " Of the third sex stepped up, and peering over", "The captives seemed to mark their looks and age,", " And capabilities, as to discover", "If they were fitted for the purposed cage:", " No lady e'er is ogled by a lover,", "Horse by a blackleg, broadcloth by a tailor,", "Fee by a counsel, felon by a jailor,", "", "As is a slave by his intended bidder.", " 'T is pleasant purchasing our fellow-creatures;", "And all are to be sold, if you consider", " Their passions, and are dext'rous; some by features", "Are bought up, others by a warlike leader,", " Some by a place--as tend their years or natures:", "The most by ready cash--but all have prices,", "From crowns to kicks, according to their vices.", "", "The eunuch, having eyed them o'er with care,", " Turned to the merchant, and began to bid", "First but for one, and after for the pair;", " They haggled, wrangled, swore, too--so they did!", "As though they were in a mere Christian fair,", " Cheapening an ox, an ass, a lamb, or kid;", "So that their bargain sounded like a battle", "For this superior yoke of human cattle.", "", "At last they settled into simple grumbling,", " And pulling out reluctant purses, and", "Turning each piece of silver o'er, and tumbling", " Some down, and weighing others in their hand,", "And by mistake sequins with paras jumbling,", " Until the sum was accurately scanned,", "And then the merchant giving change, and signing", "Receipts in full, began to think of dining.", "", "I wonder if his appetite was good?", " Or, if it were, if also his digestion?", "Methinks at meals some odd thoughts might intrude,", " And Conscience ask a curious sort of question,", "About the right divine how far we should", " Sell flesh and blood. When dinner has oppressed one,", "I think it is perhaps the gloomiest hour", "Which turns up out of the sad twenty-four.", "", "Voltaire says \"No:\" he tells you that Candide", " Found life most tolerable after meals;", "He's wrong--unless man were a pig, indeed,", " Repletion rather adds to what he feels,", "Unless he's drunk, and then no doubt he's freed", " From his own brain's oppression while it reels.", "Of food I think with Philip's son or rather", "Ammon's (ill pleased with one world and one father);", "", "I think with Alexander, that the act", " Of eating, with another act or two,", "Makes us feel our mortality in fact", " Redoubled; when a roast and a ragout,", "And fish, and soup, by some side dishes backed,", " Can give us either pain or pleasure, who", "Would pique himself on intellects, whose use", "Depends so much upon the gastric juice?", "", "The other evening ('t was on Friday last)--", " This is a fact, and no poetic fable--", "Just as my great coat was about me cast,", " My hat and gloves still lying on the table,", "I heard a shot--'t was eight o'clock scarce past--", " And, running out as fast as I was able,", "I found the military commandant", "Stretched in the street, and able scarce to pant.", "", "Poor fellow! for some reason, surely bad,", " They had slain him with five slugs; and left him there", "To perish on the pavement: so I had", " Him borne into the house and up the stair,", "And stripped, and looked to----But why should I add", " More circumstances? vain was every care;", "The man was gone--in some Italian quarrel", "Killed by five bullets from an old gun-barrel.", "", "I gazed upon him, for I knew him well;", " And though I have seen many corpses, never", "Saw one, whom such an accident befell,", " So calm; though pierced through stomach, heart, and liver,", "He seemed to sleep,--for you could scarcely tell", " (As he bled inwardly, no hideous river", "Of gore divulged the cause) that he was dead:", "So as I gazed on him, I thought or said--", "", "\"Can this be Death? then what is Life or Death?", " Speak!\" but he spoke not: \"wake!\" but still he slept:--", "\"But yesterday and who had mightier breath?", " A thousand warriors by his word were kept", "In awe: he said, as the Centurion saith,", " 'Go,' and he goeth; 'come,' and forth he stepped.", "The trump and bugle till he spake were dumb--", "And now nought left him but the muffled drum.\"", "", "And they who waited once and worshipped--they", " With their rough faces thronged about the bed", "To gaze once more on the commanding clay", " Which for the last, though not the first, time bled;", "And such an end! that he who many a day", " Had faced Napoleon's foes until they fled,--", "The foremost in the charge or in the sally,", "Should now be butchered in a civic alley.", "", "The scars of his old wounds were near his new,", " Those honourable scars which brought him fame;", "And horrid was the contrast to the view----", " But let me quit the theme; as such things claim", "Perhaps even more attention than is due", " From me: I gazed (as oft I have gazed the same)", "To try if I could wrench aught out of Death", "Which should confirm, or shake, or make a faith;", "", "But it was all a mystery. Here we are,", " And there we go:--but _where_? five bits of lead,", "Or three, or two, or one, send very far!", " And is this blood, then, formed but to be shed?", "Can every element our elements mar?", " And Air--Earth--Water--Fire live--and we dead?", "_We_, whose minds comprehend all things? No more;", "But let us to the story as before.", "", "The purchaser of Juan and acquaintance", " Bore off his bargains to a gilded boat,", "Embarked himself and them, and off they went thence", " As fast as oars could pull and water float;", "They looked like persons being led to sentence,", " Wondering what next, till the caique was brought", "Up in a little creek below a wall", "O'ertopped with cypresses, dark-green and tall.", "", "Here their conductor tapping at the wicket", " Of a small iron door, 't was opened, and", "He led them onward, first through a low thicket", " Flanked by large groves, which towered on either hand:", "They almost lost their way, and had to pick it--", " For night was closing ere they came to land.", "The eunuch made a sign to those on board,", "Who rowed off, leaving them without a word.", "", "As they were plodding on their winding way", " Through orange bowers, and jasmine, and so forth:", "(Of which I might have a good deal to say,", " There being no such profusion in the North", "Of oriental plants, _et cetera_,", " But that of late your scribblers think it worth", "Their while to rear whole hotbeds in _their_ works,", "Because _one_ poet travelled 'mongst the Turks:)", "", "As they were threading on their way, there came", " Into Don Juan's head a thought, which he", "Whispered to his companion:--'t was the same", " Which might have then occurred to you or me.", "\"Methinks,\"--said he,--\"it would be no great shame", " If we should strike a stroke to set us free;", "Let's knock that old black fellow on the head,", "And march away--'t were easier done than said.\"", "", "\"Yes,\" said the other, \"and when done, what then?", " _How_ get out? how the devil got we in?", "And when we once were fairly out, and when", " From Saint Bartholomew we have saved our skin,", "To-morrow'd see us in some other den,", " And worse off than we hitherto have been;", "Besides, I'm hungry, and just now would take,", "Like Esau, for my birthright a beef-steak.", "", "\"We must be near some place of man's abode;--", " For the old negro's confidence in creeping,", "With his two captives, by so queer a road,", " Shows that he thinks his friends have not been sleeping;", "A single cry would bring them all abroad:", " 'T is better therefore looking before leaping--", "And there, you see, this turn has brought us through,", "By Jove, a noble palace!--lighted too.\"", "", "It was indeed a wide extensive building", " Which opened on their view, and o'er the front", "There seemed to be besprent a deal of gilding", " And various hues, as is the Turkish wont,--", "A gaudy taste; for they are little skilled in", " The arts of which these lands were once the font:", "Each villa on the Bosphorus looks a screen", "New painted, or a pretty opera-scene.", "", "And nearer as they came, a genial savour", " Of certain stews, and roast-meats, and pilaus,", "Things which in hungry mortals' eyes find favour,", " Made Juan in his harsh intentions pause,", "And put himself upon his good behaviour:", " His friend, too, adding a new saving clause,", "Said, \"In Heaven's name let's get some supper now,", "And then I'm with you, if you're for a row.\"", "", "Some talk of an appeal unto some passion,", " Some to men's feelings, others to their reason;", "The last of these was never much the fashion,", " For Reason thinks all reasoning out of season:", "Some speakers whine, and others lay the lash on,", " But more or less continue still to tease on,", "With arguments according to their \"forte:\"", "But no one ever dreams of being short.--", "", "But I digress: of all appeals,--although", " I grant the power of pathos, and of gold,", "Of beauty, flattery, threats, a shilling,--no", " Method's more sure at moments to take hold", "Of the best feelings of mankind, which grow", " More tender, as we every day behold,", "Than that all-softening, overpowering knell,", "The Tocsin of the Soul--the dinner-bell.", "", "Turkey contains no bells, and yet men dine;", " And Juan and his friend, albeit they heard", "No Christian knoll to table, saw no line", " Of lackeys usher to the feast prepared,", "Yet smelt roast-meat, beheld a huge fire shine,", " And cooks in motion with their clean arms bared,", "And gazed around them to the left and right,", "With the prophetic eye of appetite.", "", "And giving up all notions of resistance,", " They followed close behind their sable guide,", "Who little thought that his own cracked existence", " Was on the point of being set aside:", "He motioned them to stop at some small distance,", " And knocking at the gate, 't was opened wide,", "And a magnificent large hall displayed", "The Asian pomp of Ottoman parade.", "", "I won't describe; description is my \"forte,\"", " But every fool describes in these bright days", "His wondrous journey to some foreign court,", " And spawns his quarto, and demands your praise--", "Death to his publisher, to him 't is sport;", " While Nature, tortured twenty thousand ways,", "Resigns herself with exemplary patience", "To guide-books, rhymes, tours, sketches, illustrations.", "", "Along this hall, and up and down, some, squatted", " Upon their hams, were occupied at chess;", "Others in monosyllable talk chatted,", " And some seemed much in love with their own dress;", "And divers smoked superb pipes decorated", " With amber mouths of greater price or less;", "And several strutted, others slept, and some", "Prepared for supper with a glass of rum.", "", "As the black eunuch entered with his brace", " Of purchased Infidels, some raised their eyes", "A moment, without slackening from their pace;", " But those who sate ne'er stirred in any wise:", "One or two stared the captives in the face,", " Just as one views a horse to guess his price;", "Some nodded to the negro from their station,", "But no one troubled him with conversation.", "", "He leads them through the hall, and, without stopping,", " On through a farther range of goodly rooms,", "Splendid, but silent, save in _one_, where dropping", " A marble fountain echoes through the glooms", "Of night which robe the chamber, or where popping", " Some female head most curiously presumes", "To thrust its black eyes through the door or lattice,", "As wondering what the _devil_ noise that is!", "", "Some faint lamps gleaming from the lofty walls", " Gave light enough to hint their farther way,", "But not enough to show the imperial halls", " In all the flashing of their full array;", "Perhaps there's nothing--I'll not say appals,", " But saddens more by night as well as day,", "Than an enormous room without a soul", "To break the lifeless splendour of the whole.", "", "Two or three seem so little, _one_ seems nothing:", " In deserts, forests, crowds, or by the shore,", "_There_ Solitude, we know, has her full growth in", " The spots which were her realms for evermore;", "But in a mighty hall or gallery, both in", " More modern buildings and those built of yore,", "A kind of Death comes o'er us all alone,", "Seeing what's meant for many with but one.", "", "A neat, snug study on a winter's night,", " A book, friend, single lady, or a glass", "Of claret, sandwich, and an appetite,", " Are things which make an English evening pass--", "Though _certes_ by no means so grand a sight", " As is a theatre lit up by gas--", "_I_ pass my evenings in long galleries solely,", "And that's the reason I'm so melancholy.", "", "Alas! Man makes that great which makes him little--", " I grant you in a church 't is very well:", "What speaks of Heaven should by no means be brittle,", " But strong and lasting, till no tongue can tell", "Their names who reared it; but huge houses fit ill,", " And huge tombs, worse, Mankind--since Adam fell:", "Methinks the story of the tower of Babel", "Might teach them this much better than I'm able.", "", "Babel was Nimrod's hunting-box, and then", " A town of gardens, walls, and wealth amazing,", "Where Nabuchadonosor, King of men,", " Reigned, till one summer's day he took to grazing,", "And Daniel tamed the lions in their den,", " The people's awe and admiration raising;", "'T was famous, too, for Thisbe and for Pyramus,", "And the calumniated queen Semiramis--", "", "That injured Queen, by chroniclers so coarse,", " Has been accused (I doubt not by conspiracy)", "Of an improper friendship for her horse", " (Love, like Religion, sometimes runs to heresy):", "This monstrous tale had probably its source", " (For such exaggerations here and there I see)", "In writing \"Courser\" by mistake for \"Courier:\"", "I wish the case could come before a jury here.", "", "But to resume,--should there be (what may not", " Be in these days?) some infidels, who don't,", "Because they can't find out the very spot", " Of that same Babel, or because they won't", "(Though Claudius Rich, Esquire, some bricks has got,", " And written lately two memoirs upon't),", "Believe the Jews, those unbelievers, who", "Must be believed, though they believe not you:", "", "Yet let them think that Horace has expressed", " Shortly and sweetly the masonic folly", "Of those, forgetting the great place of rest,", " Who give themselves to Architecture wholly;", "We know where things and men must end at best:", " A moral (like all morals) melancholy,", "And \"Et sepulchri immemor struis domos\"", "Shows that we build when we should but entomb us.", "", "At last they reached a quarter most retired,", " Where Echo woke as if from a long slumber;", "Though full of all things which could be desired,", " One wondered what to do with such a number", "Of articles which nobody required;", " Here Wealth had done its utmost to encumber", "With furniture an exquisite apartment,", "Which puzzled Nature much to know what Art meant.", "", "It seemed, however, but to open on", " A range or suite of further chambers, which", "Might lead to Heaven knows where; but in this one", " The moveables were prodigally rich:", "Sofas 't was half a sin to sit upon,", " So costly were they; carpets every stitch", "Of workmanship so rare, they made you wish", "You could glide o'er them like a golden fish.", "", "The black, however, without hardly deigning", " A glance at that which wrapped the slaves in wonder,", "Trampled what they scarce trod for fear of staining,", " As if the milky way their feet was under", "With all its stars; and with a stretch attaining", " A certain press or cupboard niched in yonder,", "In that remote recess which you may see--", "Or if you don't the fault is not in me,--", "", "I wish to be perspicuous--and the black,", " I say, unlocking the recess, pulled forth", "A quantity of clothes fit for the back", " Of any Mussulman, whate'er his worth:", "And of variety there was no lack--", " And yet, though I have said there was no dearth,--", "He chose himself to point out what he thought", "Most proper for the Christians he had bought.", "", "The suit he thought most suitable to each", " Was, for the elder and the stouter, first", "A Candiote cloak, which to the knee might reach,", " And trousers not so tight that they would burst,", "But such as fit an Asiatic breech;", " A shawl, whose folds in Cashmire had been nursed,", "Slippers of saffron, dagger rich and handy;", "In short, all things which form a Turkish Dandy.", "", "While he was dressing, Baba, their black friend,", " Hinted the vast advantages which they", "Might probably attain both in the end,", " If they would but pursue the proper way", "Which Fortune plainly seemed to recommend;", " And then he added, that he needs must say,", "\"'T would greatly tend to better their condition,", "If they would condescend to circumcision.", "", "\"For his own part, he really should rejoice", " To see them true believers, but no less", "Would leave his proposition to their choice.\"", " The other, thanking him for this excess", "Of goodness, in thus leaving them a voice", " In such a trifle, scarcely could express", "\"Sufficiently\" (he said) \"his approbation", "Of all the customs of this polished nation.", "", "\"For his own share--he saw but small objection", " To so respectable an ancient rite;", "And, after swallowing down a slight refection,", " For which he owned a present appetite,", "He doubted not a few hours of reflection", " Would reconcile him to the business quite.\"", "\"Will it?\" said Juan, sharply: \"Strike me dead,", "But they as soon shall circumcise my head!", "", "\"Cut off a thousand heads, before----\"--\"Now, pray,\"", " Replied the other, \"do not interrupt:", "You put me out in what I had to say.", " Sir!--as I said, as soon as I have supped,", "I shall perpend if your proposal may", " Be such as I can properly accept;", "Provided always your great goodness still", "Remits the matter to our own free-will.\"", "", "Baba eyed Juan, and said, \"Be so good", " As dress yourself--\" and pointed out a suit", "In which a Princess with great pleasure would", " Array her limbs; but Juan standing mute,", "As not being in a masquerading mood,", " Gave it a slight kick with his Christian foot;", "And when the old negro told him to \"Get ready,\"", "Replied, \"Old gentleman, I'm not a lady.\"", "", "\"What you may be, I neither know nor care,\"", " Said Baba; \"but pray do as I desire:", "I have no more time nor many words to spare.\"", " \"At least,\" said Juan, \"sure I may inquire", "The cause of this odd travesty?\"--\"Forbear,\"", " Said Baba, \"to be curious; 't will transpire,", "No doubt, in proper place, and time, and season:", "I have no authority to tell the reason.\"", "", "\"Then if I do,\" said Juan, \"I'll be----\"--\"Hold!\"", " Rejoined the negro, \"pray be not provoking;", "This spirit's well, but it may wax too bold,", " And you will find us not too fond of joking.\"", "\"What, sir!\" said Juan, \"shall it e'er be told", " That I unsexed my dress?\" But Baba, stroking", "The things down, said, \"Incense me, and I call", "Those who will leave you of no sex at all.", "", "\"I offer you a handsome suit of clothes:", " A woman's, true; but then there is a cause", "Why you should wear them.\"--\"What, though my soul loathes", " The effeminate garb?\"--thus, after a short pause,", "Sighed Juan, muttering also some slight oaths,", " \"What the devil shall I do with all this gauze?\"", "Thus he profanely termed the finest lace", "Which e'er set off a marriage-morning face.", "", "And then he swore; and, sighing, on he slipped", " A pair of trousers of flesh-coloured silk;", "Next with a virgin zone he was equipped,", " Which girt a slight chemise as white as milk;", "But tugging on his petticoat, he tripped,", " Which--as we say--or as the Scotch say, _whilk_.", "(The rhyme obliges me to this; sometimes", "Monarchs are less imperative than rhymes)--", "", "Whilk, which (or what you please), was owing to", " His garment's novelty, and his being awkward:", "And yet at last he managed to get through", " His toilet, though no doubt a little backward:", "The negro Baba helped a little too,", " When some untoward part of raiment stuck hard;", "And, wrestling both his arms into a gown,", "He paused, and took a survey up and down.", "", "One difficulty still remained--his hair", " Was hardly long enough; but Baba found", "So many false long tresses all to spare,", " That soon his head was most completely crowned,", "After the manner then in fashion there;", " And this addition with such gems was bound", "As suited the _ensemble_ of his toilet,", "While Baba made him comb his head and oil it.", "", "And now being femininely all arrayed,", " With some small aid from scissors, paint, and tweezers,", "He looked in almost all respects a maid,", " And Baba smilingly exclaimed, \"You see, sirs,", "A perfect transformation here displayed;", " And now, then, you must come along with me, sirs,", "That is--the Lady:\" clapping his hands twice,", "Four blacks were at his elbow in a trice.", "", "\"You, sir,\" said Baba, nodding to the one,", " \"Will please to accompany those gentlemen", "To supper; but you, worthy Christian nun,", " Will follow me: no trifling, sir; for when", "I say a thing, it must at once be done.", " What fear you? think you this a lion's den?", "Why, 't is a palace; where the truly wise", "Anticipate the Prophet's paradise.", "", "\"You fool! I tell you no one means you harm.\"", " \"So much the better,\" Juan said, \"for them;", "Else they shall feel the weight of this my arm,", " Which is not quite so light as you may deem.", "I yield thus far; but soon will break the charm,", " If any take me for that which I seem:", "So that I trust for every body's sake,", "That this disguise may lead to no mistake.\"", "", "\"Blockhead! come on, and see,\" quoth Baba; while", " Don Juan, turning to his comrade, who", "Though somewhat grieved, could scarce forbear a smile", " Upon the metamorphosis in view,--", "\"Farewell!\" they mutually exclaimed: \"this soil", " Seems fertile in adventures strange and new;", "One's turned half Mussulman, and one a maid,", "By this old black enchanter's unsought aid.\"", "", "\"Farewell!\" said Juan: \"should we meet no more,", " I wish you a good appetite.\"--\"Farewell!\"", "Replied the other; \"though it grieves me sore:", " When we next meet, we'll have a tale to tell:", "We needs must follow when Fate puts from shore.", " Keep your good name; though Eve herself once fell.\"", "\"Nay,\" quoth the maid, \"the Sultan's self shan't carry me,", "Unless his Highness promises to marry me.\"", "", "And thus they parted, each by separate doors;", " Baba led Juan onward, room by room,", "Through glittering galleries, and o'er marble floors,", " Till a gigantic portal through the gloom,", "Haughty and huge, along the distance lowers;", " And wafted far arose a rich perfume:", "It seemed as though they came upon a shrine,", "For all was vast, still, fragrant, and divine.", "", "The giant door was broad, and bright, and high,", " Of gilded bronze, and carved in curious guise;", "Warriors thereon were battling furiously;", " Here stalks the victor, there the vanquished lies;", "There captives led in triumph droop the eye,", " And in perspective many a squadron flies:", "It seems the work of times before the line", "Of Rome transplanted fell with Constantine.", "", "This massy portal stood at the wide close", " Of a huge hall, and on its either side", "Two little dwarfs, the least you could suppose,", " Were sate, like ugly imps, as if allied", "In mockery to the enormous gate which rose", " O'er them in almost pyramidic pride:", "The gate so splendid was in all its _features_,", "You never thought about those little creatures,", "", "Until you nearly trod on them, and then", " You started back in horror to survey", "The wondrous hideousness of those small men,", " Whose colour was not black, nor white, nor grey,", "But an extraneous mixture, which no pen", " Can trace, although perhaps the pencil may;", "They were mis-shapen pigmies, deaf and dumb--", "Monsters, who cost a no less monstrous sum.", "", "Their duty was--for they were strong, and though", " They looked so little, did strong things at times--", "To ope this door, which they could really do,", " The hinges being as smooth as Rogers' rhymes;", "And now and then, with tough strings of the bow,", " As is the custom of those Eastern climes,", "To give some rebel Pacha a cravat--", "For mutes are generally used for that.", "", "They spoke by signs--that is, not spoke at all;", " And looking like two Incubi, they glared", "As Baba with his fingers made them fall", " To heaving back the portal folds: it scared", "Juan a moment, as this pair so small,", " With shrinking serpent optics on him stared;", "It was as if their little looks could poison", "Or fascinate whome'er they fixed their eyes on.", "", "Before they entered, Baba paused to hint", " To Juan some slight lessons as his guide:", "\"If you could just contrive,\" he said, \"to stint", " That somewhat manly majesty of stride,", "'T would be as well, and--(though there's not much in 't)", " To swing a little less from side to side,", "Which has at times an aspect of the oddest;--", "And also could you look a little modest,", "", "\"'T would be convenient; for these mutes have eyes", " Like needles, which may pierce those petticoats;", "And if they should discover your disguise,", " You know how near us the deep Bosphorus floats;", "And you and I may chance, ere morning rise,", " To find our way to Marmora without boats,", "Stitched up in sacks--a mode of navigation", "A good deal practised here upon occasion.\"", "", "With this encouragement he led the way", " Into a room still nobler than the last;", "A rich confusion formed a disarray", " In such sort, that the eye along it cast", "Could hardly carry anything away,", " Object on object flashed so bright and fast;", "A dazzling mass of gems, and gold, and glitter,", "Magnificently mingled in a litter.", "", "Wealth had done wonders--taste not much; such things", " Occur in Orient palaces, and even", "In the more chastened domes of Western kings", " (Of which I have also seen some six or seven),", "Where I can't say or gold or diamond flings", " Great lustre, there is much to be forgiven;", "Groups of bad statues, tables, chairs, and pictures,", "On which I cannot pause to make my strictures.", "", "In this imperial hall, at distance lay", " Under a canopy, and there reclined", "Quite in a confidential queenly way,", " A lady; Baba stopped, and kneeling signed", "To Juan, who though not much used to pray,", " Knelt down by instinct, wondering in his mind", "What all this meant: while Baba bowed and bended", "His head, until the ceremony ended.", "", "The lady rising up with such an air", " As Venus rose with from the wave, on them", "Bent like an antelope a Paphian pair", " Of eyes, which put out each surrounding gem;", "And raising up an arm as moonlight fair,", " She signed to Baba, who first kissed the hem", "Of her deep purple robe, and, speaking low,", "Pointed to Juan who remained below.", "", "Her presence was as lofty as her state;", " Her beauty of that overpowering kind,", "Whose force Description only would abate:", " I'd rather leave it much to your own mind,", "Than lessen it by what I could relate", " Of forms and features; it would strike you blind", "Could I do justice to the full detail;", "So, luckily for both, my phrases fail.", "", "Thus much however I may add,--her years", " Were ripe, they might make six-and-twenty springs,", "But there are forms which Time to touch forbears,", " And turns aside his scythe to vulgar things:", "Such as was Mary's, Queen of Scots; true--tears", " And Love destroy; and sapping Sorrow wrings", "Charms from the charmer, yet some never grow", "Ugly; for instance--Ninon de l'Enclos.", "", "She spake some words to her attendants, who", " Composed a choir of girls, ten or a dozen,", "And were all clad alike; like Juan, too,", " Who wore their uniform, by Baba chosen:", "They formed a very nymph-like looking crew,", " Which might have called Diana's chorus \"cousin,\"", "As far as outward show may correspond--", "I won't be bail for anything beyond.", "", "They bowed obeisance and withdrew, retiring,", " But not by the same door through which came in", "Baba and Juan, which last stood admiring,", " At some small distance, all he saw within", "This strange saloon, much fitted for inspiring", " Marvel and praise; for both or none things win;", "And I must say, I ne'er could see the very", "Great happiness of the \"Nil admirari.\"", "", "\"Not to admire is all the art I know", " (Plain truth, dear Murray, needs few flowers of speech)--", "To make men happy, or to keep them so\"", " (So take it in the very words of Creech)--", "Thus Horace wrote we all know long ago;", " And thus Pope quotes the precept to re-teach", "From his translation; but had _none admired_,", "Would Pope have sung, or Horace been inspired?", "", "Baba, when all the damsels were withdrawn,", " Motioned to Juan to approach, and then", "A second time desired him to kneel down,", " And kiss the lady's foot; which maxim when", "He heard repeated, Juan with a frown", " Drew himself up to his full height again,", "And said, \"It grieved him, but he could not stoop", "To any shoe, unless it shod the Pope.\"", "", "Baba, indignant at this ill-timed pride,", " Made fierce remonstrances, and then a threat", "He muttered (but the last was given aside)", " About a bow-string--quite in vain; not yet", "Would Juan bend, though 't were to Mahomet's bride:", " There's nothing in the world like _etiquette_", "In kingly chambers or imperial halls,", "As also at the Race and County Balls.", "", "He stood like Atlas, with a world of words", " About his ears, and nathless would not bend;", "The blood of all his line's Castilian lords", " Boiled in his veins, and, rather than descend", "To stain his pedigree, a thousand swords", " A thousand times of him had made an end;", "At length perceiving the \"_foot_\" could not stand,", "Baba proposed that he should kiss the hand,", "", "Here was an honourable compromise,", " A half-way house of diplomatic rest,", "Where they might meet in much more peaceful guise;", " And Juan now his willingness expressed", "To use all fit and proper courtesies,", " Adding, that this was commonest and best,", "For through the South, the custom still commands", "The gentleman to kiss the lady's hands.", "", "And he advanced, though with but a bad grace,", " Though on more _thorough-bred_ or fairer fingers", "No lips e'er left their transitory trace:", " On such as these the lip too fondly lingers,", "And for one kiss would fain imprint a brace,", " As you will see, if she you love shall bring hers", "In contact; and sometimes even a fair stranger's", "An almost twelvemonth's constancy endangers.", "", "The lady eyed him o'er and o'er, and bade", " Baba retire, which he obeyed in style,", "As if well used to the retreating trade;", " And taking hints in good part all the while,", "He whispered Juan not to be afraid,", " And looking on him with a sort of smile,", "Took leave, with such a face of satisfaction,", "As good men wear who have done a virtuous action.", "", "When he was gone, there was a sudden change:", " I know not what might be the lady's thought,", "But o'er her bright brow flashed a tumult strange,", " And into her clear cheek the blood was brought,", "Blood-red as sunset summer clouds which range", " The verge of Heaven; and in her large eyes wrought,", "A mixture of sensations might be scanned,", "Of half voluptuousness and half command.", "", "Her form had all the softness of her sex,", " Her features all the sweetness of the Devil,", "When he put on the Cherub to perplex", " Eve, and paved (God knows how) the road to evil;", "The Sun himself was scarce more free from specks", " Than she from aught at which the eye could cavil;", "Yet, somehow, there was something somewhere wanting,", "As if she rather _ordered_ than was _granting_.--", "", "Something imperial, or imperious, threw", " A chain o'er all she did; that is, a chain", "Was thrown as 't were about the neck of you,--", " And Rapture's self will seem almost a pain", "With aught which looks like despotism in view;", " Our souls at least are free, and 't is in vain", "We would against them make the flesh obey--", "The spirit in the end will have its way.", "", "Her very smile was haughty, though so sweet;", " Her very nod was not an inclination;", "There was a self-will even in her small feet,", " As though they were quite conscious of her station--", "They trod as upon necks; and to complete", " Her state (it is the custom of her nation),", "A poniard decked her girdle, as the sign", "She was a Sultan's bride (thank Heaven, not mine!).", "", "\"To hear and to obey\" had been from birth", " The law of all around her; to fulfil", "All phantasies which yielded joy or mirth,", " Had been her slaves' chief pleasure, as her will;", "Her blood was high, her beauty scarce of earth:", " Judge, then, if her caprices e'er stood still;", "Had she but been a Christian, I've a notion", "We should have found out the \"perpetual motion.\"", "", "Whate'er she saw and coveted was brought;", " Whate'er she did _not_ see, if she supposed", "It might be seen, with diligence was sought,", " And when 't was found straightway the bargain closed:", "There was no end unto the things she bought,", " Nor to the trouble which her fancies caused;", "Yet even her tyranny had such a grace,", "The women pardoned all except her face.", "", "Juan, the latest of her whims, had caught", " Her eye in passing on his way to sale;", "She ordered him directly to be bought,", " And Baba, who had ne'er been known to fail", "In any kind of mischief to be wrought,", " At all such auctions knew how to prevail:", "She had no prudence, but he had--and this", "Explains the garb which Juan took amiss.", "", "His youth and features favoured the disguise,", " And should you ask how she, a Sultan's bride,", "Could risk or compass such strange phantasies,", " This I must leave sultanas to decide:", "Emperors are only husbands in wives' eyes,", " And kings and consorts oft are mystified,", "As we may ascertain with due precision,", "Some by experience, others by tradition.", "", "But to the main point, where we have been tending:--", " She now conceived all difficulties past,", "And deemed herself extremely condescending", " When, being made her property at last,", "Without more preface, in her blue eyes blending", " Passion and power, a glance on him she cast,", "And merely saying, \"Christian, canst thou love?\"", "Conceived that phrase was quite enough to move.", "", "And so it was, in proper time and place;", " But Juan, who had still his mind o'erflowing", "With Haidée's isle and soft Ionian face,", " Felt the warm blood, which in his face was glowing", "Rush back upon his heart, which filled apace,", " And left his cheeks as pale as snowdrops blowing:", "These words went through his soul like Arab spears,", "So that he spoke not, but burst into tears.", "", "She was a good deal shocked; not shocked at tears,", " For women shed and use them at their liking;", "But there is something when man's eye appears", " Wet, still more disagreeable and striking:", "A woman's tear-drop melts, a man's half sears,", " Like molten lead, as if you thrust a pike in", "His heart to force it out, for (to be shorter)", "To them 't is a relief, to us a torture.", "", "And she would have consoled, but knew not how:", " Having no equals, nothing which had e'er", "Infected her with sympathy till now,", " And never having dreamt what 't was to bear", "Aught of a serious, sorrowing kind, although", " There might arise some pouting petty care", "To cross her brow, she wondered how so near", "Her eyes another's eye could shed a tear.", "", "But Nature teaches more than power can spoil,", " And, when a strong although a strange sensation", "Moves--female hearts are such a genial soil", " For kinder feelings, whatso'er their nation,", "They naturally pour the \"wine and oil,\"", " Samaritans in every situation;", "And thus Gulbeyaz, though she knew not why,", "Felt an odd glistening moisture in her eye.", "", "But tears must stop like all things else; and soon", " Juan, who for an instant had been moved", "To such a sorrow by the intrusive tone", " Of one who dared to ask if \"he _had_ loved,\"", "Called back the Stoic to his eyes, which shone", " Bright with the very weakness he reproved;", "And although sensitive to beauty, he", "Felt most indignant still at not being free.", "", "Gulbeyaz, for the first time in her days,", " Was much embarrassed, never having met", "In all her life with aught save prayers and praise;", " And as she also risked her life to get", "Him whom she meant to tutor in love's ways", " Into a comfortable tête-à-tête,", "To lose the hour would make her quite a martyr,", "And they had wasted now almost a quarter.", "", "I also would suggest the fitting time", " To gentlemen in any such like case,", "That is to say in a meridian clime--", " With us there is more law given to the chase,", "But here a small delay forms a great crime:", " So recollect that the extremest grace", "Is just two minutes for your declaration--", "A moment more would hurt your reputation.", "", "Juan's was good; and might have been still better,", " But he had got Haidée into his head:", "However strange, he could not yet forget her,", " Which made him seem exceedingly ill-bred.", "Gulbeyaz, who looked on him as her debtor", " For having had him to her palace led,", "Began to blush up to the eyes, and then", "Grow deadly pale, and then blush back again.", "", "At length, in an imperial way, she laid", " Her hand on his, and bending on him eyes", "Which needed not an empire to persuade,", " Looked into his for love, where none replies:", "Her brow grew black, but she would not upbraid,", " That being the last thing a proud woman tries;", "She rose, and pausing one chaste moment threw", "Herself upon his breast, and there she grew.", "", "This was an awkward test, as Juan found,", " But he was steeled by Sorrow, Wrath, and Pride:", "With gentle force her white arms he unwound,", " And seated her all drooping by his side,", "Then rising haughtily he glanced around,", " And looking coldly in her face he cried,", "\"The prisoned eagle will not pair, nor I", "Serve a Sultana's sensual phantasy.", "", "\"Thou ask'st, if I can love? be this the proof", " How much I _have_ loved--that I love not _thee!_", "In this vile garb, the distaff, web, and woof,", " Were fitter for me: Love is for the free!", "I am not dazzled by this splendid roof;", " Whate'er thy power, and great it seems to be,", "Heads bow, knees bend, eyes watch around a throne,", "And hands obey--our hearts are still our own.\"", "", "This was a truth to us extremely trite;", " Not so to her, who ne'er had heard such things:", "She deemed her least command must yield delight,", " Earth being only made for Queens and Kings.", "If hearts lay on the left side or the right", " She hardly knew, to such perfection brings", "Legitimacy its born votaries, when", "Aware of their due royal rights o'er men.", "", "Besides, as has been said, she was so fair", " As even in a much humbler lot had made", "A kingdom or confusion anywhere,", " And also, as may be presumed, she laid", "Some stress on charms, which seldom are, if e'er,", " By their possessors thrown into the shade:", "She thought hers gave a double \"right divine;\"", "And half of that opinion's also mine.", "", "Remember, or (if you can not) imagine,", " Ye! who have kept your chastity when young,", "While some more desperate dowager has been waging", " Love with you, and been in the dog-days stung", "By your refusal, recollect her raging!", " Or recollect all that was said or sung", "On such a subject; then suppose the face", "Of a young downright beauty in this case!", "", "Suppose,--but you already have supposed,", " The spouse of Potiphar, the Lady Booby,", "Phaedra, and all which story has disclosed", " Of good examples; pity that so few by", "Poets and private tutors are exposed,", " To educate--ye youth of Europe--you by!", "But when you have supposed the few we know,", "You can't suppose Gulbeyaz' angry brow.", "", "A tigress robbed of young, a lioness,", " Or any interesting beast of prey,", "Are similes at hand for the distress", " Of ladies who can _not_ have their own way;", "But though my turn will not be served with less,", " These don't express one half what I should say:", "For what is stealing young ones, few or many,", "To cutting short their hope of having _any?_", "", "The love of offspring's Nature's general law,", " From tigresses and cubs to ducks and ducklings;", "There's nothing whets the beak, or arms the claw", " Like an invasion of their babes and sucklings;", "And all who have seen a human nursery, saw", " How mothers love their children's squalls and chucklings:", "This strong extreme effect (to tire no longer", "Your patience) shows the cause must still be stronger.", "", "If I said fire flashed from Gulbeyaz' eyes,", " 'T were nothing--for her eyes flashed always fire;", "Or said her cheeks assumed the deepest dyes,", " I should but bring disgrace upon the dyer,", "So supernatural was her passion's rise;", " For ne'er till now she knew a checked desire:", "Even ye who know what a checked woman is", "(Enough, God knows!) would much fall short of this.", "", "Her rage was but a minute's, and 't was well--", " A moment's more had slain her; but the while", "It lasted 't was like a short glimpse of Hell:", " Nought's more sublime than energetic bile,", "Though horrible to see, yet grand to tell,", " Like Ocean warring 'gainst a rocky isle;", "And the deep passions flashing through her form", "Made her a beautiful embodied storm.", "", "A vulgar tempest 't were to a typhoon", " To match a common fury with her rage,", "And yet she did not want to reach the moon,", " Like moderate Hotspur on the immortal page;", "Her anger pitched into a lower tune,", " Perhaps the fault of her soft sex and age--", "Her wish was but to \"kill, kill, kill,\" like Lear's,", "And then her thirst of blood was quenched in tears.", "", "A storm it raged, and like the storm it passed,", " Passed without words--in fact she could not speak;", "And then her sex's shame broke in at last,", " A sentiment till then in her but weak,", "But now it flowed in natural and fast,", " As water through an unexpected leak;", "For she felt humbled--and humiliation", "Is sometimes good for people in her station.", "", "It teaches them that they are flesh and blood,", " It also gently hints to them that others,", "Although of clay, are yet not quite of mud;", " That urns and pipkins are but fragile brothers,", "And works of the same pottery, bad or good,", " Though not all born of the same sires and mothers;", "It teaches--Heaven knows only what it teaches,", "But sometimes it may mend, and often reaches.", "", "Her first thought was to cut off Juan's head;", " Her second, to cut only his--acquaintance;", "Her third, to ask him where he had been bred;", " Her fourth, to rally him into repentance;", "Her fifth, to call her maids and go to bed;", " Her sixth, to stab herself; her seventh, to sentence", "The lash to Baba:--but her grand resource", "Was to sit down again, and cry--of course.", "", "She thought to stab herself, but then she had", " The dagger close at hand, which made it awkward;", "For Eastern stays are little made to pad,", " So that a poniard pierces if 't is struck hard:", "She thought of killing Juan--but, poor lad!", " Though he deserved it well for being so backward,", "The cutting off his head was not the art", "Most likely to attain her aim--his heart.", "", "Juan was moved: he had made up his mind", " To be impaled, or quartered as a dish", "For dogs, or to be slain with pangs refined,", " Or thrown to lions, or made baits for fish,", "And thus heroically stood resigned,", " Rather than sin--except to his own wish:", "But all his great preparatives for dying", "Dissolved like snow before a woman crying.", "", "As through his palms Bob Acres' valour oozed,", " So Juan's virtue ebbed, I know not how;", "And first he wondered why he had refused;", " And then, if matters could be made up now;", "And next his savage virtue he accused,", " Just as a friar may accuse his vow,", "Or as a dame repents her of her oath,", "Which mostly ends in some small breach of both.", "", "So he began to stammer some excuses;", " But words are not enough in such a matter,", "Although you borrowed all that e'er the Muses", " Have sung, or even a Dandy's dandiest chatter,", "Or all the figures Castlereagh abuses;", " Just as a languid smile began to flatter", "His peace was making, but, before he ventured", "Further, old Baba rather briskly entered.", "", "\"Bride of the Sun! and Sister of the Moon!\"", " ('T was thus he spake,) \"and Empress of the Earth!", "Whose frown would put the spheres all out of tune,", " Whose smile makes all the planets dance with mirth,", "Your slave brings tidings--he hopes not too soon--", " Which your sublime attention may be worth:", "The Sun himself has sent me like a ray,", "To hint that he is coming up this way.\"", "", "\"Is it,\" exclaimed Gulbeyaz, \"as you say?", " I wish to heaven he would not shine till morning!", "But bid my women form the milky way.", " Hence, my old comet! give the stars due warning--", "And, Christian! mingle with them as you may,", " And as you'd have me pardon your past scorning-----\"", "Here they were interrupted by a humming", "Sound, and then by a cry, \"The Sultan's coming!\"", "", "First came her damsels, a decorous file,", " And then his Highness' eunuchs, black and white;", "The train might reach a quarter of a mile:", " His Majesty was always so polite", "As to announce his visits a long while", " Before he came, especially at night;", "For being the last wife of the Emperor,", "She was of course the favourite of the four.", "", "His Highness was a man of solemn port,", " Shawled to the nose, and bearded to the eyes,", "Snatched from a prison to preside at court,", " His lately bowstrung brother caused his rise;", "He was as good a sovereign of the sort", " As any mentioned in the histories", "Of Cantemir, or Knōllěs, where few shine", "Save Solyman, the glory of their line.", "", "He went to mosque in state, and said his prayers", " With more than \"Oriental scrupulosity;\"", "He left to his vizier all state affairs,", " And showed but little royal curiosity:", "I know not if he had domestic cares--", " No process proved connubial animosity;", "Four wives and twice five hundred maids, unseen,", "Were ruled as calmly as a Christian queen.", "", "If now and then there happened a slight slip,", " Little was heard of criminal or crime;", "The story scarcely passed a single lip--", " The sack and sea had settled all in time,", "From which the secret nobody could rip:", " The public knew no more than does this rhyme;", "No scandals made the daily press a curse--", "Morals were better, and the fish no worse.", "", "He saw with his own eyes the moon was round,", " Was also certain that the earth was square,", "Because he had journeyed fifty miles, and found", " No sign that it was circular anywhere;", "His empire also was without a bound:", " 'T is true, a little troubled here and there,", "By rebel pachas, and encroaching giaours,", "But then they never came to \"the Seven Towers;\"", "", "Except in shape of envoys, who were sent", " To lodge there when a war broke out, according", "To the true law of nations, which ne'er meant", " Those scoundrels, who have never had a sword in", "Their dirty diplomatic hands, to vent", " Their spleen in making strife, and safely wording", "Their lies, yclept despatches, without risk or", "The singeing of a single inky whisker.", "", "He had fifty daughters and four dozen sons,", " Of whom all such as came of age were stowed,", "The former in a palace, where like nuns", " They lived till some Bashaw was sent abroad,", "When she, whose turn it was, was wed at once,", " Sometimes at six years old--though this seems odd,", "'T is true; the reason is, that the Bashaw", "Must make a present to his sire-in-law.", "", "His sons were kept in prison, till they grew", " Of years to fill a bowstring or the throne,", "One or the other, but which of the two", " Could yet be known unto the fates alone;", "Meantime the education they went through", " Was princely, as the proofs have always shown;", "So that the heir apparent still was found", "No less deserving to be hanged than crowned.", "", "His Majesty saluted his fourth spouse", " With all the ceremonies of his rank,", "Who cleared her sparkling eyes and smoothed her brows,", " As suits a matron who has played a prank;", "These must seem doubly mindful of their vows,", " To save the credit of their breaking bank:", "To no men are such cordial greetings given", "As those whose wives have made them fit for Heaven.", "", "His Highness cast around his great black eyes,", " And looking, as he always looked, perceived", "Juan amongst the damsels in disguise,", " At which he seemed no whit surprised nor grieved,", "But just remarked with air sedate and wise,", " While still a fluttering sigh Gulbeyaz heaved,", "\"I see you've bought another girl; 't is pity", "That a mere Christian should be half so pretty.\"", "", "This compliment, which drew all eyes upon", " The new-bought virgin, made her blush and shake.", "Her comrades, also, thought themselves undone:", " Oh! Mahomet! that his Majesty should take", "Such notice of a giaour, while scarce to one", " Of them his lips imperial ever spake!", "There was a general whisper, toss, and wriggle,", "But etiquette forbade them all to giggle.", "", "The Turks do well to shut--at least, sometimes--", " The women up--because, in sad reality,", "Their chastity in these unhappy climes", " Is not a thing of that astringent quality", "Which in the North prevents precocious crimes,", " And makes our snow less pure than our morality;", "The Sun, which yearly melts the polar ice,", "Has quite the contrary effect--on vice.", "", "Thus in the East they are extremely strict,", " And wedlock and a padlock mean the same:", "Excepting only when the former's picked", " It ne'er can be replaced in proper frame;", "Spoilt, as a pipe of claret is when pricked:", " But then their own polygamy's to blame;", "Why don't they knead two virtuous souls for life", "Into that moral centaur, man and wife?", "", "Thus far our chronicle; and now we pause,", " Though not for want of matter; but 't is time,", "According to the ancient epic laws,", " To slacken sail, and anchor with our rhyme.", "Let this fifth canto meet with due applause,", " The sixth shall have a touch of the sublime;", "Meanwhile, as Homer sometimes sleeps, perhaps", "You'll pardon to my muse a few short naps.", "", "CANTO THE SIXTH.", "", "\"There is a tide in the affairs of men,", " Which,--taken at the flood,\"--you know the rest,", "And most of us have found it now and then:", " At least we think so, though but few have guessed", "The moment, till too late to come again.", " But no doubt everything is for the best--", "Of which the surest sign is in the end:", "When things are at the worst they sometimes mend.", "", "There is a tide in the affairs of women,", " Which, taken at the flood, leads--God knows where:", "Those navigators must be able seamen", " Whose charts lay down its currents to a hair;", "Not all the reveries of Jacob Behmen", " With its strange whirls and eddies can compare:", "Men with their heads reflect on this and that--", "But women with their hearts on Heaven knows what!", "", "And yet a headlong, headstrong, downright She,", " Young, beautiful, and daring--who would risk", "A throne--the world--the universe--to be", " Beloved in her own way--and rather whisk", "The stars from out the sky, than not be free", " As are the billows when the breeze is brisk--", "Though such a She's a devil (if there be one),", "Yet she would make full many a Manichean.", "", "Thrones, worlds, _et cetera_, are so oft upset", " By commonest ambition, that when Passion", "O'erthrows the same, we readily forget,", " Or at the least forgive, the loving rash one.", "If Anthony be well remembered yet,", " 'T is not his conquests keep his name in fashion,", "But Actium, lost for Cleopatra's eyes,", "Outbalances all Cæsar's victories.", "", "He died at fifty for a queen of forty;", " I wish their years had been fifteen and twenty,", "For then wealth, kingdoms, worlds are but a sport--I", " Remember when, though I had no great plenty", "Of worlds to lose, yet still, to pay my court, I", " Gave what I had--a heart; as the world went, I", "Gave what was worth a world; for worlds could never", "Restore me those pure feelings, gone for ever.", "", "'T was the boy's \"mite,\" and, like the \"widow's,\" may", " Perhaps be weighed hereafter, if not now;", "But whether such things do or do not weigh,", " All who have loved, or love, will still allow", "Life has nought like it. God is Love, they say,", " And Love's a god, or was before the brow", "Of Earth was wrinkled by the sins and tears", "Of--but Chronology best knows the years.", "", "We left our hero and third heroine in", " A kind of state more awkward than uncommon,", "For gentlemen must sometimes risk their skin", " For that sad tempter, a forbidden woman:", "Sultans too much abhor this sort of sin,", " And don't agree at all with the wise Roman,", "Heroic, stoic Cato, the sententious,", "Who lent his lady to his friend Hortensius.", "", "I know Gulbeyaz was extremely wrong;", " I own it, I deplore it, I condemn it;", "But I detest all fiction even in song,", " And so must tell the truth, howe'er you blame it.", "Her reason being weak, her passions strong,", " She thought that her Lord's heart (even could she claim it)", "Was scarce enough; for he had fifty-nine", "Years, and a fifteen-hundredth concubine.", "", "I am not, like Cassio, \"an arithmetician,\"", " But by \"the bookish theoric\" it appears,", "If 't is summed up with feminine precision,", " That, adding to the account his Highness' years,", "The fair Sultana erred from inanition;", " For, were the Sultan just to all his dears,", "She could but claim the fifteen-hundredth part", "Of what should be monopoly--the heart.", "", "It is observed that ladies are litigious", " Upon all legal objects of possession,", "And not the least so when they are religious,", " Which doubles what they think of the transgression:", "With suits and prosecutions they besiege us,", " As the tribunals show through many a session,", "When they suspect that any one goes shares", "In that to which the law makes them sole heirs.", "", "Now, if this holds good in a Christian land,", " The heathen also, though with lesser latitude,", "Are apt to carry things with a high hand,", " And take, what Kings call \"an imposing attitude;\"", "And for their rights connubial make a stand,", " When their liege husbands treat them with ingratitude;", "And as four wives must have quadruple claims,", "The Tigris hath its jealousies like Thames.", "", "Gulbeyaz was the fourth, and (as I said)", " The favourite; but what's favour amongst four?", "Polygamy may well be held in dread,", " Not only as a sin, but as a bore:", "Most wise men with one moderate woman wed,", " Will scarcely find philosophy for more;", "And all (except Mahometans) forbear", "To make the nuptial couch a \"Bed of Ware.\"", "", "His Highness, the sublimest of mankind,--", " So styled according to the usual forms", "Of every monarch, till they are consigned", " To those sad hungry Jacobins the worms,", "Who on the very loftiest kings have dined,--", " His Highness gazed upon Gulbeyaz' charms,", "Expecting all the welcome of a lover", "(A \"Highland welcome\" all the wide world over).", "", "Now here we should distinguish; for howe'er", " Kisses, sweet words, embraces, and all that,", "May look like what it is--neither here nor there,", " They are put on as easily as a hat,", "Or rather bonnet, which the fair sex wear,", " Trimmed either heads or hearts to decorate,", "Which form an ornament, but no more part", "Of heads, than their caresses of the heart.", "", "A slight blush, a soft tremor, a calm kind", " Of gentle feminine delight, and shown", "More in the eyelids than the eyes, resigned", " Rather to hide what pleases most unknown,", "Are the best tokens (to a modest mind)", " Of Love, when seated on his loveliest throne,", "A sincere woman's breast,--for over-_warm_", "Or over-_cold_ annihilates the charm.", "", "For over-warmth, if false, is worse than truth;", " If true, 't is no great lease of its own fire;", "For no one, save in very early youth,", " Would like (I think) to trust all to desire,", "Which is but a precarious bond, in sooth,", " And apt to be transferred to the first buyer", "At a sad discount: while your over chilly", "Women, on t' other hand, seem somewhat silly.", "", "That is, we cannot pardon their bad taste,", " For so it seems to lovers swift or slow,", "Who fain would have a mutual flame confessed,", " And see a sentimental passion glow,", "Even were St. Francis' paramour their guest,", " In his monastic concubine of snow;--", "In short, the maxim for the amorous tribe is", "Horatian, \"_Medio tu tutissimus ibis_\"", "", "The \"tu\" 's _too_ much,--but let it stand,--the verse", " Requires it, that's to say, the English rhyme,", "And not the pink of old hexameters;", " But, after all, there's neither tune nor time", "In the last line, which cannot well be worse,", " And was thrust in to close the octave's chime:", "I own no prosody can ever rate it", "As a rule, but _Truth_ may, if you translate it.", "", "If fair Gulbeyaz overdid her part,", " I know not--it succeeded, and success", "Is much in most things, not less in the heart", " Than other articles of female dress.", "Self-love in Man, too, beats all female art;", " They lie, we lie, all lie, but love no less:", "And no one virtue yet, except starvation,", "Could stop that worst of vices--propagation.", "", "We leave this royal couple to repose:", " A bed is not a throne, and they may sleep,", "Whate'er their dreams be, if of joys or woes:", " Yet disappointed joys are woes as deep", "As any man's clay mixture undergoes.", " Our least of sorrows are such as we _weep_;", "'T is the vile daily drop on drop which wears", "The soul out (like the stone) with petty cares.", "", "A scolding wife, a sullen son, a bill", " To pay, unpaid, protested, or discounted", "At a per-centage; a child cross, dog ill,", " A favourite horse fallen lame just as he's mounted,", "A bad old woman making a worse will,", " Which leaves you minus of the cash you counted", "As certain;--these are paltry things, and yet", "I've rarely seen the man they did not fret.", "", "I'm a philosopher; confound them all!", " Bills, beasts, and men, and--no! not womankind!", "With one good hearty curse I vent my gall,", " And then my Stoicism leaves nought behind", "Which it can either pain or evil call,", " And I can give my whole soul up to mind;", "Though what _is_ soul, or mind, their birth or growth,", "Is more than I know--the deuce take them both!", "", "So now all things are damned one feels at ease,", " As after reading Athanasius' curse,", "Which doth your true believer so much please:", " I doubt if any now could make it worse", "O'er his worst enemy when at his knees,", " 'T is so sententious, positive, and terse,", "And decorates the Book of Common Prayer,", "As doth a rainbow the just clearing air.", "", "Gulbeyaz and her lord were sleeping, or", " At least one of them!--Oh, the heavy night,", "When wicked wives, who love some bachelor,", " Lie down in dudgeon to sigh for the light", "Of the grey morning, and look vainly for", " Its twinkle through the lattice dusky quite--", "To toss, to tumble, doze, revive, and quake", "Lest their too lawful bed-fellow should wake!", "", "These are beneath the canopy of heaven,", " Also beneath the canopy of beds", "Four-posted and silk-curtained, which are given", " For rich men and their brides to lay their heads", "Upon, in sheets white as what bards call \"driven", " Snow,\" Well! 't is all hap-hazard when one weds.", "Gulbeyaz was an empress, but had been", "Perhaps as wretched if a _peasants quean_.", "", "Don Juan in his feminine disguise,", " With all the damsels in their long array,", "Had bowed themselves before th' imperial eyes,", " And at the usual signal ta'en their way", "Back to their chambers, those long galleries", " In the seraglio, where the ladies lay", "Their delicate limbs; a thousand bosoms there", "Beating for Love, as the caged bird's for air.", "", "I love the sex, and sometimes would reverse", " The Tyrant's wish, \"that Mankind only had", "One neck, which he with one fell stroke might pierce:\"", " My wish is quite as wide, but not so bad,", "And much more tender on the whole than fierce;", " It being (not _now_, but only while a lad)", "That Womankind had but one rosy mouth,", "To kiss them all at once from North to South.", "", "Oh, enviable Briareus! with thy hands", " And heads, if thou hadst all things multiplied", "In such proportion!--But my Muse withstands", " The giant thought of being a Titan's bride,", "Or travelling in Patagonian lands;", " So let us back to Lilliput, and guide", "Our hero through the labyrinth of Love", "In which we left him several lines above.", "", "He went forth with the lovely Odalisques,", " At the given signal joined to their array;", "And though he certainly ran many risks,", " Yet he could not at times keep, by the way,", "(Although the consequences of such frisks", " Are worse than the worst damages men pay", "In moral England, where the thing's a tax,)", "From ogling all their charms from breasts to backs.", "", "Still he forgot not his disguise:--along", " The galleries from room to room they walked,", "A virgin-like and edifying throng,", " By eunuchs flanked; while at their head there stalked", "A dame who kept up discipline among", " The female ranks, so that none stirred or talked,", "Without her sanction on their she-parades:", "Her title was \"the Mother of the Maids.\"", "", "Whether she was a \"Mother,\" I know not,", " Or whether they were \"Maids\" who called her Mother;", "But this is her Seraglio title, got", " I know not how, but good as any other;", "So Cantemir can tell you, or De Tott:", " Her office was to keep aloof or smother", "All bad propensities in fifteen hundred", "Young women, and correct them when they blundered.", "", "A goodly sinecure, no doubt! but made", " More easy by the absence of all men--", "Except his Majesty,--who, with her aid,", " And guards, and bolts, and walls, and now and then", "A slight example, just to cast a shade", " Along the rest, contrived to keep this den", "Of beauties cool as an Italian convent,", "Where all the passions have, alas! but one vent.", "", "And what is that? Devotion, doubtless--how", " Could you ask such a question?--but we will", "Continue. As I said, this goodly row", " Of ladies of all countries at the will", "Of one good man, with stately march and slow,", " Like water-lilies floating down a rill--", "Or rather lake--for _rills_ do _not_ run _slowly_,--", "Paced on most maiden-like and melancholy.", "", "But when they reached their own apartments, there,", " Like birds, or boys, or bedlamites broke loose,", "Waves at spring-tide, or women anywhere", " When freed from bonds (which are of no great use", "After all), or like Irish at a fair,", " Their guards being gone, and as it were a truce", "Established between them and bondage, they", "Began to sing, dance, chatter, smile, and play.", "", "Their talk, of course, ran most on the new comer;", " Her shape, her hair, her air, her everything:", "Some thought her dress did not so much become her,", " Or wondered at her ears without a ring;", "Some said her years were getting nigh their summer,", " Others contended they were but in spring;", "Some thought her rather masculine in height,", "While others wished that she had been so quite.", "", "But no one doubted on the whole, that she", " Was what her dress bespoke, a damsel fair,", "And fresh, and \"beautiful exceedingly,\"", " Who with the brightest Georgians might compare:", "They wondered how Gulbeyaz, too, could be", " So silly as to buy slaves who might share", "(If that his Highness wearied of his bride)", "Her Throne and Power, and everything beside.", "", "But what was strangest in this virgin crew,", " Although her beauty was enough to vex,", "After the first investigating view,", " They all found out as few, or fewer, specks", "In the fair form of their companion new,", " Than is the custom of the gentle sex,", "When they survey, with Christian eyes or Heathen,", "In a new face \"the ugliest creature breathing.\"", "", "And yet they had their little jealousies,", " Like all the rest; but upon this occasion,", "Whether there are such things as sympathies", " Without our knowledge or our approbation,", "Although they could not see through his disguise,", " All felt a soft kind of concatenation,", "Like Magnetism, or Devilism, or what", "You please--we will not quarrel about that:", "", "But certain 't is they all felt for their new", " Companion something newer still, as 't were", "A sentimental friendship through and through,", " Extremely pure, which made them all concur", "In wishing her their sister, save a few", " Who wished they had a brother just like her,", "Whom, if they were at home in sweet Circassia,", "They would prefer to Padisha or Pacha.", "", "Of those who had most genius for this sort", " Of sentimental friendship, there were three,", "Lolah, Katinka, and Dudù--in short", " (To save description), fair as fair can be", "Were they, according to the best report,", " Though differing in stature and degree,", "And clime and time, and country and complexion--", "They all alike admired their new connection.", "", "Lolah was dusk as India and as warm;", " Katinka was a Georgian, white and red,", "With great blue eyes, a lovely hand and arm,", " And feet so small they scarce seemed made to tread,", "But rather skim the earth; while Dudù's form", " Looked more adapted to be put to bed,", "Being somewhat large, and languishing, and lazy,", "Yet of a beauty that would drive you crazy.", "", "A kind of sleepy Venus seemed Dudù,", " Yet very fit to \"murder sleep\" in those", "Who gazed upon her cheek's transcendent hue,", " Her Attic forehead, and her Phidian nose:", "Few angles were there in her form, 't is true,", " Thinner she might have been, and yet scarce lose;", "Yet, after all, 't would puzzle to say where", "It would not spoil some separate charm to _pare_.", "", "She was not violently lively, but", " Stole on your spirit like a May-day breaking;", "Her eyes were not too sparkling, yet, half-shut,", " They put beholders in a tender taking;", "She looked (this simile's quite new) just cut", " From marble, like Pygmalion's statue waking,", "The mortal and the marble still at strife,", "And timidly expanding into Life.", "", "Lolah demanded the new damsel's name--", " \"Juanna.\"--Well, a pretty name enough.", "Katinka asked her also whence she came--", " \"From Spain.\"--\"But where _is_ Spain?\"--\"Don't ask such stuff,", "Nor show your Georgian ignorance--for shame!\"", " Said Lolah, with an accent rather rough,", "To poor Katinka: \"Spain's an island near", "Morocco, betwixt Egypt and Tangier.\"", "", "Dudù said nothing, but sat down beside", " Juanna, playing with her veil or hair;", "And, looking at her steadfastly, she sighed,", " As if she pitied her for being there,", "A pretty stranger without friend or guide,", " And all abashed, too, at the general stare", "Which welcomes hapless strangers in all places,", "With kind remarks upon their mien and faces.", "", "But here the Mother of the Maids drew near,", " With \"Ladies, it is time to go to rest.", "I'm puzzled what to do with _you_, my dear!\"", " She added to Juanna, their new guest:", "\"Your coming has been unexpected here,", " And every couch is occupied; you had best", "Partake of mine; but by to-morrow early", "We will have all things settled for you fairly.\"", "", "Here Lolah interposed--\"Mamma, you know", " You don't sleep soundly, and I cannot bear", "That anybody should disturb you so;", " I'll take Juanna; we're a slenderer pair", "Than you would make the half of;--don't say no;", " And I of your young charge will take due care.\"", "But here Katinka interfered, and said,", "\"She also had compassion and a bed.\"", "", "\"Besides, I hate to sleep alone,\" quoth she.", " The matron frowned: \"Why so?\"--\"For fear of ghosts,\"", "Replied Katinka; \"I am sure I see", " A phantom upon each of the four posts;", "And then I have the worst dreams that can be,", " Of Guebres, Giaours, and Ginns, and Gouls in hosts.\"", "The dame replied, \"Between your dreams and you,", "I fear Juanna's dreams would be but few.", "", "\"You, Lolah, must continue still to lie", " Alone, for reasons which don't matter; you", "The same, Katinka, until by and by:", " And I shall place Juanna with Dudù,", "Who's quiet, inoffensive, silent, shy,", " And will not toss and chatter the night through.", "What say you, child?\"--Dudù said nothing, as", "Her talents were of the more silent class;", "", "But she rose up, and kissed the matron's brow", " Between the eyes, and Lolah on both cheeks,", "Katinka too; and with a gentle bow", " (Curt'sies are neither used by Turks nor Greeks)", "She took Juanna by the hand to show", " Their place of rest, and left to both their piques,", "The others pouting at the matron's preference", "Of Dudù, though they held their tongues from deference.", "", "It was a spacious chamber (Oda is", " The Turkish title), and ranged round the wall", "Were couches, toilets--and much more than this", " I might describe, as I have seen it all,", "But it suffices--little was amiss;", " 'T was on the whole a nobly furnished hall,", "With all things ladies want, save one or two,", "And even those were nearer than they knew.", "", "Dudù, as has been said, was a sweet creature,", " Not very dashing, but extremely winning,", "With the most regulated charms of feature,", " Which painters cannot catch like faces sinning", "Against proportion--the wild strokes of nature", " Which they hit off at once in the beginning,", "Full of expression, right or wrong, that strike,", "And pleasing, or unpleasing, still are like.", "", "But she was a soft landscape of mild earth,", " Where all was harmony, and calm, and quiet,", "Luxuriant, budding; cheerful without mirth,", " Which, if not happiness, is much more nigh it", "Than are your mighty passions and so forth,", " Which, some call \"the Sublime:\" I wish they'd try it:", "I've seen your stormy seas and stormy women,", "And pity lovers rather more than seamen.", "", "But she was pensive more than melancholy,", " And serious more than pensive, and serene,", "It may be, more than either--not unholy", " Her thoughts, at least till now, appear to have been.", "The strangest thing was, beauteous, she was wholly", " Unconscious, albeit turned of quick seventeen,", "That she was fair, or dark, or short, or tall;", "She never thought about herself at all.", "", "And therefore was she kind and gentle as", " The Age of Gold (when gold was yet unknown,", "By which its nomenclature came to pass;", " Thus most appropriately has been shown", "\"Lucus à _non_ lucendo,\" _not_ what _was_,", " But what _was not_; a sort of style that's grown", "Extremely common in this age, whose metal", "The Devil may decompose, but never settle:", "", "I think it may be of \"Corinthian Brass,\"", " Which was a mixture of all metals, but", "The brazen uppermost). Kind reader! pass", " This long parenthesis: I could not shut", "It sooner for the soul of me, and class", " My faults even with your own! which meaneth, Put", "A kind construction upon them and me:", "But _that_ you won't--then don't--I am not less free.", "", "'T is time we should return to plain narration,", " And thus my narrative proceeds:--Dudù,", "With every kindness short of ostentation,", " Showed Juan, or Juanna, through and through", "This labyrinth of females, and each station", " Described--what's strange--in words extremely few:", "I have but one simile, and that's a blunder,", "For wordless woman, which is _silent_ thunder.", "", "And next she gave her (I say _her_, because", " The gender still was epicene, at least", "In outward show, which is a saving clause)", " An outline of the customs of the East,", "With all their chaste integrity of laws,", " By which the more a Harem is increased,", "The stricter doubtless grow the vestal duties", "Of any supernumerary beauties.", "", "And then she gave Juanna a chaste kiss:", " Dudú was fond of kissing--which I'm sure", "That nobody can ever take amiss,", " Because 't is pleasant, so that it be pure,", "And between females means no more than this--", " That they have nothing better near, or newer.", "\"Kiss\" rhymes to \"bliss\" in fact as well as verse--", "I wish it never led to something worse.", "", "In perfect innocence she then unmade", " Her toilet, which cost little, for she was", "A child of Nature, carelessly arrayed:", " If fond of a chance ogle at her glass,", "'T was like the fawn, which, in the lake displayed,", " Beholds her own shy, shadowy image pass,", "When first she starts, and then returns to peep,", "Admiring this new native of the deep.", "", "And one by one her articles of dress", " Were laid aside; but not before she offered", "Her aid to fair Juanna, whose excess", " Of modesty declined the assistance proffered:", "Which passed well off--as she could do no less;", " Though by this _politesse_ she rather suffered,", "Pricking her fingers with those cursed pins,", "Which surely were invented for our sins,--", "", "Making a woman like a porcupine,", " Not to be rashly touched. But still more dread,", "Oh ye! whose fate it is, as once 't was mine,", " In early youth, to turn a lady's maid;--", "I did my very boyish best to shine", " In tricking her out for a masquerade:", "The pins were placed sufficiently, but not", "Stuck all exactly in the proper spot.", "", "But these are foolish things to all the wise,", " And I love Wisdom more than she loves me;", "My tendency is to philosophise", " On most things, from a tyrant to a tree;", "But still the spouseless virgin _Knowledge_ flies.", " What are we? and whence came we? what shall be", "Our _ultimate_ existence? what's our present?", "Are questions answerless, and yet incessant.", "", "There was deep silence in the chamber: dim", " And distant from each other burned the lights,", "And slumber hovered o'er each lovely limb", " Of the fair occupants: if there be sprites,", "They should have walked there in their sprightliest trim,", " By way of change from their sepulchral sites,", "And shown themselves as ghosts of better taste", "Than haunting some old ruin or wild waste.", "", "Many and beautiful lay those around,", " Like flowers of different hue, and clime, and root,", "In some exotic garden sometimes found,", " With cost, and care, and warmth induced to shoot.", "One with her auburn tresses lightly bound,", " And fair brows gently drooping, as the fruit", "Nods from the tree, was slumbering with soft breath,", "And lips apart, which showed the pearls beneath.", "", "One with her flushed cheek laid on her white arm,", " And raven ringlets gathered in dark crowd", "Above her brow, lay dreaming soft and warm;", " And smiling through her dream, as through a cloud", "The moon breaks, half unveiled each further charm,", " As, slightly stirring in her snowy shroud,", "Her beauties seized the unconscious hour of night", "All bashfully to struggle into light.", "", "This is no bull, although it sounds so; for", " 'T was night, but there were lamps, as hath been said.", "A third's all pallid aspect offered more", " The traits of sleeping sorrow, and betrayed", "Through the heaved breast the dream of some far shore", " Belovéd and deplored; while slowly strayed", "(As night-dew, on a cypress glittering, tinges", "The black bough) tear-drops through her eyes' dark fringes.", "", "A fourth as marble, statue-like and still,", " Lay in a breathless, hushed, and stony sleep;", "White, cold, and pure, as looks a frozen rill,", " Or the snow minaret on an Alpine steep,", "Or Lot's wife done in salt,--or what you will;--", " My similes are gathered in a heap,", "So pick and choose--perhaps you'll be content", "With a carved lady on a monument.", "", "And lo! a fifth appears;--and what is she?", " A lady of a \"certain age,\" which means", "Certainly agéd--what her years might be", " I know not, never counting past their teens;", "But there she slept, not quite so fair to see,", " As ere that awful period intervenes", "Which lays both men and women on the shelf,", "To meditate upon their sins and self.", "", "But all this time how slept, or dreamed, Dudú?", " With strict inquiry I could ne'er discover,", "And scorn to add a syllable untrue;", " But ere the middle watch was hardly over,", "Just when the fading lamps waned dim and blue,", " And phantoms hovered, or might seem to hover,", "To those who like their company, about", "The apartment, on a sudden she screamed out:", "", "And that so loudly, that upstarted all", " The Oda, in a general commotion:", "Matron and maids, and those whom you may call", " Neither, came crowding like the waves of Ocean,", "One on the other, throughout the whole hall,", " All trembling, wondering, without the least notion", "More than I have myself of what could make", "The calm Dudù so turbulently wake.", "", "But wide awake she was, and round her bed.", " With floating draperies and with flying hair,", "With eager eyes, and light but hurried tread,", " And bosoms, arms, and ankles glancing bare,", "And bright as any meteor ever bred", " By the North Pole,--they sought her cause of care,", "For she seemed agitated, flushed, and frightened,", "Her eye dilated, and her colour heightened.", "", "But what is strange--and a strong proof how great", " A blessing is sound sleep--Juanna lay", "As fast as ever husband by his mate", " In holy matrimony snores away.", "Not all the clamour broke her happy state", " Of slumber, ere they shook her,--so they say", "At least,--and then she, too, unclosed her eyes,", "And yawned a good deal with discreet surprise.", "", "And now commenced a strict investigation,", " Which, as all spoke at once, and more than once", "Conjecturing, wondering, asking a narration,", " Alike might puzzle either wit or dunce", "To answer in a very clear oration.", " Dudú had never passed for wanting sense,", "But being \"no orator as Brutus is,\"", "Could not at first expound what was amiss.", "", "At length she said, that in a slumber sound", " She dreamed a dream, of walking in a wood--", "A \"wood obscure,\" like that where Dante found", " Himself in at the age when all grow good;", "Life's half-way house, where dames with virtue crowned", " Run much less risk of lovers turning rude;", "And that this wood was full of pleasant fruits,", "And trees of goodly growth and spreading roots;", "", "And in the midst a golden apple grew,--", " A most prodigious pippin--but it hung", "Rather too high and distant; that she threw", " Her glances on it, and then, longing, flung", "Stones and whatever she could pick up, to", " Bring down the fruit, which still perversely clung", "To its own bough, and dangled yet in sight,", "But always at a most provoking height;", "", "That on a sudden, when she least had hope,", " It fell down of its own accord before", "Her feet; that her first movement was to stoop", " And pick it up, and bite it to the core;", "That just as her young lip began to ope", " Upon the golden fruit the vision bore,", "A bee flew out, and stung her to the heart,", "And so--she woke with a great scream and start.", "", "All this she told with some confusion and", " Dismay, the usual consequence of dreams", "Of the unpleasant kind, with none at hand", " To expound their vain and visionary gleams.", "I've known some odd ones which seemed really planned", " Prophetically, or that which one deems", "A \"strange coincidence,\" to use a phrase", "By which such things are settled now-a-days.", "", "The damsels, who had thoughts of some great harm,", " Began, as is the consequence of fear,", "To scold a little at the false alarm", " That broke for nothing on their sleeping ear.", "The matron, too, was wroth to leave her warm", " Bed for the dream she had been obliged to hear,", "And chafed at poor Dudù, who only sighed,", "And said, that she was sorry she had cried.", "", "\"I've heard of stories of a cock and bull;", " But visions of an apple and a bee,", "To take us from our natural rest, and pull", " The whole Oda from their beds at half-past three,", "Would make us think the moon is at its full.", " You surely are unwell, child! we must see,", "To-morrow, what his Highness's physician", "Will say to this hysteric of a vision.", "", "\"And poor Juanna, too, the child's first night", " Within these walls, to be broke in upon", "With such a clamour--I had thought it right", " That the young stranger should not lie alone,", "And, as the quietest of all, she might", " With you, Dudù, a good night's rest have known:", "But now I must transfer her to the charge", "Of Lolah--though her couch is not so large.\"", "", "Lolah's eyes sparkled at the proposition;", " But poor Dudù, with large drops in her own,", "Resulting from the scolding or the vision,", " Implored that present pardon might be shown", "For this first fault, and that on no condition", " (She added in a soft and piteous tone)", "Juanna should be taken from her, and", "Her future dreams should be all kept in hand.", "", "She promised never more to have a dream,", " At least to dream so loudly as just now;", "She wondered at herself how she could scream--", " 'T was foolish, nervous, as she must allow,", "A fond hallucination, and a theme", " For laughter--but she felt her spirits low,", "And begged they would excuse her; she'd get over", "This weakness in a few hours, and recover.", "", "And here Juanna kindly interposed,", " And said she felt herself extremely well", "Where she then was, as her sound sleep disclosed,", " When all around rang like a tocsin bell;", "She did not find herself the least disposed", " To quit her gentle partner, and to dwell", "Apart from one who had no sin to show,", "Save that of dreaming once \"mal-à-propos.\"", "", "As thus Juanna spoke, Dudù turned round", " And hid her face within Juanna's breast:", "Her neck alone was seen, but that was found", " The colour of a budding rose's crest.", "I can't tell why she blushed, nor can expound", " The mystery of this rupture of their test;", "All that I know is, that the facts I state", "Are true as Truth has ever been of late,", "", "And so good night to them,--or, if you will,", " Good morrow--for the cock had crown, and light", "Began to clothe each Asiatic hill,", " And the mosque crescent struggled into sight", "Of the long caravan, which in the chill", " Of dewy dawn wound slowly round each height", "That stretches to the stony belt, which girds", "Asia, where Kaff looks down upon the Kurds.", "", "With the first ray, or rather grey of morn,", " Gulbeyaz rose from restlessness; and pale", "As Passion rises, with its bosom worn,", " Arrayed herself with mantle, gem, and veil.", "The Nightingale that sings with the deep thorn,", " Which fable places in her breast of wail,", "Is lighter far of heart and voice than those", "Whose headlong passions form their proper woes.", "", "And that's the moral of this composition,", " If people would but see its real drift;--", "But _that_ they will not do without suspicion,", " Because all gentle readers have the gift", "Of closing 'gainst the light their orbs of vision:", " While gentle writers also love to lift", "Their voices 'gainst each other, which is natural,", "The numbers are too great for them to flatter all.", "", "Rose the Sultana from a bed of splendour,", " Softer than the soft Sybarite's, who cried", "Aloud because his feelings were too tender", " To brook a ruffled rose-leaf by his side,--", "So beautiful that Art could little mend her,", " Though pale with conflicts between Love and Pride;--", "So agitated was she with her error,", "She did not even look into the mirror.", "", "Also arose about the self-same time,", " Perhaps a little later, her great Lord,", "Master of thirty kingdoms so sublime,", " And of a wife by whom he was abhorred;", "A thing of much less import in that clime--", " At least to those of incomes which afford", "The filling up their whole connubial cargo--", "Than where two wives are under an embargo.", "", "He did not think much on the matter, nor", " Indeed on any other: as a man", "He liked to have a handsome paramour", " At hand, as one may like to have a fan,", "And therefore of Circassians had good store,", " As an amusement after the Divan;", "Though an unusual fit of love, or duty,", "Had made him lately bask in his bride's beauty.", "", "And now he rose; and after due ablutions", " Exacted by the customs of the East,", "And prayers and other pious evolutions,", " He drank six cups of coffee at the least,", "And then withdrew to hear about the Russians,", " Whose victories had recently increased", "In Catherine's reign, whom Glory still adores,", "As greatest of all sovereigns and w----s.", "", "But oh, thou grand legitimate Alexander!", " Her son's son, let not this last phrase offend", "Thine ear, if it should reach--and now rhymes wander", " Almost as far as Petersburgh, and lend", "A dreadful impulse to each loud meander", " Of murmuring Liberty's wide waves, which blend", "Their roar even with the Baltic's--so you be", "Your father's son, 't is quite enough for me.", "", "To call men love-begotten, or proclaim", " Their mothers as the antipodes of Timon,", "That hater of Mankind, would be a shame,", " A libel, or whate'er you please to rhyme on:", "But people's ancestors are History's game;", " And if one Lady's slip could leave a crime on", "All generations, I should like to know", "What pedigree the best would have to show?", "", "Had Catherine and the Sultan understood", " Their own true interests, which Kings rarely know,", "Until 't is taught by lessons rather rude,", " There was a way to end their strife, although", "Perhaps precarious, had they but thought good,", " Without the aid of Prince or Plenipo:", "She to dismiss her guards and he his Harem,", "And for their other matters, meet and share 'em.", "", "But as it was, his Highness had to hold", " His daily council upon ways and means", "How to encounter with this martial scold,", " This modern Amazon and Queen of queans;", "And the perplexity could not be told", " Of all the pillars of the State, which leans", "Sometimes a little heavy on the backs", "Of those who cannot lay on a new tax.", "", "Meantime Gulbeyaz when her King was gone,", " Retired into her boudoir, a sweet place", "For love or breakfast; private, pleasing, lone,", " And rich with all contrivances which grace", "Those gay recesses:--many a precious stone", " Sparkled along its roof, and many a vase", "Of porcelain held in the fettered flowers,", "Those captive soothers of a captive's hours.", "", "Mother of pearl, and porphyry, and marble,", " Vied with each other on this costly spot;", "And singing birds without were heard to warble;", " And the stained glass which lighted this fair grot", "Varied each ray;--but all descriptions garble", " The true effect, and so we had better not", "Be too minute; an outline is the best,--", "A lively reader's fancy does the rest.", "", "And here she summoned Baba, and required", " Don Juan at his hands, and information", "Of what had passed since all the slaves retired,", " And whether he had occupied their station:", "If matters had been managed as desired,", " And his disguise with due consideration", "Kept up; and above all, the where and how", "He had passed the night, was what she wished to know.", "", "Baba, with some embarrassment, replied", " To this long catechism of questions, asked", "More easily than answered,--that he had tried", " His best to obey in what he had been tasked;", "But there seemed something that he wished to hide,", " Which Hesitation more betrayed than masked;", "He scratched his ear, the infallible resource", "To which embarrassed people have recourse.", "", "Gulbeyaz was no model of true patience,", " Nor much disposed to wait in word or deed;", "She liked quick answers in all conversations;", " And when she saw him stumbling like a steed", "In his replies, she puzzled him for fresh ones;", " And as his speech grew still more broken-kneed,", "Her cheek began to flush, her eyes to sparkle,", "And her proud brow's blue veins to swell and darkle.", "", "When Baba saw these symptoms, which he knew", " To bode him no great good, he deprecated", "Her anger, and beseeched she'd hear him through--", " He could not help the thing which he related:", "Then out it came at length, that to Dudù", " Juan was given in charge, as hath been stated;", "But not by Baba's fault, he said, and swore on", "The holy camel's hump, besides the Koran.", "", "The chief dame of the Oda, upon whom", " The discipline of the whole Harem bore,", "As soon as they re-entered their own room,", " For Baba's function stopped short at the door,", "Had settled all; nor could he then presume", " (The aforesaid Baba) just then to do more,", "Without exciting such suspicion as", "Might make the matter still worse than it was.", "", "He hoped, indeed he thought, he could be sure,", " Juan had not betrayed himself; in fact", "'T was certain that his conduct had been pure,", " Because a foolish or imprudent act", "Would not alone have made him insecure,", " But ended in his being found out and _sacked,_", "And thrown into the sea.--Thus Baba spoke", "Of all save Dudù's dream, which was no joke.", "", "This he discreetly kept in the back ground,", " And talked away--and might have talked till now,", "For any further answer that he found,", " So deep an anguish wrung Gulbeyaz' brow:", "Her cheek turned ashes, ears rung, brain whirled round,", " As if she had received a sudden blow,", "And the heart's dew of pain sprang fast and chilly", "O'er her fair front, like Morning's on a lily.", "", "Although she was not of the fainting sort,", " Baba thought she would faint, but there he erred--", "It was but a convulsion, which though short", " Can never be described; we all have heard,", "And some of us have felt thus \"_all amort_\"", " When things beyond the common have occurred;--", "Gulbeyaz proved in that brief agony", "What she could ne'er express--then how should I?", "", "She stood a moment as a Pythoness", " Stands on her tripod, agonized, and full", "Of inspiration gathered from distress,", " When all the heart-strings like wild horses pull", "The heart asunder;--then, as more or less", " Their speed abated or their strength grew dull,", "She sunk down on her seat by slow degrees,", "And bowed her throbbing head o'er trembling knees.", "", "Her face declined and was unseen; her hair", " Fell in long tresses like the weeping willow,", "Sweeping the marble underneath her chair,", " Or rather sofa (for it was all pillow,", "A low, soft ottoman), and black Despair", " Stirred up and down her bosom like a billow,", "Which rushes to some shore whose shingles check", "Its farther course, but must receive its wreck.", "", "Her head hung down, and her long hair in stooping", " Concealed her features better than a veil;", "And one hand o'er the ottoman lay drooping,", " White, waxen, and as alabaster pale:", "Would that I were a painter! to be grouping", " All that a poet drags into detail!", "Oh that my words were colours! but their tints", "May serve perhaps as outlines or slight hints.", "", "Baba, who knew by experience when to talk", " And when to hold his tongue, now held it till", "This passion might blow o'er, nor dared to balk", " Gulbeyaz' taciturn or speaking will.", "At length she rose up, and began to walk", " Slowly along the room, but silent still,", "And her brow cleared, but not her troubled eye;", "The wind was down, but still the sea ran high.", "", "She stopped, and raised her head to speak-but paused", " And then moved on again with rapid pace;", "Then slackened it, which is the march most caused", " By deep emotion:--you may sometimes trace", "A feeling in each footstep, as disclosed", " By Sallust in his Catiline, who, chased", "By all the demons of all passions, showed", "Their work even by the way in which he trode.", "", "Gulbeyaz stopped and beckoned Baba:--\"Slave!", " Bring the two slaves!\" she said in a low tone,", "But one which Baba did not like to brave,", " And yet he shuddered, and seemed rather prone", "To prove reluctant, and begged leave to crave", " (Though he well knew the meaning) to be shown", "What slaves her Highness wished to indicate,", "For fear of any error, like the late.", "", "\"The Georgian and her paramour,\" replied", " The Imperial Bride--and added, \"Let the boat", "Be ready by the secret portal's side:", " You know the rest.\" The words stuck in her throat,", "Despite her injured love and fiery pride;", " And of this Baba willingly took note,", "And begged by every hair of Mahomet's beard,", "She would revoke the order he had heard.", "", "\"To hear is to obey,\" he said; \"but still,", " Sultana, think upon the consequence:", "It is not that I shall not all fulfil", " Your orders, even in their severest sense;", "But such precipitation may end ill,", " Even at your own imperative expense:", "I do not mean destruction and exposure,", "In case of any premature disclosure;", "", "\"But your own feelings. Even should all the rest", " Be hidden by the rolling waves, which hide", "Already many a once love-beaten breast", " Deep in the caverns of the deadly tide--", "You love this boyish, new, Seraglio guest,", " And if this violent remedy be tried--", "Excuse my freedom, when I here assure you,", "That killing him is not the way to cure you.\"", "", "\"What dost thou know of Love or feeling?--Wretch!", " Begone!\" she cried, with kindling eyes--\"and do", "My bidding!\" Baba vanished, for to stretch", " His own remonstrance further he well knew", "Might end in acting as his own \"Jack Ketch;\"", " And though he wished extremely to get through", "This awkward business without harm to others,", "He still preferred his own neck to another's.", "", "Away he went then upon his commission,", " Growling and grumbling in good Turkish phrase", "Against all women of whate'er condition,", " Especially Sultanas and their ways;", "Their obstinacy, pride, and indecision,", " Their never knowing their own mind two days,", "The trouble that they gave, their immorality,", "Which made him daily bless his own neutrality.", "", "And then he called his brethren to his aid,", " And sent one on a summons to the pair,", "That they must instantly be well arrayed,", " And above all be combed even to a hair,", "And brought before the Empress, who had made", " Inquiries after them with kindest care:", "At which Dudù looked strange, and Juan silly;", "But go they must at once, and will I--nill I.", "", "And here I leave them at their preparation", " For the imperial presence, wherein whether", "Gulbeyaz showed them both commiseration,", " Or got rid of the parties altogether,", "Like other angry ladies of her nation,--", " Are things the turning of a hair or feather", "May settle; but far be 't from me to anticipate", "In what way feminine caprice may dissipate.", "", "I leave them for the present with good wishes,", " Though doubts of their well doing, to arrange", "Another part of History; for the dishes", " Of this our banquet we must sometimes change;", "And trusting Juan may escape the fishes,", " (Although his situation now seems strange,", "And scarce secure),--as such digressions _are_ fair,", "The Muse will take a little touch at warfare.", "", "CANTO THE SEVENTH.", "", "O LOVE! O Glory! what are ye who fly", " Around us ever, rarely to alight?", "There's not a meteor in the polar sky", " Of such transcendent and more fleeting flight.", "Chill, and chained to cold earth, we lift on high", " Our eyes in search of either lovely light;", "A thousand and a thousand colours they", "Assume, then leave us on our freezing way.", "", "And such as they are, such my present tale is,", " A nondescript and ever-varying rhyme,", "A versified Aurora Borealis,", " Which flashes o'er a waste and icy clime.", "When we know what all are, we must bewail us,", " But ne'ertheless I hope it is no crime", "To laugh at _all_ things--for I wish to know", "_What_, after _all_, are _all_ things--but a _show_?", "", "They accuse me--_Me_--the present writer of", " The present poem--of--I know not what--A", "tendency to under-rate and scoff", " At human power and virtue, and all that;", "And this they say in language rather rough.", " Good God! I wonder what they would be at!", "I say no more than hath been said in Danté's", "Verse, and by Solomon and by Cervantes;", "", "By Swift, by Machiavel, by Rochefoucault,", " By Fénélon, by Luther, and by Plato;", "By Tillotson, and Wesley, and Rousseau,", " Who knew this life was not worth a potato.", "'T is not their fault, nor mine, if this be so,--", " For my part, I pretend not to be Cato,", "Nor even Diogenes.--We live and die,", "But which is best, _you_ know no more than I.", "", "Socrates said, our only knowledge was", " \"To know that nothing could be known;\" a pleasant", "Science enough, which levels to an ass", " Each man of wisdom, future, past, or present.", "Newton (that proverb of the mind), alas!", " Declared, with all his grand discoveries recent,", "That he himself felt only \"like a youth", "Picking up shells by the great ocean--Truth.\"", "", "Ecclesiastes said, \"that all is vanity\"--", " Most modern preachers say the same, or show it", "By their examples of true Christianity:", " In short, all know, or very soon may know it;", "And in this scene of all-confessed inanity,", " By Saint, by Sage, by Preacher, and by Poet,", "Must I restrain me, through the fear of strife,", "From holding up the nothingness of Life?", "", "Dogs, or men!--for I flatter you in saying", " That ye are dogs--your betters far--ye may", "Read, or read not, what I am now essaying", " To show ye what ye are in every way.", "As little as the moon stops for the baying", " Of wolves, will the bright Muse withdraw one ray", "From out her skies--then howl your idle wrath!", "While she still silvers o'er your gloomy path.", "", "\"Fierce loves and faithless wars\"--I am not sure", " If this be the right reading--'t is no matter;", "The fact's about the same, I am secure;", " I sing them both, and am about to batter", "A town which did a famous siege endure,", " And was beleaguered both by land and water", "By Souvaroff, or Anglicè Suwarrow,", "Who loved blood as an alderman loves marrow.", "", "The fortress is called Ismail, and is placed", " Upon the Danube's left branch and left bank,", "With buildings in the Oriental taste,", " But still a fortress of the foremost rank,", "Or was at least, unless 't is since defaced,", " Which with your conquerors is a common prank:", "It stands some eighty versts from the high sea,", "And measures round of toises thousands three.", "", "Within the extent of this fortification", " A borough is comprised along the height", "Upon the left, which from its loftier station", " Commands the city, and upon its site", "A Greek had raised around this elevation", " A quantity of palisades _upright_,", "So placed as to _impede_ the fire of those", "Who held the place, and to _assist_ the foe's.", "", "This circumstance may serve to give a notion", " Of the high talents of this new Vauban:", "But the town ditch below was deep as Ocean,", " The rampart higher than you'd wish to hang:", "But then there was a great want of precaution", " (Prithee, excuse this engineering slang),", "Nor work advanced, nor covered way was there,", "To hint, at least, \"Here is no thoroughfare.\"", "", "But a stone bastion, with a narrow gorge,", " And walls as thick as most skulls born as yet;", "Two batteries, cap-à-pie, as our St. George,", " Casemated one, and t' other \"a barbette,\"", "Of Danube's bank took formidable charge;", " While two-and-twenty cannon duly set", "Rose over the town's right side, in bristling tier,", "Forty feet high, upon a cavalier.", "", "But from the river the town's open quite,", " Because the Turks could never be persuaded", "A Russian vessel e'er would heave in sight;", " And such their creed was till they were invaded,", "When it grew rather late to set things right:", " But as the Danube could not well be waded,", "They looked upon the Muscovite flotilla,", "And only shouted, \"Allah!\" and \"Bis Millah!\"", "", "The Russians now were ready to attack;", " But oh, ye goddesses of War and Glory!", "How shall I spell the name of each Cossacque", " Who were immortal, could one tell their story?", "Alas! what to their memory can lack?", " Achilles' self was not more grim and gory", "Than thousands of this new and polished nation,", "Whose names want nothing but--pronunciation.", "", "Still I'll record a few, if but to increase", " Our euphony: there was Strongenoff, and Strokonoff,", "Meknop, Serge Lwow, Arséniew of modern Greece,", " And Tschitsshakoff, and Roguenoff, and Chokenoff,", "And others of twelve consonants apiece;", " And more might be found out, if I could poke enough", "Into gazettes; but Fame (capricious strumpet),", "It seems, has got an ear as well as trumpet,", "", "And cannot tune those discords of narration,", " Which may be names at Moscow, into rhyme;", "Yet there were several worth commemoration,", " As e'er was virgin of a nuptial chime;", "Soft words, too, fitted for the peroration", " Of Londonderry drawling against time,", "Ending in \"ischskin,\" \"ousckin,\" \"iffskchy,\" \"ouski,\"", "Of whom we can insert but Rousamouski,", "", "Scherematoff and Chrematoff, Koklophti,", " Koclobski, Kourakin, and Mouskin Pouskin,", "All proper men of weapons, as e'er scoffed high", " Against a foe, or ran a sabre through skin:", "Little cared they for Mahomet or Mufti,", " Unless to make their kettle-drums a new skin", "Out of their hides, if parchment had grown dear,", "And no more handy substitute been near.", "", "Then there were foreigners of much renown,", " Of various nations, and all volunteers;", "Not fighting for their country or its crown,", " But wishing to be one day brigadiers;", "Also to have the sacking of a town;--", " A pleasant thing to young men at their years.", "'Mongst them were several Englishmen of pith,", "Sixteen called Thomson, and nineteen named Smith.", "", "Jack Thomson and Bill Thomson;--all the rest", " Had been called _\"Jemmy,\"_ after the great bard;", "I don't know whether they had arms or crest,", " But such a godfather's as good a card.", "Three of the Smiths were Peters; but the best", " Amongst them all, hard blows to inflict or ward,", "Was _he_, since so renowned \"in country quarters", "At Halifax;\" but now he served the Tartars.", "", "The rest were Jacks and Gills and Wills and Bills,", " But when I've added that the elder Jack Smith", "Was born in Cumberland among the hills,", " And that his father was an honest blacksmith,", "I've said all _I_ know of a name that fills", " Three lines of the despatch in taking \"Schmacksmith,\"", "A village of Moldavia's waste, wherein", "He fell, immortal in a bulletin.", "", "I wonder (although Mars no doubt's a god I", " Praise) if a man's name in a _bulletin_", "May make up for a _bullet in_ his body?", " I hope this little question is no sin,", "Because, though I am but a simple noddy,", " I think one Shakespeare puts the same thought in", "The mouth of some one in his plays so doting,", "Which many people pass for wits by quoting.", "", "Then there were Frenchmen, gallant, young, and gay;", " But I'm too great a patriot to record", "Their Gallic names upon a glorious day;", " I'd rather tell ten lies than say a word", "Of truth;--such truths are treason; they betray", " Their country; and as traitors are abhorred,", "Who name the French in English, save to show", "How Peace should make John Bull the Frenchman's foe.", "", "The Russians, having built two batteries on", " An isle near Ismail, had two ends in view;", "The first was to bombard it, and knock down", " The public buildings and the private too,", "No matter what poor souls might be undone:", " The city's shape suggested this, 't is true,", "Formed like an amphitheatre--each dwelling", "Presented a fine mark to throw a shell in.", "", "The second object was to profit by", " The moment of the general consternation,", "To attack the Turk's flotilla, which lay nigh", " Extremely tranquil, anchored at its station:", "But a third motive was as probably", " To frighten them into capitulation;", "A phantasy which sometimes seizes warriors,", "Unless they are game as bull-dogs and fox-terriers.", "", "A habit rather blameable, which is", " That of despising those we combat with,", "Common in many cases, was in this", " The cause of killing Tchitchitzkoff and Smith--", "One of the valorous \"Smiths\" whom we shall miss", " Out of those nineteen who late rhymed to \"pith;\"", "But 't is a name so spread o'er \"Sir\" and \"Madam,\"", "That one would think the _first_ who bore it _\"Adam.\"_", "", "The Russian batteries were incomplete,", " Because they were constructed in a hurry;", "Thus the same cause which makes a verse want feet,", " And throws a cloud o'er Longman and John Murray,", "When the sale of new books is not so fleet", " As they who print them think is necessary,", "May likewise put off for a time what story", "Sometimes calls \"Murder,\" and at others \"Glory.\"", "", "Whether it was their engineer's stupidity,", " Their haste or waste, I neither know nor care,", "Or some contractor's personal cupidity,", " Saving his soul by cheating in the ware", "Of homicide, but there was no solidity", " In the new batteries erected there;", "They either missed, or they were never missed,", "And added greatly to the missing list.", "", "A sad miscalculation about distance", " Made all their naval matters incorrect;", "Three fireships lost their amiable existence", " Before they reached a spot to take effect;", "The match was lit too soon, and no assistance", " Could remedy this lubberly defect;", "They blew up in the middle of the river,", "While, though 't was dawn, the Turks slept fast as ever.", "", "At seven they rose, however, and surveyed", " The Russ flotilla getting under way;", "'T was nine, when still advancing undismayed,", " Within a cable's length their vessels lay", "Off Ismail, and commenced a cannonade,", " Which was returned with interest, I may say,", "And by a fire of musketry and grape,", "And shells and shot of every size and shape.", "", "For six hours bore they without intermission", " The Turkish fire, and, aided by their own", "Land batteries, worked their guns with great precision;", " At length they found mere cannonade alone", "By no means would produce the town's submission,", " And made a signal to retreat at one.", "One bark blew up, a second near the works", "Running aground, was taken by the Turks.", "", "The Moslem, too, had lost both ships and men;", " But when they saw the enemy retire,", "Their Delhis manned some boats, and sailed again,", " And galled the Russians with a heavy fire,", "And tried to make a landing on the main;", " But here the effect fell short of their desire:", "Count Damas drove them back into the water", "Pell-mell, and with a whole gazette of slaughter.", "", "\"If\" (says the historian here) \"I could report", " All that the Russians did upon this day,", "I think that several volumes would fall short,", " And I should still have many things to say;\"", "And so he says no more--but pays his court", " To some distinguished strangers in that fray;", "The Prince de Ligne, and Langeron, and Damas,", "Names great as any that the roll of Fame has.", "", "This being the case, may show us what Fame _is_:", " For out of these three \"_preux Chevaliers_,\" how", "Many of common readers give a guess", " That such existed? (and they may live now", "For aught we know.) Renown's all hit or miss;", " There's fortune even in Fame, we must allow.", "'T is true, the Memoirs of the Prince de Ligne", "Have half withdrawn from _him_ Oblivion's screen.", "", "But here are men who fought in gallant actions", " As gallantly as ever heroes fought,", "But buried in the heap of such transactions", " Their names are rarely found, nor often sought.", "Thus even good fame may suffer sad contractions,", " And is extinguished sooner than she ought:", "Of all our modern battles, I will bet", "You can't repeat nine names from each Gazette.", "", "In short, this last attack, though rich in glory,", " Showed that _somewhere, somehow_, there was a fault,", "And Admiral Ribas (known in Russian story)", " Most strongly recommended an assault;", "In which he was opposed by young and hoary,", " Which made a long debate; but I must halt,", "For if I wrote down every warrior's speech,", "I doubt few readers e'er would mount the breach.", "", "There was a man, if that he was a man,", " Not that his manhood could be called in question,", "For had he not been Hercules, his span", " Had been as short in youth as indigestion", "Made his last illness, when, all worn and wan,", " He died beneath a tree, as much unblest on", "The soil of the green province he had wasted,", "As e'er was locust on the land it blasted.", "", "This was Potemkin--a great thing in days", " When homicide and harlotry made great;", "If stars and titles could entail long praise,", " His glory might half equal his estate.", "This fellow, being six foot high, could raise", " A kind of phantasy proportionate", "In the then Sovereign of the Russian people,", "Who measured men as you would do a steeple.", "", "While things were in abeyance, Ribas sent", " A courier to the Prince, and he succeeded", "In ordering matters after his own bent;", " I cannot tell the way in which he pleaded,", "But shortly he had cause to be content.", " In the mean time, the batteries proceeded,", "And fourscore cannon on the Danube's border", "Were briskly fired and answered in due order.", "", "But on the thirteenth, when already part", " Of the troops were embarked, the siege to raise,", "A courier on the spur inspired new heart", " Into all panters for newspaper praise,", "As well as dilettanti in War's art,", " By his despatches (couched in pithy phrase)", "Announcing the appointment of that lover of", "Battles to the command, Field-Marshal Souvaroff.", "", "The letter of the Prince to the same Marshal", " Was worthy of a Spartan, had the cause", "Been one to which a good heart could be partial--", " Defence of freedom, country, or of laws;", "But as it was mere lust of Power to o'er-arch all", " With its proud brow, it merits slight applause,", "Save for its style, which said, all in a trice,", "\"You will take Ismail at whatever price.\"", "", "\"Let there be Light! said God, and there was Light!\"", " \"Let there be Blood!\" says man, and there's a sea!", "The fiat of this spoiled child of the Night", " (For Day ne'er saw his merits) could decree", "More evil in an hour, than thirty bright", " Summers could renovate, though they should be", "Lovely as those which ripened Eden's fruit;", "For War cuts up not only branch, but root.", "", "Our friends, the Turks, who with loud \"Allahs\" now", " Began to signalise the Russ retreat,", "Were damnably mistaken; few are slow", " In thinking that their enemy is beat,", "(Or _beaten_, if you insist on grammar, though", " I never think about it in a heat,)", "But here I say the Turks were much mistaken,", "Who hating hogs, yet wished to save their bacon.", "", "For, on the sixteenth, at full gallop, drew", " In sight two horsemen, who were deemed Cossacques", "For some time, till they came in nearer view:", " They had but little baggage at their backs,", "For there were but _three_ shirts between the two;", " But on they rode upon two Ukraine hacks,", "Till, in approaching, were at length descried", "In this plain pair, Suwarrow and his guide.", "", "\"Great joy to London now!\" says some great fool,", " When London had a grand illumination,", "Which to that bottle-conjuror, John Bull,", " Is of all dreams the first hallucination;", "So that the streets of coloured lamps are full,", " That sage (said John) surrenders at discretion", "His purse, his soul, his sense, and even his nonsense,", "To gratify, like a huge moth, this _one_ sense.", "", "'T is strange that he should further \"Damn his eyes,\"", " For they are damned; that once all-famous oath", "Is to the Devil now no further prize,", " Since John has lately lost the use of both.", "Debt he calls Wealth, and taxes Paradise;", " And Famine, with her gaunt and bony growth,", "Which stare him in the face, he won't examine,", "Or swears that Ceres hath begotten Famine.", "", "But to the tale;--great joy unto the camp!", " To Russian, Tartar, English, French, Cossacque,", "O'er whom Suwarrow shone like a gas lamp,", " Presaging a most luminous attack;", "Or like a wisp along the marsh so damp,", " Which leads beholders on a boggy walk,", "He flitted to and fro a dancing light,", "Which all who saw it followed, wrong or right.", "", "But, certes, matters took a different face;", " There was enthusiasm and much applause,", "The fleet and camp saluted with great grace,", " And all presaged good fortune to their cause.", "Within a cannot-shot length of the place", " They drew, constructed ladders, repaired flaws", "In former works, made new, prepared fascines,", "And all kinds of benevolent machines.", "", "'T is thus the spirit of a single mind", " Makes that of multitudes take one direction,", "As roll the waters to the breathing wind,", " Or roams the herd beneath the bull's protection;", "Or as a little dog will lead the blind,", " Or a bell-wether form the flock's connection", "By tinkling sounds, when they go forth to victual;", "Such is the sway of your great men o'er little.", "", "The whole camp rung with joy; you would have thought", " That they were going to a marriage feast", "(This metaphor, I think, holds good as aught,", " Since there is discord after both at least):", "There was not now a luggage boy but sought", " Danger and spoil with ardour much increased;", "And why? because a little--odd--old man,", "Stripped to his shirt, was come to lead the van.", "", "But so it was; and every preparation", " Was made with all alacrity: the first", "Detachment of three columns took its station,", " And waited but the signal's voice to burst", "Upon the foe: the second's ordination", " Was also in three columns, with a thirst", "For Glory gaping o'er a sea of Slaughter:", "The third, in columns two, attacked by water.", "", "New batteries were erected, and was held", " A general council, in which Unanimity,", "That stranger to most councils, here prevailed,", " As sometimes happens in a great extremity;", "And every difficulty being dispelled,", " Glory began to dawn with due sublimity,", "While Souvaroff, determined to obtain it,", "Was teaching his recruits to use the bayonet.", "", "It is an actual fact, that he, commander", " In chief, in proper person deigned to drill", "The awkward squad, and could afford to squander", " His time, a corporal's duty to fulfil;", "Just as you'd break a sucking salamander", " To swallow flame, and never take it ill:", "He showed them how to mount a ladder (which", "Was not like Jacob's) or to cross a ditch.", "", "Also he dressed up, for the nonce, fascines", " Like men with turbans, scimitars, and dirks,", "And made them charge with bayonet these machines,", " By way of lesson against actual Turks;", "And when well practised in these mimic scenes,", " He judged them proper to assail the works,--", "(At which your wise men sneered in phrases witty),", "He made no answer--but he took the city.", "", "Most things were in this posture on the eve", " Of the assault, and all the camp was in", "A stern repose; which you would scarce conceive;", " Yet men resolved to dash through thick and thin", "Are very silent when they once believe", " That all is settled:--there was little din,", "For some were thinking of their home and friends,", "And others of themselves and latter ends.", "", "Suwarrow chiefly was on the alert,", " Surveying, drilling, ordering, jesting, pondering;", "For the man was, we safely may assert,", " A thing to wonder at beyond most wondering;", "Hero, buffoon, half-demon, and half-dirt,", " Praying, instructing, desolating, plundering--Now", "Mars, now Momus--and when bent to storm", "A fortress, Harlequin in uniform.", "", "The day before the assault, while upon drill--", " For this great conqueror played the corporal--", "Some Cossacques, hovering like hawks round a hill,", " Had met a party towards the Twilight's fall,", "One of whom spoke their tongue--or well or ill,", " 'T was much that he was understood at all;", "But whether from his voice, or speech, or manner,", "They found that he had fought beneath their banner.", "", "Whereon immediately at his request", " They brought him and his comrades to head-quarters;", "Their dress was Moslem, but you might have guessed", " That these were merely masquerading Tartars,", "And that beneath each Turkish-fashioned vest", " Lurked Christianity--which sometimes barters", "Her inward grace for outward show, and makes", "It difficult to shun some strange mistakes.", "", "Suwarrow, who was standing in his shirt", " Before a company of Calmucks, drilling,", "Exclaiming, fooling, swearing at the inert,", " And lecturing on the noble art of killing,--", "For deeming human clay but common dirt", " This great philosopher was thus instilling", "His maxims, which to martial comprehension", "Proved death in battle equal to a pension;--", "", "Suwarrow, when he saw this company", " Of Cossacques and their prey, turned round and cast", "Upon them his slow brow and piercing eye:--", " \"Whence come ye?\"--\"From Constantinople last,", "Captives just now escaped,\" was the reply.", " \"What are ye?\"--\"What you see us.\" Briefly passed", "This dialogue; for he who answered knew", "To whom he spoke, and made his words but few.", "", "\"Your names?\"--\"Mine's Johnson, and my comrade's Juan;", " The other two are women, and the third", "Is neither man nor woman.\" The Chief threw on", " The party a slight glance, then said,\" I have heard", "_Your_ name before, the second is a new one:", " To bring the other three here was absurd:", "But let that pass:--I think I have heard your name", "In the Nikolaiew regiment?\"--\"The same.\"", "", "\"You served at Widdin?\"--\"Yes.\"--\"You led the attack?\"", " \"I did.\"--\"What next?\"--\"I really hardly know\"--", "\"You were the first i' the breach?\"--\"I was not slack", " At least to follow those who might be so\"--\"What", "followed?\"--\"A shot laid me on my back,", " And I became a prisoner to the foe\"--", "\"You shall have vengeance, for the town surrounded", "Is twice as strong as that where you were wounded.", "", "\"Where will you serve?\"--\"Where'er you please.\"--\"I know", " You like to be the hope of the forlorn,", "And doubtless would be foremost on the foe", " After the hardships you've already borne.", "And this young fellow--say what can he do?", " He with the beardless chin and garments torn?\"--", "\"Why, General, if he hath no greater fault", "In War than Love, he had better lead the assault\"--", "", "\"He shall if that he dare.\" Here Juan bowed", " Low as the compliment deserved. Suwarrow", "Continued: \"Your old regiment's allowed,", " By special providence, to lead to-morrow,", "Or, it may be, to-night, the assault: I have vowed", " To several Saints, that shortly plough or harrow", "Shall pass o'er what was Ismail, and its tusk", "Be unimpeded by the proudest mosque.", "", "\"So now, my lads, for Glory!\"--Here he turned", " And drilled away in the most classic Russian,", "Until each high heroic bosom burned", " For cash and conquest, as if from a cushion", "A preacher had held forth (who nobly spurned", " All earthly goods save tithes) and bade them push on", "To slay the Pagans who resisted, battering", "The armies of the Christian Empress Catherine.", "", "Johnson, who knew by this long colloquy", " Himself a favourite, ventured to address", "Suwarrow, though engaged with accents high", " In his resumed amusement. \"I confess", "My debt in being thus allowed to die", " Among the foremost; but if you'd express", "Explicitly our several posts, my friend", "And self would know what duty to attend.\"", "", "\"Right! I was busy, and forgot. Why, you", " Will join your former regiment, which should be", "Now under arms. Ho! Katskoff, take him to\"--", " (Here he called up a Polish orderly)", "\"His post, I mean the regiment Nikolaiew:", " The stranger stripling may remain with me;", "He's a fine boy. The women may be sent", "To the other baggage, or to the sick tent.\"", "", "But here a sort of scene began to ensue:", " The ladies,--who by no means had been bred", "To be disposed of in a way so new,", " Although their Harem education led,", "Doubtless, to that of doctrines the most true,", " Passive obedience,--now raised up the head", "With flashing eyes and starting tears, and flung", "Their arms, as hens their wings about their young,", "", "O'er the promoted couple of brave men", " Who were thus honoured by the greatest Chief", "That ever peopled Hell with heroes slain,", " Or plunged a province or a realm in grief.", "Oh, foolish mortals! Always taught in vain!", " Oh, glorious Laurel! since for one sole leaf", "Of thine imaginary deathless tree,", "Of blood and tears must flow the unebbing sea.", "", "Suwarrow, who had small regard for tears,", " And not much sympathy for blood, surveyed", "The women with their hair about their ears", " And natural agonies, with a slight shade", "Of feeling: for however Habit sears", " Men's hearts against whole millions, when their trade", "Is butchery, sometimes a single sorrow", "Will touch even heroes--and such was Suwarrow.", "", "He said,--and in the kindest Calmuck tone,--", " \"Why, Johnson, what the devil do you mean", "By bringing women here? They shall be shown", " All the attention possible, and seen", "In safety to the waggons, where alone", " In fact they can be safe. You should have been", "Aware this kind of baggage never thrives;", "Save wed a year, I hate recruits with wives\"--", "", "\"May it please your Excellency,\" thus replied", " Our British friend, \"these are the wives of others,", "And not our own. I am too qualified", " By service with my military brothers", "To break the rules by bringing one's own bride", " Into a camp: I know that nought so bothers", "The hearts of the heroic on a charge,", "As leaving a small family at large.", "", "\"But these are but two Turkish ladies, who", " With their attendant aided our escape,", "And afterwards accompanied us through", " A thousand perils in this dubious shape.", "To me this kind of life is not so new;", " To them, poor things, it is an awkward scrape:", "I therefore, if you wish me to fight freely,", "Request that they may both be used genteelly.\"", "", "Meantime these two poor girls, with swimming eyes,", " Looked on as if in doubt if they could trust", "Their own protectors; nor was their surprise", " Less than their grief (and truly not less just)", "To see an old man, rather wild than wise", " In aspect, plainly clad, besmeared with dust,", "Stripped to his waistcoat, and that not too clean,", "More feared than all the Sultans ever seen.", "", "For everything seemed resting on his nod,", " As they could read in all eyes. Now to them,", "Who were accustomed, as a sort of god,", " To see the Sultan, rich in many a gem,", "Like an imperial peacock stalk abroad", " (That royal bird, whose tail's a diadem,)", "With all the pomp of Power, it was a doubt", "How Power could condescend to do without.", "", "John Johnson, seeing their extreme dismay,", " Though little versed in feelings oriental,", "Suggested some slight comfort in his way:", " Don Juan, who was much more sentimental,", "Swore they should see him by the dawn of day,", " Or that the Russian army should repent all:", "And, strange to say, they found some consolation", "In this--for females like exaggeration.", "", "And then with tears, and sighs, and some slight kisses,", " They parted for the present--these to await,", "According to the artillery's hits or misses,", " What sages call Chance, Providence, or Fate--", "(Uncertainty is one of many blisses,", " A mortgage on Humanity's estate;)", "While their belovéd friends began to arm,", "To burn a town which never did them harm.", "", "Suwarrow,--who but saw things in the gross.", " Being much too gross to see them in detail,", "Who calculated life as so much dross,", " And as the wind a widowed nation's wail,", "And cared as little for his army's loss", " (So that their efforts should at length prevail)", "As wife and friends did for the boils of Job,--", "What was 't to him to hear two women sob?", "", "Nothing.--The work of Glory still went on", " In preparations for a cannonade", "As terrible as that of Ilion,", " If Homer had found mortars ready made;", "But now, instead of slaying Priam's son,", " We only can but talk of escalade,", "Bombs, drums, guns, bastions, batteries, bayonets, bullets--", "Hard words, which stick in the soft Muses' gullets.", "", "Oh, thou eternal Homer! who couldst charm", " All ears, though long; all ages, though so short,", "By merely wielding with poetic arm", " Arms to which men will never more resort,", "Unless gunpowder should be found to harm", " Much less than is the hope of every court,", "Which now is leagued young Freedom to annoy;", "But they will not find Liberty a Troy:--", "", "Oh, thou eternal Homer! I have now", " To paint a siege, wherein more men were slain,", "With deadlier engines and a speedier blow,", " Than in thy Greek gazette of that campaign;", "And yet, like all men else, I must allow,", " To vie with thee would be about as vain", "As for a brook to cope with Ocean's flood,--", "But still we moderns equal you in blood:", "", "If not in poetry, at least in fact;", " And fact is Truth, the grand desideratum!", "Of which, howe'er the Muse describes each act,", " There should be ne'ertheless a slight substratum.", "But now the town is going to be attacked;", " Great deeds are doing--how shall I relate 'em?", "Souls of immortal Generals! Phoebus watches", "To colour up his rays from your despatches.", "", "Oh, ye great bulletins of Bonaparte!", " Oh, ye less grand long lists of killed and wounded!", "Shade of Leonidas, who fought so hearty,", " When my poor Greece was once, as now, surrounded!", "Oh, Cæsar's Commentaries! now impart, ye", " Shadows of Glory! (lest I be confounded),", "A portion of your fading twilight hues--", "So beautiful, so fleeting--to the Muse.", "", "When I call \"fading\" martial immortality,", " I mean, that every age and every year,", "And almost every day, in sad reality,", " Some sucking hero is compelled to rear,", "Who, when we come to sum up the totality", " Of deeds to human happiness most dear,", "Turns out to be a butcher in great business,", "Afflicting young folks with a sort of dizziness.", "", "Medals, rank, ribands, lace, embroidery, scarlet,", " Are things immortal to immortal man,", "As purple to the Babylonian harlot;", " An uniform to boys is like a fan", "To women; there is scarce a crimson varlet", " But deems himself the first in Glory's van.", "But Glory's glory; and if you would find", "What _that_ is--ask the pig who sees the wind!", "", "At least _he feels it_, and some say he _sees_,", " Because he runs before it like a pig;", "Or, if that simple sentence should displease,", " Say, that he scuds before it like a brig,", "A schooner, or--but it is time to ease", " This Canto, ere my Muse perceives fatigue.", "The next shall ring a peal to shake all people,", "Like a bob-major from a village steeple.", "", "Hark! through the silence of the cold, dull night,", " The hum of armies gathering rank on rank!", "Lo! dusky masses steal in dubious sight", " Along the leaguered wall and bristling bank", "Of the armed river, while with straggling light", " The stars peep through the vapours dim and dank,", "Which curl in various wreaths:--how soon the smoke", "Of Hell shall pall them in a deeper cloak!", "", "Here pause we for the present--as even then", " That awful pause, dividing Life from Death,", "Struck for an instant on the hearts of men,--", " Thousands of whom were drawing their last breath!", "A moment--and all will be Life again!", " The march! the charge! the shouts of either faith,", "Hurrah! and Allah! and one moment more--", "The death-cry drowning in the Battle's roar.", "", "CANTO THE EIGHTH.", "", "Oh, blood and thunder! and oh, blood and wounds!", " These are but vulgar oaths, as you may deem,", "Too gentle reader! and most shocking sounds:--", " And so they are; yet thus is Glory's dream", "Unriddled, and as my true Muse expounds", " At present such things, since they are her theme,", "So be they her inspirers! Call them Mars,", "Bellona, what you will--they mean but wars.", "", "All was prepared--the fire, the sword, the men", " To wield them in their terrible array,--", "The army, like a lion from his den,", " Marched forth with nerve and sinews bent to slay,--", "A human Hydra, issuing from its fen", " To breathe destruction on its winding way,", "Whose heads were heroes, which cut off in vain", "Immediately in others grew again.", "", "History can only take things in the gross;", " But could we know them in detail, perchance", "In balancing the profit and the loss,", " War's merit it by no means might enhance,", "To waste so much gold for a little dross,", " As hath been done, mere conquest to advance.", "The drying up a single tear has more", "Of honest fame, than shedding seas of gore.", "", "And why?--because it brings self-approbation;", " Whereas the other, after all its glare,", "Shouts, bridges, arches, pensions from a nation,", " Which (it may be) has not much left to spare,", "A higher title, or a loftier station,", " Though they may make Corruption gape or stare,", "Yet, in the end, except in Freedom's battles,", "Are nothing but a child of Murder's rattles.", "", "And such they are--and such they will be found:", " Not so Leonidas and Washington,", "Whose every battle-field is holy ground,", " Which breathes of nations saved, not worlds undone.", "How sweetly on the ear such echoes sound!", " While the mere victor's may appal or stun", "The servile and the vain--such names will be", "A watchword till the Future shall be free.", "", "The night was dark, and the thick mist allowed", " Nought to be seen save the artillery's flame,", "Which arched the horizon like a fiery cloud,", " And in the Danube's waters shone the same--", "A mirrored Hell! the volleying roar, and loud", " Long booming of each peal on peal, o'ercame", "The ear far more than thunder; for Heaven's flashes", "Spare, or smite rarely--Man's make millions ashes!", "", "The column ordered on the assault scarce passed", " Beyond the Russian batteries a few toises,", "When up the bristling Moslem rose at last,", " Answering the Christian thunders with like voices:", "Then one vast fire, air, earth, and stream embraced,", " Which rocked as 't were beneath the mighty noises;", "While the whole rampart blazed like Etna, when", "The restless Titan hiccups in his den;", "", "And one enormous shout of \"Allah!\" rose", " In the same moment, loud as even the roar", "Of War's most mortal engines, to their foes", " Hurling defiance: city, stream, and shore", "Resounded \"Allah!\" and the clouds which close", " With thickening canopy the conflict o'er,", "Vibrate to the Eternal name. Hark! through", "All sounds it pierceth--\"Allah! Allah Hu!\"", "", "The columns were in movement one and all,", " But of the portion which attacked by water,", "Thicker than leaves the lives began to fall,", " Though led by Arseniew, that great son of slaughter,", "As brave as ever faced both bomb and ball.", " \"Carnage\" (so Wordsworth tells you) \"is God's daughter:\"", "If _he_ speak truth, she is Christ's sister, and", "Just now behaved as in the Holy Land.", "", "The Prince de Ligne was wounded in the knee;", " Count Chapeau-Bras,--too, had a ball between", "His cap and head, which proves the head to be", " Aristocratic as was ever seen,", "Because it then received no injury", " More than the cap; in fact, the ball could mean", "No harm unto a right legitimate head;", "\"Ashes to ashes\"--why not lead to lead?", "", "Also the General Markow, Brigadier,", " Insisting on removal of _the Prince_", "Amidst some groaning thousands dying near,--", " All common fellows, who might writhe and wince,", "And shriek for water into a deaf ear,--", " The General Markow, who could thus evince", "His sympathy for rank, by the same token,", "To teach him greater, had his own leg broken.", "", "Three hundred cannon threw up their emetic,", " And thirty thousand muskets flung their pills", "Like hail, to make a bloody Diuretic.", " Mortality! thou hast thy monthly bills:", "Thy plagues--thy famines--thy physicians--yet tick,", " Like the death-watch, within our ears the ills", "Past, present, and to come;--but all may yield", "To the true portrait of one battle-field;", "", "There the still varying pangs, which multiply", " Until their very number makes men hard", "By the infinities of agony,", " Which meet the gaze, whate'er it may regard--", "The groan, the roll in dust, the all-_white_ eye", " Turned back within its socket,--these reward", "Your rank and file by thousands, while the rest", "May win perhaps a riband at the breast!", "", "Yet I love Glory;--Glory's a great thing:--", " Think what it is to be in your old age", "Maintained at the expense of your good King:", " A moderate pension shakes full many a sage,", "And Heroes are but made for bards to sing,", " Which is still better--thus, in verse, to wage", "Your wars eternally, besides enjoying", "Half-pay for life, make Mankind worth destroying.", "", "The troops, already disembarked, pushed on", " To take a battery on the right: the others,", "Who landed lower down, their landing done,", " Had set to work as briskly as their brothers:", "Being grenadiers, they mounted one by one,", " Cheerful as children climb the breasts of mothers,", "O'er the intrenchment and the palisade,", "Quite orderly, as if upon parade.", "", "And this was admirable: for so hot", " The fire was, that were red Vesuvius loaded,", "Besides its lava, with all sorts of shot", " And shells or hells, it could not more have goaded.", "Of officers a third fell on the spot,", " A thing which Victory by no means boded", "To gentlemen engaged in the assault:", "Hounds, when the huntsman tumbles, are at fault.", "", "But here I leave the general concern", " To track our Hero on his path of Fame:", "He must his laurels separately earn--", " For fifty thousand heroes, name by name,", "Though all deserving equally to turn", " A couplet, or an elegy to claim,", "Would form a lengthy lexicon of Glory,", "And, what is worse still, a much longer story:", "", "And therefore we must give the greater number", " To the Gazette--which doubtless fairly dealt", "By the deceased, who lie in famous slumber", " In ditches, fields, or wheresoe'er they felt", "Their clay for the last time their souls encumber;--", " Thrice happy he whose name has been well spelt", "In the despatch: I knew a man whose loss", "Was printed _Grove_, although his name was Grose.", "", "Juan and Johnson joined a certain corps,", " And fought away with might and main, not knowing", "The way which they had never trod before,", " And still less guessing where they might be going;", "But on they marched, dead bodies trampling o'er,", " Firing, and thrusting, slashing, sweating, glowing,", "But fighting thoughtlessly enough to win,", "To their _two_ selves, _one_ whole bright bulletin.", "", "Thus on they wallowed in the bloody mire", " Of dead and dying thousands,--sometimes gaining", "A yard or two of ground, which brought them nigher", " To some odd angle for which all were straining;", "At other times, repulsed by the close fire,", " Which really poured as if all Hell were raining", "Instead of Heaven, they stumbled backwards o'er", "A wounded comrade, sprawling in his gore.", "", "Though 't was Don Juan's first of fields, and though", " The nightly muster and the silent march", "In the chill dark, when Courage does not glow", " So much as under a triumphal arch,", "Perhaps might make him shiver, yawn, or throw", " A glance on the dull clouds (as thick as starch,", "Which stiffened Heaven) as if he wished for day;--", "Yet for all this he did not run away.", "", "Indeed he could not. But what if he had?", " There _have been_ and _are_ heroes who begun", "With something not much better, or as bad:", " Frederick the Great from Molwitz deigned to run,", "For the first and last time; for, like a pad,", " Or hawk, or bride, most mortals after one", "Warm bout are broken in to their new tricks,", "And fight like fiends for pay or politics.", "", "He was what Erin calls, in her sublime", " Old Erse or Irish, or it may be _Punic_;--", "(The antiquarians--who can settle Time,", " Which settles all things, Roman, Greek, or Runic--", "Swear that Pat's language sprung from the same clime", " With Hannibal, and wears the Tyrian tunic", "Of Dido's alphabet--and this is rational", "As any other notion, and not national;)--", "", "But Juan was quite \"a broth of a boy,\"", " A thing of impulse and a child of song;", "Now swimming in the sentiment of joy,", " Or the _sensation_ (if that phrase seem wrong),", "And afterward, if he must needs destroy,", " In such good company as always throng", "To battles, sieges, and that kind of pleasure,", "No less delighted to employ his leisure;", "", "But always without malice: if he warred", " Or loved, it was with what we call \"the best", "Intentions,\" which form all Mankind's _trump card_,", " To be produced when brought up to the test.", "The statesman--hero--harlot--lawyer--ward", " Off each attack, when people are in quest", "Of their designs, by saying they _meant well_;", "'T is pity \"that such meaning should pave Hell.\"", "", "I almost lately have begun to doubt", " Whether Hell's pavement--if it be so _paved_--", "Must not have latterly been quite worn out,", " Not by the numbers good intent hath saved,", "But by the mass who go below without", " Those ancient good intentions, which once shaved", "And smoothed the brimstone of that street of Hell", "Which bears the greatest likeness to Pall Mall.", "", "Juan, by some strange chance, which oft divides", " Warrior from warrior in their grim career,", "Like chastest wives from constant husbands' sides", " Just at the close of the first bridal year,", "By one of those odd turns of Fortune's tides,", " Was on a sudden rather puzzled here,", "When, after a good deal of heavy firing,", "He found himself alone, and friends retiring.", "", "I don't know how the thing occurred--it might", " Be that the greater part were killed or wounded,", "And that the rest had faced unto the right", " About; a circumstance which has confounded", "Cæsar himself, who, in the very sight", " Of his whole army, which so much abounded", "In courage, was obliged to snatch a shield,", "And rally back his Romans to the field.", "", "Juan, who had no shield to snatch, and was", " No Cæsar, but a fine young lad, who fought", "He knew not why, arriving at this pass,", " Stopped for a minute, as perhaps he ought", "For a much longer time; then, like an ass", " (Start not, kind reader, since great Homer thought", "This simile enough for Ajax, Juan", "Perhaps may find it better than a new one);", "", "Then, like an ass, he went upon his way,", " And, what was stranger, never looked behind;", "But seeing, flashing forward, like the day", " Over the hills, a fire enough to blind", "Those who dislike to look upon a fray,", " He stumbled on, to try if he could find", "A path, to add his own slight arm and forces", "To corps, the greater part of which were corses.", "", "Perceiving then no more the commandant", " Of his own corps, nor even the corps, which had", "Quite disappeared--the gods know how! (I can't", " Account for everything which may look bad", "In history; but we at least may grant", " It was not marvellous that a mere lad,", "In search of Glory, should look on before,", "Nor care a pinch of snuff about his corps:)--", "", "Perceiving nor commander nor commanded,", " And left at large, like a young heir, to make", "His way to--where he knew not--single handed;", " As travellers follow over bog and brake", "An \"ignis fatuus;\" or as sailors stranded", " Unto the nearest hut themselves betake;", "So Juan, following Honour and his nose,", "Rushed where the thickest fire announced most foes.", "", "He knew not where he was, nor greatly cared,", " For he was dizzy, busy, and his veins", "Filled as with lightning--for his spirit shared", " The hour, as is the case with lively brains;", "And where the hottest fire was seen and heard,", " And the loud cannon pealed his hoarsest strains,", "He rushed, while earth and air were sadly shaken", "By thy humane discovery, Friar Bacon!", "", "And as he rushed along, it came to pass he", " Fell in with what was late the second column,", "Under the orders of the General Lascy,", " But now reduced, as is a bulky volume", "Into an elegant extract (much less massy)", " Of heroism, and took his place with solemn", "Air 'midst the rest, who kept their valiant faces", "And levelled weapons still against the Glacis.", "", "Just at this crisis up came Johnson too,", " Who had \"retreated,\" as the phrase is when", "Men run away much rather than go through", " Destruction's jaws into the Devil's den;", "But Johnson was a clever fellow, who", " Knew when and how \"to cut and come again,\"", "And never ran away, except when running", "Was nothing but a valorous kind of cunning.", "", "And so, when all his corps were dead or dying,", " Except Don Juan, a mere novice, whose", "More virgin valour never dreamt of flying,", " From ignorance of danger, which indues", "Its votaries, like Innocence relying", " On its own strength, with careless nerves and thews,--", "Johnson retired a little, just to rally", "Those who catch cold in \"shadows of Death's valley.\"", "", "And there, a little sheltered from the shot,", " Which rained from bastion, battery, parapet,", "Rampart, wall, casement, house--for there was not", " In this extensive city, sore beset", "By Christian soldiery, a single spot", " Which did not combat like the Devil, as yet,--", "He found a number of Chasseurs, all scattered", "By the resistance of the chase they battered.", "", "And these he called on; and, what 's strange, they came", " Unto his call, unlike \"the spirits from", "The vasty deep,\" to whom you may exclaim,", " Says Hotspur, long ere they will leave their home:--", "Their reasons were uncertainty, or shame", " At shrinking from a bullet or a bomb,", "And that odd impulse, which in wars or creeds", "Makes men, like cattle, follow him who leads.", "", "By Jove! he was a noble fellow, Johnson,", " And though his name, than Ajax or Achilles,", "Sounds less harmonious, underneath the sun soon", " We shall not see his likeness: he could kill his", "Man quite as quietly as blows the Monsoon", " Her steady breath (which some months the same _still_ is):", "Seldom he varied feature, hue, or muscle,", "And could be very busy without bustle;", "", "And therefore, when he ran away, he did so", " Upon reflection, knowing that behind", "He would find others who would fain be rid so", " Of idle apprehensions, which like wind", "Trouble heroic stomachs. Though their lids so", " Oft are soon closed, all heroes are not blind,", "But when they light upon immediate death,", "Retire a little, merely to take breath.", "", "But Johnson only ran off, to return", " With many other warriors, as we said,", "Unto that rather somewhat misty bourne,", " Which Hamlet tells us is a pass of dread.", "To Jack, howe'er, this gave but slight concern:", " His soul (like galvanism upon the dead)", "Acted upon the living as on wire,", "And led them back into the heaviest fire.", "", "Egad! they found the second time what they", " The first time thought quite terrible enough", "To fly from, malgré all which people say", " Of Glory, and all that immortal stuff", "Which fills a regiment (besides their pay,", " That daily shilling which makes warriors tough)--", "They found on their return the self-same welcome,", "Which made some _think_, and others _know_, a _hell_ come.", "", "They fell as thick as harvests beneath hail,", " Grass before scythes, or corn below the sickle,", "Proving that trite old truth, that Life's as frail", " As any other boon for which men stickle.", "The Turkish batteries thrashed them like a flail,", " Or a good boxer, into a sad pickle", "Putting the very bravest, who were knocked", "Upon the head before their guns were cocked.", "", "The Turks behind the traverses and flanks", " Of the next bastion, fired away like devils,", "And swept, as gales sweep foam away, whole ranks:", " However, Heaven knows how, the Fate who levels", "Towns--nations--worlds, in her revolving pranks,", " So ordered it, amidst these sulphury revels,", "That Johnson, and some few who had not scampered,", "Reached the interior \"talus\" of the rampart.", "", "First one or two, then five, six, and a dozen", " Came mounting quickly up, for it was now", "All neck or nothing, as, like pitch or rosin,", " Flame was showered forth above, as well 's below,", "So that you scarce could say who best had chosen,", " The gentlemen that were the first to show", "Their martial faces on the parapet,", "Or those who thought it brave to wait as yet.", "", "But those who scaled, found out that their advance", " Was favoured by an accident or blunder:", "The Greek or Turkish Cohorn's ignorance", " Had pallisadoed in a way you'd wonder", "To see in forts of Netherlands or France--", " (Though these to our Gibraltar must knock under)--", "Right in the middle of the parapet", "Just named, these palisades were primly set:", "", "So that on either side some nine or ten", " Paces were left, whereon you could contrive", "To march; a great convenience to our men,", " At least to all those who were left alive,", "Who thus could form a line and fight again;", " And that which farther aided them to strive", "Was, that they could kick down the palisades,", "Which scarcely rose much higher than grass blades.", "", "Among the first,--I will not say _the first_,", " For such precedence upon such occasions", "Will oftentimes make deadly quarrels burst", " Out between friends as well as allied nations:", "The Briton must be bold who really durst", " Put to such trial John Bull's partial patience,", "As say that Wellington at Waterloo", "Was beaten,--though the Prussians say so too;--", "", "And that if Blucher, Bulow, Gneisenau,", " And God knows who besides in \"au\" and \"ow,\"", "Had not come up in time to cast an awe", " Into the hearts of those who fought till now", "As tigers combat with an empty craw,", " The Duke of Wellington had ceased to show", "His Orders--also to receive his pensions,", "Which are the heaviest that our history mentions.", "", "But never mind;--\"God save the King!\" and _Kings!_", " For if _he_ don't, I doubt if _men_ will longer--", "I think I hear a little bird, who sings", " The people by and by will be the stronger:", "The veriest jade will wince whose harness wrings", " So much into the raw as quite to wrong her", "Beyond the rules of posting,--and the mob", "At last fall sick of imitating Job.", "", "At first it grumbles, then it swears, and then,", " Like David, flings smooth pebbles 'gainst a Giant;", "At last it takes to weapons such as men", " Snatch when Despair makes human hearts less pliant.", "Then comes \"the tug of war;\"--'t will come again,", " I rather doubt; and I would fain say \"fie on 't,\"", "If I had not perceived that Revolution", "Alone can save the earth from Hell's pollution.", "", "But to continue:--I say not _the_ first,", " But of the first, our little friend Don Juan", "Walked o'er the walls of Ismail, as if nursed", " Amidst such scenes--though this was quite a new one", "To him, and I should hope to _most_. The thirst", " Of Glory, which so pierces through and through one,", "Pervaded him--although a generous creature,", "As warm in heart as feminine in feature.", "", "And here he was--who upon Woman's breast,", " Even from a child, felt like a child; howe'er", "The Man in all the rest might be confessed,", " To him it was Elysium to be there;", "And he could even withstand that awkward test", " Which Rousseau points out to the dubious fair,", "\"Observe your lover when he _leaves_ your arms;\"", "But Juan never _left_ them--while they had charms,", "", "Unless compelled by Fate, or wave, or wind,", " Or near relations--who are much the same.", "But _here_ he was!--where each tie that can bind", " Humanity must yield to steel and flame:", "And _he_ whose very body was all mind,", " Flung here by Fate or Circumstance, which tame", "The loftiest, hurried by the time and place,", "Dashed on like a spurred blood-horse in a race.", "", "So was his blood stirred while he found resistance,", " As is the hunter's at the five-bar gate,", "Or double post and rail, where the existence", " Of Britain's youth depends upon their weight--The", "lightest being the safest: at a distance", " He hated cruelty, as all men hate", "Blood, until heated--and even then his own", "At times would curdle o'er some heavy groan.", "", "The General Lascy, who had been hard pressed,", " Seeing arrive an aid so opportune", "As were some hundred youngsters all abreast,", " Who came as if just dropped down from the moon", "To Juan, who was nearest him, addressed", " His thanks, and hopes to take the city soon,", "Not reckoning him to be a \"base Bezonian\"", "(As Pistol calls it), but a young Livonian.", "", "Juan, to whom he spoke in German, knew", " As much of German as of Sanscrit, and", "In answer made an inclination to", " The General who held him in command;", "For seeing one with ribands, black and blue,", " Stars, medals, and a bloody sword in hand,", "Addressing him in tones which seemed to thank,", "He recognised an officer of rank.", "", "Short speeches pass between two men who speak", " No common language; and besides, in time", "Of war and taking towns, when many a shriek", " Rings o'er the dialogue, and many a crime", "Is perpetrated ere a word can break", " Upon the ear, and sounds of horror chime", "In like church-bells, with sigh, howl, groan, yell, prayer,", "There cannot be much conversation there.", "", "And therefore all we have related in", " Two long octaves, passed in a little minute;", "But in the same small minute, every sin", " Contrived to get itself comprised within it.", "The very cannon, deafened by the din,", " Grew dumb, for you might almost hear a linnet,", "As soon as thunder, 'midst the general noise", "Of Human Nature's agonizing voice!", "", "The town was entered. Oh Eternity!--", " \"God made the country, and man made the town,\"", "So Cowper says--and I begin to be", " Of his opinion, when I see cast down", "Rome--Babylon-Tyre-Carthage--Nineveh--", " All walls men know, and many never known;", "And pondering on the present and the past,", "To deem the woods shall be our home at last:--", "", "Of all men, saving Sylla, the man-slayer,", " Who passes for in life and death most lucky,", "Of the great names which in our faces stare,", " The General Boon, back-woodsman of Kentucky,", "Was happiest amongst mortals anywhere;", " For killing nothing but a bear or buck, he", "Enjoyed the lonely, vigorous, harmless days", "Of his old age in wilds of deepest maze.", "", "Crime came not near him--she is not the child", " Of solitude; Health shrank not from him--for", "Her home is in the rarely trodden wild,", " Where if men seek her not, and death be more", "Their choice than life, forgive them, as beguiled", " By habit to what their own hearts abhor--", "In cities caged. The present case in point I", "Cite is, that Boon lived hunting up to ninety;", "", "And, what's still stranger, left behind a name", " For which men vainly decimate the throng,", "Not only famous, but of that _good_ fame,", " Without which Glory's but a tavern song--", "Simple, serene, the _antipodes_ of Shame,", " Which Hate nor Envy e'er could tinge with wrong;", "An active hermit, even in age the child", "Of Nature--or the Man of Ross run wild.", "", "'T is true he shrank from men even of his nation,", " When they built up unto his darling trees,--", "He moved some hundred miles off, for a station", " Where there were fewer houses and more ease;", "The inconvenience of civilisation", " Is, that you neither can be pleased nor please;", "But where he met the individual man,", "He showed himself as kind as mortal can.", "", "He was not all alone: around him grew", " A sylvan tribe of children of the chase,", "Whose young, unwakened world was ever new,", " Nor sword nor sorrow yet had left a trace", "On her unwrinkled brow, nor could you view", " A frown on Nature's or on human face;", "The free-born forest found and kept them free,", "And fresh as is a torrent or a tree.", "", "And tall, and strong, and swift of foot were they,", " Beyond the dwarfing city's pale abortions,", "Because their thoughts had never been the prey", " Of care or gain: the green woods were their portions;", "No sinking spirits told them they grew grey,", " No fashion made them apes of her distortions;", "Simple they were, not savage--and their rifles,", "Though very true, were not yet used for trifles.", "", "Motion was in their days, Rest in their slumbers,", " And Cheerfulness the handmaid of their toil;", "Nor yet too many nor too few their numbers;", " Corruption could not make their hearts her soil;", "The lust which stings, the splendour which encumbers,", " With the free foresters divide no spoil;", "Serene, not sullen, were the solitudes", "Of this unsighing people of the woods.", "", "So much for Nature:--by way of variety,", " Now back to thy great joys, Civilisation!", "And the sweet consequence of large society,", " War--pestilence--the despot's desolation,", "The kingly scourge, the lust of notoriety,", " The millions slain by soldiers for their ration,", "The scenes like Catherine's boudoir at threescore,", "With Ismail's storm to soften it the more.", "", "The town was entered: first one column made", " Its sanguinary way good--then another;", "The reeking bayonet and the flashing blade", " Clashed 'gainst the scimitar, and babe and mother", "With distant shrieks were heard Heaven to upbraid:--", " Still closer sulphury clouds began to smother", "The breath of morn and man, where foot by foot", "The maddened Turks their city still dispute.", "", "Koutousow, he who afterwards beat back", " (With some assistance from the frost and snow)", "Napoleon on his bold and bloody track,", " It happened was himself beat back just now:", "He was a jolly fellow, and could crack", " His jest alike in face of friend or foe,", "Though Life, and Death, and Victory were at stake;", "But here it seemed his jokes had ceased to take:", "", "For having thrown himself into a ditch,", " Followed in haste by various grenadiers,", "Whose blood the puddle greatly did enrich,", " He climbed to where the parapet appears;", "But there his project reached its utmost pitch", " ('Mongst other deaths the General Ribaupierre's", "Was much regretted), for the Moslem men", "Threw them all down into the ditch again.", "", "And had it not been for some stray troops landing", " They knew not where, being carried by the stream", "To some spot, where they lost their understanding,", " And wandered up and down as in a dream,", "Until they reached, as daybreak was expanding,", " That which a portal to their eyes did seem,--", "The great and gay Koutousow might have lain", "Where three parts of his column yet remain.", "", "And scrambling round the rampart, these same troops,", " After the taking of the \"Cavalier,\"", "Just as Koutousow's most \"forlorn\" of \"hopes\"", " Took, like chameleons, some slight tinge of fear,", "Opened the gate called \"Kilia,\" to the groups", " Of baffled heroes, who stood shyly near,", "Sliding knee-deep in lately frozen mud,", "Now thawed into a marsh of human blood.", "", "The Kozacks, or, if so you please, Cossacques--", " (I don't much pique myself upon orthography,", "So that I do not grossly err in facts,", " Statistics, tactics, politics, and geography)--", "Having been used to serve on horses' backs,", " And no great dilettanti in topography", "Of fortresses, but fighting where it pleases", "Their chiefs to order,--were all cut to pieces.", "", "Their column, though the Turkish batteries thundered", " Upon them, ne'ertheless had reached the rampart,", "And naturally thought they could have plundered", " The city, without being farther hampered;", "But as it happens to brave men, they blundered--", " The Turks at first pretended to have scampered,", "Only to draw them 'twixt two bastion corners,", "From whence they sallied on those Christian scorners.", "", "Then being taken by the tail--a taking", " Fatal to bishops as to soldiers--these", "Cossacques were all cut off as day was breaking,", " And found their lives were let at a short lease--But", "perished without shivering or shaking,", " Leaving as ladders their heaped carcasses,", "O'er which Lieutenant-Colonel Yesouskoi", "Marched with the brave battalion of Polouzki:--", "", "This valiant man killed all the Turks he met,", " But could not eat them, being in his turn", "Slain by some Mussulmans, who would not yet,", " Without resistance, see their city burn.", "The walls were won, but 't was an even bet", " Which of the armies would have cause to mourn:", "'T was blow for blow, disputing inch by inch,", "For one would not retreat, nor 't other flinch.", "", "Another column also suffered much:--", " And here we may remark with the historian,", "You should but give few cartridges to such", " Troops as are meant to march with greatest glory on:", "When matters must be carried by the touch", " Of the bright bayonet, and they all should hurry on;", "They sometimes, with a hankering for existence,", "Keep merely firing at a foolish distance.", "", "A junction of the General Meknop's men", " (Without the General, who had fallen some time", "Before, being badly seconded just then)", " Was made at length with those who dared to climb", "The death-disgorging rampart once again;", " And, though the Turk's resistance was sublime,", "They took the bastion, which the Seraskier", "Defended at a price extremely dear.", "", "Juan and Johnson, and some volunteers,", " Among the foremost, offered him good quarter,", "A word which little suits with Seraskiers,", " Or at least suited not this valiant Tartar.", "He died, deserving well his country's tears,", " A savage sort of military martyr:", "An English naval officer, who wished", "To make him prisoner, was also dished:", "", "For all the answer to his proposition", " Was from a pistol-shot that laid him dead;", "On which the rest, without more intermission,", " Began to lay about with steel and lead--", "The pious metals most in requisition", " On such occasions: not a single head", "Was spared;--three thousand Moslems perished here,", "And sixteen bayonets pierced the Seraskier.", "", "The city's taken--only part by part--", " And Death is drunk with gore: there's not a street", "Where fights not to the last some desperate heart", " For those for whom it soon shall cease to beat.", "Here War forgot his own destructive art", " In more destroying Nature; and the heat", "Of Carnage, like the Nile's sun-sodden slime,", "Engendered monstrous shapes of every crime.", "", "A Russian officer, in martial tread", " Over a heap of bodies, felt his heel", "Seized fast, as if 't were by the serpent's head", " Whose fangs Eve taught her human seed to feel;", "In vain he kicked, and swore, and writhed, and bled,", " And howled for help as wolves do for a meal--", "The teeth still kept their gratifying hold,", "As do the subtle snakes described of old.", "", "A dying Moslem, who had felt the foot", " Of a foe o'er him, snatched at it, and bit", "The very tendon which is most acute--", " (That which some ancient Muse or modern wit", "Named after thee, Achilles!) and quite through 't", " He made the teeth meet, nor relinquished it", "Even with his life--for (but they lie) 't is said", "To the live leg still clung the severed head.", "", "However this may be, 't is pretty sure", " The Russian officer for life was lamed,", "For the Turk's teeth stuck faster than a skewer,", " And left him 'midst the invalid and maimed:", "The regimental surgeon could not cure", " His patient, and, perhaps, was to be blamed", "More than the head of the inveterate foe,", "Which was cut off, and scarce even then let go.", "", "But then the fact's a fact--and 't is the part", " Of a true poet to escape from fiction", "Whene'er he can; for there is little art", " in leaving verse more free from the restriction", "Of Truth than prose, unless to suit the mart", " For what is sometimes called poetic diction,", "And that outrageous appetite for lies", "Which Satan angles with for souls, like flies.", "", "The city's taken, but not rendered!--No!", " There's not a Moslem that hath yielded sword:", "The blood may gush out, as the Danube's flow", " Rolls by the city wall; but deed nor word", "Acknowledge aught of dread of Death or foe:", " In vain the yell of victory is roared", "By the advancing Muscovite--the groan", "Of the last foe is echoed by his own.", "", "The bayonet pierces and the sabre cleaves,", " And human lives are lavished everywhere,", "As the year closing whirls the scarlet leaves", " When the stripped forest bows to the bleak air,", "And groans; and thus the peopled city grieves,", " Shorn of its best and loveliest, and left bare;", "But still it falls in vast and awful splinters,", "As oaks blown down with all their thousand winters.", "", "It is an awful topic--but 't is not", " My cue for any time to be terrific:", "For checkered as is seen our human lot", " With good, and bad, and worse, alike prolific", "Of melancholy merriment, to quote", " Too much of one sort would be soporific;--", "Without, or with, offence to friends or foes,", "I sketch your world exactly as it goes.", "", "And one good action in the midst of crimes", " Is \"quite refreshing,\" in the affected phrase", "Of these ambrosial, Pharisaic times,", " With all their pretty milk-and-water ways,", "And may serve therefore to bedew these rhymes,", " A little scorched at present with the blaze", "Of conquest and its consequences, which", "Make Epic poesy so rare and rich.", "", "Upon a taken bastion, where there lay", " Thousands of slaughtered men, a yet warm group", "Of murdered women, who had found their way", " To this vain refuge, made the good heart droop", "And shudder;--while, as beautiful as May,", " A female child of ten years tried to stoop", "And hide her little palpitating breast", "Amidst the bodies lulled in bloody rest.", "", "Two villanous Cossacques pursued the child", " With flashing eyes and weapons: matched with _them_,", "The rudest brute that roams Siberia's wild", " Has feelings pure and polished as a gem,--", "The bear is civilised, the wolf is mild;", " And whom for this at last must we condemn?", "Their natures? or their sovereigns, who employ", "All arts to teach their subjects to destroy?", "", "Their sabres glittered o'er her little head,", " Whence her fair hair rose twining with affright,", "Her hidden face was plunged amidst the dead:", " When Juan caught a glimpse of this sad sight,", "I shall not say exactly what he _said_,", " Because it might not solace \"ears polite;\"", "But what he _did_, was to lay on their backs,", "The readiest way of reasoning with Cossacques.", "", "One's hip he slashed, and split the other's shoulder,", " And drove them with their brutal yells to seek", "If there might be chirurgeons who could solder", " The wounds they richly merited, and shriek", "Their baffled rage and pain; while waxing colder", " As he turned o'er each pale and gory cheek,", "Don Juan raised his little captive from", "The heap a moment more had made her tomb.", "", "And she was chill as they, and on her face", " A slender streak of blood announced how near", "Her fate had been to that of all her race;", " For the same blow which laid her mother here", "Had scarred her brow, and left its crimson trace,", " As the last link with all she had held dear;", "But else unhurt, she opened her large eyes,", "And gazed on Juan with a wild surprise.", "", "Just at this instant, while their eyes were fixed", " Upon each other, with dilated glance,", "In Juan's look, pain, pleasure, hope, fear, mixed", " With joy to save, and dread of some mischance", "Unto his protégée; while hers, transfixed", " With infant terrors, glared as from a trance,", "A pure, transparent, pale, yet radiant face,", "Like to a lighted alabaster vase:--", "", "Up came John Johnson (I will not say _\"Jack,\"_", " For that were vulgar, cold, and common-place", "On great occasions, such as an attack", " On cities, as hath been the present case):", "Up Johnson came, with hundreds at his back,", " Exclaiming--\"Juan! Juan! On, boy! brace", "Your arm, and I'll bet Moscow to a dollar,", "That you and I will win St. George's collar.", "", "\"The Seraskier is knocked upon the head,", " But the stone bastion still remains, wherein", "The old Pacha sits among some hundreds dead,", " Smoking his pipe quite calmly 'midst the din", "Of our artillery and his own: 't is said", " Our killed, already piled up to the chin,", "Lie round the battery; but still it batters,", "And grape in volleys, like a vineyard, scatters.", "", "\"Then up with me!\"--But Juan answered, \"Look", " Upon this child--I saved her--must not leave", "Her life to chance; but point me out some nook", " Of safety, where she less may shrink and grieve,", "And I am with you.\"--Whereon Johnson took", " A glance around--and shrugged--and twitched his sleeve", "And black silk neckcloth--and replied, \"You're right;", "Poor thing! what's to be done? I'm puzzled quite.\"", "", "Said Juan--\"Whatsoever is to be", " Done, I'll not quit her till she seems secure", "Of present life a good deal more than we.\"--", " Quoth Johnson--\"_Neither_ will I quite insure;", "But at the least _you_ may die gloriously.\"--", " Juan replied--\" At least I will endure", "Whate'er is to be borne--but not resign", "This child, who is parentless, and therefore mine.\"", "", "Johnson said--\"Juan, we've no time to lose;", " The child's a pretty child--a very pretty--", "I never saw such eyes--but hark! now choose", " Between your fame and feelings, pride and pity:--", "Hark! how the roar increases!--no excuse", " Will serve when there is plunder in a city;--", "I should be loath to march without you, but,", "By God! we'll be too late for the first cut.\"", "", "But Juan was immovable; until", " Johnson, who really loved him in his way,", "Picked out amongst his followers with some skill", " Such as he thought the least given up to prey,", "And, swearing, if the infant came to ill", " That they should all be shot on the next day,--", "But if she were delivered safe and sound,", "They should at least have fifty rubles round,", "", "And all allowances besides of plunder", " In fair proportion with their comrades;--then", "Juan consented to march on through thunder,", " Which thinned at every step their ranks of men:", "And yet the rest rushed eagerly--no wonder,", " For they were heated by the hope of gain,", "A thing which happens everywhere each day--", "No hero trusteth wholly to half pay.", "", "And such is Victory, and such is Man!", " At least nine tenths of what we call so:--God", "May have another name for half we scan", " As human beings, or his ways are odd.", "But to our subject: a brave Tartar Khan--", " Or \"Sultan,\" as the author (to whose nod", "In prose I bend my humble verse) doth call", "This chieftain--somehow would not yield at all:", "", "But flanked by _five_ brave sons (such is polygamy,", " That she spawns warriors by the score, where none", "Are prosecuted for that false crime bigamy),", " He never would believe the city won", "While Courage clung but to a single twig.--Am I", " Describing Priam's, Peleus', or Jove's son?", "Neither--but a good, plain, old, temperate man,", "Who fought with his five children in the van.", "", "To _take_ him was the point.--The truly brave,", " When they behold the brave oppressed with odds,", "Are touched with a desire to shield and save;--", " A mixture of wild beasts and demi-gods", "Are they--now furious as the sweeping wave,", " Now moved with pity: even as sometimes nods", "The rugged tree unto the summer wind,", "Compassion breathes along the savage mind.", "", "But he would _not_ be _taken_, and replied", " To all the propositions of surrender", "By mowing Christians down on every side,", " As obstinate as Swedish Charles at Bender.", "His five brave boys no less the foe defied;", " Whereon the Russian pathos grew less tender", "As being a virtue, like terrestrial patience,", "Apt to wear out on trifling provocations.", "", "And spite of Johnson and of Juan, who", " Expended all their Eastern phraseology", "In begging him, for God's sake, just to show", " So much less fight as might form an apology", "For _them_ in saving such a desperate foe--", " He hewed away, like Doctors of Theology", "When they dispute with sceptics; and with curses", "Struck at his friends, as babies beat their nurses.", "", "Nay, he had wounded, though but slightly, both", " Juan and Johnson; whereupon they fell,", "The first with sighs, the second with an oath,", " Upon his angry Sultanship, pell-mell,", "And all around were grown exceeding wroth", " At such a pertinacious infidel,", "And poured upon him and his sons like rain,", "Which they resisted like a sandy plain", "", "That drinks and still is dry. At last they perished--", " His second son was levelled by a shot;", "His third was sabred; and the fourth, most cherished", " Of all the five, on bayonets met his lot;", "The fifth, who, by a Christian mother nourished,", " Had been neglected, ill-used, and what not,", "Because deformed, yet died all game and bottom,", "To save a Sire who blushed that he begot him.", "", "The eldest was a true and tameless Tartar,", " As great a scorner of the Nazarene", "As ever Mahomet picked out for a martyr,", " Who only saw the black-eyed girls in green,", "Who make the beds of those who won't take quarter", " On earth, in Paradise; and when once seen,", "Those houris, like all other pretty creatures,", "Do just whate'er they please, by dint of features.", "", "And what they pleased to do with the young Khan", " In Heaven I know not, nor pretend to guess;", "But doubtless they prefer a fine young man", " To tough old heroes, and can do no less;", "And that's the cause no doubt why, if we scan", " A field of battle's ghastly wilderness,", "For one rough, weather-beaten, veteran body,", "You'll find ten thousand handsome coxcombs bloody.", "", "Your houris also have a natural pleasure", " In lopping off your lately married men,", "Before the bridal hours have danced their measure", " And the sad, second moon grows dim again,", "Or dull Repentance hath had dreary leisure", " To wish him back a bachelor now and then:", "And thus your Houri (it may be) disputes", "Of these brief blossoms the immediate fruits.", "", "Thus the young Khan, with Houris in his sight,", " Thought not upon the charms of four young brides,", "But bravely rushed on his first heavenly night.", " In short, howe'er _our_ better faith derides,", "These black-eyed virgins make the Moslems fight,", " As though there were one Heaven and none besides--", "Whereas, if all be true we hear of Heaven", "And Hell, there must at least be six or seven.", "", "So fully flashed the phantom on his eyes,", " That when the very lance was in his heart,", "He shouted \"Allah!\" and saw Paradise", " With all its veil of mystery drawn apart,", "And bright Eternity without disguise", " On his soul, like a ceaseless sunrise, dart:--", "With Prophets--Houris--Angels--Saints, descried", "In one voluptuous blaze,--and then he died,--", "", "But with a heavenly rapture on his face.", " The good old Khan, who long had ceased to see", "Houris, or aught except his florid race,", " Who grew like cedars round him gloriously--", "When he beheld his latest hero grace", " The earth, which he became like a felled tree,", "Paused for a moment from the fight, and cast", "A glance on that slain son, his first and last.", "", "The soldiers, who beheld him drop his point,", " Stopped as if once more willing to concede", "Quarter, in case he bade them not \"aroynt!\"", " As he before had done. He did not heed", "Their pause nor signs: his heart was out of joint,", " And shook (till now unshaken) like a reed,", "As he looked down upon his children gone,", "And felt--though done with life--he was alone.", "", "But 't was a transient tremor:--with a spring", " Upon the Russian steel his breast he flung,", "As carelessly as hurls the moth her wing", " Against the light wherein she dies: he clung", "Closer, that all the deadlier they might wring,", " Unto the bayonets which had pierced his young;", "And throwing back a dim look on his sons,", "In one wide wound poured forth his soul at once.", "", "'T is strange enough--the rough, tough soldiers, who", " Spared neither sex nor age in their career", "Of carnage, when this old man was pierced through,", " And lay before them with his children near,", "Touched by the heroism of him they slew,", " Were melted for a moment; though no tear", "Flowed from their bloodshot eyes, all red with strife,", "They honoured such determined scorn of Life.", "", "But the stone bastion still kept up its fire,", " Where the chief Pacha calmly held his post:", "Some twenty times he made the Russ retire,", " And baffled the assaults of all their host;", "At length he condescended to inquire", " If yet the city's rest were won or lost;", "And being told the latter, sent a Bey", "To answer Ribas' summons to give way.", "", "In the mean time, cross-legged, with great sang-froid,", " Among the scorching ruins he sat smoking", "Tobacco on a little carpet;--Troy", " Saw nothing like the scene around;--yet looking", "With martial Stoicism, nought seemed to annoy", " His stern philosophy; but gently stroking", "His beard, he puffed his pipe's ambrosial gales,", "As if he had three lives, as well as tails.", "", "The town was taken--whether he might yield", " Himself or bastion, little mattered now:", "His stubborn valour was no future shield.", " Ismail's no more! The Crescent's silver bow", "Sunk, and the crimson Cross glared o'er the field,", " But red with no _redeeming_ gore: the glow", "Of burning streets, like moonlight on the water,", "Was imaged back in blood, the sea of slaughter.", "", "All that the mind would shrink from of excesses--", " All that the body perpetrates of bad;", "All that we read--hear--dream, of man's distresses--", " All that the Devil would do if run stark mad;", "All that defies the worst which pen expresses,--", " All by which Hell is peopled, or as sad", "As Hell--mere mortals who their power abuse--", "Was here (as heretofore and since) let loose.", "", "If here and there some transient trait of pity", " Was shown, and some more noble heart broke through", "Its bloody bond, and saved, perhaps, some pretty", " Child, or an agéd, helpless man or two--", "What's this in one annihilated city,", " Where thousand loves, and ties, and duties grew?", "Cockneys of London! Muscadins of Paris!", "Just ponder what a pious pastime War is.", "", "Think how the joys of reading a Gazette", " Are purchased by all agonies and crimes:", "Or if these do not move you, don't forget", " Such doom may be your own in after-times.", "Meantime the Taxes, Castlereagh, and Debt,", " Are hints as good as sermons, or as rhymes.", "Read your own hearts and Ireland's present story,", "Then feed her famine fat with Wellesley's glory.", "", "But still there is unto a patriot nation,", " Which loves so well its country and its King,", "A subject of sublimest exultation--", " Bear it, ye Muses, on your brightest wing!", "Howe'er the mighty locust, Desolation,", " Strip your green fields, and to your harvests cling,", "Gaunt famine never shall approach the throne--", "Though Ireland starve, great George weighs twenty stone.", "", "But let me put an end unto my theme:", " There was an end of Ismail--hapless town!", "Far flashed her burning towers o'er Danube's stream,", " And redly ran his blushing waters down.", "The horrid war-whoop and the shriller scream", " Rose still; but fainter were the thunders grown:", "Of forty thousand who had manned the wall,", "Some hundreds breathed--the rest were silent all!", "", "In one thing ne'ertheless 't is fit to praise", " The Russian army upon this occasion,", "A virtue much in fashion now-a-days,", " And therefore worthy of commemoration:", "The topic's tender, so shall be my phrase--", " Perhaps the season's chill, and their long station", "In Winter's depth, or want of rest and victual,", "Had made them chaste;--they ravished very little.", "", "Much did they slay, more plunder, and no less", " Might here and there occur some violation", "In the other line;--but not to such excess", " As when the French, that dissipated nation,", "Take towns by storm: no causes can I guess,", " Except cold weather and commiseration;", "But all the ladies, save some twenty score,", "Were almost as much virgins as before.", "", "Some odd mistakes, too, happened in the dark,", " Which showed a want of lanterns, or of taste--", "Indeed the smoke was such they scarce could mark", " Their friends from foes,--besides such things from haste", "Occur, though rarely, when there is a spark", " Of light to save the venerably chaste:", "But six old damsels, each of seventy years,", "Were all deflowered by different grenadiers.", "", "But on the whole their continence was great;", " So that some disappointment there ensued", "To those who had felt the inconvenient state", " Of \"single blessedness,\" and thought it good", "(Since it was not their fault, but only fate,", " To bear these crosses) for each waning prude", "To make a Roman sort of Sabine wedding,", "Without the expense and the suspense of bedding.", "", "Some voices of the buxom middle-aged", " Were also heard to wonder in the din", "(Widows of forty were these birds long caged)", " \"Wherefore the ravishing did not begin!\"", "But while the thirst for gore and plunder raged,", " There was small leisure for superfluous sin;", "But whether they escaped or no, lies hid", "In darkness--I can only hope they did.", "", "Suwarrow now was conqueror--a match", " For Timour or for Zinghis in his trade.", "While mosques and streets, beneath his eyes, like thatch", " Blazed, and the cannon's roar was scarce allayed,", "With bloody hands he wrote his first despatch;", " And here exactly follows what he said:--", "\"Glory to _God_ and to the Empress!\" (_Powers", "Eternal! such names mingled!_) \"Ismail's ours.\"", "", "Methinks these are the most tremendous words,", " Since \"MENE, MENE, TEKEL,\" and \"UPHARSIN,\"", "Which hands or pens have ever traced of swords.", " Heaven help me! I'm but little of a parson:", "What Daniel read was short-hand of the Lord's,", " Severe, sublime; the prophet wrote no farce on", "The fate of nations;--but this Russ so witty", "Could rhyme, like Nero, o'er a burning city.", "", "He wrote this Polar melody, and set it,", " Duly accompanied by shrieks and groans,", "Which few will sing, I trust, but none forget it--", " For I will teach, if possible, the stones", "To rise against Earth's tyrants. Never let it", " Be said that we still truckle unto thrones;--", "But ye--our children's children! think how we", "Showed _what things were_ before the World was free!", "", "That hour is not for us, but 't is for you:", " And as, in the great joy of your Millennium,", "You hardly will believe such things were true", " As now occur, I thought that I would pen you 'em;", "But may their very memory perish too!--", " Yet if perchance remembered, still disdain you 'em", "More than you scorn the savages of yore,", "Who _painted_ their _bare_ limbs, but _not_ with gore.", "", "And when you hear historians talk of thrones,", " And those that sate upon them, let it be", "As we now gaze upon the mammoth's bones,", " And wonder what old world such things could see,", "Or hieroglyphics on Egyptian stones,", " The pleasant riddles of futurity--", "Guessing at what shall happily be hid,", "As the real purpose of a pyramid.", "", "Reader! I have kept my word,--at least so far", " As the first Canto promised. You have now", "Had sketches of Love--Tempest--Travel--War,--", " All very accurate, you must allow,", "And _Epic_, if plain truth should prove no bar;", " For I have drawn much less with a long bow", "Than my forerunners. Carelessly I sing,", "But Phoebus lends me now and then a string,", "", "With which I still can harp, and carp, and fiddle.", " What further hath befallen or may befall", "The hero of this grand poetic riddle,", " I by and by may tell you, if at all:", "But now I choose to break off in the middle,", " Worn out with battering Ismail's stubborn wall,", "While Juan is sent off with the despatch,", "For which all Petersburgh is on the watch.", "", "This special honour was conferred, because", " He had behaved with courage and humanity--", "Which last men like, when they have time to pause", " From their ferocities produced by vanity.", "His little captive gained him some applause", " For saving her amidst the wild insanity", "Of carnage,--and I think he was more glad in her", "Safety, than his new order of St. Vladimir.", "", "The Moslem orphan went with her protector,", " For she was homeless, houseless, helpless; all", "Her friends, like the sad family of Hector,", " Had perished in the field or by the wall:", "Her very place of birth was but a spectre", " Of what it had been; there the Muezzin's call", "To prayer was heard no more!--and Juan wept,", "And made a vow to shield her, which he kept.", "", "CANTO THE NINTH.", "", "Oh, Wellington! (or \"Villainton\"--for Fame", " Sounds the heroic syllables both ways;", "France could not even conquer your great name,", " But punned it down to this facetious phrase--", "Beating or beaten she will laugh the same,)", " You have obtained great pensions and much praise:", "Glory like yours should any dare gainsay,", "Humanity would rise, and thunder \"Nay!\"", "", "I don't think that you used Kinnaird quite well", " In Marinèt's affair--in fact, 't was shabby,", "And like some other things won't do to tell", " Upon your tomb in Westminster's old Abbey.", "Upon the rest 't is not worth while to dwell,", " Such tales being for the tea-hours of some tabby;", "But though your years as _man_ tend fast to zero,", "In fact your Grace is still but a _young Hero_.", "", "Though Britain owes (and pays you too) so much,", " Yet Europe doubtless owes you greatly more:", "You have repaired Legitimacy's crutch,", " A prop not quite so certain as before:", "The Spanish, and the French, as well as Dutch,", " Have seen, and felt, how strongly you _restore_;", "And Waterloo has made the world your debtor", "(I wish your bards would sing it rather better).", "", "You are \"the best of cut-throats:\"--do not start;", " The phrase is Shakespeare's, and not misapplied:--", "War's a brain-spattering, windpipe-slitting art,", " Unless her cause by right be sanctified.", "If you have acted _once_ a generous part,", " The World, not the World's masters, will decide,", "And I shall be delighted to learn who,", "Save you and yours, have gained by Waterloo?", "", "I am no flatterer--you've supped full of flattery:", " They say you like it too--'t is no great wonder.", "He whose whole life has been assault and battery,", " At last may get a little tired of thunder;", "And swallowing eulogy much more than satire, he", " May like being praised for every lucky blunder,", "Called \"Saviour of the Nations\"--not yet saved,--", "And \"Europe's Liberator\"--still enslaved.", "", "I've done. Now go and dine from off the plate", " Presented by the Prince of the Brazils,", "And send the sentinel before your gate", " A slice or two from your luxurious meals:", "He fought, but has not fed so well of late.", " Some hunger, too, they say the people feels:--", "There is no doubt that you deserve your ration,", "But pray give back a little to the nation.", "", "I don't mean to reflect--a man so great as", " You, my lord Duke! is far above reflection:", "The high Roman fashion, too, of Cincinnatus,", " With modern history has but small connection:", "Though as an Irishman you love potatoes,", " You need not take them under your direction;", "And half a million for your Sabine farm", "Is rather dear!--I'm sure I mean no harm.", "", "Great men have always scorned great recompenses:", " Epaminondas saved his Thebes, and died,", "Not leaving even his funeral expenses:", " George Washington had thanks, and nought beside,", "Except the all-cloudless glory (which few men's is)", " To free his country: Pitt too had his pride,", "And as a high-souled Minister of state is", "Renowned for ruining Great Britain gratis.", "", "Never had mortal man such opportunity,", " Except Napoleon, or abused it more:", "You might have freed fallen Europe from the unity", " Of Tyrants, and been blest from shore to shore:", "And _now_--what is your fame? Shall the Muse tune it ye?", " _Now_--that the rabble's first vain shouts are o'er?", "Go! hear it in your famished country's cries!", "Behold the World! and curse your victories!", "", "As these new cantos touch on warlike feats,", " To _you_ the unflattering Muse deigns to inscribe", "Truths, that you will not read in the Gazettes,", " But which 't is time to teach the hireling tribe", "Who fatten on their country's gore, and debts,", " Must be recited--and without a bribe.", "You _did great_ things, but not being _great_ in mind,", "Have left _undone_ the _greatest_--and mankind.", "", "Death laughs--Go ponder o'er the skeleton", " With which men image out the unknown thing", "That hides the past world, like to a set sun", " Which still elsewhere may rouse a brighter spring--", "Death laughs at all you weep for!--look upon", " This hourly dread of all! whose _threatened sting_", "Turns Life to terror, even though in its sheath:", "Mark! how its lipless mouth grins without breath!", "", "Mark! how it laughs and scorns at all you are!", " And yet _was_ what you are; from _ear_ to _ear_", "It _laughs not_--there is now no fleshy bar", " So called; the Antic long hath ceased to _hear_,", "But still he _smiles_; and whether near or far,", " He strips from man that mantle (far more dear", "Than even the tailor's), his incarnate skin,", "White, black, or copper--the dead bones will grin.", "", "And thus Death laughs,--it is sad merriment,", " But still it _is_ so; and with such example", "Why should not Life be equally content", " With his Superior, in a smile to trample", "Upon the nothings which are daily spent", " Like bubbles on an Ocean much less ample", "Than the Eternal Deluge, which devours", "Suns as rays--worlds like atoms--years like hours?", "", "\"To be, or not to be? _that_ is the question,\"", " Says Shakespeare, who just now is much in fashion.", "I am neither Alexander nor Hephæstion,", " Nor ever had for _abstract_ fame much passion;", "But would much rather have a sound digestion", " Than Buonaparte's cancer:--could I dash on", "Through fifty victories to shame or fame--", "Without a stomach what were a good name?", "", "_\"O dura ilia messorum!\"_--\"Oh", " Ye rigid guts of reapers!\" I translate", "For the great benefit of those who know", " What indigestion is--that inward fate", "Which makes all Styx through one small liver flow.", " A peasant's sweat is worth his lord's estate:", "Let _this_ one toil for bread--_that_ rack for rent,", "He who sleeps best may be the most content.", "", "\"To be, or not to be?\"--Ere I decide,", " I should be glad to know that which _is being_.", "'T is true we speculate both far and wide,", " And deem, because we _see_, we are _all-seeing_:", "For my part, I'll enlist on neither side,", " Until I see both sides for once agreeing.", "For me, I sometimes think that Life is Death,", "Rather than Life a mere affair of breath.", "", "_\"Que scais-je\"_ was the motto of Montaigne,", " As also of the first academicians:", "That all is dubious which man may attain,", " Was one of their most favourite positions.", "There's no such thing as certainty, that's plain", " As any of Mortality's conditions;", "So little do we know what we're about in", "This world, I doubt if doubt itself be doubting.", "", "It is a pleasant voyage perhaps to float,", " Like Pyrrho, on a sea of speculation;", "But what if carrying sail capsize the boat?", " Your wise men don't know much of navigation;", "And swimming long in the abyss of thought", " Is apt to tire: a calm and shallow station", "Well nigh the shore, where one stoops down and gathers", "Some pretty shell, is best for moderate bathers.", "", "\"But Heaven,\" as Cassio says, \"is above all--", " No more of this, then, let us pray!\" We have", "Souls to save, since Eve's slip and Adam's fall,", " Which tumbled all mankind into the grave,", "Besides fish, beasts, and birds. \"The sparrow's fall", " Is special providence,\" though how _it_ gave", "Offence, we know not; probably it perched", "Upon the tree which Eve so fondly searched.", "", "Oh! ye immortal Gods! what is Theogony?", " Oh! thou, too, mortal man! what is Philanthropy?", "Oh! World, which was and is, what is Cosmogony?", " Some people have accused me of Misanthropy;", "And yet I know no more than the mahogany", " That forms this desk, of what they mean;--_Lykanthropy_", "I comprehend, for without transformation", "Men become wolves on any slight occasion.", "", "But I, the mildest, meekest of mankind,", " Like Moses, or Melancthon, who have ne'er", "Done anything exceedingly unkind,--", " And (though I could not now and then forbear", "Following the bent of body or of mind)", " Have always had a tendency to spare,--", "Why do they call me Misanthrope? Because", "_They hate me, not I them:_--and here we'll pause.", "", "'T is time we should proceed with our good poem,--", " For I maintain that it is really good,", "Not only in the body but the proem,", " However little both are understood", "Just now,--but by and by the Truth will show 'em", " Herself in her sublimest attitude:", "And till she doth, I fain must be content", "To share her beauty and her banishment.", "", "Our hero (and, I trust, kind reader! yours)", " Was left upon his way to the chief city", "Of the immortal Peter's polished boors,", " Who still have shown themselves more brave than witty.", "I know its mighty Empire now allures", " Much flattery--even Voltaire's, and that's a pity.", "For me, I deem an absolute autocrat", "_Not_ a barbarian, but much worse than that.", "", "And I will war, at least in words (and--should", " My chance so happen--deeds), with all who war", "With Thought;--and of Thought's foes by far most rude,", " Tyrants and sycophants have been and are.", "I know not who may conquer: if I could", " Have such a prescience, it should be no bar", "To this my plain, sworn, downright detestation", "Of every despotism in every nation.", "", "It is not that I adulate the people:", " Without _me_, there are demagogues enough,", "And infidels, to pull down every steeple,", " And set up in their stead some proper stuff.", "Whether they may sow scepticism to reap Hell,", " As is the Christian dogma rather rough,", "I do not know;--I wish men to be free", "As much from mobs as kings--from you as me.", "", "The consequence is, being of no party,", " I shall offend all parties:--never mind!", "My words, at least, are more sincere and hearty", " Than if I sought to sail before the wind.", "He who has nought to gain can have small art: he", " Who neither wishes to be bound nor bind,", "May still expatiate freely, as will I,", "Nor give my voice to slavery's jackal cry.", "", "_That's_ an appropriate simile, _that jackal;_--", " I've heard them in the Ephesian ruins howl", "By night, as do that mercenary pack all,", " Power's base purveyors, who for pickings prowl,", "And scent the prey their masters would attack all.", " However, the poor jackals are less foul", "(As being the brave lions' keen providers)", "Than human insects, catering for spiders.", "", "Raise but an arm! 't will brush their web away,", " And without _that_, their poison and their claws", "Are useless. Mind, good people! what I say--", " (Or rather Peoples)--_go on_ without pause!", "The web of these Tarantulas each day", " Increases, till you shall make common cause:", "None, save the Spanish Fly and Attic Bee,", "As yet are strongly stinging to be free.", "", "Don Juan, who had shone in the late slaughter,", " Was left upon his way with the despatch,", "Where blood was talked of as we would of water;", " And carcasses that lay as thick as thatch", "O'er silenced cities, merely served to flatter", " Fair Catherine's pastime--who looked on the match", "Between these nations as a main of cocks,", "Wherein she liked her own to stand like rocks.", "", "And there in a _kibitka_ he rolled on,", " (A cursed sort of carriage without springs,", "Which on rough roads leaves scarcely a whole bone,)", " Pondering on Glory, Chivalry, and Kings,", "And Orders, and on all that he had done--", " And wishing that post-horses had the wings", "Of Pegasus, or at the least post-chaises", "Had feathers, when a traveller on deep ways is.", "", "At every jolt--and they were many--still", " He turned his eyes upon his little charge,", "As if he wished that she should fare less ill", " Than he, in these sad highways left at large", "To ruts, and flints, and lovely Nature's skill,", " Who is no paviour, nor admits a barge", "On _her_ canals, where God takes sea and land,", "Fishery and farm, both into his own hand.", "", "At least he pays no rent, and has best right", " To be the first of what we used to call", "\"Gentlemen farmers\"--a race worn out quite,", " Since lately there have been no rents at all,", "And \"gentlemen\" are in a piteous plight,", " And \"farmers\" can't raise Ceres from her fall:", "She fell with Buonaparte,--What strange thoughts", "Arise, when we see Emperors fall with oats!", "", "But Juan turned his eyes on the sweet child", " Whom he had saved from slaughter--what a trophy", "Oh! ye who build up monuments, defiled", " With gore, like Nadir Shah, that costive Sophy,", "Who, after leaving Hindostan a wild,", " And scarce to the Mogul a cup of coffee", "To soothe his woes withal, was slain, the sinner!", "Because he could no more digest his dinner;--", "", "Oh ye! or we! or he! or she! reflect,", " That _one_ life saved, especially if young", "Or pretty, is a thing to recollect", " Far sweeter than the greenest laurels sprung", "From the manure of human clay, though decked", " With all the praises ever said or sung:", "Though hymned by every harp, unless within", "Your heart joins chorus, Fame is but a din.", "", "Oh! ye great authors luminous, voluminous!", " Ye twice ten hundred thousand daily scribes!", "Whose pamphlets, volumes, newspapers, illumine us!", " Whether you're paid by government in bribes,", "To prove the public debt is not consuming us--", " Or, roughly treading on the \"courtier's kibes\"", "With clownish heel your popular circulation", "Feeds you by printing half the realm's starvation;--", "", "Oh, ye great authors!--_A propos des bottes,_--", " I have forgotten what I meant to say,", "As sometimes have been greater sages' lots;--", " 'T was something calculated to allay", "All wrath in barracks, palaces, or cots:", " Certes it would have been but thrown away,", "And that's one comfort for my lost advice,", "Although no doubt it was beyond all price.", "", "But let it go:--it will one day be found", " With other relics of \"a former World,\"", "When this World shall be _former,_ underground,", " Thrown topsy-turvy, twisted, crisped, and curled,", "Baked, fried, or burnt, turned inside-out, or drowned,", " Like all the worlds before, which have been hurled", "First out of, and then back again to chaos--", "The superstratum which will overlay us.", "", "So Cuvier says:--and then shall come again", " Unto the new creation, rising out", "From our old crash, some mystic, ancient strain", " Of things destroyed and left in airy doubt;", "Like to the notions we now entertain", " Of Titans, giants, fellows of about", "Some hundred feet in height, _not_ to say _miles,_", "And mammoths, and your winged crocodiles.", "", "Think if then George the Fourth should be dug up!", " How the new worldlings of the then new East", "Will wonder where such animals could sup!", " (For they themselves will be but of the least:", "Even worlds miscarry, when too oft they pup,", " And every new creation hath decreased", "In size, from overworking the material--", "Men are but maggots of some huge Earth's burial.)", "", "_How_ will--to these young people, just thrust out", " From some fresh Paradise, and set to plough,", "And dig, and sweat, and turn themselves about,", " And plant, and reap, and spin, and grind, and sow,", "Till all the arts at length are brought about,", " Especially of War and taxing,--_how_,", "I say, will these great relics, when they see 'em,", "Look like the monsters of a new Museum!", "", "But I am apt to grow too metaphysical:", " \"The time is out of joint,\"--and so am I;", "I quite forget this poem's merely quizzical,", " And deviate into matters rather dry.", "I ne'er decide what I shall say, and this I call", " Much too poetical: men should know why", "They write, and for what end; but, note or text,", "I never know the word which will come next.", "", "So on I ramble, now and then narrating,", " Now pondering:--it is time we should narrate.", "I left Don Juan with his horses baiting--", " Now we'll get o'er the ground at a great rate:", "I shall not be particular in stating", " His journey, we've so many tours of late:", "Suppose him then at Petersburgh; suppose", "That pleasant capital of painted snows;", "", "Suppose him in a handsome uniform--", " A scarlet coat, black facings, a long plume,", "Waving, like sails new shivered in a storm,", " Over a cocked hat in a crowded room,", "And brilliant breeches, bright as a Cairn Gorme,", " Of yellow casimire we may presume,", "White stockings drawn uncurdled as new milk", "O'er limbs whose symmetry set off the silk;", "", "Suppose him sword by side, and hat in hand,", " Made up by Youth, Fame, and an army tailor--", "That great enchanter, at whose rod's command", " Beauty springs forth, and Nature's self turns paler,", "Seeing how Art can make her work more grand", " (When she don't pin men's limbs in like a gaoler),--", "Behold him placed as if upon a pillar! He", "Seems Love turned a Lieutenant of Artillery!", "", "His bandage slipped down into a cravat--", " His wings subdued to epaulettes--his quiver", "Shrunk to a scabbard, with his arrows at", " His side as a small sword, but sharp as ever--", "His bow converted into a cocked hat--", " But still so like, that Psyche were more clever", "Than some wives (who make blunders no less stupid),", "If she had not mistaken him for Cupid.", "", "The courtiers stared, the ladies whispered, and", " The Empress smiled: the reigning favourite frowned--", "I quite forget which of them was in hand", " Just then, as they are rather numerous found,", "Who took, by turns, that difficult command", " Since first her Majesty was singly crowned:", "But they were mostly nervous six-foot fellows,", "All fit to make a Patagonian jealous.", "", "Juan was none of these, but slight and slim,", " Blushing and beardless; and, yet, ne'ertheless,", "There was a something in his turn of limb,", " And still more in his eye, which seemed to express,", "That, though he looked one of the Seraphim,", " There lurked a man beneath the Spirit's dress.", "Besides, the Empress sometimes liked a boy,", "And had just buried the fair-faced Lanskoi.", "", "No wonder then that Yermoloff, or Momonoff,", " Or Scherbatoff, or any other _off_", "Or _on_, might dread her Majesty had not room enough", " Within her bosom (which was not too tough),", "For a new flame; a thought to cast of gloom enough", " Along the aspect, whether smooth or rough,", "Of him who, in the language of his station,", "Then held that \"high official situation.\"", "", "O gentle ladies! should you seek to know", " The import of this diplomatic phrase,", "Bid Ireland's Londonderry's Marquess show", " His parts of speech, and in the strange displays", "Of that odd string of words, all in a row,", " Which none divine, and every one obeys,", "Perhaps you may pick out some queer _no_ meaning,--", "Of that weak wordy harvest the sole gleaning.", "", "I think I can explain myself without", " That sad inexplicable beast of prey--", "That Sphinx, whose words would ever be a doubt,", " Did not his deeds unriddle them each day--", "That monstrous hieroglyphic--that long spout", " Of blood and water--leaden Castlereagh!", "And here I must an anecdote relate,", "But luckily of no great length or weight.", "", "An English lady asked of an Italian,", " What were the actual and official duties", "Of the strange thing some women set a value on,", " Which hovers oft about some married beauties,", "Called \"Cavalier Servente?\"--a Pygmalion", " Whose statues warm (I fear, alas! too true 't is)", "Beneath his art:--the dame, pressed to disclose them,", "Said--\"Lady, I beseech you to _suppose them_.\"", "", "And thus I supplicate your supposition,", " And mildest, matron-like interpretation,", "Of the imperial favourite's condition.", " 'T was a high place, the highest in the nation", "In fact, if not in rank; and the suspicion", " Of any one's attaining to his station,", "No doubt gave pain, where each new pair of shoulders,", "If rather broad, made stocks rise--and their holders.", "", "Juan, I said, was a most beauteous boy,", " And had retained his boyish look beyond", "The usual hirsute seasons which destroy,", " With beards and whiskers, and the like, the fond", "_Parisian_ aspect, which upset old Troy", " And founded Doctors' Commons:--I have conned", "The history of divorces, which, though chequered,", "Calls Ilion's the first damages on record.", "", "And Catherine, who loved all things (save her Lord,", " Who was gone to his place), and passed for much,", "Admiring those (by dainty dames abhorred)", " Gigantic gentlemen, yet had a touch", "Of sentiment: and he she most adored", " Was the lamented Lanskoi, who was such", "A lover as had cost her many a tear,", "And yet but made a middling grenadier.", "", "Oh thou \"_teterrima causa_\" of all \"_belli_\"--", " Thou gate of Life and Death--thou nondescript!", "Whence is our exit and our entrance,--well I", " May pause in pondering how all souls are dipped", "In thy perennial fountain:--how man _fell_ I", " Know not, since Knowledge saw her branches stripped", "Of her first fruit; but how he _falls_ and rises", "Since,--_thou_ hast settled beyond all surmises.", "", "Some call thee \"the _worst_ cause of War,\" but I", " Maintain thou art the _best_.--for after all,", "From thee we come, to thee we go, and why", " To get at thee not batter down a wall,", "Or waste a World? since no one can deny", " Thou dost replenish worlds both great and small:", "With--or without thee--all things at a stand", "Are, or would be, thou sea of Life's dry land!", "", "Catherine, who was the grand Epitome", " Of that great cause of War, or Peace, or what", "You please (it causes all the things which be,", " So you may take your choice of this or that)--", "Catherine, I say, was very glad to see", " The handsome herald, on whose plumage sat", "Victory; and, pausing as she saw him kneel", "With his despatch, forgot to break the seal.", "", "Then recollecting the whole Empress, nor", " Forgetting quite the Woman (which composed", "At least three parts of this great whole), she tore", " The letter open with an air which posed", "The Court, that watched each look her visage wore,", " Until a royal smile at length disclosed", "Fair weather for the day. Though rather spacious,", "Her face was noble, her eyes fine, mouth gracious.", "", "Great joy was hers, or rather joys: the first", " Was a ta'en city, thirty thousand slain:", "Glory and triumph o'er her aspect burst,", " As an East Indian sunrise on the main:--", "These quenched a moment her Ambition's thirst--", " So Arab deserts drink in Summer's rain:", "In vain!--As fall the dews on quenchless sands,", "Blood only serves to wash Ambition's hands!", "", "Her next amusement was more fanciful;", " She smiled at mad Suwarrow's rhymes, who threw", "Into a Russian couplet rather dull", " The whole gazette of thousands whom he slew:", "Her third was feminine enough to annul", " The shudder which runs naturally through", "Our veins, when things called Sovereigns think it best", "To kill, and Generals turn it into jest.", "", "The two first feelings ran their course complete,", " And lighted first her eye, and then her mouth:", "The whole court looked immediately most sweet,", " Like flowers well watered after a long drouth:--", "But when on the Lieutenant at her feet", " Her Majesty, who liked to gaze on youth", "Almost as much as on a new despatch,", "Glanced mildly,--all the world was on the watch.", "", "Though somewhat large, exuberant, and truculent,", " When _wroth_--while _pleased_, she was as fine a figure", "As those who like things rosy, ripe, and succulent,", " Would wish to look on, while they are in vigour.", "She could repay each amatory look you lent", " With interest, and, in turn, was wont with rigour", "To exact of Cupid's bills the full amount", "At sight, nor would permit you to discount.", "", "With her the latter, though at times convenient,", " Was not so necessary; for they tell", "That she was handsome, and though fierce _looked_ lenient,", " And always used her favourites too well.", "If once beyond her boudoir's precincts in ye went,", " Your \"fortune\" was in a fair way \"to swell", "A man\" (as Giles says); for though she would widow all", "Nations, she liked Man as an individual.", "", "What a strange thing is Man! and what a stranger", " Is Woman! What a whirlwind is her head,", "And what a whirlpool full of depth and danger", " Is all the rest about her! Whether wed,", "Or widow--maid--or mother, she can change her", " Mind like the wind: whatever she has said", "Or done, is light to what she'll say or do;--", "The oldest thing on record, and yet new!", "", "Oh Catherine! (for of all interjections,", " To thee both _oh!_ and _ah!_ belong, of right,", "In Love and War) how odd are the connections", " Of human thoughts, which jostle in their flight!", "Just now _yours_ were cut out in different sections:", " _First_ Ismail's capture caught your fancy quite;", "_Next_ of new knights, the fresh and glorious batch:", "And _thirdly_ he who brought you the despatch!", "", "Shakespeare talks of \"the herald Mercury", " New lighted on a heaven-kissing hill:\"", "And some such visions crossed her Majesty,", " While her young herald knelt before her still.", "'T is very true the hill seemed rather high,", " For a Lieutenant to climb up; but skill", "Smoothed even the Simplon's steep, and by God's blessing,", "With Youth and Health all kisses are \"Heaven-kissing.\"", "", "Her Majesty looked down, the youth looked up--", " And so they fell in love;--she with his face,", "His grace, his God-knows-what: for Cupid's cup", " With the first draught intoxicates apace,", "A quintessential laudanum or \"Black Drop,\"", " Which makes one drunk at once, without the base", "Expedient of full bumpers; for the eye", "In love drinks all Life's fountains (save tears) dry.", "", "He, on the other hand, if not in love,", " Fell into that no less imperious passion,", "Self-love--which, when some sort of thing above", " Ourselves, a singer, dancer, much in fashion,", "Or Duchess--Princess--Empress, \"deigns to prove\"", " ('T is Pope's phrase) a great longing, though a rash one,", "For one especial person out of many,", "Make us believe ourselves as good as any.", "", "Besides, he was of that delighted age", " Which makes all female ages equal--when", "We don't much care with whom we may engage,", " As bold as Daniel in the lions' den,", "So that we can our native sun assuage", " In the next ocean, which may flow just then--", "To make a _twilight_ in, just as Sol's heat is", "Quenched in the lap of the salt sea, or Thetis.", "", "And Catherine (we must say thus much for Catherine),", " Though bold and bloody, was the kind of thing", "Whose temporary passion was quite flattering,", " Because each lover looked a sort of King,", "Made up upon an amatory pattern,", " A royal husband in all save the _ring_--", "Which, (being the damnedest part of matrimony,)", "Seemed taking out the sting to leave the honey:", "", "And when you add to this, her Womanhood", " In its meridian, her blue eyes or gray--", "(The last, if they have soul, are quite as good,", " Or better, as the best examples say:", "Napoleon's, Mary's (Queen of Scotland), should", " Lend to that colour a transcendent ray;", "And Pallas also sanctions the same hue,", "Too wise to look through optics black or blue)--", "", "Her sweet smile, and her then majestic figure,", " Her plumpness, her imperial condescension,", "Her preference of a boy to men much bigger", " (Fellows whom Messalina's self would pension),", "Her prime of life, just now in juicy vigour,", " With other _extras_, which we need not mention,--", "All these, or any one of these, explain", "Enough to make a stripling very vain.", "", "And that's enough, for Love is vanity,", " Selfish in its beginning as its end,", "Except where 't is a mere insanity,", " A maddening spirit which would strive to blend", "Itself with Beauty's frail inanity,", " On which the Passion's self seems to depend;", "And hence some heathenish philosophers", "Make Love the main-spring of the Universe.", "", "Besides Platonic love, besides the love", " Of God, the love of sentiment, the loving", "Of faithful pairs--(I needs must rhyme with dove,", " That good old steam-boat which keeps verses moving", "'Gainst reason--Reason ne'er was hand-and-glove", " With rhyme, but always leant less to improving", "The sound than sense)--besides all these pretences", "To Love, there are those things which words name senses;", "", "Those movements, those improvements in our bodies", " Which make all bodies anxious to get out", "Of their own sand-pits, to mix with a goddess,", " For such all women are at first no doubt.", "How beautiful that moment! and how odd is", " That fever which precedes the languid rout", "Of our sensations! What a curious way", "The whole thing is of clothing souls in clay!", "", "The noblest kind of love is love Platonical,", " To end or to begin with; the next grand", "Is that which may be christened love canonical,", " Because the clergy take the thing in hand;", "The third sort to be noted in our chronicle", " As flourishing in every Christian land,", "Is when chaste matrons to their other ties", "Add what may be called _marriage in disguise_.", "", "Well, we won't analyse--our story must", " Tell for itself: the Sovereign was smitten,", "Juan much flattered by her love, or lust;--", " I cannot stop to alter words once written,", "And the _two_ are so mixed with human dust,", " That he who _names one_, both perchance may hit on:", "But in such matters Russia's mighty Empress", "Behaved no better than a common sempstress.", "", "The whole court melted into one wide whisper,", " And all lips were applied unto all ears!", "The elder ladies' wrinkles curled much crisper", " As they beheld; the younger cast some leers", "On one another, and each lovely lisper", " Smiled as she talked the matter o'er; but tears", "Of rivalship rose in each clouded eye", "Of all the standing army who stood by.", "", "All the ambassadors of all the powers", " Inquired, Who was this very new young man,", "Who promised to be great in some few hours?", " Which is full soon (though Life is but a span).", "Already they beheld the silver showers", " Of rubles rain, as fast as specie can,", "Upon his cabinet, besides the presents", "Of several ribands, and some thousand peasants.", "", "Catherine was generous,--all such ladies are:", " Love--that great opener of the heart and all", "The ways that lead there, be they near or far,", " Above, below, by turnpikes great or small,--", "Love--(though she had a cursed taste for War,", " And was not the best wife unless we call", "Such Clytemnestra, though perhaps 't is better", "That one should die--than two drag on the fetter)--", "", "Love had made Catherine make each lover's fortune,", " Unlike our own half-chaste Elizabeth,", "Whose avarice all disbursements did importune,", " If History, the grand liar, ever saith", "The truth; and though grief her old age might shorten,", " Because she put a favourite to death,", "Her vile, ambiguous method of flirtation,", "And stinginess, disgrace her sex and station.", "", "But when the levée rose, and all was bustle", " In the dissolving circle, all the nations'", "Ambassadors began as 't were to hustle", " Round the young man with their congratulations.", "Also the softer silks were heard to rustle", " Of gentle dames, among whose recreations", "It is to speculate on handsome faces,", "Especially when such lead to high places.", "", "Juan, who found himself, he knew not how,", " A general object of attention, made", "His answers with a very graceful bow,", " As if born for the ministerial trade.", "Though modest, on his unembarrassed brow", " Nature had written \"Gentleman!\" He said", "Little, but to the purpose; and his manner", "Flung hovering graces o'er him like a banner.", "", "An order from her Majesty consigned", " Our young Lieutenant to the genial care", "Of those in office: all the world looked kind,", " (As it will look sometimes with the first stare,", "Which Youth would not act ill to keep in mind,)", " As also did Miss Protasoff then there,", "Named from her mystic office \"l'Eprouveuse,\"", "A term inexplicable to the Muse.", "", "With _her_ then, as in humble duty bound,", " Juan retired,--and so will I, until", "My Pegasus shall tire of touching ground.", " We have just lit on a \"heaven-kissing hill,\"", "So lofty that I feel my brain turn round,", " And all my fancies whirling like a mill;", "Which is a signal to my nerves and brain,", "To take a quiet ride in some green lane.", "", "CANTO THE TENTH.", "", "When Newton saw an apple fall, he found", " In that slight startle from his contemplation--", "'T is _said_ (for I'll not answer above ground", " For any sage's creed or calculation)--", "A mode of proving that the Earth turned round", " In a most natural whirl, called \"gravitation;\"", "And this is the sole mortal who could grapple,", "Since Adam--with a fall--or with an apple.", "", "Man fell with apples, and with apples rose,", " If this be true; for we must deem the mode", "In which Sir Isaac Newton could disclose", " Through the then unpaved stars the turnpike road,", "A thing to counterbalance human woes:", " For ever since immortal man hath glowed", "With all kinds of mechanics, and full soon", "Steam-engines will conduct him to the moon.", "", "And wherefore this exordium?--Why, just now,", " In taking up this paltry sheet of paper,", "My bosom underwent a glorious glow,", " And my internal spirit cut a caper:", "And though so much inferior, as I know,", " To those who, by the dint of glass and vapour,", "Discover stars, and sail in the wind's eye,", "I wish to do as much by Poesy.", "", "In the wind's eye I have sailed, and sail; but for", " The stars, I own my telescope is dim;", "But at the least I have shunned the common shore,", " And leaving land far out of sight, would skim", "The Ocean of Eternity: the roar", " Of breakers has not daunted my slight, trim,", "But _still_ sea-worthy skiff; and she may float", "Where ships have foundered, as doth many a boat.", "", "We left our hero, Juan, in the _bloom_", " Of favouritism, but not yet in the _blush;--_", "And far be it from my _Muses_ to presume", " (For I have more than one Muse at a push),", "To follow him beyond the drawing-room:", " It is enough that Fortune found him flush", "Of Youth, and Vigour, Beauty, and those things", "Which for an instant clip Enjoyment's wings.", "", "But soon they grow again and leave their nest.", " \"Oh!\" saith the Psalmist, \"that I had a dove's", "Pinions to flee away, and be at rest!\"", " And who that recollects young years and loves,--", "Though hoary now, and with a withering breast,", " And palsied Fancy, which no longer roves", "Beyond its dimmed eye's sphere,--but would much rather", "Sigh like his son, than cough like his grandfather?", "", "But sighs subside, and tears (even widows') shrink,", " Like Arno in the summer, to a shallow,", "So narrow as to shame their wintry brink,", " Which threatens inundations deep and yellow!", "Such difference doth a few months make. You'd think", " Grief a rich field which never would lie fallow;", "No more it doth--its ploughs but change their boys,", "Who furrow some new soil to sow for joys.", "", "But coughs will come when sighs depart--and now", " And then before sighs cease; for oft the one", "Will bring the other, ere the lake-like brow", " Is ruffled by a wrinkle, or the Sun", "Of Life reached ten o'clock: and while a glow,", " Hectic and brief as summer's day nigh done,", "O'erspreads the cheek which seems too pure for clay,", "Thousands blaze, love, hope, die,--how happy they!--", "", "But Juan was not meant to die so soon:--", " We left him in the focus of such glory", "As may be won by favour of the moon", " Or ladies' fancies--rather transitory", "Perhaps; but who would scorn the month of June,", " Because December, with his breath so hoary,", "Must come? Much rather should he court the ray,", "To hoard up warmth against a wintry day.", "", "Besides, he had some qualities which fix", " Middle-aged ladies even more than young:", "The former know what's what; while new-fledged chicks", " Know little more of Love than what is sung", "In rhymes, or dreamt (for Fancy will play tricks)", " In visions of those skies from whence Love sprung.", "Some reckon women by their suns or years,", "I rather think the Moon should date the dears.", "", "And why? because she's changeable and chaste:", " I know no other reason, whatsoe'er", "Suspicious people, who find fault in haste,", " May choose to tax me with; which is not fair,", "Nor flattering to \"their temper or their taste,\"", " As my friend Jeffrey writes with such an air:", "However, I forgive him, and I trust", "He will forgive himself;--if not, I must.", "", "Old enemies who have become new friends", " Should so continue--'t is a point of honour;", "And I know nothing which could make amends", " For a return to Hatred: I would shun her", "Like garlic, howsoever she extends", " Her hundred arms and legs, and fain outrun her.", "Old flames, new wives, become our bitterest foes--", "Converted foes should scorn to join with those.", "", "This were the worst desertion:--renegadoes,", " Even shuffling Southey, that incarnate lie,", "Would scarcely join again the \"reformadoes,\"", " Whom he forsook to fill the Laureate's sty;", "And honest men from Iceland to Barbadoes,", " Whether in Caledon or Italy,", "Should not veer round with every breath, nor seize", "To pain, the moment when you cease to please.", "", "The lawyer and the critic but behold", " The baser sides of literature and life,", "And nought remains unseen, but much untold,", " By those who scour those double vales of strife.", "While common men grow ignorantly old,", " The lawyer's brief is like the surgeon's knife,", "Dissecting the whole inside of a question,", "And with it all the process of digestion.", "", "A legal broom's a moral chimney-sweeper,", " And that's the reason he himself's so dirty;", "The endless soot bestows a tint far deeper", " Than can be hid by altering his shirt; he", "Retains the sable stains of the dark creeper,", " At least some twenty-nine do out of thirty,", "In all their habits;--not so _you_, I own;", "As Cæsar wore his robe you wear your gown.", "", "And all our little feuds, at least all _mine_,", " Dear Jeffrey, once my most redoubted foe", "(As far as rhyme and criticism combine", " To make such puppets of us things below),", "Are over: Here's a health to \"Auld Lang Syne!\"", " I do not know you, and may never know", "Your face--but you have acted on the whole", "Most nobly, and I own it from my soul.", "", "And when I use the phrase of \"Auld Lang Syne!\"", " 'T is not addressed to you--the more's the pity", "For me, for I would rather take my wine", " With you, than aught (save Scott) in your proud city:", "But somehow--it may seem a schoolboy's whine,", " And yet I seek not to be grand nor witty,", "But I am half a Scot by birth, and bred", "A whole one, and my heart flies to my head,--", "", "As \"Auld Lang Syne\" brings Scotland, one and all,", " Scotch plaids, Scotch snoods, the blue hills, and clear streams,", "The Dee--the Don--Balgounie's brig's _black wall_--", " All my boy feelings, all my gentler dreams", "Of what I _then dreamt_, clothed in their own pall,--", " Like Banquo's offspring--floating past me seems", "My childhood, in this childishness of mine:--", "I care not--'t is a glimpse of \"_Auld Lang Syne_.\"", "", "And though, as you remember, in a fit", " Of wrath and rhyme, when juvenile and curly,", "I railed at Scots to show my wrath and wit,", " Which must be owned was sensitive and surly,", "Yet 't is in vain such sallies to permit,", " They cannot quench young feelings fresh and early:", "I \"_scotched_ not killed\" the Scotchman in my blood,", "And love the land of \"mountain and of flood.\"", "", "Don Juan, who was real, or ideal,--", " For both are much the same, since what men think", "Exists when the once thinkers are less real", " Than what they thought, for Mind can never sink,", "And 'gainst the Body makes a strong appeal;", " And yet 't is very puzzling on the brink", "Of what is called Eternity to stare,", "And know no more of what is _here_, than _there_;--", "", "Don Juan grew a very polished Russian--", " _How_ we won't mention, _why_ we need not say:", "Few youthful minds can stand the strong concussion", " Of any slight temptation in their way;", "But _his_ just now were spread as is a cushion", " Smoothed for a Monarch's seat of honour: gay", "Damsels, and dances, revels, ready money,", "Made ice seem Paradise, and winter sunny.", "", "The favour of the Empress was agreeable;", " And though the duty waxed a little hard,", "Young people at his time of life should be able", " To come off handsomely in that regard.", "He was now growing up like a green tree, able", " For Love, War, or Ambition, which reward", "Their luckier votaries, till old Age's tedium", "Make some prefer the circulating medium.", "", "About this time, as might have been anticipated,", " Seduced by Youth and dangerous examples,", "Don Juan grew, I fear, a little dissipated;", " Which is a sad thing, and not only tramples", "On our fresh feelings, but--as being participated", " With all kinds of incorrigible samples", "Of frail humanity--must make us selfish,", "And shut our souls up in us like a shell-fish.", "", "This we pass over. We will also pass", " The usual progress of intrigues between", "Unequal matches, such as are, alas!", " A young Lieutenant's with a _not old_ Queen,", "But one who is not so youthful as she was", " In all the royalty of sweet seventeen.", "Sovereigns may sway materials, but not matter,", "And wrinkles, the d----d democrats! won't flatter.", "", "And Death, the Sovereign's Sovereign, though the great", " Gracchus of all mortality, who levels,", "With his _Agrarian_ laws, the high estate", " Of him who feasts, and fights, and roars, and revels,", "To one small grass-grown patch (which must await", " Corruption for its crop) with the poor devils", "Who never had a foot of land till now,--", "Death's a reformer--all men must allow.", "", "He lived (not Death, but Juan) in a hurry", " Of waste, and haste, and glare, and gloss, and glitter,", "In this gay clime of bear-skins black and furry--", " Which (though I hate to say a thing that's bitter)", "Peep out sometimes, when things are in a flurry,", " Through all the \"purple and fine linen,\" fitter", "For Babylon's than Russia's royal harlot--", "And neutralise her outward show of scarlet.", "", "And this same state we won't describe: we would", " Perhaps from hearsay, or from recollection:", "But getting nigh grim Dante's \"obscure wood,\"", " That horrid equinox, that hateful section", "Of human years--that half-way house--that rude", " Hut, whence wise travellers drive with circumspection", "Life's sad post-horses o'er the dreary frontier", "Of Age, and looking back to Youth, give _one_ tear;--", "", "I won't describe,--that is, if I can help", " Description; and I won't reflect,--that is,", "If I can stave off thought, which--as a whelp", " Clings to its teat--sticks to me through the abyss", "Of this odd labyrinth; or as the kelp", " Holds by the rock; or as a lover's kiss", "Drains its first draught of lips:--but, as I said,", "I _won't_ philosophise, and _will_ be read.", "", "Juan, instead of courting courts, was courted,--", " A thing which happens rarely: this he owed", "Much to his youth, and much to his reported", " Valour; much also to the blood he showed,", "Like a race-horse; much to each dress he sported,", " Which set the beauty off in which he glowed,", "As purple clouds befringe the sun; but most", "He owed to an old woman and his post.", "", "He wrote to Spain;--and all his near relations,", " Perceiving he was in a handsome way", "Of getting on himself, and finding stations", " For cousins also, answered the same day.", "Several prepared themselves for emigrations;", " And eating ices, were o'erheard to say,", "That with the addition of a slight pelisse,", "Madrid's and Moscow's climes were of a piece.", "", "His mother, Donna Inez, finding, too,", " That in the lieu of drawing on his banker,", "Where his assets were waxing rather few,", " He had brought his spending to a handsome anchor,--", "Replied, \"that she was glad to see him through", " Those pleasures after which wild youth will hanker;", "As the sole sign of Man's being in his senses", "Is--learning to reduce his past expenses.", "", "\"She also recommended him to God,", " And no less to God's Son, as well as Mother,", "Warned him against Greek worship, which looks odd", " In Catholic eyes; but told him, too, to smother", "_Outward_ dislike, which don't look well abroad;", " Informed him that he had a little brother", "Born in a second wedlock; and above", "All, praised the Empress's _maternal_ love.", "", "\"She could not too much give her approbation", " Unto an Empress, who preferred young men", "Whose age, and what was better still, whose nation", " And climate, stopped all scandal (now and then);--", "At home it might have given her some vexation;", " But where thermometers sink down to ten,", "Or five, or one, or zero, she could never", "Believe that Virtue thawed before the river.\"", "", "Oh for a _forty-parson power_--to chant", " Thy praise, Hypocrisy! Oh for a hymn", "Loud as the virtues thou dost loudly vaunt,", " Not practise! Oh for trump of Cherubim!", "Or the ear-trumpet of my good old aunt,", " Who, though her spectacles at last grew dim,", "Drew quiet consolation through its hint,", "When she no more could read the pious print.", "", "She was no Hypocrite at least, poor soul,", " But went to heaven in as sincere a way", "As anybody on the elected roll,", " Which portions out upon the Judgment Day", "Heaven's freeholds, in a sort of Doomsday scroll,", " Such as the conqueror William did repay", "His knights with, lotting others' properties", "Into some sixty thousand new knights' fees.", "", "I can't complain, whose ancestors are there,", " Erneis, Radulphus--eight-and-forty manors", "(If that my memory doth not greatly err)", " Were _their_ reward for following Billy's banners:", "And though I can't help thinking 't was scarce fair", " To strip the Saxons of their _hydes_ like tanners;", "Yet as they founded churches with the produce,", "You'll deem, no doubt, they put it to a good use.", "", "The gentle Juan flourished, though at times", " He felt like other plants called sensitive,", "Which shrink from touch, as Monarchs do from rhymes,", " Save such as Southey can afford to give.", "Perhaps he longed in bitter frosts for climes", " In which the Neva's ice would cease to live", "Before May-day: perhaps, despite his duty,", "In Royalty's vast arms he sighed for Beauty:", "", "Perhaps--but, sans perhaps, we need not seek", " For causes young or old: the canker-worm", "Will feed upon the fairest, freshest cheek,", " As well as further drain the withered form:", "Care, like a housekeeper, brings every week", " His bills in, and however we may storm,", "They must be paid: though six days smoothly run,", "The seventh will bring blue devils or a dun.", "", "I don't know how it was, but he grew sick:", " The Empress was alarmed, and her physician", "(The same who physicked Peter) found the tick", " Of his fierce pulse betoken a condition", "Which augured of the dead, however _quick_", " Itself, and showed a feverish disposition;", "At which the whole Court was extremely troubled,", "The Sovereign shocked, and all his medicines doubled.", "", "Low were the whispers, manifold the rumours:", " Some said he had been poisoned by Potemkin;", "Others talked learnedly of certain tumours,", " Exhaustion, or disorders of the same kin;", "Some said 't was a concoction of the humours,", " Which with the blood too readily will claim kin:", "Others again were ready to maintain,", "\"'T was only the fatigue of last campaign.\"", "", "But here is one prescription out of many:", " \"_Sodae sulphat_. ʒvj. ʒfs. _Mannae optim._", "_Aq. fervent._ f. ℥ ifs. ʒij. _tinct. Sennae_", " _Haustus_\" (And here the surgeon came and cupped him)", "\"℞ _Pulv. Com._ gr. iij. _Ipecacuanhæ_\"", " (With more beside if Juan had not stopped 'em).", "\"_Bolus Potassae Sulphuret. sumendus_,", "_Et haustus ter in die capiendus._\"", "", "This is the way physicians mend or end us,", " _Secundum artem_: but although we sneer", "In health--when ill, we call them to attend us,", " Without the least propensity to jeer;", "While that \"_hiatus maxime deflendus_\"", " To be filled up by spade or mattock's near,", "Instead of gliding graciously down Lethe,", "We tease mild Baillie, or soft Abernethy.", "", "Juan demurred at this first notice to", " Quit; and though Death had threatened an ejection,", "His youth and constitution bore him through,", " And sent the doctors in a new direction.", "But still his state was delicate: the hue", " Of health but flickered with a faint reflection", "Along his wasted cheek, and seemed to gravel", "The faculty--who said that he must travel.", "", "The climate was too cold, they said, for him,", " Meridian-born, to bloom in. This opinion", "Made the chaste Catherine look a little grim,", " Who did not like at first to lose her minion:", "But when she saw his dazzling eye wax dim,", " And drooping like an eagle's with clipt pinion,", "She then resolved to send him on a mission,", "But in a style becoming his condition.", "", "There was just then a kind of a discussion,", " A sort of treaty or negotiation,", "Between the British cabinet and Russian,", " Maintained with all the due prevarication", "With which great states such things are apt to push on;", " Something about the Baltic's navigation,", "Hides, train-oil, tallow, and the rights of Thetis,", "Which Britons deem their _uti possidetis_.", "", "So Catherine, who had a handsome way", " Of fitting out her favourites, conferred", "This secret charge on Juan, to display", " At once her royal splendour, and reward", "His services. He kissed hands the next day,", " Received instructions how to play his card,", "Was laden with all kinds of gifts and honours,", "Which showed what great discernment was the donor's.", "", "But she was lucky, and luck's all. Your Queens", " Are generally prosperous in reigning--", "Which puzzles us to know what Fortune means:--", " But to continue--though her years were waning,", "Her climacteric teased her like her teens;", " And though her dignity brooked no complaining,", "So much did Juan's setting off distress her,", "She could not find at first a fit successor.", "", "But Time, the comforter, will come at last;", " And four-and-twenty hours, and twice that number", "Of candidates requesting to be placed,", " Made Catherine taste next night a quiet slumber:--", "Not that she meant to fix again in haste,", " Nor did she find the quantity encumber,", "But always choosing with deliberation,", "Kept the place open for their emulation.", "", "While this high post of honour's in abeyance,", " For one or two days, reader, we request", "You'll mount with our young hero the conveyance", " Which wafted him from Petersburgh: the best", "Barouche, which had the glory to display once", " The fair Czarina's autocratic crest,", "When, a new Iphigene, she went to Tauris,", "Was given to her favourite, and now _bore his_.", "", "A bull-dog, and a bullfinch, and an ermine,", " All private favourites of Don Juan;--for", "(Let deeper sages the true cause determine)", " He had a kind of inclination, or", "Weakness, for what most people deem mere vermin,", " Live animals: an old maid of threescore", "For cats and birds more penchant ne'er displayed,", "Although he was not old, nor even a maid;--", "", "The animals aforesaid occupied", " Their station: there were valets, secretaries,", "In other vehicles; but at his side", " Sat little Leila, who survived the parries", "He made 'gainst Cossacque sabres in the wide", " Slaughter of Ismail. Though my wild Muse varies", "Her note, she don't forget the infant girl", "Whom he preserved, a pure and living pearl.", "", "Poor little thing! She was as fair as docile,", " And with that gentle, serious character,", "As rare in living beings as a fossile", " Man, 'midst thy mouldy mammoths, \"grand Cuvier!\"", "Ill fitted was her ignorance to jostle", " With this o'erwhelming world, where all must err:", "But she was yet but ten years old, and therefore", "Was tranquil, though she knew not why or wherefore.", "", "Don Juan loved her, and she loved him, as", " Nor brother, father, sister, daughter love.--I", "cannot tell exactly what it was;", " He was not yet quite old enough to prove", "Parental feelings, and the other class,", " Called brotherly affection, could not move", "His bosom,--for he never had a sister:", "Ah! if he had--how much he would have missed her!", "", "And still less was it sensual; for besides", " That he was not an ancient debauchee,", "(Who like sour fruit, to stir their veins' salt tides,", " As acids rouse a dormant alkali,)", "Although (_'t will_ happen as our planet guides)", " His youth was not the chastest that might be,", "There was the purest Platonism at bottom", "Of all his feelings--only he forgot 'em.", "", "Just now there was no peril of temptation;", " He loved the infant orphan he had saved,", "As patriots (now and then) may love a nation;", " His pride, too, felt that she was not enslaved", "Owing to him;--as also her salvation", " Through his means and the Church's might be paved.", "But one thing's odd, which here must be inserted,", "The little Turk refused to be converted.", "", "'T was strange enough she should retain the impression", " Through such a scene of change, and dread, and slaughter;", "But though three Bishops told her the transgression,", " She showed a great dislike to holy water;", "She also had no passion for confession;", " Perhaps she had nothing to confess:--no matter,", "Whate'er the cause, the Church made little of it--", "She still held out that Mahomet was a prophet.", "", "In fact, the only Christian she could bear", " Was Juan; whom she seemed to have selected", "In place of what her home and friends once _were_.", " _He_ naturally loved what he protected:", "And thus they formed a rather curious pair,", " A guardian green in years, a ward connected", "In neither clime, time, blood, with her defender;", "And yet this want of ties made theirs more tender.", "", "They journeyed on through Poland and through Warsaw,", " Famous for mines of salt and yokes of iron:", "Through Courland also, which that famous farce saw", " Which gave her dukes the graceless name of \"Biron.\"", "'T is the same landscape which the modern Mars saw,", " Who marched to Moscow, led by Fame, the Siren!", "To lose by one month's frost some twenty years", "Of conquest, and his guard of Grenadiers.", "", "Let this not seem an anti-climax:--\"Oh!", " My guard! my old guard!\" exclaimed that god of clay.", "Think of the Thunderer's falling down below", " Carotid-artery-cutting Castlereagh!", "Alas! that glory should be chilled by snow!", " But should we wish to warm us on our way", "Through Poland, there is Kosciusko's name", "Might scatter fire through ice, like Hecla's flame.", "", "From Poland they came on through Prussia Proper,", " And Königsberg, the capital, whose vaunt,", "Besides some veins of iron, lead, or copper,", " Has lately been the great Professor Kant.", "Juan, who cared not a tobacco-stopper", " About philosophy, pursued his jaunt", "To Germany, whose somewhat tardy millions", "Have princes who spur more than their postilions.", "", "And thence through Berlin, Dresden, and the like,", " Until he reached the castellated Rhine:--", "Ye glorious Gothic scenes! how much ye strike", " All phantasies, not even excepting mine!", "A grey wall, a green ruin, rusty pike,", " Make my soul pass the equinoctial line", "Between the present and past worlds, and hover", "Upon their airy confines, half-seas-over.", "", "But Juan posted on through Mannheim, Bonn,", " Which Drachenfels frowns over like a spectre", "Of the good feudal times for ever gone,", " On which I have not time just now to lecture.", "From thence he was drawn onwards to Cologne,", " A city which presents to the inspector", "Eleven thousand maiden heads of bone.", "The greatest number flesh hath ever known.", "", "From thence to Holland's Hague and Helvoetsluys,", " That water-land of Dutchmen and of ditches,", "Where juniper expresses its best juice,", " The poor man's sparkling substitute for riches.", "Senates and sages have condemned its use--", " But to deny the mob a cordial, which is", "Too often all the clothing, meat, or fuel,", "Good government has left them, seems but cruel.", "", "Here he embarked, and with a flowing sail", " Went bounding for the Island of the free,", "Towards which the impatient wind blew half a gale;", " High dashed the spray, the bows dipped in the sea,", "And sea-sick passengers turned somewhat pale;", " But Juan, seasoned, as he well might be,", "By former voyages, stood to watch the skiffs", "Which passed, or catch the first glimpse of the cliffs.", "", "At length they rose, like a white wall along", " The blue sea's border; and Don Juan felt--", "What even young strangers feel a little strong", " At the first sight of Albion's chalky belt--A", "kind of pride that he should be among", " Those haughty shopkeepers, who sternly dealt", "Their goods and edicts out from pole to pole,", "And made the very billows pay them toll.", "", "I've no great cause to love that spot of earth,", " Which holds what _might have been_ the noblest nation;", "But though I owe it little but my birth,", " I feel a mixed regret and veneration", "For its decaying fame and former worth.", " Seven years (the usual term of transportation)", "Of absence lay one's old resentments level,", "When a man's country's going to the devil.", "", "Alas! could she but fully, truly, know", " How her great name is now throughout abhorred;", "How eager all the Earth is for the blow", " Which shall lay bare her bosom to the sword;", "How all the nations deem her their worst foe,", " That worse than _worst of foes_, the once adored", "False friend, who held out Freedom to Mankind,", "And now would chain them--to the very _mind_;--", "", "Would she be proud, or boast herself the free,", " Who is but first of slaves? The nations are", "In prison,--but the gaoler, what is he?", " No less a victim to the bolt and bar.", "Is the poor privilege to turn the key", " Upon the captive, Freedom? He's as far", "From the enjoyment of the earth and air", "Who watches o'er the chain, as they who wear.", "", "Don Juan now saw Albion's earliest beauties,", " Thy cliffs, _dear_ Dover! harbour, and hotel;", "Thy custom-house, with all its delicate duties;", " Thy waiters running mucks at every bell;", "Thy packets, all whose passengers are booties", " To those who upon land or water dwell;", "And last, not least, to strangers uninstructed,", "Thy long, long bills, whence nothing is deducted.", "", "Juan, though careless, young, and _magnifique_,", " And rich in rubles, diamonds, cash, and credit,", "Who did not limit much his bills per week,", " Yet stared at this a little, though he paid it,--", "(His Maggior Duomo, a smart, subtle Greek,", " Before him summed the awful scroll and read it):", "But, doubtless, as the air--though seldom sunny--", "Is free, the respiration's worth the money.", "", "On with the horses! Off to Canterbury!", " Tramp, tramp o'er pebble, and splash, splash through puddle;", "Hurrah! how swiftly speeds the post so merry!", " Not like slow Germany, wherein they muddle", "Along the road, as if they went to bury", " Their fare; and also pause besides, to fuddle", "With \"schnapps\"--sad dogs! whom \"Hundsfot,\" or \"Verflucter,\"", "Affect no more than lightning a conductor.", "", "Now there is nothing gives a man such spirits,", " Leavening his blood as cayenne doth a curry,", "As going at full speed--no matter where its", " Direction be, so 't is but in a hurry,", "And merely for the sake of its own merits;", " For the less cause there is for all this flurry,", "The greater is the pleasure in arriving", "At the great _end_ of travel--which is driving.", "", "They saw at Canterbury the cathedral;", " Black Edward's helm, and Becket's bloody stone,", "Were pointed out as usual by the bedral,", " In the same quaint, uninterested tone:--", "There's glory again for you, gentle reader! All", " Ends in a rusty casque and dubious bone,", "Half-solved into these sodas or magnesias,", "Which form that bitter draught, the human species.", "", "The effect on Juan was of course sublime:", " He breathed a thousand Cressys, as he saw", "That casque, which never stooped except to Time.", " Even the bold Churchman's tomb excited awe,", "Who died in the then great attempt to climb", " O'er Kings, who _now_ at least _must talk_ of Law", "Before they butcher. Little Leila gazed,", "And asked why such a structure had been raised:", "", "And being told it was \"God's House,\" she said", " He was well lodged, but only wondered how", "He suffered Infidels in his homestead,", " The cruel Nazarenes, who had laid low", "His holy temples in the lands which bred", " The True Believers;--and her infant brow", "Was bent with grief that Mahomet should resign", "A mosque so noble, flung like pearls to swine.", "", "On! on! through meadows, managed like a garden,", " A paradise of hops and high production;", "For, after years of travel by a bard in", " Countries of greater heat, but lesser suction,", "A green field is a sight which makes him pardon", " The absence of that more sublime construction,", "Which mixes up vines--olives--precipices--", "Glaciers--volcanoes--oranges and ices.", "", "And when I think upon a pot of beer----", " But I won't weep!--and so drive on, postilions!", "As the smart boys spurred fast in their career,", " Juan admired these highways of free millions--", "A country in all senses the most dear", " To foreigner or native, save some silly ones,", "Who \"kick against the pricks\" just at this juncture,", "And for their pains get only a fresh puncture.", "", "What a delightful thing's a turnpike road!", " So smooth, so level, such a mode of shaving", "The Earth, as scarce the eagle in the broad", " Air can accomplish, with his wide wings waving.", "Had such been cut in Phaeton's time, the god", " Had told his son to satisfy his craving", "With the York mail;--but onward as we roll,", "_Surgit amari aliquid_--the toll!", "", "Alas! how deeply painful is all payment!", " Take lives--take wives--take aught except men's purses:", "As Machiavel shows those in purple raiment,", " Such is the shortest way to general curses.", "They hate a murderer much less than a claimant", " On that sweet ore which everybody nurses.--", "Kill a man's family, and he may brook it,", "But keep your hands out of his breeches' pocket:", "", "So said the Florentine: ye monarchs, hearken", " To your instructor. Juan now was borne,", "Just as the day began to wane and darken,", " O'er the high hill, which looks with pride or scorn", "Toward the great city.--Ye who have a spark in", " Your veins of Cockney spirit, smile or mourn", "According as you take things well or ill;--", "Bold Britons, we are now on Shooter's Hill!", "", "The Sun went down, the smoke rose up, as from", " A half-unquenched volcano, o'er a space", "Which well beseemed the \"Devil's drawing-room,\"", " As some have qualified that wondrous place:", "But Juan felt, though not approaching _Home_,", " As one who, though he were not of the race,", "Revered the soil, of those true sons the mother,", "Who butchered half the earth, and bullied t' other.", "", "A mighty mass of brick, and smoke, and shipping,", " Dirty and dusky, but as wide as eye", "Could reach, with here and there a sail just skipping", " In sight, then lost amidst the forestry", "Of masts; a wilderness of steeples peeping", " On tiptoe through their sea-coal canopy;", "A huge, dun Cupola, like a foolscap crown", "On a fool's head--and there is London Town!", "", "But Juan saw not this: each wreath of smoke", " Appeared to him but as the magic vapour", "Of some alchymic furnace, from whence broke", " The wealth of worlds (a wealth of tax and paper):", "The gloomy clouds, which o'er it as a yoke", " Are bowed, and put the Sun out like a taper,", "Were nothing but the natural atmosphere,", "Extremely wholesome, though but rarely clear.", "", "He paused--and so will I; as doth a crew", " Before they give their broadside. By and by,", "My gentle countrymen, we will renew", " Our old acquaintance; and at least I'll try", "To tell you truths _you_ will not take as true,", " Because they are so;--a male Mrs. Fry,", "With a soft besom will I sweep your halls,", "And brush a web or two from off the walls.", "", "Oh Mrs. Fry! Why go to Newgate? Why", " Preach to _poor_ rogues? And wherefore not begin", "With Carlton, or with other houses? Try", " Your hand at hardened and imperial Sin.", "To mend the People's an absurdity,", " A jargon, a mere philanthropic din,", "Unless you make their betters better:--Fie!", "I thought you had more religion, Mrs. Fry.", "", "Teach _them_ the decencies of good threescore;", " Cure _them_ of tours, hussar and highland dresses;", "Tell _them_ that youth once gone returns no more,", " That hired huzzas redeem no land's distresses;", "Tell them Sir William Curtis is a bore,", " Too dull even for the dullest of excesses--", "The witless Falstaff of a hoary Hal,", "A fool whose bells have ceased to ring at all.", "", "Tell them, though it may be, perhaps, too late--", " On Life's worn confine, jaded, bloated, sated--", "To set up vain pretence of being _great_,", " 'T is not so to be _good_; and, be it stated,", "The worthiest kings have ever loved least state:", " And tell them--But you won't, and I have prated", "Just now enough; but, by and by, I'll prattle", "Like Roland's horn in Roncesvalles' battle.", "", "CANTO THE ELEVENTH.", "", "WHEN Bishop Berkeley said \"there was no matter,\"", " And proved it--'t was no matter what he said:", "They say his system 't is in vain to batter,", " Too subtle for the airiest human head;", "And yet who can believe it? I would shatter", " Gladly all matters down to stone or lead,", "Or adamant, to find the World a spirit,", "And wear my head, denying that I wear it.", "", "What a sublime discovery 't was to make the", " Universe universal egotism,", "That all's ideal--_all ourselves!_--I'll stake the", " World (be it what you will) that _that's_ no schism.", "Oh Doubt!--if thou be'st Doubt, for which some take thee,", " But which I doubt extremely--thou sole prism", "Of the Truth's rays, spoil not my draught of spirit!", "Heaven's brandy, though our brain can hardly bear it.", "", "For ever and anon comes Indigestion", " (Not the most \"dainty Ariel\"), and perplexes", "Our soarings with another sort of question:", " And that which after all my spirit vexes,", "Is, that I find no spot where Man can rest eye on,", " Without confusion of the sorts and sexes,", "Of Beings, Stars, and this unriddled wonder,", "The World, which at the worst's a _glorious_ blunder--", "", "If it be chance--or, if it be according", " To the old text, still better:--lest it should", "Turn out so, we 'll say nothing 'gainst the wording,", " As several people think such hazards rude.", "They're right; our days are too brief for affording", " Space to dispute what _no one_ ever could", "Decide, and _everybody one day_ will", "Know very clearly--or at least lie still.", "", "And therefore will I leave off metaphysical", " Discussion, which is neither here nor there:", "If I agree that what is, is; then this I call", " Being quite perspicuous and extremely fair;", "The truth is, I've grown lately rather phthisical:", " I don't know what the reason is--the air", "Perhaps; but as I suffer from the shocks", "Of illness, I grow much more orthodox.", "", "The first attack at once proved the Divinity", " (But that I never doubted, nor the Devil);", "The next, the Virgin's mystical virginity;", " The third, the usual Origin of Evil;", "The fourth at once established the whole Trinity", " On so uncontrovertible a level,", "That I devoutly wished the three were four--", "On purpose to believe so much the more.", "", "To our theme.--The man who has stood on the Acropolis,", " And looked down over Attica; or he", "Who has sailed where picturesque Constantinople is,", " Or seen Timbuctoo, or hath taken tea", "In small-eyed China's crockery-ware metropolis,", " Or sat amidst the bricks of Nineveh,", "May not think much of London's first appearance--", "But ask him what he thinks of it a year hence!", "", "Don Juan had got out on Shooter's Hill;", " Sunset the time, the place the same declivity", "Which looks along that vale of Good and Ill", " Where London streets ferment in full activity,", "While everything around was calm and still,", " Except the creak of wheels, which on their pivot he", "Heard,--and that bee-like, bubbling, busy hum", "Of cities, that boil over with their scum:--", "", "I say, Don Juan, wrapped in contemplation,", " Walked on behind his carriage, o'er the summit,", "And lost in wonder of so great a nation,", " Gave way to 't, since he could not overcome it.", "\"And here,\" he cried, \"is Freedom's chosen station;", " Here peals the People's voice, nor can entomb it", "Racks--prisons--inquisitions; Resurrection", "Awaits it, each new meeting or election.", "", "\"Here are chaste wives, pure lives; here people pay", " But what they please; and if that things be dear,", "'T is only that they love to throw away", " Their cash, to show how much they have a-year.", "Here laws are all inviolate--none lay", " Traps for the traveller--every highway's clear--", "Here\"--he was interrupted by a knife,", "With--\"Damn your eyes! your money or your life!\"--", "", "These free-born sounds proceeded from four pads", " In ambush laid, who had perceived him loiter", "Behind his carriage; and, like handy lads,", " Had seized the lucky hour to reconnoitre,", "In which the heedless gentleman who gads", " Upon the road, unless he prove a fighter,", "May find himself within that isle of riches", "Exposed to lose his life as well as breeches.", "", "Juan, who did not understand a word", " Of English, save their shibboleth, \"God damn!\"", "And even that he had so rarely heard,", " He sometimes thought 't was only their \"Salām,\"", "Or \"God be with you!\"--and 't is not absurd", " To think so,--for half English as I am", "(To my misfortune), never can I say", "I heard them wish \"God with you,\" save that way;--", "", "Juan yet quickly understood their gesture,", " And being somewhat choleric and sudden,", "Drew forth a pocket pistol from his vesture,", " And fired it into one assailant's pudding--", "Who fell, as rolls an ox o'er in his pasture,", " And roared out, as he writhed his native mud in,", "Unto his nearest follower or henchman,", "\"Oh Jack! I'm floored by that 'ere bloody Frenchman!\"", "", "On which Jack and his train set off at speed,", " And Juan's suite, late scattered at a distance,", "Came up, all marvelling at such a deed,", " And offering, as usual, late assistance.", "Juan, who saw the moon's late minion bleed", " As if his veins would pour out his existence,", "Stood calling out for bandages and lint,", "And wished he had been less hasty with his flint.", "", "\"Perhaps,\" thought he, \"it is the country's wont", " To welcome foreigners in this way: now", "I recollect some innkeepers who don't", " Differ, except in robbing with a bow,", "In lieu of a bare blade and brazen front--", " But what is to be done? I can't allow", "The fellow to lie groaning on the road:", "So take him up--I'll help you with the load.\"", "", "But ere they could perform this pious duty,", " The dying man cried, \"Hold! I've got my gruel!", "Oh! for a glass of _max_! We've missed our booty;", " Let me die where I am!\" And as the fuel", "Of Life shrunk in his heart, and thick and sooty", " The drops fell from his death-wound, and he drew ill", "His breath,--he from his swelling throat untied", "A kerchief, crying, \"Give Sal that!\"--and died.", "", "The cravat stained with bloody drops fell down", " Before Don Juan's feet: he could not tell", "Exactly why it was before him thrown,", " Nor what the meaning of the man's farewell.", "Poor Tom was once a kiddy upon town,", " A thorough varmint, and a _real_ swell,", "Full flash, all fancy, until fairly diddled,", "His pockets first and then his body riddled.", "", "Don Juan, having done the best he could", " In all the circumstances of the case,", "As soon as \"Crowner's quest\" allowed, pursued", " His travels to the capital apace;--", "Esteeming it a little hard he should", " In twelve hours' time, and very little space,", "Have been obliged to slay a free-born native", "In self-defence: this made him meditative.", "", "He from the world had cut off a great man,", " Who in his time had made heroic bustle.", "Who in a row like Tom could lead the van,", " Booze in the ken, or at the spellken hustle?", "Who queer a flat? Who (spite of Bow-street's ban)", " On the high toby-spice so flash the muzzle?", "Who on a lark with black-eyed Sal (his blowing),", "So prime--so swell--so nutty--and so knowing?", "", "But Tom's no more--and so no more of Tom.", " Heroes must die; and by God's blessing 't is", "Not long before the most of them go home.", " Hail! Thamis, hail! Upon thy verge it is", "That Juan's chariot, rolling like a drum", " In thunder, holds the way it can't well miss,", "Through Kennington and all the other \"tons,\"", "Which make us wish ourselves in town at once;--", "", "Through Groves, so called as being void of trees,", " (Like _lucus_ from _no_ light); through prospects named", "Mount Pleasant, as containing nought to please,", " Nor much to climb; through little boxes framed", "Of bricks, to let the dust in at your ease,", " With \"To be let,\" upon their doors proclaimed;", "Through \"Rows\" most modestly called \"Paradise,\"", "Which Eve might quit without much sacrifice;--", "", "Through coaches, drays, choked turnpikes, and a whirl", " Of wheels, and roar of voices, and confusion;", "Here taverns wooing to a pint of \"purl,\"", " There mails fast flying off like a delusion;", "There barbers' blocks with periwigs in curl", " In windows; here the lamplighter's infusion", "Slowly distilled into the glimmering glass", "(For in those days we had not got to gas--);", "", "Through this, and much, and more, is the approach", " Of travellers to mighty Babylon:", "Whether they come by horse, or chaise, or coach,", " With slight exceptions, all the ways seem one.", "I could say more, but do not choose to encroach", " Upon the Guide-book's privilege. The Sun", "Had set some time, and night was on the ridge", "Of twilight, as the party crossed the bridge.", "", "That's rather fine, the gentle sound of Thamis--", " Who vindicates a moment, too, his stream--", "Though hardly heard through multifarious \"damme's:\"", " The lamps of Westminster's more regular gleam,", "The breadth of pavement, and yon shrine where Fame is", " A spectral resident--whose pallid beam", "In shape of moonshine hovers o'er the pile--", "Make this a sacred part of Albion's isle.", "", "The Druids' groves are gone--so much the better:", " Stonehenge is not--but what the devil is it?--But", "Bedlam still exists with its sage fetter,", " That madmen may not bite you on a visit;", "The Bench too seats or suits full many a debtor;", " The Mansion House, too (though some people quiz it),", "To me appears a stiff yet grand erection;", "But then the Abbey's worth the whole collection.", "", "The line of lights, too, up to Charing Cross,", " Pall Mall, and so forth, have a coruscation", "Like gold as in comparison to dross,", " Matched with the Continent's illumination,", "Whose cities Night by no means deigns to gloss.", " The French were not yet a lamp-lighting nation,", "And when they grew so--on their new-found lantern,", "Instead of wicks, they made a wicked man turn.", "", "A row of Gentlemen along the streets", " Suspended may illuminate mankind,", "As also bonfires made of country seats;", " But the old way is best for the purblind:", "The other looks like phosphorus on sheets,", " A sort of _ignis fatuus_ to the mind,", "Which, though 't is certain to perplex and frighten,", "Must burn more mildly ere it can enlighten.", "", "But London's so well lit, that if Diogenes", " Could recommence to hunt his _honest man_,", "And found him not amidst the various progenies", " Of this enormous City's spreading span,", "'T were not for want of lamps to aid his dodging his", " Yet undiscovered treasure. What _I_ can,", "I've done to find the same throughout Life's journey,", "But see the World is only one attorney.", "", "Over the stones still rattling, up Pall Mall,", " Through crowds and carriages, but waxing thinner", "As thundered knockers broke the long sealed spell", " Of doors 'gainst duns, and to an early dinner", "Admitted a small party as night fell,--", " Don Juan, our young diplomatic sinner,", "Pursued his path, and drove past some hotels,", "St. James's Palace, and St. James's \"Hells.\"", "", "They reached the hotel: forth streamed from the front door", " A tide of well-clad waiters, and around", "The mob stood, and as usual several score", " Of those pedestrian Paphians who abound", "In decent London when the daylight's o'er;", " Commodious but immoral, they are found", "Useful, like Malthus, in promoting marriage.--", "But Juan now is stepping from his carriage", "", "Into one of the sweetest of hotels,", " Especially for foreigners--and mostly", "For those whom favour or whom Fortune swells,", " And cannot find a bill's small items costly.", "There many an envoy either dwelt or dwells", " (The den of many a diplomatic lost lie),", "Until to some conspicuous square they pass,", "And blazon o'er the door their names in brass.", "", "Juan, whose was a delicate commission,", " Private, though publicly important, bore", "No title to point out with due precision", " The exact affair on which he was sent o'er.", "'T was merely known, that on a secret mission", " A foreigner of rank had graced our shore,", "Young, handsome, and accomplished, who was said", "(In whispers) to have turned his Sovereign's head.", "", "Some rumour also of some strange adventures", " Had gone before him, and his wars and loves;", "And as romantic heads are pretty painters,", " And, above all, an Englishwoman's roves", "Into the excursive, breaking the indentures", " Of sober reason, wheresoe'er it moves,", "He found himself extremely in the fashion,", "Which serves our thinking people for a passion.", "", "I don't mean that they are passionless, but quite", " The contrary; but then 't is in the head;", "Yet as the consequences are as bright", " As if they acted with the heart instead,", "What after all can signify the site", " Of ladies' lucubrations? So they lead", "In safety to the place for which you start,", "What matters if the road be head or heart?", "", "Juan presented in the proper place,", " To proper placemen, every Russ credential;", "And was received with all the due grimace", " By those who govern in the mood potential,", "Who, seeing a handsome stripling with smooth face,", " Thought (what in state affairs is most essential),", "That they as easily might _do_ the youngster,", "As hawks may pounce upon a woodland songster.", "", "They erred, as agéd men will do; but by", " And by we'll talk of that; and if we don't,", "'T will be because our notion is not high", " Of politicians and their double front,", "Who live by lies, yet dare not boldly lie:--", " Now what I love in women is, they won't", "Or can't do otherwise than lie--but do it", "So well, the very Truth seems falsehood to it.", "", "And, after all, what is a lie? 'T is but", " The truth in masquerade; and I defy", "Historians--heroes--lawyers--priests, to put", " A fact without some leaven of a lie.", "The very shadow of true Truth would shut", " Up annals--revelations--poesy,", "And prophecy--except it should be dated", "Some years before the incidents related.", "", "Praised be all liars and all lies! Who now", " Can tax my mild Muse with misanthropy?", "She rings the World's \"Te Deum,\" and her brow", " Blushes for those who will not:--but to sigh", "Is idle; let us like most others bow,", " Kiss hands--feet--any part of Majesty,", "After the good example of \"Green Erin,\"", "Whose shamrock now seems rather worse for wearing.", "", "Don Juan was presented, and his dress", " And mien excited general admiration--", "I don't know which was more admired or less:", " One monstrous diamond drew much observation,", "Which Catherine in a moment of _\"ivresse\"_", " (In Love or Brandy's fervent fermentation),", "Bestowed upon him, as the public learned;", "And, to say truth, it had been fairly earned.", "", "Besides the ministers and underlings,", " Who must be courteous to the accredited", "Diplomatists of rather wavering Kings,", " Until their royal riddle's fully read,", "The very clerks,--those somewhat dirty springs", " Of Office, or the House of Office, fed", "By foul corruption into streams,--even they", "Were hardly rude enough to earn their pay:", "", "And insolence no doubt is what they are", " Employed for, since it is their daily labour,", "In the dear offices of Peace or War;", " And should you doubt, pray ask of your next neighbour,", "When for a passport, or some other bar", " To freedom, he applied (a grief and a bore),", "If he found not this spawn of tax-born riches,", "Like lap-dogs, the least civil sons of b-----s.", "", "But Juan was received with much _\"empressement:\"_--", " These phrases of refinement I must borrow", "From our next neighbours' land, where, like a chessman,", " There is a move set down for joy or sorrow,", "Not only in mere talking, but the press. Man", " In Islands is, it seems, downright and thorough,", "More than on Continents--as if the Sea", "(See Billingsgate) made even the tongue more free.", "", "And yet the British \"Damme\"'s rather Attic,", " Your continental oaths are but incontinent,", "And turn on things which no aristocratic", " Spirit would name, and therefore even I won't anent", "This subject quote; as it would be schismatic", " In _politesse_, and have a sound affronting in 't;--", "But \"Damme\"'s quite ethereal, though too daring--", "Platonic blasphemy--the soul of swearing.", "", "For downright rudeness, ye may stay at home;", " For true or false politeness (and scarce _that", "Now_) you may cross the blue deep and white foam--", " The first the emblem (rarely though) of what", "You leave behind, the next of much you come", " To meet. However, 't is no time to chat", "On general topics: poems must confine", "Themselves to unity, like this of mine.", "", "In the great world,--which, being interpreted,", " Meaneth the West or worst end of a city,", "And about twice two thousand people bred", " By no means to be very wise or witty,", "But to sit up while others lie in bed,", " And look down on the Universe with pity,--", "Juan, as an inveterate patrician,", "Was well received by persons of condition.", "", "He was a bachelor, which is a matter", " Of import both to virgin and to bride,", "The former's hymeneal hopes to flatter;", " And (should she not hold fast by Love or Pride)", "'T is also of some moment to the latter:", " A rib's a thorn in a wed gallant's side,", "Requires decorum, and is apt to double", "The horrid sin--and what's still worse, the trouble.", "", "But Juan was a bachelor--of arts,", " And parts, and hearts: he danced and sung, and had", "An air as sentimental as Mozart's", " Softest of melodies; and could be sad", "Or cheerful, without any \"flaws or starts,\"", " Just at the proper time: and though a lad,", "Had seen the world--which is a curious sight,", "And very much unlike what people write.", "", "Fair virgins blushed upon him; wedded dames", " Bloomed also in less transitory hues;", "For both commodities dwell by the Thames,", " The painting and the painted; Youth, Ceruse,", "Against his heart preferred their usual claims,", " Such as no gentleman can quite refuse:", "Daughters admired his dress, and pious mothers", "Inquired his income, and if he had brothers.", "", "The milliners who furnish \"drapery Misses\"", " Throughout the season, upon speculation", "Of payment ere the Honeymoon's last kisses", " Have waned into a crescent's coruscation,", "Thought such an opportunity as this is,", " Of a rich foreigner's initiation,", "Not to be overlooked--and gave such credit,", "That future bridegrooms swore, and sighed, and paid it.", "", "The Blues, that tender tribe, who sigh o'er sonnets,", " And with the pages of the last Review", "Line the interior of their heads or bonnets,", " Advanced in all their azure's highest hue:", "They talked bad French or Spanish, and upon its", " Late authors asked him for a hint or two;", "And which was softest, Russian or Castilian?", "And whether in his travels he saw Ilion?", "", "Juan, who was a little superficial,", " And not in literature a great Drawcansir,", "Examined by this learnéd and especial", " Jury of matrons, scarce knew what to answer:", "His duties warlike, loving or official,", " His steady application as a dancer,", "Had kept him from the brink of Hippocrene,", "Which now he found was blue instead of green.", "", "However, he replied at hazard, with", " A modest confidence and calm assurance,", "Which lent his learnéd lucubrations pith,", " And passed for arguments of good endurance.", "That prodigy, Miss Araminta Smith", " (Who at sixteen translated \"Hercules Furens\"", "Into as furious English), with her best look,", "Set down his sayings in her common-place book.", "", "Juan knew several languages--as well", " He might--and brought them up with skill, in time", "To save his fame with each accomplished belle,", " Who still regretted that he did not rhyme.", "There wanted but this requisite to swell", " His qualities (with them) into sublime:", "Lady Fitz-Frisky, and Miss Maevia Mannish,", "Both longed extremely to be sung in Spanish.", "", "However, he did pretty well, and was", " Admitted as an aspirant to all", "The coteries, and, as in Banquo's glass,", " At great assemblies or in parties small,", "He saw ten thousand living authors pass,", " That being about their average numeral;", "Also the eighty \"greatest living poets,\"", "As every paltry magazine can show _it's_.", "", "In twice five years the \"greatest living poet,\"", " Like to the champion in the fisty ring,", "Is called on to support his claim, or show it,", " Although 't is an imaginary thing.", "Even I--albeit I'm sure I did not know it,", " Nor sought of foolscap subjects to be king,--", "Was reckoned, a considerable time,", "The grand Napoleon of the realms of rhyme.", "", "But Juan was my Moscow, and Faliero", " My Leipsic, and my Mont Saint Jean seems Cain:", "_La Belle Alliance_ of dunces down at zero,", " Now that the Lion's fallen, may rise again:", "But I will fall at least as fell my Hero;", " Nor reign at all, or as a _monarch_ reign;", "Or to some lonely isle of gaolers go,", "With turncoat Southey for my turnkey Lowe.", "", "Sir Walter reigned before me; Moore and Campbell", " Before and after; but now grown more holy,", "The Muses upon Sion's hill must ramble", " With poets almost clergymen, or wholly;", "And Pegasus has a psalmodic amble", " Beneath the very Reverend Rowley Powley,", "Who shoes the glorious animal with stilts,", "A modern Ancient Pistol--\"by these hilts!\"", "", "Still he excels that artificial hard", " Labourer in the same vineyard, though the vine", "Yields him but vinegar for his reward.--", " That neutralised dull Dorus of the Nine;", "That swarthy Sporus, neither man nor bard;", " That ox of verse, who _ploughs_ for every line:--", "Cambyses' roaring Romans beat at least", "The howling Hebrews of Cybele's priest.--", "", "Then there's my gentle Euphues,--who, they say,", " Sets up for being a sort of _moral me_;", "He'll find it rather difficult some day", " To turn out both, or either, it may be.", "Some persons think that Coleridge hath the sway;", " And Wordsworth has supporters, two or three;", "And that deep-mouthed Boeotian \"Savage Landor\"", "Has taken for a swan rogue Southey's gander.", "", "John Keats, who was killed off by one critique,", " Just as he really promised something great,", "If not intelligible, without Greek", " Contrived to talk about the gods of late,", "Much as they might have been supposed to speak.", " Poor fellow! His was an untoward fate;", "'T is strange the mind, that very fiery particle,", "Should let itself be snuffed out by an article.", "", "The list grows long of live and dead pretenders", " To that which none will gain--or none will know", "The conqueror at least; who, ere Time renders", " His last award, will have the long grass grow", "Above his burnt-out brain, and sapless cinders.", " If I might augur, I should rate but low", "Their chances;--they're too numerous, like the thirty", "Mock tyrants, when Rome's annals waxed but dirty.", "", "This is the literary _lower_ empire,", " Where the praetorian bands take up the matter;--", "A \"dreadful trade,\" like his who \"gathers samphire,\"", " The insolent soldiery to soothe and flatter,", "With the same feelings as you'd coax a vampire.", " Now, were I once at home, and in good satire,", "I'd try conclusions with those Janizaries,", "And show them _what_ an intellectual war is.", "", "I think I know a trick or two, would turn", " Their flanks;--but it is hardly worth my while,", "With such small gear to give myself concern:", " Indeed I've not the necessary bile;", "My natural temper's really aught but stern,", " And even my Muse's worst reproof's a smile;", "And then she drops a brief and modern curtsy,", "And glides away, assured she never hurts ye.", "", "My Juan, whom I left in deadly peril", " Amongst live poets and _blue_ ladies, passed", "With some small profit through that field so sterile,", " Being tired in time--and, neither least nor last,", "Left it before he had been treated very ill;", " And henceforth found himself more gaily classed", "Amongst the higher spirits of the day,", "The Sun's true son, no vapour, but a ray.", "", "His morns he passed in business--which dissected,", " Was, like all business, a laborious nothing", "That leads to lassitude, the most infected", " And Centaur Nessus garb of mortal clothing,", "And on our sofas makes us lie dejected,", " And talk in tender horrors of our loathing", "All kinds of toil, save for our country's good--", "Which grows no better, though 't is time it should.", "", "His afternoons he passed in visits, luncheons,", " Lounging and boxing; and the twilight hour", "In riding round those vegetable puncheons", " Called \"Parks,\" where there is neither fruit nor flower", "Enough to gratify a bee's slight munchings;", " But after all it is the only \"bower\"", "(In Moore's phrase) where the fashionable fair", "Can form a slight acquaintance with fresh air.", "", "Then dress, then dinner, then awakes the world!", " Then glare the lamps, then whirl the wheels, then roar", "Through street and square fast flashing chariots hurled", " Like harnessed meteors; then along the floor", "Chalk mimics painting; then festoons are twirled;", " Then roll the brazen thunders of the door,", "Which opens to the thousand happy few", "An earthly Paradise of _Or Molu_.", "", "There stands the noble hostess, nor shall sink", " With the three-thousandth curtsy; there the waltz,", "The only dance which teaches girls to think,", " Makes one in love even with its very faults.", "Saloon, room, hall, o'erflow beyond their brink,", " And long the latest of arrivals halts,", "'Midst royal dukes and dames condemned to climb,", "And gain an inch of staircase at a time.", "", "Thrice happy he who, after a survey", " Of the good company, can win a corner,", "A door that's _in_ or boudoir _out_ of the way,", " Where he may fix himself like small \"Jack Horner,\"", "And let the Babel round run as it may,", " And look on as a mourner, or a scorner,", "Or an approver, or a mere spectator,", "Yawning a little as the night grows later.", "", "But this won't do, save by and by; and he", " Who, like Don Juan, takes an active share,", "Must steer with care through all that glittering sea", " Of gems and plumes and pearls and silks, to where", "He deems it is his proper place to be;", " Dissolving in the waltz to some soft air,", "Or proudlier prancing with mercurial skill,", "Where Science marshals forth her own quadrille.", "", "Or, if he dance not, but hath higher views", " Upon an heiress or his neighbour's bride,", "Let him take care that that which he pursues", " Is not at once too palpably descried:", "Full many an eager gentleman oft rues", " His haste; Impatience is a blundering guide", "Amongst a people famous for reflection,", "Who like to play the fool with circumspection.", "", "But, if you can contrive, get next at supper;", " Or, if forestalled, get opposite and ogle:--", "Oh, ye ambrosial moments! always upper", " In mind, a sort of sentimental bogle,", "Which sits for ever upon Memory's crupper,", " The ghost of vanished pleasures once in vogue! Ill", "Can tender souls relate the rise and fall", "Of hopes and fears which shake a single ball.", "", "But these precautionary hints can touch", " Only the common run, who must pursue,", "And watch and ward; whose plans a word too much", " Or little overturns; and not the few", "Or many (for the number's sometimes such)", " Whom a good mien, especially if new,", "Or fame--or name--for Wit, War, Sense, or Nonsense,", "Permits whate'er they please,--or _did_ not long since.", "", "Our Hero--as a hero--young and handsome,", " Noble, rich, celebrated, and a stranger,", "Like other slaves of course must pay his ransom,", " Before he can escape from so much danger", "As will environ a conspicuous man. Some", " Talk about poetry, and \"rack and manger,\"", "And ugliness, disease, as toil and trouble;--", "I wish they knew the life of a young noble.", "", "They are young, but know not Youth--it is anticipated;", " Handsome but wasted, rich without a sou;", "Their vigour in a thousand arms is dissipated;", " Their cash comes _from_, their wealth goes _to_ a Jew;", "Both senates see their nightly votes participated", " Between the Tyrant's and the Tribunes' crew;", "And having voted, dined, drunk, gamed, and whored,", "The family vault receives another Lord.", "", "\"Where is the World?\" cries Young, at _eighty_--\"Where", " The World in which a man was born?\" Alas!", "Where is the world of _eight_ years past? _'T was there_--", " I look for it--'t is gone, a globe of glass!", "Cracked, shivered, vanished, scarcely gazed on, ere", " A silent change dissolves the glittering mass.", "Statesmen, Chiefs, Orators, Queens, Patriots, Kings,", "And Dandies--all are gone on the Wind's wings.", "", "Where is Napoleon the Grand? God knows!", " Where little Castlereagh? The devil can tell!", "Where Grattan, Curran, Sheridan--all those", " Who bound the Bar or Senate in their spell?", "Where is the unhappy Queen, with all her woes?", " And where the Daughter, whom the Isles loved well?", "Where are those martyred saints the Five per Cents?", "And where--oh, where the devil are the Rents?", "", "Where's Brummell? Dished. Where's Long Pole Wellesley? Diddled.", " Where's Whitbread? Romilly? Where's George the Third?", "Where is his will? (That's not so soon unriddled.)", " And where is \"Fum\" the Fourth, our \"royal bird?\"", "Gone down, it seems, to Scotland to be fiddled", " Unto by Sawney's violin, we have heard:", "\"Caw me, caw thee\"--for six months hath been hatching", "This scene of royal itch and loyal scratching.", "", "Where is Lord This? And where my Lady That?", " The Honourable Mistresses and Misses?", "Some laid aside like an old Opera hat,", " Married, unmarried, and remarried: (this is", "An evolution oft performed of late).", " Where are the Dublin shouts--and London hisses?", "Where are the Grenvilles? Turned as usual. Where", "My friends the Whigs? Exactly where they were.", "", "Where are the Lady Carolines and Franceses?", " Divorced or doing thereanent. Ye annals", "So brilliant, where the list of routs and dances is,--", " Thou Morning Post, sole record of the panels", "Broken in carriages, and all the phantasies", " Of fashion,--say what streams now fill those channels?", "Some die, some fly, some languish on the Continent,", "Because the times have hardly left them _one_ tenant.", "", "Some who once set their caps at cautious dukes,", " Have taken up at length with younger brothers:", "Some heiresses have bit at sharpers' hooks:", " Some maids have been made wives, some merely mothers:", "Others have lost their fresh and fairy looks:", " In short, the list of alterations bothers.", "There's little strange in this, but something strange is", "The unusual quickness of these common changes.", "", "Talk not of seventy years as age; in seven", " I have seen more changes, down from monarchs to", "The humblest individuals under Heaven,", " Than might suffice a moderate century through.", "I knew that nought was lasting, but now even", " Change grows too changeable, without being new:", "Nought's permanent among the human race,", "Except the Whigs _not_ getting into place.", "", "I have seen Napoleon, who seemed quite a Jupiter,", " Shrink to a Saturn. I have seen a Duke", "(No matter which) turn politician stupider,", " If that can well be, than his wooden look.", "But it is time that I should hoist my \"blue Peter,\"", " And sail for a new theme:--I have seen--and shook", "To see it--the King hissed, and then caressed;", "But don't pretend to settle which was best.", "", "I have seen the Landholders without a rap--", " I have seen Joanna Southcote--I have seen", "The House of Commons turned to a tax-trap--", " I have seen that sad affair of the late Queen--", "I have seen crowns worn instead of a fool's cap--", " I have seen a Congress doing all that's mean--", "I have seen some nations, like o'erloaded asses,", "Kick off their burthens--meaning the high classes.", "", "I have seen small poets, and great prosers, and", " Interminable--_not eternal_--speakers--", "I have seen the funds at war with house and land--", " I have seen the country gentlemen turn squeakers--", "I have seen the people ridden o'er like sand", " By slaves on horseback--I have seen malt liquors", "Exchanged for \"thin potations\" by John Bull--", "I have seen John half detect himself a fool.--", "", "But _\"carpe diem,\"_ Juan, _\"carpe, carpe!\"_", " To-morrow sees another race as gay", "And transient, and devoured by the same harpy.", " \"Life's a poor player,\"--then \"play out the play,", "Ye villains!\" and above all keep a sharp eye", " Much less on what you do than what you say:", "Be hypocritical, be cautious, be", "Not what you _seem_, but always what you _see_.", "", "But how shall I relate in other cantos", " Of what befell our hero in the land,", "Which 't is the common cry and lie to vaunt as", " A moral country? But I hold my hand--", "For I disdain to write an Atalantis;", " But 't is as well at once to understand,", "You are _not_ a moral people, and you know it,", "Without the aid of too sincere a poet.", "", "What Juan saw and underwent shall be", " My topic, with of course the due restriction", "Which is required by proper courtesy;", " And recollect the work is only fiction,", "And that I sing of neither mine nor me,", " Though every scribe, in some slight turn of diction,", "Will hint allusions never _meant_. Ne'er doubt", "_This_--when I speak, I _don't hint_, but _speak out_.", "", "Whether he married with the third or fourth", " Offspring of some sage husband-hunting countess,", "Or whether with some virgin of more worth", " (I mean in Fortune's matrimonial bounties),", "He took to regularly peopling Earth,", " Of which your lawful, awful wedlock fount is,--", "Or whether he was taken in for damages,", "For being too excursive in his homages,--", "", "Is yet within the unread events of Time.", " Thus far, go forth, thou Lay, which I will back", "Against the same given quantity of rhyme,", " For being as much the subject of attack", "As ever yet was any work sublime,", " By those who love to say that white is black.", "So much the better!--I may stand alone,", "But would not change my free thoughts for a throne.", "", "CANTO THE TWELFTH.", "", "Of all the barbarous middle ages, that", " Which is most barbarous is the middle age", "Of man! it is--I really scarce know what;", " But when we hover between fool and sage,", "And don't know justly what we would be at--", " A period something like a printed page,", "Black letter upon foolscap, while our hair", "Grows grizzled, and we are not what we were;--", "", "Too old for Youth,--too young, at thirty-five,", " To herd with boys, or hoard with good threescore,--", "I wonder people should be left alive;", " But since they are, that epoch is a bore:", "Love lingers still, although 't were late to wive:", " And as for other love, the illusion's o'er;", "And Money, that most pure imagination,", "Gleams only through the dawn of its creation.", "", "O Gold! Why call we misers miserable?", " Theirs is the pleasure that can never pall;", "Theirs is the best bower anchor, the chain cable", " Which holds fast other pleasures great and small.", "Ye who but see the saving man at table,", " And scorn his temperate board, as none at all,", "And wonder how the wealthy can be sparing,", "Know not what visions spring from each cheese-paring.", "", "Love or lust makes Man sick, and wine much sicker;", " Ambition rends, and gaming gains a loss;", "But making money, slowly first, then quicker,", " And adding still a little through each cross", "(Which _will_ come over things), beats Love or liquor,", " The gamester's counter, or the statesman's _dross_.", "O Gold! I still prefer thee unto paper,", "Which makes bank credit like a bank of _vapour_.", "", "Who hold the balance of the World? Who reign", " O'er congress, whether royalist or liberal?", "Who rouse the shirtless patriots of Spain?", " (That make old Europe's journals \"squeak and gibber\" all)", "Who keep the World, both old and new, in pain", " Or pleasure? Who make politics run glibber all?", "The shade of Buonaparte's noble daring?--", "Jew Rothschild, and his fellow-Christian, Baring.", "", "Those, and the truly liberal Lafitte,", " Are the true Lords of Europe. Every loan", "Is not a merely speculative hit,", " But seats a Nation or upsets a Throne.", "Republics also get involved a bit;", " Columbia's stock hath holders not unknown", "On 'Change; and even thy silver soil, Peru,", "Must get itself discounted by a Jew.", "", "Why call the miser miserable? as", " I said before: the frugal life is his,", "Which in a saint or cynic ever was", " The theme of praise: a hermit would not miss", "Canonization for the self-same cause,", " And wherefore blame gaunt Wealth's austerities?", "Because, you 'll say, nought calls for such a trial;--", "Then there's more merit in his self-denial.", "", "He is your only poet;--Passion, pure", " And sparkling on from heap to heap, displays,", "_Possessed_, the ore, of which _mere hopes_ allure", " Nations athwart the deep: the golden rays", "Flash up in ingots from the mine obscure:", " On him the Diamond pours its brilliant blaze,", "While the mild Emerald's beam shades down the dies", "Of other stones, to soothe the miser's eyes.", "", "The lands on either side are his; the ship", " From Ceylon, Inde, or far Cathay, unloads", "For him the fragrant produce of each trip;", " Beneath his cars of Ceres groan the roads,", "And the vine blushes like Aurora's lip;", " His very cellars might be Kings' abodes;", "While he, despising every sensual call,", "Commands--the intellectual Lord of _all_.", "", "Perhaps he hath great projects in his mind,", " To build a college, or to found a race,", "A hospital, a church,--and leave behind", " Some dome surmounted by his meagre face:", "Perhaps he fain would liberate Mankind", " Even with the very ore which makes them base;", "Perhaps he would be wealthiest of his nation,", "Or revel in the joys of calculation.", "", "But whether all, or each, or none of these", " May be the hoarder's principle of action,", "The fool will call such mania a disease:--", " What is his _own?_ Go--look at each transaction,", "Wars, revels, loves--do these bring men more ease", " Than the mere plodding through each \"vulgar fraction?\"", "Or do they benefit Mankind? Lean Miser!", "Let spendthrifts' heirs inquire of yours--who's wiser?", "", "How beauteous are rouleaus! how charming chests", " Containing ingots, bags of dollars, coins", "(Not of old victors, all whose heads and crests", " Weigh not the thin ore where their visage shines,", "But) of fine unclipped gold, where dully rests", " Some likeness, which the glittering cirque confines,", "Of modern, reigning, sterling, stupid stamp!--", "Yes! ready money _is_ Aladdin's lamp.", "", "\"Love rules the Camp, the Court, the Grove,--for Love", " Is Heaven, and Heaven is Love:\"--so sings the bard;", "Which it were rather difficult to prove", " (A thing with poetry in general hard).", "Perhaps there may be something in \"the Grove,\"", " At least it rhymes to \"Love:\" but I'm prepared", "To doubt (no less than landlords of their rental)", "If \"Courts\" and \"Camps\" be quite so sentimental.", "", "But if Love don't, _Cash_ does, and Cash alone:", " Cash rules the Grove, and fells it too besides;", "Without cash, camps were thin, and courts were none;", " Without cash, Malthus tells you--\"take no brides.\"", "So Cash rules Love the ruler, on his own", " High ground, as virgin Cynthia sways the tides:", "And as for \"Heaven being Love,\" why not say honey", "Is wax? Heaven is not Love, 't is Matrimony.", "", "Is not all Love prohibited whatever,", " Excepting Marriage? which is Love, no doubt,", "After a sort; but somehow people never", " With the same thought the two words have helped out.", "Love may exist _with_ Marriage, and _should_ ever,", " And Marriage also may exist without;", "But Love _sans_ banns is both a sin and shame,", "And ought to go by quite another name.", "", "Now if the \"Court,\" and \"Camp,\" and \"Grove,\" be not", " Recruited all with constant married men,", "Who never coveted their neighbour's lot,", " I say _that_ line's a lapsus of the pen;--", "Strange too in my _buon camerado_ Scott,", " So celebrated for his morals, when", "My Jeffrey held him up as an example", "To me;--of whom these morals are a sample.", "", "Well, if I don't succeed, I _have_ succeeded,", " And that's enough; succeeded in my youth,", "The only time when much success is needed:", " And my success produced what I, in sooth,", "Cared most about; it need not now be pleaded--", " Whate'er it was, 'twas mine; I've paid, in truth,", "Of late, the penalty of such success,", "But have not learned to wish it any less.", "", "That suit in Chancery,--which some persons plead", " In an appeal to the unborn, whom they,", "In the faith of their procreative creed,", " Baptize Posterity, or future clay,--", "To me seems but a dubious kind of reed", " To lean on for support in any way;", "Since odds are that Posterity will know", "No more of them, than they of her, I trow.", "", "Why, I'm Posterity--and so are you;", " And whom do we remember? Not a hundred.", "Were every memory written down all true,", " The tenth or twentieth name would be but blundered;", "Even Plutarch's Lives have but picked out a few,", " And 'gainst those few your annalists have thundered;", "And Mitford in the nineteenth century", "Gives, with Greek truth, the good old Greek the lie.", "", "Good people all, of every degree,", " Ye gentle readers and ungentle writers,", "In this twelfth Canto 't is my wish to be", " As serious as if I had for inditers", "Malthus and Wilberforce:--the last set free", " The Negroes, and is worth a million fighters;", "While Wellington has but enslaved the Whites,", "And Malthus does the thing 'gainst which he writes.", "", "I'm serious--so are all men upon paper;", " And why should I not form my speculation,", "And hold up to the Sun my little taper?", " Mankind just now seem wrapped in meditation", "On constitutions and steam-boats of vapour;", " While sages write against all procreation,", "Unless a man can calculate his means", "Of feeding brats the moment his wife weans.", "", "That's noble! That's romantic! For my part,", " I think that \"Philo-genitiveness\" is--", "(Now here's a word quite after my own heart,", " Though there's a shorter a good deal than this,", "If that politeness set it not apart;", " But I'm resolved to say nought that's amiss)--", "I say, methinks that \"Philo-genitiveness\"", "Might meet from men a little more forgiveness.", "", "And now to business.--O my gentle Juan!", " Thou art in London--in that pleasant place,", "Where every kind of mischief's daily brewing,", " Which can await warm Youth in its wild race.", "'T is true, that thy career is not a new one;", " Thou art no novice in the headlong chase", "Of early life; but this is a new land,", "Which foreigners can never understand.", "", "What with a small diversity of climate,", " Of hot or cold, mercurial or sedate,", "I could send forth my mandate like a Primate", " Upon the rest of Europe's social state;", "But thou art the most difficult to rhyme at,", " Great Britain, which the Muse may penetrate.", "All countries have their \"Lions,\" but in thee", "There is but one superb menagerie.", "", "But I am sick of politics. Begin--", " _\"Paulo Majora.\"_ Juan, undecided", "Amongst the paths of being \"taken in,\"", " Above the ice had like a skater glided:", "When tired of play, he flirted without sin", " With some of those fair creatures who have prided", "Themselves on innocent tantalisation,", "And hate all vice except its reputation.", "", "But these are few, and in the end they make", " Some devilish escapade or stir, which shows", "That even the purest people may mistake", " Their way through Virtue's primrose paths of snows;", "And then men stare, as if a new ass spake", " To Balaam, and from tongue to ear o'erflows", "Quicksilver small talk, ending (if you note it)", "With the kind World's Amen--\"Who would have thought it?\"", "", "The little Leila, with her Orient eyes,", " And taciturn Asiatic disposition,", "(Which saw all Western things with small surprise,", " To the surprise of people of condition,", "Who think that novelties are butterflies", " To be pursued as food for inanition,)", "Her charming figure and romantic history", "Became a kind of fashionable mystery.", "", "The women much divided--as is usual", " Amongst the sex in little things or great--", "Think not, fair creatures, that I mean to abuse you all,", " I have always liked you better than I state--", "Since I've grown moral, still I must accuse you all", " Of being apt to talk at a great rate;", "And now there was a general sensation", "Amongst you, about Leila's education.", "", "In one point only were you settled--and", " You had reason; 't was that a young child of grace,", "As beautiful as her own native land,", " And far away, the last bud of her race,", "Howe'er our friend Don Juan might command", " Himself for five, four, three, or two years' space,", "Would be much better taught beneath the eye", "Of peeresses whose follies had run dry.", "", "So first there was a generous emulation,", " And then there was a general competition,", "To undertake the orphan's education:", " As Juan was a person of condition,", "It had been an affront on this occasion", " To talk of a subscription or petition;", "But sixteen dowagers, ten unwed she sages", "Whose tale belongs to \"Hallam's Middle Ages,\"", "", "And one or two sad, separate wives, without", " A fruit to bloom upon their withering bough--", "Begged to bring _up_ the little girl, and _\"out\"_--", " For that's the phrase that settles all things now,", "Meaning a virgin's first blush at a rout,", " And all her points as thorough-bred to show:", "And I assure you, that like virgin honey", "Tastes their first season (mostly if they have money).", "", "How all the needy honourable misters,", " Each out-at-elbow peer, or desperate dandy,", "The watchful mothers, and the careful sisters,", " (Who, by the by, when clever, are more handy", "At making matches, where \"'t is gold that glisters,\"", " Than their _he_ relatives), like flies o'er candy", "Buzz round \"the Fortune\" with their busy battery,", "To turn her head with waltzing and with flattery!", "", "Each aunt, each cousin, hath her speculation;", " Nay, married dames will now and then discover", "Such pure disinterestedness of passion,", " I've known them court an heiress for their lover.", "\"_Tantoene!_\" Such the virtues of high station,", " Even in the hopeful Isle, whose outlet's \"Dover!\"", "While the poor rich wretch, object of these cares,", "Has cause to wish her sire had had male heirs.", "", "Some are soon bagged, and some reject three dozen:", " 'T is fine to see them scattering refusals", "And wild dismay o'er every angry cousin", " (Friends of the party), who begin accusals,", "Such as--\"Unless Miss Blank meant to have chosen", " Poor Frederick, why did she accord perusals", "To his billets? _Why_ waltz with him? Why, I pray,", "Look _'Yes'_ last night, and yet say _'No'_ to-day?", "", "\"Why?--Why?--Besides, Fred really was _attached_;", " 'T was not her fortune--he has enough without;", "The time will come she'll wish that she had snatched", " So good an opportunity, no doubt:--", "But the old Marchioness some plan had hatched,", " As I'll tell Aurea at to-morrow's rout:", "And after all poor Frederick may do better--", "Pray did you see her answer to his letter?\"", "", "Smart uniforms and sparkling coronets", " Are spurned in turn, until her turn arrives,", "After male loss of time, and hearts, and bets", " Upon the sweepstakes for substantial wives;", "And when at last the pretty creature gets", " Some gentleman, who fights, or writes, or drives,", "It soothes the awkward squad of the rejected", "To find how very badly she selected.", "", "For sometimes they accept some long pursuer,", " Worn out with importunity; or fall", "(But here perhaps the instances are fewer)", " To the lot of him who scarce pursued at all.", "A hazy widower turned of forty 's sure", " (If 't is not vain examples to recall)", "To draw a high prize: now, howe'er he got her, I", "See nought more strange in this than t' other lottery.", "", "I, for my part--(one \"modern instance\" more,", " \"True,'t is a pity--pity 't is, 't is true\")--", "Was chosen from out an amatory score,", " Albeit my years were less discreet than few;", "But though I also had reformed before", " Those became one who soon were to be two,", "I'll not gainsay the generous public's voice,", "That the young lady made a monstrous choice.", "", "Oh, pardon my digression--or at least", " Peruse! 'T is always with a moral end", "That I dissert, like grace before a feast:", " For like an agéd aunt, or tiresome friend,", "A rigid guardian, or a zealous priest,", " My Muse by exhortation means to mend", "All people, at all times, and in most places,", "Which puts my Pegasus to these grave paces.", "", "But now I'm going to be immoral; now", " I mean to show things really as they are,", "Not as they ought to be: for I avow,", " That till we see what's what in fact, we're far", "From much improvement with that virtuous plough", " Which skims the surface, leaving scarce a scar", "Upon the black loam long manured by Vice,", "Only to keep its corn at the old price.", "", "But first of little Leila we'll dispose,", " For like a day-dawn she was young and pure--", "Or like the old comparison of snows,", " (Which are more pure than pleasant, to be sure,", "Like many people everybody knows),--", " Don Juan was delighted to secure", "A goodly guardian for his infant charge,", "Who might not profit much by being at large.", "", "Besides, he had found out he was no tutor", " (I wish that others would find out the same),", "And rather wished in such things to stand neuter,", " For silly wards will bring their guardians blame:", "So when he saw each ancient dame a suitor", " To make his little wild Asiatic tame,", "Consulting \"the Society for Vice", "Suppression,\" Lady Pinchbeck was his choice.", "", "Olden she was--but had been very young;", " Virtuous she was--and had been, I believe;", "Although the World has such an evil tongue", " That--but my chaster ear will not receive", "An echo of a syllable that's wrong:", " In fact, there's nothing makes me so much grieve,", "As that abominable tittle-tattle,", "Which is the cud eschewed by human cattle.", "", "Moreover I've remarked (and I was once", " A slight observer in a modest way),", "And so may every one except a dunce,", " That ladies in their youth a little gay,", "Besides their knowledge of the World, and sense", " Of the sad consequence of going astray,", "Are wiser in their warnings 'gainst the woe", "Which the mere passionless can never know.", "", "While the harsh prude indemnifies her virtue", " By railing at the unknown and envied passion,", "Seeking far less to save you than to hurt you,", " Or, what's still worse, to put you out of fashion,--", "The kinder veteran with calm words will court you,", " Entreating you to pause before you dash on;", "Expounding and illustrating the riddle", "Of epic Love's beginning--end--and middle.", "", "Now whether it be thus, or that they are stricter,", " As better knowing why they should be so,", "I think you'll find from many a family picture,", " That daughters of such mothers as may know", "The World by experience rather than by lecture,", " Turn out much better for the Smithfield Show", "Of vestals brought into the marriage mart,", "Than those bred up by prudes without a heart.", "", "I said that Lady Pinchbeck had been talked about--", " As who has not, if female, young, and pretty?", "But now no more the ghost of Scandal stalked about;", " She merely was deemed amiable and witty,", "And several of her best _bons-mots_ were hawked about:", " Then she was given to charity and pity,", "And passed (at least the latter years of life)", "For being a most exemplary wife.", "", "High in high circles, gentle in her own,", " She was the mild reprover of the young,", "Whenever--which means every day--they'd shown", " An awkward inclination to go wrong.", "The quantity of good she did 's unknown,", " Or at the least would lengthen out my song:", "In brief, the little orphan of the East", "Had raised an interest in her,--which increased.", "", "Juan, too, was a sort of favourite with her,", " Because she thought him a good heart at bottom,", "A little spoiled, but not so altogether;", " Which was a wonder, if you think who got him,", "And how he had been tossed, he scarce knew whither:", " Though this might ruin others, it did _not_ him,", "At least entirely--for he had seen too many", "Changes in Youth, to be surprised at any.", "", "And these vicissitudes tell best in youth;", " For when they happen at a riper age,", "People are apt to blame the Fates, forsooth,", " And wonder Providence is not more sage.", "Adversity is the first path to Truth:", " He who hath proved War--Storm--or Woman's rage,", "Whether his winters be eighteen or eighty,", "Hath won the experience which is deemed so weighty.", "", "How far it profits is another matter.--", " Our hero gladly saw his little charge", "Safe with a lady, whose last grown-up daughter", " Being long married, and thus set at large,", "Had left all the accomplishments she taught her", " To be transmitted, like the Lord Mayor's barge,", "To the next comer; or--as it will tell", "More Muse-like--like to Cytherea's shell.", "", "I call such things transmission; for there is", " A floating balance of accomplishment,", "Which forms a pedigree from Miss to Miss,", " According as their minds or backs are bent.", "Some waltz--some draw--some fathom the abyss", " Of Metaphysics; others are content", "With Music; the most moderate shine as wits;--", "While others have a genius turned for fits.", "", "But whether fits, or wits, or harpsichords--", " Theology--fine arts--or finer stays,", "May be the baits for Gentlemen or Lords", " With regular descent, in these our days,", "The last year to the new transfers its hoards;", " New vestals claim men's eyes with the same praise", "Of \"elegant\" _et cætera_, in fresh batches--", "All matchless creatures--and yet bent on matches.", "", "But now I will begin my poem. 'Tis", " Perhaps a little strange, if not quite new,", "That from the first of Cantos up to this", " I've not begun what we have to go through.", "These first twelve books are merely flourishes,", " _Preludios_, trying just a string or two", "Upon my lyre, or making the pegs sure;", "And when so, you shall have the overture.", "", "My Muses do not care a pinch of rosin", " About what's called success, or not succeeding:", "Such thoughts are quite below the strain they have chosen;", " 'T is a \"great moral lesson\" they are reading.", "I thought, at setting off, about two dozen", " Cantos would do; but at Apollo's pleading,", "If that my Pegasus should not be foundered,", "I think to canter gently through a hundred.", "", "Don Juan saw that Microcosm on stilts,", " Yclept the Great World; for it is the least,", "Although the highest: but as swords have hilts", " By which their power of mischief is increased,", "When Man in battle or in quarrel tilts,", " Thus the low world, north, south, or west, or east,", "Must still obey the high--which is their handle,", "Their Moon, their Sun, their gas, their farthing candle.", "", "He had many friends who had many wives, and was", " Well looked upon by both, to that extent", "Of friendship which you may accept or pass,", " It does nor good nor harm; being merely meant", "To keep the wheels going of the higher class,", " And draw them nightly when a ticket's sent;", "And what with masquerades, and fêtes, and balls,", "For the first season such a life scarce palls.", "", "A young unmarried man, with a good name", " And fortune, has an awkward part to play;", "For good society is but a game,", " \"The royal game of Goose,\" as I may say,", "Where everybody has some separate aim,", " An end to answer, or a plan to lay--", "The single ladies wishing to be double,", "The married ones to save the virgins trouble.", "", "I don't mean this as general, but particular", " Examples may be found of such pursuits:", "Though several also keep their perpendicular", " Like poplars, with good principles for roots;", "Yet many have a method more _reticular_--", " \"Fishers for men,\" like Sirens with soft lutes:", "For talk six times with the same single lady,", "And you may get the wedding-dresses ready.", "", "Perhaps you'll have a letter from the mother,", " To say her daughter's feelings are trepanned;", "Perhaps you'll have a visit from the brother,", " All strut, and stays, and whiskers, to demand", "What \"your intentions are?\"--One way or other", " It seems the virgin's heart expects your hand:", "And between pity for her case and yours,", "You'll add to Matrimony's list of cures.", "", "I've known a dozen weddings made even _thus_,", " And some of them high names: I have also known", "Young men who--though they hated to discuss", " Pretensions which they never dreamed to have shown--", "Yet neither frightened by a female fuss,", " Nor by mustachios moved, were let alone,", "And lived, as did the broken-hearted fair,", "In happier plight than if they formed a pair.", "", "There's also nightly, to the uninitiated,", " A peril--not indeed like Love or Marriage,", "But not the less for this to be depreciated:", " It is--I meant and mean not to disparage", "The show of Virtue even in the vitiated--", " It adds an outward grace unto their carriage--", "But to denounce the amphibious sort of harlot,", "_Couleur de rose_, who's neither white nor scarlet.", "", "Such is your cold coquette, who can't say \"No,\"", " And won't say \"Yes,\" and keeps you on and off-ing", "On a lee-shore, till it begins to blow--", " Then sees your heart wrecked, with an inward scoffing.", "This works a world of sentimental woe,", " And sends new Werters yearly to their coffin;", "But yet is merely innocent flirtation,", "Not quite adultery, but adulteration.", "", "\"Ye gods, I grow a talker!\" Let us prate.", " The next of perils, though I place it _stern_est,", "Is when, without regard to Church or State,", " A wife makes or takes love in upright earnest.", "Abroad, such things decide few women's fate--", " (Such, early Traveller! is the truth thou learnest)--", "But in old England, when a young bride errs,", "Poor thing! Eve's was a trifling case to hers.", "", "For 't is a low, newspaper, humdrum, lawsuit", " Country, where a young couple of the same ages", "Can't form a friendship, but the world o'erawes it.", " Then there's the vulgar trick of those d----d damages!", "A verdict--grievous foe to those who cause it!--", " Forms a sad climax to romantic homages;", "Besides those soothing speeches of the pleaders,", "And evidences which regale all readers.", "", "But they who blunder thus are raw beginners;", " A little genial sprinkling of hypocrisy", "Has saved the fame of thousand splendid sinners,", " The loveliest oligarchs of our Gynocracy;", "You may see such at all the balls and dinners,", " Among the proudest of our aristocracy,", "So gentle, charming, charitable, chaste--", "And all by having _tact_ as well as taste.", "", "Juan, who did not stand in the predicament", " Of a mere novice, had one safeguard more;", "For he was sick--no, 't was not the word _sick_ I meant--", " But he had seen so much good love before,", "That he was not in heart so very weak;--I meant", " But thus much, and no sneer against the shore", "Of white cliffs, white necks, blue eyes, bluer stockings--", "Tithes, taxes, duns--and doors with double knockings.", "", "But coming young from lands and scenes romantic,", " Where lives, not lawsuits, must be risked for Passion", "And Passion's self must have a spice of frantic,", " Into a country where 't is half a fashion,", "Seemed to him half commercial, half pedantic,", " Howe'er he might esteem this moral nation:", "Besides (alas! his taste--forgive and pity!)", "At _first_ he did not think the women pretty.", "", "I say at _first_--for he found out at _last_,", " But by degrees, that they were fairer far", "Than the more glowing dames whose lot is cast", " Beneath the influence of the Eastern Star.", "A further proof we should not judge in haste;", " Yet inexperience could not be his bar", "To taste:--the truth is, if men would confess,", "That novelties _please_ less than they _impress_.", "", "Though travelled, I have never had the luck to", " Trace up those shuffling negroes, Nile or Niger,", "To that impracticable place Timbuctoo,", " Where Geography finds no one to oblige her", "With such a chart as may be safely stuck to--", " For Europe ploughs in Afric like \"_bos piger_:\"", "But if I _had been_ at Timbuctoo, there", "No doubt I should be told that black is fair.", "", "It is. 1 will not swear that black is white,", " But I suspect in fact that white is black,", "And the whole matter rests upon eye-sight:--", " Ask a blind man, the best judge. You'll attack", "Perhaps this new position--but I'm right;", " Or if I'm wrong, I'll not be ta'en aback:--", "He hath no morn nor night, but all is dark", "Within--and what seest thou? A dubious spark!", "", "But I'm relapsing into Metaphysics,", " That labyrinth, whose clue is of the same", "Construction as your cures for hectic phthisics,", " Those bright moths fluttering round a dying flame:", "And this reflection brings me to plain Physics,", " And to the beauties of a foreign dame,", "Compared with those of our pure pearls of price,", "Those polar summers, _all_ Sun, and some ice.", "", "Or say they are like virtuous mermaids, whose", " Beginnings are fair faces, ends mere fishes;--", "Not that there's not a quantity of those", " Who have a due respect for their own wishes.", "Like Russians rushing from hot baths to snows", " Are they, at bottom virtuous even when vicious:", "They warm into a scrape, but keep of course,", "As a reserve, a plunge into remorse.", "", "But this has nought to do with their outsides.", " I said that Juan did not think them pretty", "At the first blush; for a fair Briton hides", " Half her attractions--probably from pity--And", "rather calmly into the heart glides,", " Than storms it as a foe would take a city;", "But once _there_ (if you doubt this, prithee try)", "She keeps it for you like a true ally.", "", "She cannot step as does an Arab barb,", " Or Andalusian girl from mass returning,", "Nor wear as gracefully as Gauls her garb,", " Nor in her eye Ausonia's glance is burning;", "Her voice, though sweet, is not so fit to warb-", " le those _bravuras_ (which I still am learning", "To like, though I have been seven years in Italy,", "And have, or had, an ear that served me prettily);--", "", "She cannot do these things, nor one or two", " Others, in that off-hand and dashing style", "Which takes so much--to give the Devil his due;", " Nor is she quite so ready with her smile,", "Nor settles all things in one interview,", " (A thing approved as saving time and toil);--", "But though the soil may give you time and trouble,", "Well cultivated, it will render double.", "", "And if in fact she takes to a _grande passion_,", " It is a very serious thing indeed:", "Nine times in ten 't is but caprice or fashion,", " Coquetry, or a wish to take the lead,", "The pride of a mere child with a new sash on,", " Or wish to make a rival's bosom bleed:", "But the _tenth_ instance will be a tornado,", "For there's no saying what they will or may do.", "", "The reason's obvious: if there's an _éclat_,", " They lose their caste at once, as do the Parias;", "And when the delicacies of the Law", " Have filled their papers with their comments various,", "Society, that china without flaw,", " (The Hypocrite!) will banish them like Marius,", "To sit amidst the ruins of their guilt:", "For Fame's a Carthage not so soon rebuilt.", "", "Perhaps this is as it should be;--it is", " A comment on the Gospel's \"Sin no more,", "And be thy sins forgiven:\"--but upon this", " I leave the Saints to settle their own score.", "Abroad, though doubtless they do much amiss,", " An erring woman finds an opener door", "For her return to Virtue--as they call", "That Lady, who should be at home to all.", "", "For me, I leave the matter where I find it,", " Knowing that such uneasy virtue leads", "People some ten times less in fact to mind it,", " And care but for discoveries, and not deeds.", "And as for Chastity, you'll never bind it", " By all the laws the strictest lawyer pleads,", "But aggravate the crime you have not prevented,", "By rendering desperate those who had else repented.", "", "But Juan was no casuist, nor had pondered", " Upon the moral lessons of mankind:", "Besides, he had not seen of several hundred", " A lady altogether to his mind.", "A little _blasé_--'t is not to be wondered", " At, that his heart had got a tougher rind:", "And though not vainer from his past success,", "No doubt his sensibilities were less.", "", "He also had been busy seeing sights--", " The Parliament and all the other houses;", "Had sat beneath the Gallery at nights,", " To hear debates whose thunder _roused_ (not _rouses_)", "The World to gaze upon those Northern Lights,", " Which flashed as far as where the musk-bull browses;", "He had also stood at times behind the Throne--", "But Grey was not arrived, and Chatham gone.", "", "He saw, however, at the closing session,", " That noble sight, when _really_ free the nation,", "A King in constitutional possession", " Of such a Throne as is the proudest station,", "Though Despots know it not--till the progression", " Of Freedom shall complete their education.", "'T is not mere Splendour makes the show august", "To eye or heart--it is the People's trust.", "", "There, too, he saw (whate'er he may be now)", " A Prince, the prince of Princes at the time,", "With fascination in his very bow,", " And full of promise, as the spring of prime.", "Though Royalty was written on his brow,", " He had _then_ the grace, too, rare in every clime,", "Of being, without alloy of fop or beau,", "A finished Gentleman from top to toe.", "", "And Juan was received, as hath been said,", " Into the best society; and there", "Occurred what often happens, I'm afraid,", " However disciplined and debonnaire:--", "The talent and good humour he displayed,", " Besides the marked distinction of his air,", "Exposed him, as was natural, to temptation,", "Even though himself avoided the occasion.", "", "But what, and where, with whom, and when, and why,", " Is not to be put hastily together;", "And as my object is Morality", " (Whatever people say), I don't know whether", "I'll leave a single reader's eyelid dry,", " But harrow up his feelings till they wither,", "And hew out a huge monument of pathos,", "As Philip's son proposed to do with Athos.", "", "Here the twelfth canto of our Introduction", " Ends. When the body of the Book's begun,", "You'll find it of a different construction", " From what some people say 't will be when done;", "The plan at present 's simply in concoction.", " I can't oblige you, reader, to read on;", "That's your affair, not mine: a real spirit", "Should neither court neglect, nor dread to bear it.", "", "And if my thunderbolt not always rattles,", " Remember, reader! you have had before,", "The worst of tempests and the best of battles,", " That e'er were brewed from elements or gore,", "Besides the most sublime of--Heaven knows what else;", " An usurer could scarce expect much more--", "But my best canto--save one on astronomy--", "Will turn upon \"Political Economy.\"", "", "_That_ is your present theme for popularity:", " Now that the public hedge hath scarce a stake,", "It grows an act of patriotic charity,", " To show the people the best way to break.", "_My plan_ (but I, if but for singularity,", " Reserve it) will be very sure to take.", "Meantime, read all the National-Debt sinkers,", "And tell me what you think of our great thinkers.", "", "CANTO THE THIRTEENTH.", "", "I now mean to be serious;--it is time,", " Since Laughter now-a-days is deemed too serious;", "A jest at Vice by Virtue's called a crime,", " And critically held as deleterious:", "Besides, the sad's a source of the sublime,", " Although, when long, a little apt to weary us;", "And therefore shall my lay soar high and solemn,", "As an old temple dwindled to a column.", "", "The Lady Adeline Amundeville", " ('T is an old Norman name, and to be found", "In pedigrees, by those who wander still", " Along the last fields of that Gothic ground)", "Was high-born, wealthy by her father's will,", " And beauteous, even where beauties most abound,", "In Britain--which, of course, true patriots find", "The goodliest soil of Body and of Mind.", "", "I'll not gainsay them; it is not my cue;", " I'll leave them to their taste, no doubt the best;", "An eye's an eye, and whether black or blue,", " Is no great matter, so 't is in request;", "'T is nonsense to dispute about a hue--", " The kindest may be taken as a test.", "The fair sex should be always fair; and no man,", "Till thirty, should perceive there's a plain woman.", "", "And after that serene and somewhat dull", " Epoch, that awkward corner turned for days", "More quiet, when our moon's no more at full,", " We may presume to criticise or praise;", "Because Indifference begins to lull", " Our passions, and we walk in Wisdom's ways;", "Also because the figure and the face", "Hint, that 't is time to give the younger place.", "", "I know that some would fain postpone this era,", " Reluctant as all placemen to resign", "Their post; but theirs is merely a chimera,", " For they have passed Life's equinoctial line:", "But then they have their claret and Madeira,", " To irrigate the dryness of decline;", "And County meetings, and the Parliament,", "And debt--and what not, for their solace sent.", "", "And is there not Religion, and Reform,", " Peace, War, the taxes, and what's called the \"Nation\"?", "The struggle to be pilots in a storm?", " The landed and the monied speculation?", "The joys of mutual hate to keep them warm,", " Instead of Love, that mere hallucination?", "Now Hatred is by far the longest pleasure;", "Men love in haste, but they detest at leisure.", "", "Rough Johnson, the great moralist, professed,", " Right honestly, \"he liked an honest hater!\"--", "The only truth that yet has been confessed", " Within these latest thousand years or later.", "Perhaps the fine old fellow spoke in jest:--", " For my part, I am but a mere spectator,", "And gaze where'er the palace or the hovel is,", "Much in the mode of Goethe's Mephistopheles;", "", "But neither love nor hate in much excess;", " Though 't was not once so. If I sneer sometimes,", "It is because I cannot well do less,", " And now and then it also suits my rhymes.", "I should be very willing to redress", " Men's wrongs, and rather check than punish crimes,", "Had not Cervantes, in that too true tale", "Of Quixote, shown how all such efforts fail.", "", "Of all tales 't is the saddest--and more sad,", " Because it makes us smile: his hero's right,", "And still pursues the right;--to curb the bad", " His only object, and 'gainst odds to fight", "His guerdon: 't is his virtue makes him mad!", " But his adventures form a sorry sight;--", "A sorrier still is the great moral taught", "By that real Epic unto all who have thought.", "", "Redressing injury, revenging wrong,", " To aid the damsel and destroy the caitiff;", "Opposing singly the united strong,", " From foreign yoke to free the helpless native:--", "Alas! must noblest views, like an old song,", " Be for mere Fancy's sport a theme creative,", "A jest, a riddle, Fame through thin and thick sought!", "And Socrates himself but Wisdom's Quixote?", "", "Cervantes smiled Spain's chivalry away;", " A single laugh demolished the right arm", "Of his own country;--seldom since that day", " Has Spain had heroes. While Romance could charm,", "The World gave ground before her bright array;", " And therefore have his volumes done such harm,", "That all their glory, as a composition,", "Was dearly purchased by his land's perdition.", "", "I'm \"at my old lunes\"--digression, and forget", " The Lady Adeline Amundeville;", "The fair most fatal Juan ever met,", " Although she was not evil nor meant ill;", "But Destiny and Passion spread the net", " (Fate is a good excuse for our own will),", "And caught them;--what do they _not_ catch, methinks?", "But I'm not Oedipus, and Life's a Sphinx.", "", "I tell the tale as it is told, nor dare", " To venture a solution: \"_Davus sum!_\"", "And now I will proceed upon the pair.", " Sweet Adeline, amidst the gay World's hum,", "Was the Queen-Bee, the glass of all that's fair;", " Whose charms made all men speak, and women dumb.", "The last's a miracle, and such was reckoned,", "And since that time there has not been a second.", "", "Chaste was she, to Detraction's desperation,", " And wedded unto one she had loved well--", "A man known in the councils of the Nation,", " Cool, and quite English, imperturbable,", "Though apt to act with fire upon occasion,", " Proud of himself and her: the World could tell", "Nought against either, and both seemed secure--", "She in her virtue, he in his hauteur.", "", "It chanced some diplomatical relations,", " Arising out of business, often brought", "Himself and Juan in their mutual stations", " Into close contact. Though reserved, nor caught", "By specious seeming, Juan's youth, and patience,", " And talent, on his haughty spirit wrought,", "And formed a basis of esteem, which ends", "In making men what Courtesy calls friends.", "", "And thus Lord Henry, who was cautious as", " Reserve and Pride could make him, and full slow", "In judging men--when once his judgment was", " Determined, right or wrong, on friend or foe,", "Had all the pertinacity Pride has,", " Which knows no ebb to its imperious flow,", "And loves or hates, disdaining to be guided,", "Because its own good pleasure hath decided.", "", "His friendships, therefore, and no less aversions,", " Though oft well founded, which confirmed but more", "His prepossessions, like the laws of Persians", " And Medes, would ne'er revoke what went before.", "His feelings had not those strange fits, like tertians,", " Of common likings, which make some deplore", "What they should laugh at--the mere ague still", "Of men's regard, the fever or the chill.", "", "\"'T is not in mortals to command success:\"", " But _do you more_, Sempronius--_don't_ deserve it,", "And take my word, you won't have any less.", " Be wary, watch the time, and always serve it;", "Give gently way, when there's too great a press;", " And for your conscience, only learn to nerve it;", "For, like a racer, or a boxer training,", "'T will make, if proved, vast efforts without paining.", "", "Lord Henry also liked to be superior,", " As most men do, the little or the great;", "The very lowest find out an inferior,", " At least they think so, to exert their state", "Upon: for there are very few things wearier", " Than solitary Pride's oppressive weight,", "Which mortals generously would divide,", "By bidding others carry while they ride.", "", "In birth, in rank, in fortune likewise equal,", " O'er Juan he could no distinction claim;", "In years he had the advantage of Time's sequel;", " And, as he thought, in country much the same--", "Because bold Britons have a tongue and free quill,", " At which all modern nations vainly aim;", "And the Lord Henry was a great debater,", "So that few Members kept the House up later.", "", "These were advantages: and then he thought--", " It was his foible, but by no means sinister--", "That few or none more than himself had caught", " Court mysteries, having been himself a minister:", "He liked to teach that which he had been taught,", " And greatly shone whenever there had been a stir;", "And reconciled all qualities which grace man,", "Always a patriot--and, sometimes, a placeman.", "", "He liked the gentle Spaniard for his gravity;", " He almost honoured him for his docility;", "Because, though young, he acquiesced with suavity,", " Or contradicted but with proud humility.", "He knew the World, and would not see depravity", " In faults which sometimes show the soil's fertility,", "If that the weeds o'erlive not the first crop--", "For then they are very difficult to stop.", "", "And then he talked with him about Madrid,", " Constantinople, and such distant places;", "Where people always did as they were bid,", " Or did what they should not with foreign graces.", "Of coursers also spake they: Henry rid", " Well, like most Englishmen, and loved the races;", "And Juan, like a true-born Andalusian,", "Could back a horse, as Despots ride a Russian.", "", "And thus acquaintance grew, at noble routs,", " And diplomatic dinners, or at other--", "For Juan stood well both with Ins and Outs,", " As in freemasonry a higher brother.", "Upon his talent Henry had no doubts;", " His manner showed him sprung from a high mother,", "And all men like to show their hospitality", "To him whose breeding matches with his quality.", "", "At Blank-Blank Square;--for we will break no squares", " By naming streets: since men are so censorious,", "And apt to sow an author's wheat with tares,", " Reaping allusions private and inglorious,", "Where none were dreamt of, unto Love's affairs,", " Which were, or are, or are to be notorious,", "That therefore do I previously declare,", "Lord Henry's mansion was in Blank-Blank Square.", "", "Also there bin another pious reason", " For making squares and streets anonymous;", "Which is, that there is scarce a single season", " Which doth not shake some very splendid house", "With some slight heart-quake of domestic treason--", " A topic Scandal doth delight to rouse:", "Such I might stumble over unawares,", "Unless I knew the very chastest squares.", "", "'T is true, I might have chosen Piccadilly,", " A place where peccadillos are unknown;", "But I have motives, whether wise or silly,", " For letting that pure sanctuary alone.", "Therefore I name not square, street, place, until I", " Find one where nothing naughty can be shown,", "A vestal shrine of Innocence of Heart:", "Such are--but I have lost the London Chart.", "", "At Henry's mansion then, in Blank-Blank Square,", " Was Juan a _recherché_, welcome guest,", "As many other noble scions were;", " And some who had but Talent for their crest;", "Or Wealth, which is a passport everywhere;", " Or even mere Fashion, which indeed's the best", "Recommendation; and to be well dressed", "Will very often supersede the rest.", "", "And since \"there's safety in a multitude", " Of counsellors,\" as Solomon has said,", "Or some one for him, in some sage, grave mood;--", " Indeed we see the daily proof displayed", "In Senates, at the Bar, in wordy feud,", " Where'er collective wisdom can parade,", "Which is the only cause that we can guess", "Of Britain's present wealth and happiness;--", "", "But as \"there's safety\" grafted in the number", " \"Of counsellors,\" for men,--thus for the sex", "A large acquaintance lets not Virtue slumber;", " Or should it shake, the choice will more perplex--", "Variety itself will more encumber.", " 'Midst many rocks we guard more against wrecks--", "And thus with women: howsoe'er it shocks some's", "Self-love, there's safety in a crowd of coxcombs.", "", "But Adeline had not the least occasion", " For such a shield, which leaves but little merit", "To Virtue proper, or good education.", " Her chief resource was in her own high spirit,", "Which judged Mankind at their due estimation;", " And for coquetry, she disdained to wear it--", "Secure of admiration: its impression", "Was faint--as of an every-day possession.", "", "To all she was polite without parade;", " To some she showed attention of that kind", "Which flatters, but is flattery conveyed", " In such a sort as cannot leave behind", "A trace unworthy either wife or maid;--", " A gentle, genial courtesy of mind,", "To those who were, or passed for meritorious,", "Just to console sad Glory for being glorious;", "", "Which is in all respects, save now and then,", " A dull and desolate appendage. Gaze", "Upon the shades of those distinguished men", " Who were or are the puppet-shows of praise,", "The praise of persecution. Gaze again", " On the most favoured; and amidst the blaze", "Of sunset halos o'er the laurel-browed,", "What can ye recognise?--a gilded cloud.", "", "There also was of course in Adeline", " That calm patrician polish in the address,", "Which ne'er can pass the equinoctial line", " Of anything which Nature would express;", "Just as a Mandarin finds nothing fine,--", " At least his manner suffers not to guess,", "That anything he views can greatly please:", "Perhaps we have borrowed this from the Chinese--", "", "Perhaps from Horace: his _\"Nil admirari\"_", " Was what he called the \"Art of Happiness\"--", "An art on which the artists greatly vary,", " And have not yet attained to much success.", "However, 't is expedient to be wary:", " Indifference, certes, don't produce distress;", "And rash Enthusiasm in good society", "Were nothing but a moral inebriety.", "", "But Adeline was not indifferent: for", " (_Now_ for a common-place!) beneath the snow,", "As a Volcano holds the lava more", " Within--_et cætera_. Shall I go on?--No!", "I hate to hunt down a tired metaphor,", " So let the often-used Volcano go.", "Poor thing! How frequently, by me and others,", "It hath been stirred up till its smoke quite smothers!", "", "I'll have another figure in a trice:--", " What say you to a bottle of champagne?", "Frozen into a very vinous ice,", " Which leaves few drops of that immortal rain,", "Yet in the very centre, past all price,", " About a liquid glassful will remain;", "And this is stronger than the strongest grape", "Could e'er express in its expanded shape:", "", "'T is the whole spirit brought to a quintessence;", " And thus the chilliest aspects may concentre", "A hidden nectar under a cold presence.", " And such are many--though I only meant her", "From whom I now deduce these moral lessons,", " On which the Muse has always sought to enter.", "And your cold people are beyond all price,", "When once you've broken their confounded ice.", "", "But after all they are a North-West Passage", " Unto the glowing India of the soul;", "And as the good ships sent upon that message", " Have not exactly ascertained the Pole", "(Though Parry's efforts look a lucky presage),", " Thus gentlemen may run upon a shoal;", "For if the Pole's not open, but all frost", "(A chance still), 't is a voyage or vessel lost.", "", "And young beginners may as well commence", " With quiet cruising o'er the ocean, Woman;", "While those who are not beginners should have sense", " Enough to make for port, ere Time shall summon", "With his grey signal-flag; and the past tense,", " The dreary _Fuimus_ of all things human,", "Must be declined, while Life's thin thread's spun out", "Between the gaping heir and gnawing gout.", "", "But Heaven must be diverted; its diversion", " Is sometimes truculent--but never mind:", "The World upon the whole is worth the assertion", " (If but for comfort) that all things are kind:", "And that same devilish doctrine of the Persian,", " Of the \"Two Principles,\" but leaves behind", "As many doubts as any other doctrine", "Has ever puzzled Faith withal, or yoked her in,", "", "The English winter--ending in July,", " To recommence in August--now was done.", "'T is the postilion's paradise: wheels fly;", " On roads, East, South, North, West, there is a run.", "But for post-horses who finds sympathy?", " Man's pity's for himself, or for his son,", "Always premising that said son at college", "Has not contracted much more debt than knowledge.", "", "The London winter's ended in July--", " Sometimes a little later. I don't err", "In this: whatever other blunders lie", " Upon my shoulders, here I must aver", "My Muse a glass of _Weatherology_;", " For Parliament is our barometer:", "Let Radicals its other acts attack,", "Its sessions form our only almanack.", "", "When its quicksilver's down at zero,--lo!", " Coach, chariot, luggage, baggage, equipage!", "Wheels whirl from Carlton Palace to Soho,", " And happiest they who horses can engage;", "The turnpikes glow with dust; and Rotten Row", " Sleeps from the chivalry of this bright age;", "And tradesmen, with long bills and longer faces,", "Sigh--as the postboys fasten on the traces.", "", "They and their bills, \"Arcadians both,\" are left", " To the Greek Kalends of another session.", "Alas! to them of ready cash bereft,", " What hope remains? Of _hope_ the full possession,", "Or generous draft, conceded as a gift,", " At a long date--till they can get a fresh one--", "Hawked about at a discount, small or large;", "Also the solace of an overcharge.", "", "But these are trifles. Downward flies my Lord,", " Nodding beside my Lady in his carriage.", "Away! away! \"Fresh horses!\" are the word,", " And changed as quickly as hearts after marriage;", "The obsequious landlord hath the change restored;", " The postboys have no reason to disparage", "Their fee; but ere the watered wheels may hiss hence,", "The ostler pleads too for a reminiscence.", "", "'T is granted; and the valet mounts the dickey--", " That gentleman of Lords and Gentlemen;", "Also my Lady's gentlewoman, tricky,", " Tricked out, but modest more than poet's pen", "Can paint,--_\"Cosi viaggino i Ricchi!\"_", " (Excuse a foreign slipslop now and then,", "If but to show I've travelled: and what's Travel,", "Unless it teaches one to quote and cavil?)", "", "The London winter and the country summer", " Were well nigh over. 'T is perhaps a pity,", "When Nature wears the gown that doth become her,", " To lose those best months in a sweaty city,", "And wait until the nightingale grows dumber,", " Listening debates not very wise or witty,", "Ere patriots their true _country_ can remember;--", "But there's no shooting (save grouse) till September.", "", "I've done with my tirade. The World was gone;", " The twice two thousand, for whom Earth was made,", "Were vanished to be what they call alone--", " That is, with thirty servants for parade,", "As many guests, or more; before whom groan", " As many covers, duly, daily laid.", "Let none accuse old England's hospitality--", "Its quantity is but condensed to quality.", "", "Lord Henry and the Lady Adeline", " Departed like the rest of their compeers,", "The peerage, to a mansion very fine;", " The Gothic Babel of a thousand years.", "None than themselves could boast a longer line,", " Where Time through heroes and through beauties steers;", "And oaks as olden as their pedigree", "Told of their Sires--a tomb in every tree.", "", "A paragraph in every paper told", " Of their departure--such is modern fame:", "'T is pity that it takes no further hold", " Than an advertisement, or much the same;", "When, ere the ink be dry, the sound grows cold.", " The Morning Post was foremost to proclaim--", "\"Departure, for his country seat, to-day,", "Lord H. Amundeville and Lady A.", "", "\"We understand the splendid host intends", " To entertain, this autumn, a select", "And numerous party of his noble friends;", " 'Midst whom we have heard, from sources quite correct,", "The Duke of D---- the shooting season spends,", " With many more by rank and fashion decked;", "Also a foreigner of high condition,", "The envoy of the secret Russian mission.\"", "", "And thus we see--who doubts the Morning Post?", " (Whose articles are like the \"Thirty-nine,\"", "Which those most swear to who believe them most)--", " Our gay Russ Spaniard was ordained to shine,", "Decked by the rays reflected from his host,", " With those who, Pope says, \"greatly daring dine.\"--", "'T is odd, but true,--last war the News abounded", "More with these dinners than the killed or wounded;--", "", "As thus: \"On Thursday there was a grand dinner;", " Present, Lords A.B.C.\"--- Earls, dukes, by name", "Announced with no less pomp than Victory's winner:", " Then underneath, and in the very same", "Column: date, \"Falmouth. There has lately been here", " The Slap-dash regiment, so well known to Fame,", "Whose loss in the late action we regret:", "The vacancies are filled up--see Gazette.\"", "", "To Norman Abbey whirled the noble pair,--", " An old, old Monastery once, and now", "Still older mansion--of a rich and rare", " Mixed Gothic, such as artists all allow", "Few specimens yet left us can compare", " Withal: it lies, perhaps, a little low,", "Because the monks preferred a hill behind,", "To shelter their devotion from the wind.", "", "It stood embosomed in a happy valley,", " Crowned by high woodlands, where the Druid oak", "Stood like Caractacus, in act to rally", " His host, with broad arms 'gainst the thunder-stroke;", "And from beneath his boughs were seen to sally", " The dappled foresters; as Day awoke,", "The branching stag swept down with all his herd,", "To quaff a brook which murmured like a bird.", "", "Before the mansion lay a lucid Lake,", " Broad as transparent, deep, and freshly fed", "By a river, which its softened way did take", " In currents through the calmer water spread", "Around: the wildfowl nestled in the brake", " And sedges, brooding in their liquid bed:", "The woods sloped downwards to its brink, and stood", "With their green faces fixed upon the flood.", "", "Its outlet dashed into a deep cascade,", " Sparkling with foam, until again subsiding,", "Its shriller echoes--like an infant made", " Quiet--sank into softer ripples, gliding", "Into a rivulet; and thus allayed,", " Pursued its course, now gleaming, and now hiding", "Its windings through the woods; now clear, now blue,", "According as the skies their shadows threw.", "", "A glorious remnant of the Gothic pile", " (While yet the Church was Rome's) stood half apart", "In a grand Arch, which once screened many an aisle.", " These last had disappeared--a loss to Art:", "The first yet frowned superbly o'er the soil,", " And kindled feelings in the roughest heart,", "Which mourned the power of Time's or Tempest's march,", "In gazing on that venerable Arch.", "", "Within a niche, nigh to its pinnacle,", " Twelve Saints had once stood sanctified in stone;", "But these had fallen, not when the friars fell,", " But in the war which struck Charles from his throne,", "When each house was a fortalice--as tell", " The annals of full many a line undone,--", "The gallant Cavaliers, who fought in vain", "For those who knew not to resign or reign.", "", "But in a higher niche, alone, but crowned,", " The Virgin-Mother of the God-born Child,", "With her Son in her blesséd arms, looked round,", " Spared by some chance when all beside was spoiled:", "She made the earth below seem holy ground.", " This may be superstition, weak or wild;", "But even the faintest relics of a shrine", "Of any worship wake some thoughts divine.", "", "A mighty window, hollow in the centre,", " Shorn of its glass of thousand colourings,", "Through which the deepened glories once could enter,", " Streaming from off the Sun like Seraph's wings,", "Now yawns all desolate: now loud, now fainter,", " The gale sweeps through its fretwork, and oft sings", "The owl his anthem, where the silenced quire", "Lie with their Hallelujahs quenched like fire.", "", "But in the noontide of the moon, and when", " The wind is wingéd from one point of heaven,", "There moans a strange unearthly sound, which then", " Is musical--a dying accent driven", "Through the huge Arch, which soars and sinks again.", " Some deem it but the distant echo given", "Back to the night wind by the waterfall,", "And harmonised by the old choral wall:", "", "Others, that some original shape, or form", " Shaped by decay perchance, hath given the power", "(Though less than that of Memnon's statue, warm", " In Egypt's rays, to harp at a fixed hour)", "To this grey ruin: with a voice to charm,", " Sad, but serene, it sweeps o'er tree or tower;", "The cause I know not, nor can solve; but such", "The fact:--I've heard it,--once perhaps too much.", "", "Amidst the court a Gothic fountain played,", " Symmetrical, but decked with carvings quaint--", "Strange faces, like to men in masquerade,", " And here perhaps a monster, there a saint:", "The spring gushed through grim mouths of granite made,", " And sparkled into basins, where it spent", "Its little torrent in a thousand bubbles,", "Like man's vain Glory, and his vainer troubles.", "", "The Mansion's self was vast and venerable,", " With more of the monastic than has been", "Elsewhere preserved: the cloisters still were stable,", " The cells, too, and Refectory, I ween:", "An exquisite small chapel had been able,", " Still unimpaired, to decorate the scene;", "The rest had been reformed, replaced, or sunk,", "And spoke more of the baron than the monk.", "", "Huge halls, long galleries, spacious chambers, joined", " By no quite lawful marriage of the arts,", "Might shock a connoisseur; but when combined,", " Formed a whole which, irregular in parts,", "Yet left a grand impression on the mind,", " At least of those whose eyes are in their hearts:", "We gaze upon a giant for his stature,", "Nor judge at first if all be true to nature.", "", "Steel Barons, molten the next generation", " To silken rows of gay and gartered Earls,", "Glanced from the walls in goodly preservation:", " And Lady Marys blooming into girls,", "With fair long locks, had also kept their station:", " And Countesses mature in robes and pearls:", "Also some beauties of Sir Peter Lely,", "Whose drapery hints we may admire them freely.", "", "Judges in very formidable ermine", " Were there, with brows that did not much invite", "The accused to think their lordships would determine", " His cause by leaning much from might to right:", "Bishops, who had not left a single sermon;", " Attorneys-general, awful to the sight,", "As hinting more (unless our judgments warp us)", "Of the \"Star Chamber\" than of \"Habeas Corpus.\"", "", "Generals, some all in armour, of the old", " And iron time, ere lead had ta'en the lead;", "Others in wigs of Marlborough's martial fold,", " Huger than twelve of our degenerate breed:", "Lordlings, with staves of white or keys of gold:", " Nimrods, whose canvas scarce contained the steed;", "And, here and there, some stern high patriot stood,", "Who could not get the place for which he sued.", "", "But ever and anon, to soothe your vision,", " Fatigued with these hereditary glories,", "There rose a Carlo Dolce or a Titian,", " Or wilder group of savage Salvatore's:", "Here danced Albano's boys, and here the sea shone", " In Vernet's ocean lights; and there the stories", "Of martyrs awed, as Spagnoletto tainted", "His brush with all the blood of all the sainted.", "", "Here sweetly spread a landscape of Lorraine;", " There Rembrandt made his darkness equal light,", "Or gloomy Caravaggio's gloomier stain", " Bronzed o'er some lean and stoic anchorite:--", "But, lo! a Teniers woos, and not in vain,", " Your eyes to revel in a livelier sight:", "His bell-mouthed goblet makes me feel quite Danish", "Or Dutch with thirst--What, ho! a flask of Rhenish.", "", "Oh, reader! if that thou canst read,--and know,", " 'T is not enough to spell, or even to read,", "To constitute a reader--there must go", " Virtues of which both you and I have need;--", "Firstly, begin with the beginning--(though", " That clause is hard); and secondly, proceed:", "Thirdly, commence not with the end--or, sinning", "In this sort, end at last with the beginning.", "", "But, reader, thou hast patient been of late,", " While I, without remorse of rhyme, or fear,", "Have built and laid out ground at such a rate,", " Dan Phoebus takes me for an auctioneer.", "That Poets were so from their earliest date,", " By Homer's \"Catalogue of ships\" is clear;", "But a mere modern must be moderate--", "I spare you then the furniture and plate.", "", "The mellow Autumn came, and with it came", " The promised party, to enjoy its sweets.", "The corn is cut, the manor full of game;", " The pointer ranges, and the sportsman beats", "In russet jacket:--lynx-like in his aim;", " Full grows his bag, and wonder_ful_ his feats.", "Ah, nutbrown partridges! Ah, brilliant pheasants!", "And ah, ye poachers!--'T is no sport for peasants.", "", "An English Autumn, though it hath no vines,", " Blushing with Bacchant coronals along", "The paths o'er which the far festoon entwines", " The red grape in the sunny lands of song,", "Hath yet a purchased choice of choicest wines;", " The Claret light, and the Madeira strong.", "If Britain mourn her bleakness, we can tell her,", "The very best of vineyards is the cellar.", "", "Then, if she hath not that serene decline", " Which makes the southern Autumn's day appear", "As if 't would to a second Spring resign", " The season, rather than to Winter drear,--", "Of in-door comforts still she hath a mine,--", " The sea-coal fires, the \"earliest of the year;\"", "Without doors, too, she may compete in mellow,", "As what is lost in green is gained in yellow.", "", "And for the effeminate _villeggialura_--", " Rife with more horns than hounds--she hath the chase,", "So animated that it might allure a", " Saint from his beads to join the jocund race:", "Even Nimrod's self might leave the plains of Dura,", " And wear the Melton jacket for a space:", "If she hath no wild boars, she hath a tame", "Preserve of bores, who ought to be made game.", "", "The noble guests, assembled at the Abbey,", " Consisted of--we give the sex the _pas_--", "The Duchess of Fitz-Fulke; the Countess Crabby;", " The Ladies Scilly, Busey;--Miss Eclat,", "Miss Bombazeen, Miss Mackstay, Miss O'Tabby,", " And Mrs. Rabbi, the rich banker's squaw;", "Also the honourable Mrs. Sleep,", "Who looked a white lamb, yet was a black sheep:", "", "With other Countesses of Blank--but rank;", " At once the \"lie\" and the _élite_ of crowds;", "Who pass like water filtered in a tank,", " All purged and pious from their native clouds;", "Or paper turned to money by the Bank:", " No matter how or why, the passport shrouds", "The _passée_ and the past; for good society", "Is no less famed for tolerance than piety,--", "", "That is, up to a certain point; which point", " Forms the most difficult in punctuation.", "Appearances appear to form the joint", " On which it hinges in a higher station;", "And so that no explosion cry \"Aroint", " Thee, witch!\" or each Medea has her Jason;", "Or (to the point with Horace and with Pulci)", "_\"Omne tulit punctum,_ quæ _miscuit utile dulci.\"_", "", "I can't exactly trace their rule of right,", " Which hath a little leaning to a lottery.", "I've seen a virtuous woman put down quite", " By the mere combination of a coterie;", "Also a so-so matron boldly fight", " Her way back to the world by dint of plottery,", "And shine the very _Siria_, of the spheres,", "Escaping with a few slight, scarless sneers.", "", "I have seen more than I'll say:--but we will see", " How _our \"villeggiatura\"_ will get on.", "The party might consist of thirty-three", " Of highest caste--the Brahmins of the _ton_.", "I have named a few, not foremost in degree,", " But ta'en at hazard as the rhyme may run.", "By way of sprinkling, scattered amongst these,", "There also were some Irish absentees.", "", "There was Parolles, too, the legal bully,", " Who limits all his battles to the Bar", "And Senate: when invited elsewhere, truly,", " He shows more appetite for words than war.", "There was the young bard Rackrhyme, who had newly", " Come out and glimmered as a six weeks' star.", "There was Lord Pyrrho, too, the great freethinker;", "And Sir John Pottledeep, the mighty drinker.", "", "There was the Duke of Dash, who was a--duke,", " \"Aye, every inch a\" duke; there were twelve peers", "Like Charlemagne's--and all such peers in _look_", " And _intellect_, that neither eyes nor ears", "For commoners had ever them mistook.", " There were the six Miss Rawbolds--pretty dears!", "All song and sentiment; whose hearts were set", "Less on a convent than a coronet.", "", "There were four Honourable Misters, whose", " Honour was more before their names than after;", "There was the _preux Chevalier de la Ruse_,", " Whom France and Fortune lately deigned to waft here,", "Whose chiefly harmless talent was to amuse;", " But the clubs found it rather serious laughter,", "Because--such was his magic power to please--", "The dice seemed charmed, too, with his repartees.", "", "There was Dick Dubious, the metaphysician,", " Who loved philosophy and a good dinner;", "Angle, the _soi-disant_ mathematician;", " Sir Henry Silvercup, the great race-winner.", "There was the Reverend Rodomont Precisian,", " Who did not hate so much the sin as sinner:", "And Lord Augustus Fitz-Plantagenet,", "Good at all things, but better at a bet.", "", "There was Jack Jargon, the gigantic guardsman;", " And General Fireface, famous in the field,", "A great tactician, and no less a swordsman,", " Who ate, last war, more Yankees than he killed.", "There was the waggish Welsh Judge, Jefferies Hardsman,", " In his grave office so completely skilled,", "That when a culprit came for condemnation,", "He had his Judge's joke for consolation.", "", "Good company's a chess-board--there are kings,", " Queens, bishops, knights, rooks, pawns; the World's a game;", "Save that the puppets pull at their own strings,", " Methinks gay Punch hath something of the same.", "My Muse, the butterfly hath but her wings,", " Not stings, and flits through ether without aim,", "Alighting rarely:--were she but a hornet,", "Perhaps there might be vices which would mourn it.", "", "I had forgotten--but must not forget--", " An orator, the latest of the session,", "Who had delivered well a very set", " Smooth speech, his first and maidenly transgression", "Upon debate: the papers echoed yet", " With his _début_, which made a strong impression,", "And ranked with what is every day displayed--", "\"The best first speech that ever yet was made.\"", "", "Proud of his \"Hear hims!\" proud, too, of his vote,", " And lost virginity of oratory,", "Proud of his learning (just enough to quote),", " He revelled in his Ciceronian glory:", "With memory excellent to get by rote,", " With wit to hatch a pun or tell a story,", "Graced with some merit, and with more effrontery,", "\"His country's pride,\" he came down to the country.", "", "There also were two wits by acclamation,", " Longbow from Ireland, Strongbow from the Tweed--Both", "lawyers and both men of education--", " But Strongbow's wit was of more polished breed;", "Longbow was rich in an imagination", " As beautiful and bounding as a steed,", "But sometimes stumbling over a potato,--", "While Strongbow's best things might have come from Cato.", "", "Strongbow was like a new-tuned harpsichord;", " But Longbow wild as an Æolian harp,", "With which the Winds of heaven can claim accord,", " And make a music, whether flat or sharp.", "Of Strongbow's talk you would not change a word:", " At Longbow's phrases you might sometimes carp:", "Both wits--one born so, and the other bred--", "This by his heart--his rival by his head.", "", "If all these seem an heterogeneous mass", " To be assembled at a country seat,", "Yet think, a specimen of every class", " Is better than a humdrum tête-à-tête.", "The days of Comedy are gone, alas!", " When Congreve's fool could vie with Molière's _bête_:", "Society is smoothed to that excess,", "That manners hardly differ more than dress.", "", "Our ridicules are kept in the back-ground--", " Ridiculous enough, but also dull;", "Professions, too, are no more to be found", " Professional; and there is nought to cull", "Of Folly's fruit; for though your fools abound,", " They're barren, and not worth the pains to pull.", "Society is now one polished horde,", "Formed of two mighty tribes, the _Bores_ and _Bored_.", "", "But from being farmers, we turn gleaners, gleaning", " The scanty but right-well threshed ears of Truth;", "And, gentle reader! when you gather meaning,", " You may be Boaz, and I--modest Ruth.", "Further I'd quote, but Scripture intervening", " Forbids. A great impression in my youth", "Was made by Mrs. Adams, where she cries,", "\"That Scriptures out of church are blasphemies.\"", "", "But what we can we glean in this vile age", " Of chaff, although our gleanings be not grist.", "I must not quite omit the talking sage,", " Kit-Cat, the famous Conversationist,", "Who, in his common-place book, had a page", " Prepared each morn for evenings. \"List, oh list!\"", "\"Alas, poor ghost!\"--What unexpected woes", "Await those who have studied their _bons-mots!_", "", "Firstly, they must allure the conversation,", " By many windings to their clever clinch;", "And secondly, must let slip no occasion,", " Nor _bate_ (abate) their hearers of an _inch_,", "But take an ell--and make a great sensation,", " If possible; and thirdly, never flinch", "When some smart talker puts them to the test,", "But seize the last word, which no doubt's the best.", "", "Lord Henry and his lady were the hosts;", " The party we have touched on were the guests.", "Their table was a board to tempt even ghosts", " To pass the Styx for more substantial feasts.", "I will not dwell upon _ragoûts_ or roasts,", " Albeit all human history attests", "That happiness for Man--the hungry sinner!--", "Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner.", "", "Witness the lands which \"flowed with milk and honey,\"", " Held out unto the hungry Israelites:", "To this we have added since, the love of money,", " The only sort of pleasure which requites.", "Youth fades, and leaves our days no longer sunny;", " We tire of mistresses and parasites;", "But oh, ambrosial cash! Ah! who would lose thee?", "When we no more can use, or even abuse thee!", "", "The gentlemen got up betimes to shoot,", " Or hunt: the young, because they liked the sport--", "The first thing boys like after play and fruit;", " The middle-aged, to make the day more short;", "For _ennui_ is a growth of English root,", " Though nameless in our language:--we retort", "The fact for words, and let the French translate", "That awful yawn which sleep can not abate.", "", "The elderly walked through the library,", " And tumbled books, or criticised the pictures,", "Or sauntered through the gardens piteously,", " And made upon the hot-house several strictures,", "Or rode a nag which trotted not too high,", " Or on the morning papers read their lectures,", "Or on the watch their longing eyes would fix,", "Longing at sixty for the hour of six.", "", "But none were _gêné_: the great hour of union", " Was rung by dinner's knell; till then all were", "Masters of their own time--or in communion,", " Or solitary, as they chose to bear", "The hours, which how to pass is but to few known.", " Each rose up at his own, and had to spare", "What time he chose for dress, and broke his fast", "When, where, and how he chose for that repast.", "", "The ladies--some rouged, some a little pale--", " Met the morn as they might. If fine, they rode,", "Or walked; if foul, they read, or told a tale,", " Sung, or rehearsed the last dance from abroad;", "Discussed the fashion which might next prevail,", " And settled bonnets by the newest code,", "Or crammed twelve sheets into one little letter,", "To make each correspondent a new debtor.", "", "For some had absent lovers, all had friends;", " The earth has nothing like a she epistle,", "And hardly Heaven--because it never ends--", " I love the mystery of a female missal,", "Which, like a creed, ne'er says all it intends,", " But full of cunning as Ulysses' whistle,", "When he allured poor Dolon:--you had better", "Take care what you reply to such a letter.", "", "Then there were billiards; cards, too, but _no_ dice;--", " Save in the clubs no man of honour plays;--", "Boats when 't was water, skating when 't was ice,", " And the hard frost destroyed the scenting days:", "And angling, too, that solitary vice,", " Whatever Izaak Walton sings or says:", "The quaint, old, cruel coxcomb, in his gullet", "Should have a hook, and a small trout to pull it.", "", "With evening came the banquet and the wine;", " The conversazione--the duet", "Attuned by voices more or less divine", " (My heart or head aches with the memory yet).", "The four Miss Rawbolds in a glee would shine;", " But the two youngest loved more to be set", "Down to the harp--because to Music's charms", "They added graceful necks, white hands and arms.", "", "Sometimes a dance (though rarely on field days,", " For then the gentlemen were rather tired)", "Displayed some sylph-like figures in its maze;", " Then there was small-talk ready when required;", "Flirtation--but decorous; the mere praise", " Of charms that should or should not be admired.", "The hunters fought their fox-hunt o'er again,", "And then retreated soberly--at ten.", "", "The politicians, in a nook apart,", " Discussed the World, and settled all the spheres:", "The wits watched every loophole for their art,", " To introduce a _bon-mot_ head and ears;", "Small is the rest of those who would be smart,", " A moment's good thing may have cost them years", "Before they find an hour to introduce it;", "And then, even _then_, some bore may make them lose it.", "", "But all was gentle and aristocratic", " In this our party; polished, smooth, and cold,", "As Phidian forms cut out of marble Attic.", " There now are no Squire Westerns, as of old;", "And our Sophias are not so emphatic,", " But fair as then, or fairer to behold:", "We have no accomplished blackguards, like Tom Jones,", "But gentlemen in stays, as stiff as stones.", "", "They separated at an early hour;", " That is, ere midnight--which is London's noon:", "But in the country ladies seek their bower", " A little earlier than the waning moon.", "Peace to the slumbers of each folded flower--", " May the rose call back its true colour soon!", "Good hours of fair cheeks are the fairest tinters,", "And lower the price of rouge--at least some winters.", "", "CANTO THE FOURTEENTH.", "", "IF from great Nature's or our own abyss", " Of Thought we could but snatch a certainty,", "Perhaps Mankind might find the path they miss--", " But then 't would spoil much good philosophy.", "One system eats another up, and this", " Much as old Saturn ate his progeny;", "For when his pious consort gave him stones", "In lieu of sons, of these he made no bones.", "", "But System doth reverse the Titan's breakfast,", " And eats her parents, albeit the digestion", "Is difficult. Pray tell me, can you make fast,", " After due search, your faith to any question?", "Look back o'er ages, ere unto the stake fast", " You bind yourself, and call some mode the best one.", "Nothing more true than _not_ to trust your senses;", "And yet what are your other evidences?", "", "For me, I know nought; nothing I deny,", " Admit--reject--contemn: and what know _you_,", "Except perhaps that you were born to die?", " And both may after all turn out untrue.", "An age may come, Font of Eternity,", " When nothing shall be either old or new.", "Death, so called, is a thing which makes men weep,", "And yet a third of Life is passed in sleep.", "", "A sleep without dreams, after a rough day", " Of toil, is what we covet most; and yet", "How clay shrinks back from more quiescent clay!", " The very Suicide that pays his debt", "At once without instalments (an old way", " Of paying debts, which creditors regret),", "Lets out impatiently his rushing breath,", "Less from disgust of Life than dread of Death.", "", "'T is round him--near him--here--there--everywhere--", " And there's a courage which grows out of fear,", "Perhaps of all most desperate, which will dare", " The worst to _know_ it:--when the mountains rear", "Their peaks beneath your human foot, and there", " You look down o'er the precipice, and drear", "The gulf of rock yawns,--you can't gaze a minute,", "Without an awful wish to plunge within it.", "", "'T is true, you don't--but, pale and struck with terror,", " Retire: but look into your past impression!", "And you will find, though shuddering at the mirror", " Of your own thoughts, in all their self-confession,", "The lurking bias, be it truth or error,", " To the _unknown_; a secret prepossession,", "To plunge with all your fears--but where? You know not,", "And that's the reason why you do--or do not.", "", "But what's this to the purpose? you will say.", " Gent. reader, nothing; a mere speculation,", "For which my sole excuse is--'t is my way;", " Sometimes _with_ and sometimes without occasion,", "I write what's uppermost, without delay;", " This narrative is not meant for narration,", "But a mere airy and fantastic basis,", "To build up common things with common places.", "", "You know, or don't know, that great Bacon saith,", " \"Fling up a straw, 't will show the way the wind blows;\"", "And such a straw, borne on by human breath,", " Is Poesy, according as the Mind glows;", "A paper kite which flies 'twixt Life and Death,", " A shadow which the onward Soul behind throws:", "And mine's a bubble, not blown up for praise,", "But just to play with, as an infant plays.", "", "The World is all before me--or behind;", " For I have seen a portion of that same,", "And quite enough for me to keep in mind;--", " Of passions, too, I have proved enough to blame,", "To the great pleasure of our friends, Mankind,", " Who like to mix some slight alloy with fame;", "For I was rather famous in my time,", "Until I fairly knocked it up with rhyme.", "", "I have brought this world about my ears, and eke", " The other; that's to say, the Clergy--who", "Upon my head have bid their thunders break", " In pious libels by no means a few.", "And yet I can't help scribbling once a week,", " Tiring old readers, nor discovering new.", "In Youth I wrote because my mind was full,", "And _now_ because I feel it growing dull.", "", "But \"why then publish?\"--There are no rewards", " Of fame or profit when the World grows weary.", "I ask in turn,--Why do you play at cards?", " Why drink? Why read?--To make some hour less dreary.", "It occupies me to turn back regards", " On what I've seen or pondered, sad or cheery;", "And what I write I cast upon the stream,", "To swim or sink--I have had at least my dream.", "", "I think that were I _certain_ of success,", " I hardly could compose another line:", "So long I've battled either more or less,", " That no defeat can drive me from the Nine.", "This feeling 't is not easy to express,", " And yet 't is not affected, I opine.", "In play, there are two pleasures for your choosing--", "The one is winning, and the other losing.", "", "Besides, my Muse by no means deals in fiction:", " She gathers a repertory of facts,", "Of course with some reserve and slight restriction,", " But mostly sings of human things and acts--", "And that's one cause she meets with contradiction;", " For too much truth, at first sight, ne'er attracts;", "And were her object only what's called Glory,", "With more ease too she'd tell a different story.", "", "Love--War--a tempest--surely there's variety;", " Also a seasoning slight of lucubration;", "A bird's-eye view, too, of that wild, Society;", " A slight glance thrown on men of every station.", "If you have nought else, here's at least satiety,", " Both in performance and in preparation;", "And though these lines should only line portmanteaus,", "Trade will be all the better for these Cantos.", "", "The portion of this World which I at present", " Have taken up to fill the following sermon,", "Is one of which there's no description recent:", " The reason why is easy to determine:", "Although it seems both prominent and pleasant,", " There is a sameness in its gems and ermine,", "A dull and family likeness through all ages,", "Of no great promise for poetic pages.", "", "With much to excite, there's little to exalt;", " Nothing that speaks to all men and all times;", "A sort of varnish over every fault;", " A kind of common-place, even in their crimes;", "Factitious passions--Wit without much salt--", " A want of that true nature which sublimes", "Whate'er it shows with Truth; a smooth monotony", "Of character, in those at least who have got any.", "", "Sometimes, indeed, like soldiers off parade,", " They break their ranks and gladly leave the drill;", "But then the roll-call draws them back afraid,", " And they must be or seem what they _were_: still", "Doubtless it is a brilliant masquerade:", " But when of the first sight you have had your fill,", "It palls--at least it did so upon me,", "This paradise of Pleasure and _Ennui_.", "", "When we have made our love, and gamed our gaming,", " Dressed, voted, shone, and, may be, something more--", "With dandies dined--heard senators declaiming--", " Seen beauties brought to market by the score,", "Sad rakes to sadder husbands chastely taming--", " There's little left but to be bored or bore.", "Witness those _ci-devant jeunes hommes_ who stem", "The stream, nor leave the world which leaveth them.", "", "'T is said--indeed a general complaint--", " That no one has succeeded in describing", "The _monde_, exactly as they ought to paint:", " Some say, that authors only snatch, by bribing", "The porter, some slight scandals strange and quaint,", " To furnish matter for their moral gibing;", "And that their books have but one style in common--", "My Lady's prattle, filtered through her woman.", "", "But this can't well be true, just now; for writers", " Are grown of the _beau monde_ a part potential:", "I've seen them balance even the scale with fighters,", " Especially when young, for that's essential.", "Why do their sketches fail them as inditers", " Of what they deem themselves most consequential,", "The _real_ portrait of the highest tribe?", "'T is that--in fact--there's little to describe.", "", "_\"Haud ignara loquor;\"_ these are _Nugae_, \"_quarum", " Pars_ parva _fui_,\" but still art and part.", "Now I could much more easily sketch a harem,", " A battle, wreck, or history of the heart,", "Than these things; and besides, I wish to spare 'em,", " For reasons which I choose to keep apart.", "_\"Vetabo Cereris sacrum qui vulgarit\"_--", "Which means, that vulgar people must not share it.", "", "And therefore what I throw off is ideal--", " Lowered, leavened, like a history of Freemasons,", "Which bears the same relation to the real,", " As Captain Parry's Voyage may do to Jason's.", "The grand _Arcanum_'s not for men to see all;", " My music has some mystic diapasons;", "And there is much which could not be appreciated", "In any manner by the uninitiated.", "", "Alas! worlds fall--and Woman, since she felled", " The World (as, since that history, less polite", "Than true, hath been a creed so strictly held),", " Has not yet given up the practice quite.", "Poor Thing of Usages! coerced, compelled,", " Victim when wrong, and martyr oft when right,", "Condemned to child-bed, as men for their sins", "Have shaving too entailed upon their chins,--", "", "A daily plague, which in the aggregate", " May average on the whole with parturition.--", "But as to women--who can penetrate", " The real sufferings of their she condition?", "Man's very sympathy with their estate", " Has much of selfishness, and more suspicion.", "Their love, their virtue, beauty, education,", "But form good housekeepers--to breed a nation.", "", "All this were very well, and can't be better;", " But even this is difficult, Heaven knows,", "So many troubles from her birth beset her,", " Such small distinction between friends and foes;", "The gilding wears so soon from off her fetter,", " That--but ask any woman if she'd choose", "(Take her at thirty, that is) to have been", "Female or male? a schoolboy or a Queen?", "", "\"Petticoat Influence\" is a great reproach,", " Which even those who obey would fain be thought", "To fly from, as from hungry pikes a roach;", " But since beneath it upon earth we are brought,", "By various joltings of Life's hackney coach,", " I for one venerate a petticoat--", "A garment of a mystical sublimity,", "No matter whether russet, silk, or dimity.", "", "Much I respect, and much I have adored,", " In my young days, that chaste and goodly veil,", "Which holds a treasure, like a miser's hoard,", " And more attracts by all it doth conceal--", "A golden scabbard on a Damasque sword,", " A loving letter with a mystic seal,", "A cure for grief--for what can ever rankle", "Before a petticoat and peeping ankle?", "", "And when upon a silent, sullen day,", " With a Sirocco, for example, blowing,", "When even the sea looks dim with all its spray,", " And sulkily the river's ripple's flowing,", "And the sky shows that very ancient gray,", " The sober, sad antithesis to glowing,--", "'T is pleasant, if _then_ anything is pleasant,", "To catch a glimpse even of a pretty peasant.", "", "We left our heroes and our heroines", " In that fair clime which don't depend on climate,", "Quite independent of the Zodiac's signs,", " Though certainly more difficult to rhyme at,", "Because the Sun, and stars, and aught that shines,", " Mountains, and all we can be most sublime at,", "Are there oft dull and dreary as a _dun_--", "Whether a sky's or tradesman's is all one.", "", "An in-door life is less poetical;", " And out-of-door hath showers, and mists, and sleet", "With which I could not brew a pastoral:", " But be it as it may, a bard must meet", "All difficulties, whether great or small,", " To spoil his undertaking, or complete--", "And work away--like Spirit upon Matter--", "Embarrassed somewhat both with fire and water.", "", "Juan--in this respect, at least, like saints--", " Was all things unto people of all sorts,", "And lived contentedly, without complaints,", " In camps, in ships, in cottages, or courts--", "Born with that happy soul which seldom faints,", " And mingling modestly in toils or sports.", "He likewise could be most things to all women,", "Without the coxcombry of certain _she_ men.", "", "A fox-hunt to a foreigner is strange;", " 'T is also subject to the double danger", "Of tumbling first, and having in exchange", " Some pleasant jesting at the awkward stranger:", "But Juan had been early taught to range", " The wilds, as doth an Arab turned avenger,", "So that his horse, or charger, hunter, hack,", "Knew that he had a rider on his back.", "", "And now in this new field, with some applause,", " He cleared hedge, ditch, and double post, and rail,", "And never _craned_ and made but few _\"faux pas,\"_", " And only fretted when the scent 'gan fail.", "He broke, 't is true, some statutes of the laws", " Of hunting--for the sagest youth is frail;", "Rode o'er the hounds, it may be, now and then,", "And once o'er several Country Gentlemen.", "", "But on the whole, to general admiration,", " He acquitted both himself and horse: the Squires", "Marvelled at merit of another nation;", " The boors cried \"Dang it! who'd have thought it?\"--Sires,", "The Nestors of the sporting generation,", " Swore praises, and recalled their former fires;", "The Huntsman's self relented to a grin,", "And rated him almost a whipper-in.", "", "Such were his trophies--not of spear and shield,", " But leaps, and bursts, and sometimes foxes' brushes;", "Yet I must own,--although in this I yield", " To patriot sympathy a Briton's blushes,--", "He thought at heart like courtly Chesterfield,", " Who, after a long chase o'er hills, dales, bushes,", "And what not, though he rode beyond all price.", "Asked next day, \"If men ever hunted _twice_?\"", "", "He also had a quality uncommon", " To early risers after a long chase,", "Who wake in winter ere the cock can summon", " December's drowsy day to his dull race,--", "A quality agreeable to Woman,", " When her soft, liquid words run on apace,", "Who likes a listener, whether Saint or Sinner,--", "He did not fall asleep just after dinner;", "", "But, light and airy, stood on the alert,", " And shone in the best part of dialogue,", "By humouring always what they might assert,", " And listening to the topics most in vogue,", "Now grave, now gay, but never dull or pert;", " And smiling but in secret--cunning rogue!", "He ne'er presumed to make an error clearer;--", "In short, there never was a better hearer.", "", "And then he danced;--all foreigners excel", " The serious Angles in the eloquence", "Of pantomime!--he danced, I say, right well,", " With emphasis, and also with good sense--", "A thing in footing indispensable;", " He danced without theatrical pretence,", "Not like a ballet-master in the van", "Of his drilled nymphs, but like a gentleman.", "", "Chaste were his steps, each kept within due bound,", " And Elegance was sprinkled o'er his figure;", "Like swift Camilla, he scarce skimmed the ground,", " And rather held in than put forth his vigour;", "And then he had an ear for Music's sound,", " Which might defy a crotchet critic's rigour.", "Such classic _pas_--sans flaws--set off our hero,", "He glanced like a personified Bolero;", "", "Or like a flying Hour before Aurora,", " In Guido's famous fresco (which alone", "Is worth a tour to Rome, although no more a", " Remnant were there of the old World's sole throne):", "The \"_tout ensemble_\" of his movements wore a", " Grace of the soft Ideal, seldom shown,", "And ne'er to be described; for to the dolour", "Of bards and prosers, words are void of colour.", "", "No marvel then he was a favourite;", " A full-grown Cupid, very much admired;", "A little spoilt, but by no means so quite;", " At least he kept his vanity retired.", "Such was his tact, he could alike delight", " The chaste, and those who are not so much inspired.", "The Duchess of Fitz-Fulke, who loved _tracasserie_,", "Began to treat him with some small _agacerie_.", "", "She was a fine and somewhat full-blown blonde,", " Desirable, distinguished, celebrated", "For several winters in the grand, _grand Monde_:", " I'd rather not say what might be related", "Of her exploits, for this were ticklish ground;", " Besides there might be falsehood in what's stated:", "Her late performance had been a dead set", "At Lord Augustus Fitz-Plantagenet.", "", "This noble personage began to look", " A little black upon this new flirtation;", "But such small licences must lovers brook,", " Mere freedoms of the female corporation.", "Woe to the man who ventures a rebuke!", " 'Twill but precipitate a situation", "Extremely disagreeable, but common", "To calculators when they count on Woman.", "", "The circle smiled, then whispered, and then sneered;", " The misses bridled, and the matrons frowned;", "Some hoped things might not turn out as they feared;", " Some would not deem such women could be found;", "Some ne'er believed one half of what they heard;", " Some looked perplexed, and others looked profound:", "And several pitied with sincere regret", "Poor Lord Augustus Fitz-Plantagenet.", "", "But what is odd, none ever named the Duke,", " Who, one might think, was something in the affair:", "True, he was absent, and, 'twas rumoured, took", " But small concern about the when, or where,", "Or what his consort did: if he could brook", " Her gaieties, none had a right to stare:", "Theirs was that best of unions, past all doubt,", "Which never meets, and therefore can't fall out.", "", "But, oh! that I should ever pen so sad a line!", " Fired with an abstract love of Virtue, she,", "My Dian of the Ephesians, Lady Adeline,", " Began to think the Duchess' conduct free;", "Regretting much that she had chosen so bad a line,", " And waxing chiller in her courtesy,", "Looked grave and pale to see her friend's fragility,", "For which most friends reserve their sensibility.", "", "There's nought in this bad world like sympathy:", " 'Tis so becoming to the soul and face,", "Sets to soft music the harmonious sigh,", " And robes sweet Friendship in a Brussels lace.", "Without a friend, what were Humanity,", " To hunt our errors up with a good grace?", "Consoling us with--\"Would you had thought twice!", "Ah! if you had but followed my advice!\"", "", "O Job! you had two friends: one's quite enough,", " Especially when we are ill at ease;", "They're but bad pilots when the weather's rough,", " Doctors less famous for their cures than fees.", "Let no man grumble when his friends fall off,", " As they will do like leaves at the first breeze:", "When your affairs come round, one way or t' other,", "Go to the coffee-house, and take another.", "", "But this is not my maxim: had it been,", " Some heart-aches had been spared me: yet I care not--", "I would not be a tortoise in his screen", " Of stubborn shell, which waves and weather wear not:", "'Tis better on the whole to have felt and seen", " That which Humanity may bear, or bear not:", "'Twill teach discernment to the sensitive,", "And not to pour their Ocean in a sieve.", "", "Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe,", " Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast,", "Is that portentous phrase, \"I told you so,\"", " Uttered by friends, those prophets of the _past_,", "Who, 'stead of saying what you _now_ should do,", " Own they foresaw that you would fall at last,", "And solace your slight lapse 'gainst _bonos mores_,", "With a long memorandum of old stories.", "", "The Lady Adeline's serene severity", " Was not confined to feeling for her friend,", "Whose fame she rather doubted with posterity,", " Unless her habits should begin to mend:", "But Juan also shared in her austerity,", " But mixed with pity, pure as e'er was penned", "His Inexperience moved her gentle ruth,", "And (as her junior by six weeks) his Youth.", "", "These forty days' advantage of her years--", " And hers were those which can face calculation,", "Boldly referring to the list of Peers", " And noble births, nor dread the enumeration--", "Gave her a right to have maternal fears", " For a young gentleman's fit education,", "Though she was far from that leap year, whose leap,", "In female dates, strikes Time all of a heap.", "", "This may be fixed at somewhere before thirty--", " Say seven-and-twenty; for I never knew", "The strictest in chronology and virtue", " Advance beyond, while they could pass for new.", "O Time! why dost not pause? Thy scythe, so dirty", " With rust, should surely cease to hack and hew:", "Reset it--shave more smoothly, also slower,", "If but to keep thy credit as a mower.", "", "But Adeline was far from that ripe age,", " Whose ripeness is but bitter at the best:", "'Twas rather her Experience made her sage,", " For she had seen the World and stood its test,", "As I have said in--I forget what page;", " My Muse despises reference, as you have guessed", "By this time;--but strike six from seven-and-twenty,", "And you will find her sum of years in plenty.", "", "At sixteen she came out; presented, vaunted,", " She put all coronets into commotion:", "At seventeen, too, the World was still enchanted", " With the new Venus of their brilliant Ocean:", "At eighteen, though below her feet still panted", " A Hecatomb of suitors with devotion,", "She had consented to create again", "That Adam, called \"The happiest of Men.\"", "", "Since then she had sparkled through three glowing winters,", " Admired, adored; but also so correct,", "That she had puzzled all the acutest hinters,", " Without the apparel of being circumspect:", "They could not even glean the slightest splinters", " From off the marble, which had no defect.", "She had also snatched a moment since her marriage", "To bear a son and heir--and one miscarriage.", "", "Fondly the wheeling fire-flies flew around her,", " Those little glitterers of the London night;", "But none of these possessed a sting to wound her--", " She was a pitch beyond a coxcomb's flight.", "Perhaps she wished an aspirant profounder;", " But whatsoe'er she wished, she acted right;", "And whether Coldness, Pride, or Virtue dignify", "A Woman--so she's good--what _does_ it signify?", "", "I hate a motive, like a lingering bottle", " Which with the landlord makes too long a stand,", "Leaving all-claretless the unmoistened throttle,", " Especially with politics on hand;", "I hate it, as I hate a drove of cattle,", " Who whirl the dust as Simooms whirl the sand;", "I hate it as I hate an argument,", "A Laureate's Ode, or servile Peer's \"Content.\"", "", "'T is sad to hack into the roots of things,", " They are so much intertwisted with the earth;", "So that the branch a goodly verdure flings,", " I reck not if an acorn gave it birth.", "To trace all actions to their secret springs", " Would make indeed some melancholy mirth:", "But this is not at present my concern,", "And I refer you to wise Oxenstiern.", "", "With the kind view of saving an _éclat_,", " Both to the Duchess and Diplomatist,", "The Lady Adeline, as soon's she saw", " That Juan was unlikely to resist--", "(For foreigners don't know that a _faux pas_", " In England ranks quite on a different list", "From those of other lands unblest with juries,", "Whose verdict for such sin a certain cure is;--)", "", "The Lady Adeline resolved to take", " Such measures as she thought might best impede", "The farther progress of this sad mistake.", " She thought with some simplicity indeed;", "But Innocence is bold even at the stake,", " And simple in the World, and doth not need", "Nor use those palisades by dames erected,", "Whose virtue lies in never being detected.", "", "It was not that she feared the very worst:", " His Grace was an enduring, married man,", "And was not likely all at once to burst", " Into a scene, and swell the clients' clan", "Of Doctors' Commons; but she dreaded first", " The magic of her Grace's talisman,", "And next a quarrel (as he seemed to fret)", "With Lord Augustus Fitz-Plantagenet.", "", "Her Grace, too, passed for being an _intrigante_,", " And somewhat _méchante_ in her amorous sphere;", "One of those pretty, precious plagues, which haunt", " A lover with caprices soft and dear,", "That like to _make_ a quarrel, when they can't", " Find one, each day of the delightful year:", "Bewitching, torturing, as they freeze or glow,", "And--what is worst of all--won't let you go:", "", "The sort of thing to turn a young man's head,", " Or make a Werter of him in the end.", "No wonder then a purer soul should dread", " This sort of chaste _liaison_ for a friend;", "It were much better to be wed or dead,", " Than wear a heart a Woman loves to rend.", "'T is best to pause, and think, ere you rush on,", "If that a _bonne fortune_ be really _bonne_.", "", "And first, in the overflowing of her heart,", " Which really knew or thought it knew no guile,", "She called her husband now and then apart,", " And bade him counsel Juan. With a smile", "Lord Henry heard her plans of artless art", " To wean Don Juan from the Siren's wile;", "And answered, like a statesman or a prophet,", "In such guise that she could make nothing of it.", "", "Firstly, he said, \"he never interfered", " In anybody's business but the King's:\"", "Next, that \"he never judged from what appeared,", " Without strong reason, of those sort of things:\"", "Thirdly, that \"Juan had more brain than beard,", " And was not to be held in leading strings;\"", "And fourthly, what need hardly be said twice,", "\"That good but rarely came from good advice.\"", "", "And, therefore, doubtless to approve the truth", " Of the last axiom, he advised his spouse", "To leave the parties to themselves, forsooth--", " At least as far as _bienséance_ allows:", "That time would temper Juan's faults of youth;", " That young men rarely made monastic vows;", "That Opposition only more attaches--", "But here a messenger brought in despatches:", "", "And being of the council called \"the Privy,\"", " Lord Henry walked into his cabinet,", "To furnish matter for some future Livy", " To tell how he reduced the Nation's debt;", "And if their full contents I do not give ye,", " It is because I do not know them yet;", "But I shall add them in a brief appendix,", "To come between mine Epic and its index.", "", "But ere he went, he added a slight hint,", " Another gentle common-place or two,", "Such as are coined in Conversation's mint,", " And pass, for want of better, though not new:", "Then broke his packet, to see what was in 't,", " And having casually glanced it through,", "Retired: and, as he went out, calmly kissed her,", "Less like a young wife than an agéd sister.", "", "He was a cold, good, honourable man,", " Proud of his birth, and proud of everything;", "A goodly spirit for a state Divan,", " A figure fit to walk before a King;", "Tall, stately, formed to lead the courtly van", " On birthdays, glorious with a star and string;", "The very model of a chamberlain--", "And such I mean to make him when I reign.", "", "But there was something wanting on the whole--", " I don't know what, and therefore cannot tell--", "Which pretty women--the sweet souls!--call _soul_.", " _Certes_ it was not body; he was well", "Proportioned, as a poplar or a pole,", " A handsome man, that human miracle;", "And in each circumstance of Love or War", "Had still preserved his perpendicular.", "", "Still there was something wanting, as I've said--", " That undefinable \"_Je ne sçais quoi_\"", "Which, for what I know, may of yore have led", " To Homer's Iliad, since it drew to Troy", "The Greek Eve, Helen, from the Spartan's bed;", " Though on the whole, no doubt, the Dardan boy", "Was much inferior to King Menelaüs:--", "But thus it is some women will betray us.", "", "There is an awkward thing which much perplexes,", " Unless like wise Tiresias we had proved", "By turns the difference of the several sexes;", " Neither can show quite _how_ they would be loved.", "The Sensual for a short time but connects us--", " The Sentimental boasts to be unmoved;", "But both together form a kind of Centaur,", "Upon whose back 't is better not to venture.", "", "A something all-sufficient for the _heart_", " Is that for which the sex are always seeking:", "But how to fill up that same vacant part?", " There lies the rub--and this they are but weak in.", "Frail mariners afloat without a chart,", " They run before the wind through high seas breaking;", "And when they have made the shore through every shock,", "'T is odd--or odds--it may turn out a rock.", "", "There is a flower called \"Love in Idleness,\"", " For which see Shakespeare's ever-blooming garden;--", "I will not make his great description less,", " And beg his British godship's humble pardon,", "If, in my extremity of rhyme's distress,", " I touch a single leaf where he is warden;--", "But, though the flower is different, with the French", "Or Swiss Rousseau--cry _\"Voilà la Pervenche.'\"_", "", "Eureka! I have found it! What I mean", " To say is, not that Love is Idleness,", "But that in Love such idleness has been", " An accessory, as I have cause to guess.", "Hard Labour's an indifferent go-between;", " Your men of business are not apt to express", "Much passion, since the merchant-ship, the Argo,", "Conveyed Medea as her supercargo.", "", "_\"Beatus ille procul!_\" from \"_negotiis,_\"", " Saith Horace; the great little poet's wrong;", "His other maxim, _\"Noscitur à sociis,\"_", " Is much more to the purpose of his song;", "Though even that were sometimes too ferocious,", " Unless good company be kept too long;", "But, in his teeth, whate'er their state or station,", "Thrice happy they who _have_ an occupation!", "", "Adam exchanged his Paradise for ploughing,", " Eve made up millinery with fig leaves--", "The earliest knowledge from the Tree so knowing,", " As far as I know, that the Church receives:", "And since that time it need not cost much showing,", " That many of the ills o'er which Man grieves,", "And still more Women, spring from not employing", "Some hours to make the remnant worth enjoying.", "", "And hence high life is oft a dreary void,", " A rack of pleasures, where we must invent", "A something wherewithal to be annoyed.", " Bards may sing what they please about _Content_;", "_Contented_, when translated, means but cloyed;", " And hence arise the woes of Sentiment,", "Blue-devils--and Blue-stockings--and Romances", "Reduced to practice, and performed like dances.", "", "I do declare, upon an affidavit,", " Romances I ne'er read like those I have seen;", "Nor, if unto the World I ever gave it,", " Would some believe that such a tale had been:", "But such intent I never had, nor have it;", " Some truths are better kept behind a screen,", "Especially when they would look like lies;", "I therefore deal in generalities.", "", "\"An oyster may be crossed in love\"--and why?", " Because he mopeth idly in his shell,", "And heaves a lonely subterraqueous sigh,", " Much as a monk may do within his cell:", "And _à-propos_ of monks, their Piety", " With Sloth hath found it difficult to dwell:", "Those vegetables of the Catholic creed", "Are apt exceedingly to run to seed.", "", "O Wilberforce! thou man of black renown,", " Whose merit none enough can sing or say,", "Thou hast struck one immense Colossus down,", " Thou moral Washington of Africa!", "But there's another little thing, I own,", " Which you should perpetrate some summer's day,", "And set the other half of Earth to rights;", "You have freed the _blacks_--now pray shut up the whites.", "", "Shut up the bald-coot bully Alexander!", " Ship off the Holy Three to Senegal;", "Teach them that \"sauce for goose is sauce for gander,\"", " And ask them how _they_ like to be in thrall?", "Shut up each high heroic Salamander,", " Who eats fire gratis (since the pay's but small);", "Shut up--no, _not_ the King, but the Pavilion,", "Or else 't will cost us all another million.", "", "Shut up the World at large, let Bedlam out;", " And you will be perhaps surprised to find", "All things pursue exactly the same route,", " As now with those of _soi-disant_ sound mind.", "This I could prove beyond a single doubt,", " Were there a jot of sense among Mankind;", "But till that _point d'appui_ is found, alas!", "Like Archimedes, I leave Earth as 't was.", "", "Our gentle Adeline had one defect--", " Her heart was vacant, though a splendid mansion;", "Her conduct had been perfectly correct,", " As she had seen nought claiming its expansion.", "A wavering spirit may be easier wrecked,", " Because 't is frailer, doubtless, than a staunch one;", "But when the latter works its own undoing,", "Its inner crash is like an Earthquake's ruin.", "", "She loved her Lord, or thought so; but _that_ love", " Cost her an effort, which is a sad toil,", "The stone of Sisyphus, if once we move", " Our feelings 'gainst the nature of the soil.", "She had nothing to complain of, or reprove,", " No bickerings, no connubial turmoil:", "Their union was a model to behold,", "Serene and noble,--conjugal, but cold.", "", "There was no great disparity of years,", " Though much in temper; but they never clashed:", "They moved like stars united in their spheres,", " Or like the Rhone by Leman's waters washed,", "Where mingled and yet separate appears", " The River from the Lake, all bluely dashed", "Through the serene and placid glassy deep,", "Which fain would lull its river-child to sleep.", "", "Now when she once had ta'en an interest", " In anything, however she might flatter", "Herself that her intentions were the best,", " Intense intentions are a dangerous matter:", "Impressions were much stronger than she guessed,", " And gathered as they run like growing water", "Upon her mind; the more so, as her breast", "Was not at first too readily impressed.", "", "But when it was, she had that lurking Demon", " Of double nature, and thus doubly named--", "Firmness yclept in Heroes, Kings, and seamen,", " That is, when they succeed; but greatly blamed", "As _Obstinacy_, both in Men and Women,", " Whene'er their triumph pales, or star is tamed:--", "And 't will perplex the casuist in morality", "To fix the due bounds of this dangerous quality.", "", "Had Buonaparte won at Waterloo,", " It had been firmness; now 't is pertinacity:", "Must the event decide between the two?", " I leave it to your people of sagacity", "To draw the line between the false and true,", " If such can e'er be drawn by Man's capacity:", "My business is with Lady Adeline,", "Who in her way too was a heroine.", "", "She knew not her own heart; then how should I?", " I think not she was _then_ in love with Juan:", "If so, she would have had the strength to fly", " The wild sensation, unto her a new one:", "She merely felt a common sympathy", " (I will not say it was a false or true one)", "In him, because she thought he was in danger,--", "Her husband's friend--her own--young--and a stranger.", "", "She was, or thought she was, his friend--and this", " Without the farce of Friendship, or romance", "Of Platonism, which leads so oft amiss", " Ladies who have studied Friendship but in France", "Or Germany, where people _purely_ kiss.", " To thus much Adeline would not advance;", "But of such friendship as Man's may to Man be", "She was as capable as Woman can be.", "", "No doubt the secret influence of the Sex", " Will there, as also in the ties of blood,", "An innocent predominance annex,", " And tune the concord to a finer mood.", "If free from Passion, which all Friendship checks,", " And your true feelings fully understood,", "No friend like to a woman Earth discovers,", "So that you have not been nor will be lovers.", "", "Love bears within its breast the very germ", " Of Change; and how should this be otherwise?", "That violent things more quickly find a term", " Is shown through Nature's whole analogies;", "And how should the most fierce of all be firm?", " Would you have endless lightning in the skies?", "Methinks Love's very title says enough:", "How should \"the _tender_ passion\" e'er be _tough?_", "", "Alas! by all experience, seldom yet", " (I merely quote what I have heard from many)", "Had lovers not some reason to regret", " The passion which made Solomon a zany.", "I've also seen some wives (not to forget", " The marriage state, the best or worst of any)", "Who were the very paragons of wives,", "Yet made the misery of at least two lives.", "", "I've also seen some female _friends_ ('t is odd,", " But true--as, if expedient, I could prove)", "That faithful were through thick and thin, abroad,", " At home, far more than ever yet was Love--", "Who did not quit me when Oppression trod", " Upon me; whom no scandal could remove;", "Who fought, and fight, in absence, too, my battles,", "Despite the snake Society's loud rattles.", "", "Whether Don Juan and chaste Adeline", " Grew friends in this or any other sense,", "Will be discussed hereafter, I opine:", " At present I am glad of a pretence", "To leave them hovering, as the effect is fine,", " And keeps the atrocious reader in _suspense_;", "The surest way--for ladies and for books--", "To bait their tender--or their tenter--hooks.", "", "Whether they rode, or walked, or studied Spanish,", " To read Don Quixote in the original,", "A pleasure before which all others vanish;", " Whether their talk was of the kind called \"small,\"", "Or serious, are the topics I must banish", " To the next Canto; where perhaps I shall", "Say something to the purpose, and display", "Considerable talent in my way.", "", "Above all, I beg all men to forbear", " Anticipating aught about the matter:", "They'll only make mistakes about the fair,", " And Juan, too, especially the latter.", "And I shall take a much more serious air", " Than I have yet done, in this Epic Satire.", "It is not clear that Adeline and Juan", "Will fall; but if they do, 't will be their ruin.", "", "But great things spring from little:--Would you think,", " That in our youth, as dangerous a passion", "As e'er brought Man and Woman to the brink", " Of ruin, rose from such a slight occasion,", "As few would ever dream could form the link", " Of such a sentimental situation?", "You'll never guess, I'll bet you millions, milliards--", "It all sprung from a harmless game at billiards.", "", "'T is strange,--but true; for Truth is always strange--", " Stranger than fiction: if it could be told,", "How much would novels gain by the exchange!", " How differently the World would men behold!", "How oft would Vice and Virtue places change!", " The new world would be nothing to the old,", "If some Columbus of the moral seas", "Would show mankind their Souls' antipodes.", "", "What \"antres vast and deserts idle,\" then,", " Would be discovered in the human soul!", "What icebergs in the hearts of mighty men,", " With self-love in the centre as their Pole!", "What Anthropophagi are nine of ten", " Of those who hold the kingdoms in control!", "Were things but only called by their right name,", "Cæsar himself would be ashamed of Fame.", "", "CANTO THE FIFTEENTH.", "", "AH!--What should follow slips from my reflection;", " Whatever follows ne'ertheless may be", "As à-propos of Hope or Retrospection,", " As though the lurking thought had followed free.", "All present life is but an Interjection,", " An \"Oh!\" or \"Ah!\" of Joy or Misery,", "Or a \"Ha! ha!\" or \"Bah!\"--a yawn, or \"Pooh!\"", "Of which perhaps the latter is most true.", "", "But, more or less, the whole's a Syncopé", " Or a _Singultus_--emblems of Emotion,", "The grand Antithesis to great _Ennui_,", " Wherewith we break our bubbles on the Ocean--", "That Watery Outline of Eternity,", " Or miniature, at least, as is my notion--", "Which ministers unto the Soul's delight,", "In seeing matters which are out of sight.", "", "But all are better than the sigh suppressed,", " Corroding in the cavern of the heart,", "Making the countenance a masque of rest", " And turning Human Nature to an art.", "Few men dare show their thoughts of worst or best;", " Dissimulation always sets apart", "A corner for herself; and, therefore, Fiction", "Is that which passes with least contradiction.", "", "Ah! who can tell? Or rather, who can not", " Remember, without telling, Passion's errors?", "The drainer of Oblivion, even the sot,", " Hath got _blue devils_ for his morning mirrors:", "What though on Lethe's stream he seem to float,", " He cannot sink his tremours or his terrors;", "The ruby glass that shakes within his hand", "Leaves a sad sediment of Time's worst sand.", "", "And as for Love--O Love!--We will proceed:--", " The Lady Adeline Amundeville,", "A pretty name as one would wish to read,", " Must perch harmonious on my tuneful quill.", "There's Music in the sighing of a reed;", " There's Music in the gushing of a rill;", "There's Music in all things, if men had ears:", "Their Earth is but an echo of the Spheres.", "", "The Lady Adeline, Right Honourable,", " And honoured, ran a risk of growing less so;", "For few of the soft sex are very stable", " In their resolves--alas! that I should say so;", "They differ as wine differs from its label,", " When once decanted;--I presume to guess so,", "But will not swear: yet both upon occasion,", "Till old, may undergo adulteration.", "", "But Adeline was of the purest vintage,", " The unmingled essence of the grape; and yet", "Bright as a new napoleon from its mintage,", " Or glorious as a diamond richly set;", "A page where Time should hesitate to print age,", " And for which Nature might forego her debt--", "Sole creditor whose process doth involve in 't", "The luck of finding everybody solvent.", "", "O Death! thou dunnest of all duns! thou daily", " Knockest at doors, at first with modest tap,", "Like a meek tradesman when approaching palely", " Some splendid debtor he would take by sap:", "But oft denied, as Patience 'gins to fail, he", " Advances with exasperated rap,", "And (if let in) insists, in terms unhandsome,", "On ready money, or \"a draft on Ransom.\"", "", "Whate'er thou takest, spare awhile poor Beauty!", " She is so rare, and thou hast so much prey.", "What though she now and then may slip from duty,", " The more's the reason why you ought to stay;", "Gaunt Gourmand! with whole nations for your booty,--", " You should be civil in a modest way:", "Suppress, then, some slight feminine diseases,", "And take as many heroes as Heaven pleases.", "", "Fair Adeline, the more ingenuous", " Where she was interested (as was said),", "Because she was not apt, like some of us,", " To like too readily, or too high bred", "To show it--(points we need not now discuss)--", " Would give up artlessly both Heart and Head", "Unto such feelings as seemed innocent,", "For objects worthy of the sentiment.", "", "Some parts of Juan's history, which Rumour,", " That live Gazette, had scattered to disfigure,", "She had heard; but Women hear with more good humour", " Such aberrations than we men of rigour:", "Besides, his conduct, since in England, grew more", " Strict, and his mind assumed a manlier vigour:", "Because he had, like Alcibiades,", "The art of living in all climes with ease.", "", "His manner was perhaps the more seductive,", " Because he ne'er seemed anxious to seduce;", "Nothing affected, studied, or constructive", " Of coxcombry or conquest: no abuse", "Of his attractions marred the fair perspective,", " To indicate a Cupidon broke loose,", "And seem to say, \"Resist us if you can\"--", "Which makes a Dandy while it spoils a Man.", "", "They are wrong--that's not the way to set about it;", " As, if they told the truth, could well be shown.", "But, right or wrong, Don Juan was without it;", " In fact, his manner was his own alone:", "Sincere he was--at least you could not doubt it,", " In listening merely to his voice's tone.", "The Devil hath not in all his quiver's choice", "An arrow for the Heart like a sweet voice.", "", "By nature soft, his whole address held off", " Suspicion: though not timid, his regard", "Was such as rather seemed to keep aloof,", " To shield himself than put _you_ on your guard:", "Perhaps 't was hardly quite assured enough,", " But Modesty's at times its own reward,", "Like Virtue; and the absence of pretension", "Will go much farther than there's need to mention.", "", "Serene, accomplished, cheerful but not loud;", " Insinuating without insinuation;", "Observant of the foibles of the crowd,", " Yet ne'er betraying this in conversation;", "Proud with the proud, yet courteously proud,", " So as to make them feel he knew his station", "And theirs:--without a struggle for priority,", "He neither brooked nor claimed superiority--", "", "That is, with Men: with Women he was what", " They pleased to make or take him for; and their", "Imagination's quite enough for that:", " So that the outline's tolerably fair,", "They fill the canvas up--and _\"verbum sat.\"_", " If once their phantasies be brought to bear", "Upon an object, whether sad or playful,", "They can transfigure brighter than a Raphael.", "", "Adeline, no deep judge of character,", " Was apt to add a colouring from her own:", "'T is thus the Good will amiably err,", " And eke the Wise, as has been often shown.", "Experience is the chief philosopher,", " But saddest when his science is well known:", "And persecuted Sages teach the Schools", "Their folly in forgetting there are fools.", "", "Was it not so, great Locke? and greater Bacon?", " Great Socrates? And thou, Diviner still,", "Whose lot it is by Man to be mistaken,", " And thy pure creed made sanction of all ill?", "Redeeming Worlds to be by bigots shaken,", " How was thy toil rewarded? We might fill", "Volumes with similar sad illustrations,", "But leave them to the conscience of the nations.", "", "I perch upon an humbler promontory,", " Amidst Life's infinite variety:", "With no great care for what is nicknamed Glory,", " But speculating as I cast mine eye", "On what may suit or may not suit my story,", " And never straining hard to versify,", "I rattle on exactly as I'd talk", "With anybody in a ride or walk.", "", "I don't know that there may be much ability", " Shown in this sort of desultory rhyme;", "But there's a conversational facility,", " Which may round off an hour upon a time.", "Of this I'm sure at least, there's no servility", " In mine irregularity of chime,", "Which rings what's uppermost of new or hoary,", "Just as I feel the _Improvvisatore_.", "", "\"_Omnia vult_ belle _Matho dicere_--_dic aliquando_", " _Et_ bene, _dic_ neutrum, _dic aliquando_ male.\"", "The first is rather more than mortal can do;", " The second may be sadly done or gaily;", "The third is still more difficult to stand to;", " The fourth we hear, and see, and say too, daily:", "The whole together is what I could wish", "To serve in this conundrum of a dish.", "", "A modest hope--but Modesty's my forte,", " And Pride my feeble:--let us ramble on.", "I meant to make this poem very short,", " But now I can't tell where it may not run.", "No doubt, if I had wished to pay my court", " To critics, or to hail the _setting_ sun", "Of Tyranny of all kinds, my concision", "Were more;--but I was born for opposition.", "", "But then 't is mostly on the weaker side;", " So that I verily believe if they", "Who now are basking in their full-blown pride", " Were shaken down, and \"dogs had had their day,\"", "Though at the first I might perchance deride", " Their tumble, I should turn the other way,", "And wax an ultra-royalist in Loyalty,", "Because I hate even democratic Royalty.", "", "I think I should have made a decent spouse,", " If I had never proved the soft condition;", "I think I should have made monastic vows", " But for my own peculiar superstition:", "'Gainst rhyme I never should have knocked my brows,", " Nor broken my own head, nor that of Priscian,", "Nor worn the motley mantle of a poet,", "If some one had not told me to forego it.", "", "But _laissez aller_--Knights and Dames I sing,", " Such as the times may furnish. 'T is a flight", "Which seems at first to need no lofty wing,", " Plumed by Longinus or the Stagyrite:", "The difficulty lies in colouring", " (Keeping the due proportions still in sight)", "With Nature manners which are artificial,", "And rend'ring general that which is especial.", "", "The difference is, that in the days of old", " Men made the Manners; Manners now make men--", "Pinned like a flock, and fleeced too in their fold,", " At least nine, and a ninth beside of ten.", "Now this at all events must render cold", " Your writers, who must either draw again", "Days better drawn before, or else assume", "The present, with their common-place costume.", "", "We'll do our best to make the best on 't:--March!", " March, my Muse! If you cannot fly, yet flutter;", "And when you may not be sublime, be arch,", " Or starch, as are the edicts statesmen utter.", "We surely may find something worth research:", " Columbus found a new world in a cutter,", "Or brigantine, or pink, of no great tonnage,", "While yet America was in her non-age.", "", "When Adeline, in all her growing sense", " Of Juan's merits and his situation,", "Felt on the whole an interest intense,--", " Partly perhaps because a fresh sensation,", "Or that he had an air of innocence,", " Which is for Innocence a sad temptation,--", "As Women hate half measures, on the whole,", "She 'gan to ponder how to save his soul.", "", "She had a good opinion of Advice,", " Like all who give and eke receive it gratis,", "For which small thanks are still the market price,", " Even where the article at highest rate is:", "She thought upon the subject twice or thrice,", " And morally decided--the best state is", "For Morals--Marriage; and, this question carried,", "She seriously advised him to get married.", "", "Juan replied, with all becoming deference,", " He had a predilection for that tie;", "But that, at present, with immediate reference", " To his own circumstances, there might lie", "Some difficulties, as in his own preference,", " Or that of her to whom he might apply:", "That still he'd wed with such or such a lady,", "If that they were not married all already.", "", "Next to the making matches for herself,", " And daughters, brothers, sisters, kith or kin,", "Arranging them like books on the same shelf,", " There's nothing women love to dabble in", "More (like a stock-holder in growing pelf)", " Than match-making in general: 't is no sin", "Certes, but a preventative, and therefore", "That is, no doubt, the only reason wherefore.", "", "But never yet (except of course a miss", " Unwed, or mistress never to be wed,", "Or wed already, who object to this)", " Was there chaste dame who had not in her head", "Some drama of the marriage Unities,", " Observed as strictly both at board and bed,", "As those of Aristotle, though sometimes", "They turn out Melodrames or Pantomimes.", "", "They generally have some only son,", " Some heir to a large property, some friend", "Of an old family, some gay Sir John,", " Or grave Lord George, with whom perhaps might end", "A line, and leave Posterity undone,", " Unless a marriage was applied to mend", "The prospect and their morals: and besides,", "They have at hand a blooming glut of brides.", "", "From these they will be careful to select,", " For this an heiress, and for that a beauty;", "For one a songstress who hath no defect,", " For t' other one who promises much duty;", "For this a lady no one can reject,", " Whose sole accomplishments were quite a booty;", "A second for her excellent connections;", "A third, because there can be no objections.", "", "When Rapp the Harmonist embargoed Marriage", " In his harmonious settlement--(which flourishes", "Strangely enough as yet without miscarriage,", " Because it breeds no more mouths than it nourishes,", "Without those sad expenses which disparage", " What Nature naturally most encourages)--", "Why called he \"Harmony\" a state sans wedlock?", "Now here I've got the preacher at a dead lock.", "", "Because he either meant to sneer at Harmony", " Or Marriage, by divorcing them thus oddly.", "But whether reverend Rapp learned this in Germany", " Or no, 't is said his sect is rich and godly,", "Pious and pure, beyond what I can term any", " Of ours, although they propagate more broadly.", "My objection's to his title, not his ritual.", "Although I wonder how it grew habitual.", "", "But Rapp is the reverse of zealous matrons,", " Who favour, _malgré_ Malthus, Generation--", "Professors of that genial art, and patrons", " Of all the modest part of Propagation;", "Which after all at such a desperate rate runs,", " That half its produce tends to Emigration,", "That sad result of passions and potatoes--", "Two weeds which pose our economic Catos.", "", "Had Adeline read Malthus? I can't tell;", " I wish she had: his book's the eleventh commandment,", "Which says, \"Thou shall not marry,\" unless _well_:", " This he (as far as I can understand) meant.", "'T is not my purpose on his views to dwell,", " Nor canvass what \"so eminent a hand\" meant;", "But, certes, it conducts to lives ascetic,", "Or turning Marriage into Arithmetic.", "", "But Adeline, who probably presumed", " That Juan had enough of maintenance,", "Or _separate_ maintenance, in case 't was doomed--", " As on the whole it is an even chance", "That bridegrooms, after they are fairly _groomed_,", " May retrograde a little in the Dance", "Of Marriage--(which might form a painter's fame,", "Like Holbein's \"Dance of Death\"--but 't is the same)--", "", "But Adeline determined Juan's wedding", " In her own mind, and that's enough for Woman:", "But then, with whom? There was the sage Miss Reading,", " Miss Raw, Miss Flaw, Miss Showman, and Miss Knowman,", "And the two fair co-heiresses Giltbedding.", " She deemed his merits something more than common:", "All these were unobjectionable matches,", "And might go on, if well wound up, like watches.", "", "There was Miss Millpond, smooth as summer's sea,", " That usual paragon, an only daughter,", "Who seemed the cream of Equanimity,", " Till skimmed--and then there was some milk and water,", "With a slight shade of blue too, it might be,", " Beneath the surface; but what did it matter?", "Love's riotous, but Marriage should have quiet,", "And being consumptive, live on a milk diet.", "", "And then there was the Miss Audacia Shoestring,", " A dashing _demoiselle_ of good estate,", "Whose heart was fixed upon a star or blue string;", " But whether English Dukes grew rare of late,", "Or that she had not harped upon the true string,", " By which such Sirens can attract our great,", "She took up with some foreign younger brother,", "A Russ or Turk--the one's as good as t' other.", "", "And then there was--but why should I go on,", " Unless the ladies should go off?--there was", "Indeed a certain fair and fairy one,", " Of the best class, and better than her class,--", "Aurora Raby, a young star who shone", " O'er Life, too sweet an image for such glass,", "A lovely being, scarcely formed or moulded,", "A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded;", "", "Rich, noble, but an orphan--left an only", " Child to the care of guardians good and kind--", "But still her aspect had an air so lonely;", " Blood is not water; and where shall we find", "Feelings of Youth like those which overthrown lie", " By Death, when we are left, alas! behind,", "To feel, in friendless palaces, a home", "Is wanting, and our best ties in the tomb?", "", "Early in years, and yet more infantine", " In figure, she had something of Sublime", "In eyes which sadly shone, as Seraphs' shine.", " All Youth--but with an aspect beyond Time;", "Radiant and grave--as pitying Man's decline;", " Mournful--but mournful of another's crime,", "She looked as if she sat by Eden's door,", "And grieved for those who could return no more.", "", "She was a Catholic, too, sincere, austere,", " As far as her own gentle heart allowed,", "And deemed that fallen worship far more dear", " Perhaps because 't was fallen: her Sires were proud", "Of deeds and days when they had filled the ear", " Of nations, and had never bent or bowed", "To novel power; and as she was the last,", "She held their old faith and old feelings fast.", "", "She gazed upon a World she scarcely knew,", " As seeking not to know it; silent, lone,", "As grows a flower, thus quietly she grew,", " And kept her heart serene within its zone.", "There was awe in the homage which she drew;", " Her Spirit seemed as seated on a throne", "Apart from the surrounding world, and strong", "In its own strength--most strange in one so young!", "", "Now it so happened, in the catalogue", " Of Adeline, Aurora was omitted,", "Although her birth and wealth had given her vogue,", " Beyond the charmers we have already cited;", "Her beauty also seemed to form no clog", " Against her being mentioned as well fitted,", "By many virtues, to be worth the trouble", "Of single gentlemen who would be double.", "", "And this omission, like that of the bust", " Of Brutus at the pageant of Tiberius,", "Made Juan wonder, as no doubt he must.", " This he expressed half smiling and half serious;", "When Adeline replied with some disgust,", " And with an air, to say the least, imperious,", "She marvelled \"what he saw in such a baby", "As that prim, silent, cold Aurora Raby?\"", "", "Juan rejoined--\"She was a Catholic,", " And therefore fittest, as of his persuasion;", "Since he was sure his mother would fall sick,", " And the Pope thunder excommunication,", "If--\" But here Adeline, who seemed to pique", " Herself extremely on the inoculation", "Of others with her own opinions, stated--", "As usual--the same reason which she late did.", "", "And wherefore not? A reasonable reason,", " If good, is none the worse for repetition;", "If bad, the best way's certainly to tease on,", " And amplify: you lose much by concision,", "Whereas insisting in or out of season", " Convinces all men, even a politician;", "Or--what is just the same--it wearies out.", "So the end's gained, what signifies the route?", "", "_Why_ Adeline had this slight prejudice--", " For prejudice it was--against a creature", "As pure, as Sanctity itself, from Vice,--", " With all the added charm of form and feature,--", "For me appears a question far too nice,", " Since Adeline was liberal by nature;", "But Nature's Nature, and has more caprices", "Than I have time, or will, to take to pieces.", "", "Perhaps she did not like the quiet way", " With which Aurora on those baubles looked,", "Which charm most people in their earlier day:", " For there are few things by Mankind less brooked,", "And Womankind too, if we so may say,", " Than finding thus their genius stand rebuked,", "Like \"Antony's by Cæsar,\" by the few", "Who look upon them as they ought to do.", "", "It was not envy--Adeline had none;", " Her place was far beyond it, and her mind:", "It was not scorn--which could not light on one", " Whose greatest _fault_ was leaving few to find:", "It was not jealousy, I think--but shun", " Following the _ignes fatui_ of Mankind:", "It was not----but 't is easier far, alas!", "To say what it was _not_ than what it was.", "", "Little Aurora deemed she was the theme", " Of such discussion. She was there a guest;", "A beauteous ripple of the brilliant stream", " Of Rank and Youth, though purer than the rest,", "Which flowed on for a moment in the beam", " Time sheds a moment o'er each sparkling crest.", "Had she known this, she would have calmly smiled--", "She had so much, or little, of the child.", "", "The dashing and proud air of Adeline", " Imposed not upon her: she saw her blaze", "Much as she would have seen a glow-worm shine,", " Then turned unto the stars for loftier rays.", "Juan was something she could not divine,", " Being no Sibyl in the new world's ways;", "Yet she was nothing dazzled by the meteor,", "Because she did not pin her faith on feature.", "", "His fame too,--for he had that kind of fame", " Which sometimes plays the deuce with Womankind,", "A heterogeneous mass of glorious blame,", " Half virtues and whole vices being combined;", "Faults which attract because they are not tame;", " Follies tricked out so brightly that they blind:--", "These seals upon her wax made no impression,", "Such was her coldness or her self-possession.", "", "Juan knew nought of such a character--", " High, yet resembling not his lost Haidée;", "Yet each was radiant in her proper sphere:", " The island girl, bred up by the lone sea,", "More warm, as lovely, and not less sincere,", " Was Nature's all: Aurora could not be,", "Nor would be thus:--the difference in them", "Was such as lies between a flower and gem.", "", "Having wound up with this sublime comparison,", " Methinks we may proceed upon our narrative,", "And, as my friend Scott says, \"I sound my warison;\"", " Scott, the superlative of my comparative--", "Scott, who can paint your Christian knight or Saracen,", " Serf--Lord--Man, with such skill as none would share it, if", "There had not been one Shakespeare and Voltaire,", "Of one or both of whom he seems the heir.", "", "I say, in my slight way I may proceed", " To play upon the surface of Humanity.", "I write the World, nor care if the World read,", " At least for this I cannot spare its vanity.", "My Muse hath bred, and still perhaps may breed", " More foes by this same scroll: when I began it, I", "Thought that it might turn out so--_now I know it_,", "But still I am, or was, a pretty poet.", "", "The conference or congress (for it ended", " As Congresses of late do) of the Lady", "Adeline and Don Juan rather blended", " Some acids with the sweets--for she was heady;", "But, ere the matter could be marred or mended,", " The silvery bell rang, not for \"dinner ready,\"", "But for that hour, called half-hour, given to dress,", "Though ladies' robes seem scant enough for less.", "", "Great things were now to be achieved at table,", " With massy plate for armour, knives and forks", "For weapons; but what Muse since Homer's able", " (His feasts are not the worst part of his works)", "To draw up in array a single day-bill", " Of modern dinners? where more mystery lurks,", "In soups or sauces, or a sole _ragoút_,", "Than witches, b--ches, or physicians, brew.", "", "There was a goodly \"soupe à la _bonne femme_\"", " Though God knows whence it came from; there was, too,", "A turbot for relief of those who cram,", " Relieved with \"dindon à la Périgeux;\"", "There also was----the sinner that I am!", " How shall I get this gourmand stanza through?--", "\"Soupe à la Beauveau,\" whose relief was dory,", "Relieved itself by pork, for greater glory.", "", "But I must crowd all into one grand mess", " Or mass; for should I stretch into detail,", "My Muse would run much more into excess,", " Than when some squeamish people deem her frail;", "But though a _bonne vivante_, I must confess", " Her stomach's not her peccant part; this tale", "However doth require some slight refection,", "Just to relieve her spirits from dejection.", "", "Fowls \"à la Condé,\" slices eke of salmon,", " With \"sauces Génevoises,\" and haunch of venison;", "Wines too, which might again have slain young Ammon--", " A man like whom I hope we sha'n't see many soon;", "They also set a glazed Westphalian ham on,", " Whereon Apicius would bestow his benison;", "And then there was champagne with foaming whirls,", "As white as Cleopatra's melted pearls.", "", "Then there was God knows what \"à l'Allemande,\"", " \"A l'Espagnole,\" \"timballe,\" and \"salpicon\"--", "With things I can't withstand or understand,", " Though swallowed with much zest upon the whole;", "And _\"entremets\"_ to piddle with at hand,", " Gently to lull down the subsiding soul;", "While great Lucullus' _Robe triumphal_ muffles--", "(_There's fame_)--young partridge fillets, decked with truffles.", "", "What are the _fillets_ on the Victor's brow", " To these? They are rags or dust. Where is the arch", "Which nodded to the nation's spoils below?", " Where the triumphal chariots' haughty march?", "Gone to where Victories must like dinners go.", " Farther I shall not follow the research:", "But oh! ye modern Heroes with your cartridges,", "When will your names lend lustre e'en to partridges?", "", "Those truffles too are no bad accessaries,", " Followed by \"petits puits d'amour\"--a dish", "Of which perhaps the cookery rather varies,", " So every one may dress it to his wish,", "According to the best of dictionaries,", " Which encyclopedize both flesh and fish;", "But even, sans _confitures_, it no less true is,", "There's pretty picking in those _petits puits_.", "", "The mind is lost in mighty contemplation", " Of intellect expanded on two courses;", "And Indigestion's grand multiplication", " Requires arithmetic beyond my forces.", "Who would suppose, from Adam's simple ration,", " That cookery could have called forth such resources,", "As form a science and a nomenclature", "From out the commonest demands of Nature?", "", "The glasses jingled, and the palates tingled;", " The diners of celebrity dined well;", "The ladies with more moderation mingled", " In the feast, pecking less than I can tell;", "Also the younger men too: for a springald", " Can't, like ripe Age, in _gourmandise_ excel,", "But thinks less of good eating than the whisper", "(When seated next him) of some pretty lisper.", "", "Alas! I must leave undescribed the _gibier_,", " The _salmi_, the _consommé_, the _purée_,", "All which I use to make my rhymes run glibber", " Than could roast beef in our rough John Bull way:", "I must not introduce even a spare rib here,", " \"Bubble and squeak\" would spoil my liquid lay:", "But I have dined, and must forego, alas!", "The chaste description even of a \"bécasse;\"", "", "And fruits, and ice, and all that Art refines", " From Nature for the service of the _goût_--", "_Taste_ or the _gout_,--pronounce it as inclines", " Your stomach! Ere you dine, the French will do;", "But _after_, there are sometimes certain signs", " Which prove plain English truer of the two.", "Hast ever _had_ the _gout_? I have not had it--", "But I may have, and you too, reader, dread it.", "", "The simple olives, best allies of wine,", " Must I pass over in my bill of fare?", "I must, although a favourite _plat_ of mine", " In Spain, and Lucca, Athens, everywhere:", "On them and bread 'twas oft my luck to dine--", " The grass my table-cloth, in open air,", "On Sunium or Hymettus, like Diogenes,", "Of whom half my philosophy the progeny is.", "", "Amidst this tumult of fish, flesh, and fowl,", " And vegetables, all in masquerade,", "The guests were placed according to their roll,", " But various as the various meats displayed:", "Don Juan sat next an \"à l'Espagnole\"--", " No damsel, but a dish, as hath been said;", "But so far like a lady, that 'twas drest", "Superbly, and contained a world of zest.", "", "By some odd chance too, he was placed between", " Aurora and the Lady Adeline--", "A situation difficult, I ween,", " For man therein, with eyes and heart, to dine.", "Also the conference which we have seen", " Was not such as to encourage him to shine,", "For Adeline, addressing few words to him,", "With two transcendent eyes seemed to look through him.", "", "I sometimes almost think that eyes have ears:", " This much is sure, that, out of earshot, things", "Are somehow echoed to the pretty dears,", " Of which I can't tell whence their knowledge springs.", "Like that same mystic music of the spheres,", " Which no one hears, so loudly though it rings,", "'Tis wonderful how oft the sex have heard", "Long dialogues--which passed without a word!", "", "Aurora sat with that indifference", " Which piques a _preux chevalier_--as it ought:", "Of all offences that's the worst offence,", " Which seems to hint you are not worth a thought.", "Now Juan, though no coxcomb in pretence,", " Was not exactly pleased to be so caught;", "Like a good ship entangled among ice--", "And after so much excellent advice.", "", "To his gay nothings, nothing was replied,", " Or something which was nothing, as Urbanity", "Required. Aurora scarcely looked aside,", " Nor even smiled enough for any vanity.", "The Devil was in the girl! Could it be pride?", " Or modesty, or absence, or inanity?", "Heaven knows! But Adeline's malicious eyes", "Sparkled with her successful prophecies,", "", "And looked as much as if to say, \"I said it;\"", " A kind of triumph I'll not recommend,", "Because it sometimes, as I have seen or read it,", " Both in the case of lover and of friend,", "Will pique a gentleman, for his own credit,", " To bring what was a jest to a serious end:", "For all men prophesy what _is_ or _was_,", "And hate those who won't let them come to pass.", "", "Juan was drawn thus into some attentions,", " Slight but select, and just enough to express,", "To females of perspicuous comprehensions,", " That he would rather make them more than less.", "Aurora at the last (so history mentions,", " Though probably much less a fact than guess)", "So far relaxed her thoughts from their sweet prison,", "As once or twice to smile, if not to listen.", "", "From answering she began to question: this", " With her was rare; and Adeline, who as yet", "Thought her predictions went not much amiss,", " Began to dread she'd thaw to a coquette--", "So very difficult, they say, it is", " To keep extremes from meeting, when once set", "In motion; but she here too much refined--", "Aurora's spirit was not of that kind.", "", "But Juan had a sort of winning way,", " A proud humility, if such there be,", "Which showed such deference to what females say,", " As if each charming word were a decree.", "His tact, too, tempered him from grave to gay,", " And taught him when to be reserved or free:", "He had the art of drawing people out,", "Without their seeing what he was about.", "", "Aurora, who in her indifference", " Confounded him in common with the crowd", "Of flatterers, though she deemed he had more sense", " Than whispering foplings, or than witlings loud--", "Commenced (from such slight things will great commence)", " To feel that flattery which attracts the proud", "Rather by deference than compliment,", "And wins even by a delicate dissent.", "", "And then he had good looks;--that point was carried", " _Nem. con._ amongst the women, which I grieve", "To say leads oft to _crim. con._ with the married--", " A case which to the juries we may leave,", "Since with digressions we too long have tarried.", " Now though we know of old that looks deceive,", "And always have done,--somehow these good looks", "Make more impression than the best of books.", "", "Aurora, who looked more on books than faces,", " Was very young, although so very sage,", "Admiring more Minerva than the Graces,", " Especially upon a printed page.", "But Virtue's self, with all her tightest laces,", " Has not the natural stays of strict old age;", "And Socrates, that model of all duty,", "Owned to a _penchant_, though discreet, for beauty.", "", "And girls of sixteen are thus far Socratic,", " But innocently so, as Socrates;", "And really, if the Sage sublime and Attic", " At seventy years had phantasies like these,", "Which Plato in his dialogues dramatic", " Has shown, I know not why they should displease", "In virgins--always in a modest way,", "Observe,--for that with me's a _sine quâ_.", "", "Also observe, that, like the great Lord Coke", " (See Littleton), whene'er I have expressed", "Opinions two, which at first sight may look", " Twin opposites, the second is the best.", "Perhaps I have a third too, in a nook,", " Or none at all--which seems a sorry jest:", "But if a writer should be quite consistent,", "How could he possibly show things existent?", "", "If people contradict themselves, can I", " Help contradicting them, and everybody,", "Even my veracious self?--But that's a lie:", " I never did so, never will--how should I?", "He who doubts all things nothing can deny:", " Truth's fountains may be clear--her streams are muddy,", "And cut through such canals of contradiction,", "That she must often navigate o'er fiction.", "", "Apologue, Fable, Poesy, and Parable,", " Are false, but may be rendered also true,", "By those who sow them in a land that's arable:", " 'Tis wonderful what Fable will not do!", "'Tis said it makes Reality more bearable:", " But what's Reality? Who has its clue?", "Philosophy? No; she too much rejects.", "Religion? _Yes_; but which of all her sects?", "", "Some millions must be wrong, that's pretty clear;", " Perhaps it may turn out that all were right.", "God help us! Since we have need on our career", " To keep our holy beacons always bright,", "'Tis time that some new prophet should appear,", " Or _old_ indulge man with a second sight.", "Opinions wear out in some thousand years,", "Without a small refreshment from the spheres.", "", "But here again, why will I thus entangle", " Myself with Metaphysics? None can hate", "So much as I do any kind of wrangle;", " And yet, such is my folly, or my fate,", "I always knock my head against some angle", " About the present, past, or future state:", "Yet I wish well to Trojan and to Tyrian,", "For I was bred a moderate Presbyterian.", "", "But though I am a temperate theologian,", " And also meek as a metaphysician,", "Impartial between Tyrian and Trojan,", " As Eldon on a lunatic commission,--", "In politics my duty is to show John", " Bull something of the lower world's condition.", "It makes my blood boil like the springs of Hecla,", "To see men let these scoundrel Sovereigns break law.", "", "But Politics, and Policy, and Piety,", " Are topics which I sometimes introduce,", "Not only for the sake of their variety,", " But as subservient to a moral use;", "Because my business is to _dress_ society,", " And stuff with _sage_ that very verdant goose.", "And now, that we may furnish with some matter all", "Tastes, we are going to try the Supernatural.", "", "And now I will give up all argument;", " And positively, henceforth, no temptation", "Shall \"fool me to the top up of my bent:\"--", " Yes, I'll begin a thorough reformation.", "Indeed, I never knew what people meant", " By deeming that my Muse's conversation", "Was dangerous;--I think she is as harmless", "As some who labour more and yet may charm less.", "", "Grim reader! did you ever see a ghost?", " No; but you have heard--I understand--be dumb!", "And don't regret the time you may have lost,", " For you have got that pleasure still to come:", "And do not think I mean to sneer at most", " Of these things, or by ridicule benumb", "That source of the Sublime and the Mysterious:--", "For certain reasons my belief is serious.", "", "Serious? You laugh;--you may: that will I not;", " My smiles must be sincere or not at all.", "I say I do believe a haunted spot", " Exists--and where? That shall I not recall,", "Because I'd rather it should be forgot,", " \"Shadows the soul of Richard\" may appal.", "In short, upon that subject I've some qualms very", "Like those of the philosopher of Malmsbury.", "", "The night--(I sing by night--sometimes an owl,", " And now and then a nightingale)--is dim,", "And the loud shriek of sage Minerva's fowl", " Rattles around me her discordant hymn:", "Old portraits from old walls upon me scowl--", " I wish to Heaven they would not look so grim;", "The dying embers dwindle in the grate--", "I think too that I have sat up too late:", "", "And therefore, though 'tis by no means my way", " To rhyme at noon--when I have other things", "To think of, if I ever think--I say", " I feel some chilly midnight shudderings,", "And prudently postpone, until mid-day,", " Treating a topic which, alas! but brings", "Shadows;--but you must be in my condition,", "Before you learn to call this superstition.", "", "Between two worlds Life hovers like a star,", " 'Twixt Night and Morn, upon the horizon's verge.", "How little do we know that which we are!", " How less what we may be! The eternal surge", "Of Time and Tide rolls on and bears afar", " Our bubbles; as the old burst, new emerge,", "Lashed from the foam of ages; while the graves", "Of Empires heave but like some passing waves.", "", "CANTO THE SIXTEENTH.", "", "The antique Persians taught three useful things,", " To draw the bow, to ride, and speak the truth,", "This was the mode of Cyrus, best of kings--", " A mode adopted since by modern youth.", "Bows have they, generally with two strings;", " Horses they ride without remorse or ruth;", "At speaking truth perhaps they are less clever,", "But draw the long bow better now than ever.", "", "The cause of this effect, or this defect,--", " \"For this effect defective comes by cause,\"--", "Is what I have not leisure to inspect;", " But this I must say in my own applause,", "Of all the Muses that I recollect,", " Whate'er may be her follies or her flaws", "In some things, mine's beyond all contradiction", "The most sincere that ever dealt in fiction.", "", "And as she treats all things, and ne'er retreats", " From anything, this Epic will contain", "A wilderness of the most rare conceits,", " Which you might elsewhere hope to find in vain.", "'Tis true there be some bitters with the sweets,", " Yet mixed so slightly, that you can't complain,", "But wonder they so few are, since my tale is", "\"_De rebus cunctis et quibusdam aliis._\"", "", "But of all truths which she has told, the most", " True is that which she is about to tell.", "I said it was a story of a ghost--", " What then? I only know it so befell.", "Have you explored the limits of the coast,", " Where all the dwellers of the earth must dwell?", "'Tis time to strike such puny doubters dumb as", "The sceptics who would not believe Columbus.", "", "Some people would impose now with authority,", " Turpin's or Monmouth Geoffry's Chronicle;", "Men whose historical superiority", " Is always greatest at a miracle.", "But Saint Augustine has the great priority,", " Who bids all men believe the impossible,", "_Because 'tis so._ Who nibble, scribble, quibble, he", "Quiets at once with \"_quia impossibile._\"", "", "And therefore, mortals, cavil not at all;", " Believe:--if 'tis improbable, you _must_,", "And if it is impossible, you _shall_:", " 'Tis always best to take things upon trust.", "I do not speak profanely to recall", " Those holier Mysteries which the wise and just", "Receive as Gospel, and which grow more rooted,", "As all truths must, the more they are disputed:", "", "I merely mean to say what Johnson said,", " That in the course of some six thousand years,", "All nations have believed that from the dead", " A visitant at intervals appears:", "And what is strangest upon this strange head,", " Is, that whatever bar the reason rears", "'Gainst such belief, there's something stronger still", "In its behalf--let those deny who will.", "", "The dinner and the _soirée_ too were done,", " The supper too discussed, the dames admired,", "The banqueteers had dropped off one by one--", " The song was silent, and the dance expired:", "The last thin petticoats were vanished, gone", " Like fleecy clouds into the sky retired,", "And nothing brighter gleamed through the saloon", "Than dying tapers--and the peeping moon.", "", "The evaporation of a joyous day", " Is like the last glass of champagne, without", "The foam which made its virgin bumper gay;", " Or like a system coupled with a doubt;", "Or like a soda bottle when its spray", " Has sparkled and let half its spirit out;", "Or like a billow left by storms behind,", "Without the animation of the wind;", "", "Or like an opiate, which brings troubled rest,", " Or none; or like--like nothing that I know", "Except itself;--such is the human breast;", " A thing, of which similitudes can show", "No real likeness,--like the old Tyrian vest", " Dyed purple, none at present can tell how,", "If from a shell-fish or from cochineal.", "So perish every Tyrant's robe piece-meal!", "", "But next to dressing for a rout or ball,", " Undressing is a woe; our _robe de chambre_", "May sit like that of Nessus, and recall", " Thoughts quite as yellow, but less clear than amber.", "Titus exclaimed, \"I've lost a day!\" Of all", " The nights and days most people can remember,", "(I have had of both, some not to be disdained,)", "I wish they'd state how many they have gained.", "", "And Juan, on retiring for the night,", " Felt restless, and perplexed, and compromised:", "He thought Aurora Raby's eyes more bright", " Than Adeline (such is advice) advised;", "If he had known exactly his own plight,", " He probably would have philosophised:", "A great resource to all, and ne'er denied", "Till wanted; therefore Juan only sighed.", "", "He sighed;--the next resource is the full moon,", " Where all sighs are deposited; and now", "It happened luckily, the chaste orb shone", " As clear as such a climate will allow;", "And Juan's mind was in the proper tone", " To hail her with the apostrophe--\"O thou!\"", "Of amatory egotism the _Tuism_,", "Which further to explain would be a truism.", "", "But Lover, Poet, or Astronomer--", " Shepherd, or swain--whoever may behold,", "Feel some abstraction when they gaze on her;", " Great thoughts we catch from thence (besides a cold", "Sometimes, unless my feelings rather err);", " Deep secrets to her rolling light are told;", "The Ocean's tides and mortals' brains she sways,", "And also hearts--if there be truth in lays.", "", "Juan felt somewhat pensive, and disposed", " For contemplation rather than his pillow:", "The Gothic chamber, where he was enclosed,", " Let in the rippling sound of the lake's billow,", "With all the mystery by midnight caused:", " Below his window waved (of course) willow;", "And he stood gazing out on the cascade", "That flashed and after darkened in the shade.", "", "Upon his table or his toilet,--_which_", " Of these is not exactly ascertained,--", "(I state this, for I am cautious to a pitch", " Of nicety, where a fact is to be gained,)", "A lamp burned high, while he leant from a niche,", " Where many a Gothic ornament remained,", "In chiselled stone and painted glass, and all", "That Time has left our fathers of their Hall.", "", "Then, as the night was clear though cold, he threw", " His chamber door wide open--and went forth", "Into a gallery of a sombre hue,", " Long, furnished with old pictures of great worth,", "Of knights and dames heroic and chaste too,", " As doubtless should be people of high birth;", "But by dim lights the portraits of the dead", "Have something ghastly, desolate, and dread.", "", "The forms of the grim Knight and pictured Saint", " Look living in the moon; and as you turn", "Backward and forward to the echoes faint", " Of your own footsteps--voices from the Urn", "Appear to wake, and shadows wild and quaint", " Start from the frames which fence their aspects stern,", "As if to ask how you can dare to keep", "A vigil there, where all but Death should sleep.", "", "And the pale smile of Beauties in the grave,", " The charms of other days, in starlight gleams,", "Glimmer on high; their buried locks still wave", " Along the canvas; their eyes glance like dreams", "On ours, or spars within some dusky cave,", " But Death is imaged in their shadowy beams.", "A picture is the past; even ere its frame", "Be gilt, who sate hath ceased to be the same.", "", "As Juan mused on Mutability,", " Or on his Mistress--terms synonymous--", "No sound except the echo of his sigh", " Or step ran sadly through that antique house;", "When suddenly he heard, or thought so, nigh,", " A supernatural agent--or a mouse,", "Whose little nibbling rustle will embarrass", "Most people as it plays along the arras.", "", "It was no mouse--but lo! a monk, arrayed", " In cowl and beads, and dusky garb, appeared,", "Now in the moonlight, and now lapsed in shade,", " With steps that trod as heavy, yet unheard;", "His garments only a slight murmur made;", " He moved as shadowy as the Sisters weird,", "But slowly; and as he passed Juan by,", "Glanced, without pausing, on him a bright eye.", "", "Juan was petrified; he had heard a hint", " Of such a Spirit in these halls of old,", "But thought, like most men, that there was nothing in 't", " Beyond the rumour which such spots unfold,", "Coined from surviving Superstition's mint,", " Which passes ghosts in currency like gold,", "But rarely seen, like gold compared with paper.", "And did he see this? or was it a vapour?", "", "Once, twice, thrice passed, repassed--the thing of air,", " Or earth beneath, or Heaven, or t' other place;", "And Juan gazed upon it with a stare,", " Yet could not speak or move; but, on its base", "As stands a statue, stood: he felt his hair", " Twine like a knot of snakes around his face;", "He taxed his tongue for words, which were not granted,", "To ask the reverend person what he wanted.", "", "The third time, after a still longer pause,", " The shadow passed away--but where? the hall", "Was long, and thus far there was no great cause", " To think his vanishing unnatural:", "Doors there were many, through which, by the laws", " Of physics, bodies whether short or tall", "Might come or go; but Juan could not state", "Through which the Spectre seemed to evaporate.", "", "He stood--how long he knew not, but it seemed", " An age--expectant, powerless, with his eyes", "Strained on the spot where first the figure gleamed", " Then by degrees recalled his energies,", "And would have passed the whole off as a dream,", " But could not wake; he was, he did surmise,", "Waking already, and returned at length", "Back to his chamber, shorn of half his strength.", "", "All there was as he left it: still his taper", " Burned, and not _blue_, as modest tapers use,", "Receiving sprites with sympathetic vapour;", " He rubbed his eyes, and they did not refuse", "Their office: he took up an old newspaper;", " The paper was right easy to peruse;", "He read an article the King attacking,", "And a long eulogy of \"Patent Blacking.\"", "", "This savoured of this world; but his hand shook:", " He shut his door, and after having read", "A paragraph, I think about Horne Tooke,", " Undressed, and rather slowly went to bed.", "There, couched all snugly on his pillow's nook,", " With what he had seen his phantasy he fed;", "And though it was no opiate, slumber crept", "Upon him by degrees, and so he slept.", "", "He woke betimes; and, as may be supposed,", " Pondered upon his visitant or vision,", "And whether it ought not to be disclosed,", " At risk of being quizzed for superstition.", "The more he thought, the more his mind was posed:", " In the mean time, his valet, whose precision", "Was great, because his master brooked no less,", "Knocked to inform him it was time to dress.", "", "He dressed; and like young people he was wont", " To take some trouble with his toilet, but", "This morning rather spent less time upon 't;", " Aside his very mirror soon was put;", "His curls fell negligently o'er his front,", " His clothes were not curbed to their usual cut,", "His very neckcloth's Gordian knot was tied", "Almost an hair's breadth too much on one side.", "", "And when he walked down into the Saloon,", " He sate him pensive o'er a dish of tea,", "Which he perhaps had not discovered soon,", " Had it not happened scalding hot to be,", "Which made him have recourse unto his spoon;", " So much _distrait_ he was, that all could see", "That something was the matter--Adeline", "The first--but _what_ she could not well divine.", "", "She looked, and saw him pale, and turned as pale", " Herself; then hastily looked down, and muttered", "Something, but what's not stated in my tale.", " Lord Henry said, his muffin was ill buttered;", "The Duchess of Fitz-Fulke played with her veil,", " And looked at Juan hard, but nothing uttered.", "Aurora Raby with her large dark eyes", "Surveyed him with a kind of calm surprise.", "", "But seeing him all cold and silent still,", " And everybody wondering more or less,", "Fair Adeline inquired, \"If he were ill?\"", " He started, and said, \"Yes--no--rather--yes.\"", "The family physician had great skill,", " And being present, now began to express", "His readiness to feel his pulse and tell", "The cause, but Juan said, he was \"quite well.\"", "", "\"Quite well; yes,--no.\"--These answers were mysterious,", " And yet his looks appeared to sanction both,", "However they might savour of delirious;", " Something like illness of a sudden growth", "Weighed on his spirit, though by no means serious:", " But for the rest, as he himself seemed both", "To state the case, it might be ta'en for granted", "It was not the physician that he wanted.", "", "Lord Henry, who had now discussed his chocolate,", " Also the muffin whereof he complained,", "Said, Juan had not got his usual look elate,", " At which he marvelled, since it had not rained;", "Then asked her Grace what news were of the Duke of late?", " _Her_ Grace replied, _his_ Grace was rather pained", "With some slight, light, hereditary twinges", "Of gout, which rusts aristocratic hinges.", "", "Then Henry turned to Juan, and addressed", " A few words of condolence on his state:", "\"You look,\" quoth he, \"as if you had had your rest", " Broke in upon by the Black Friar of late.\"", "\"What Friar?\" said Juan; and he did his best", " To put the question with an air sedate,", "Or careless; but the effort was not valid", "To hinder him from growing still more pallid.", "", "\"Oh! have you never heard of the Black Friar?", " The Spirit of these walls?\"--\"In truth not I.\"", "\"Why Fame--but Fame you know's sometimes a liar--", " Tells an odd story, of which by and by:", "Whether with time the Spectre has grown shyer,", " Or that our Sires had a more gifted eye", "For such sights, though the tale is half believed,", "The Friar of late has not been oft perceived.", "", "\"The last time was----\"--\"I pray,\" said Adeline--", " (Who watched the changes of Don Juan's brow,", "And from its context thought she could divine", " Connections stronger than he chose to avow", "With this same legend)--\"if you but design", " To jest, you'll choose some other theme just now,", "Because the present tale has oft been told,", "And is not much improved by growing old.\"", "", "\"Jest!\" quoth Milor; \"why, Adeline, you know", " That we ourselves--'twas in the honey moon", "Saw----\"--\"Well, no matter, 'twas so long ago;", " But, come, I'll set your story to a tune.\"", "Graceful as Dian when she draws her bow,", " She seized her harp, whose strings were kindled soon", "As touched, and plaintively began to play", "The air of \"'Twas a Friar of Orders Gray.\"", "", "\"But add the words,\" cried Henry, \"which you made;", " For Adeline is half a poetess,\"", "Turning round to the rest, he smiling said.", " Of course the others could not but express", "In courtesy their wish to see displayed", " By one _three_ talents, for there were no less--", "The voice, the words, the harper's skill, at once,", "Could hardly be united by a dunce.", "", "After some fascinating hesitation,--", " The charming of these charmers, who seem bound,", "I can't tell why, to this dissimulation,--", " Fair Adeline, with eyes fixed on the ground", "At first, then kindling into animation,", " Added her sweet voice to the lyric sound,", "And sang with much simplicity,--a merit", "Not the less precious, that we seldom hear it.", "", "Beware! beware! of the Black Friar,", " Who sitteth by Norman stone,", "For he mutters his prayer in the midnight air,", " And his mass of the days that are gone.", "When the Lord of the Hill, Amundeville,", " Made Norman Church his prey,", "And expelled the friars, one friar still", "Would not be driven away.", "", "Though he came in his might, with King Henry's right,", " To turn church lands to lay,", "With sword in hand, and torch to light", " Their walls, if they said nay;", "A monk remained, unchased, unchained,", " And he did not seem formed of clay,", "For he's seen in the porch, and he's seen in the church,", "Though he is not seen by day.", "", "And whether for good, or whether for ill,", " It is not mine to say;", "But still with the house of Amundeville", " He abideth night and day.", "By the marriage-bed of their lords, 'tis said,", " He flits on the bridal eve;", "And 'tis held as faith, to their bed of Death", "He comes--but not to grieve.", "", "When an heir is born, he's heard to mourn,", " And when aught is to befall", "That ancient line, in the pale moonshine", " He walks from hall to hall.", "His form you may trace, but not his face,", " 'Tis shadowed by his cowl;", "But his eyes may be seen from the folds between,", "And they seem of a parted soul.", "", "But beware! beware! of the Black Friar,", " He still retains his sway,", "For he is yet the Church's heir,", " Whoever may be the lay.", "Amundeville is Lord by day,", " But the monk is Lord by night;", "Nor wine nor wassail could raise a vassal", "To question that Friar's right.", "", "Say nought to him as he walks the Hall,", " And he'll say nought to you;", "He sweeps along in his dusky pall,", " As o'er the grass the dew.", "Then grammercy! for the Black Friar;", " Heaven sain him! fair or foul,--", "And whatsoe'er may be his prayer,", "Let ours be for his soul.", "", "The lady's voice ceased, and the thrilling wires", " Died from the touch that kindled them to sound;", "And the pause followed, which when song expires", " Pervades a moment those who listen round;", "And then of course the circle much admires,", " Nor less applauds, as in politeness bound,", "The tones, the feeling, and the execution,", "To the performer's diffident confusion.", "", "Fair Adeline, though in a careless way,", " As if she rated such accomplishment", "As the mere pastime of an idle day,", " Pursued an instant for her own content,", "Would now and then as 'twere _without_ display,", " Yet _with_ display in fact, at times relent", "To such performances with haughty smile,", "To show she _could_, if it were worth her while.", "", "Now this (but we will whisper it aside)", " Was--pardon the pedantic illustration--", "Trampling on Plato's pride with greater pride,", " As did the Cynic on some like occasion;", "Deeming the sage would be much mortified,", " Or thrown into a philosophic passion,", "For a spoilt carpet--but the \"Attic Bee\"", "Was much consoled by his own repartee.", "", "Thus Adeline would throw into the shade", " (By doing easily, whene'er she chose,", "What dilettanti do with vast parade)", " Their sort of _half profession_; for it grows", "To something like this when too oft displayed;", " And that it is so, everybody knows,", "Who have heard Miss That or This, or Lady T'other,", "Show off--to please their company or mother.", "", "Oh! the long evenings of duets and trios!", " The admirations and the speculations;", "The \"Mamma Mia's!\" and the \"Amor Mio's!\"", " The \"Tanti palpiti's\" on such occasions:", "The \"Lasciami's,\" and quavering \"Addio's,\"", " Amongst our own most musical of nations!", "With \"Tu mi chamas's\" from Portingale,", "To soothe our ears, lest Italy should fail.", "", "In Babylon's _bravuras_--as the Home-", " Heart-Ballads of Green Erin or Grey Highlands,", "That bring Lochaber back to eyes that roam", " O'er far Atlantic continents or islands,", "The calentures of music which o'ercome", " All mountaineers with dreams that they are nigh lands,", "No more to be beheld but in such visions--", "Was Adeline well versed, as compositions.", "", "She also had a twilight tinge of \"_Blue_,\"", " Could write rhymes, and compose more than she wrote,", "Made epigrams occasionally too", " Upon her friends, as everybody ought.", "But still from that sublimer azure hue,", " So much the present dye, she was remote;", "Was weak enough to deem Pope a great poet,", "And what was worse, was not ashamed to show it.", "", "Aurora--since we are touching upon taste,", " Which now-a-days is the thermometer", "By whose degrees all characters are classed--", " Was more Shakespearian, if I do not err.", "The worlds beyond this World's perplexing waste", " Had more of her existence, for in her", "There was a depth of feeling to embrace", "Thoughts, boundless, deep, but silent too as Space.", "", "Not so her gracious, graceful, graceless Grace,", " The full-grown Hebe of Fitz-Fulke, whose mind,", "If she had any, was upon her face,", " And that was of a fascinating kind.", "A little turn for mischief you might trace", " Also thereon,--but that's not much; we find", "Few females without some such gentle leaven,", "For fear we should suppose us quite in Heaven.", "", "I have not heard she was at all poetic,", " Though once she was seen reading the _Bath Guide_,", "And Hayley's _Triumphs_, which she deemed pathetic,", " Because she said _her temper_ had been tried", "So much, the bard had really been prophetic", " Of what she had gone through with--since a bride.", "But of all verse, what most ensured her praise", "Were sonnets to herself, or _bouts rimés_.", "", "'Twere difficult to say what was the object", " Of Adeline, in bringing this same lay", "To bear on what appeared to her the subject", " Of Juan's nervous feelings on that day.", "Perhaps she merely had the simple project", " To laugh him out of his supposed dismay;", "Perhaps she might wish to confirm him in it,", "Though why I cannot say--at least this minute.", "", "But so far the immediate effect", " Was to restore him to his self-propriety,", "A thing quite necessary to the elect,", " Who wish to take the tone of their society:", "In which you cannot be too circumspect,", " Whether the mode be persiflage or piety,", "But wear the newest mantle of hypocrisy,", "On pain of much displeasing the gynocracy.", "", "And therefore Juan now began to rally", " His spirits, and without more explanation", "To jest upon such themes in many a sally.", " Her Grace, too, also seized the same occasion,", "With various similar remarks to tally,", " But wished for a still more detailed narration", "Of this same mystic friar's curious doings,", "About the present family's deaths and wooings.", "", "Of these few could say more than has been said;", " They passed as such things do, for superstition", "With some, while others, who had more in dread", " The theme, half credited the strange tradition;", "And much was talked on all sides on that head:", " But Juan, when cross-questioned on the vision,", "Which some supposed (though he had not avowed it)", "Had stirred him, answered in a way to cloud it.", "", "And then, the mid-day having worn to one,", " The company prepared to separate;", "Some to their several pastimes, or to none,", " Some wondering 'twas so early, some so late.", "There was a goodly match too, to be run", " Between some greyhounds on my Lord's estate,", "And a young race-horse of old pedigree,", "Matched for the spring, whom several went to see.", "", "There was a picture-dealer who had brought", " A special Titian, warranted original,", "So precious that it was not to be bought,", " Though Princes the possessor were besieging all--", "The King himself had cheapened it, but thought", " The civil list he deigns to accept (obliging all", "His subjects by his gracious acceptation)--", "Too scanty, in these times of low taxation.", "", "But as Lord Henry was a connoisseur,--", " The friend of Artists, if not Arts,--the owner,", "With motives the most classical and pure,", " So that he would have been the very donor,", "Rather than seller, had his wants been fewer,", " So much he deemed his patronage an honour,", "Had brought the _capo d'opera_, not for sale,", "But for his judgment--never known to fail.", "", "There was a modern Goth, I mean a Gothic", " Bricklayer of Babel, called an architect,", "Brought to survey these grey walls which, though so thick,", " Might have from Time acquired some slight defect;", "Who, after rummaging the Abbey through thick", " And thin, produced a plan whereby to erect", "New buildings of correctest conformation,", "And throw down old--which he called _restoration_.", "", "The cost would be a trifle--an \"old song,\"", " Set to some thousands ('tis the usual burden", "Of that same tune, when people hum it long)--", " The price would speedily repay its worth in", "An edifice no less sublime than strong,", " By which Lord Henry's good taste would go forth in", "Its glory, through all ages shining sunny,", "For Gothic daring shown in English money.", "", "There were two lawyers busy on a mortgage", " Lord Henry wished to raise for a new purchase;", "Also a lawsuit upon tenures burgage,", " And one on tithes, which sure as Discord's torches,", "Kindling Religion till she throws down _her_ gage,", " \"Untying\" squires \"to fight against the churches;\"", "There was a prize ox, a prize pig, and ploughman,", "For Henry was a sort of Sabine showman.", "", "There were two poachers caught in a steel trap,", " Ready for gaol, their place of convalescence;", "There was a country girl in a close cap", " And scarlet cloak (I hate the sight to see, since--", "Since--since--in youth, I had the sad mishap--", " But luckily I have paid few parish fees since):", "That scarlet cloak, alas! unclosed with rigour,", "Presents the problem of a double figure.", "", "A reel within a bottle is a mystery,", " One can't tell how it e'er got in or out;", "Therefore the present piece of natural history", " I leave to those who are fond of solving doubt;", "And merely state, though not for the Consistory,", " Lord Henry was a Justice, and that Scout", "The constable, beneath a warrant's banner,", "Had bagged this poacher upon Nature's manor.", "", "Now Justices of Peace must judge all pieces", " Of mischief of all kinds, and keep the game", "And morals of the country from caprices", " Of those who have not a licence for the same;", "And of all things, excepting tithes and leases,", " Perhaps these are most difficult to tame:", "Preserving partridges and pretty wenches", "Are puzzles to the most precautions benches.", "", "The present culprit was extremely pale,", " Pale as if painted so; her cheek being red", "By nature, as in higher dames less hale", " 'Tis white, at least when they just rise from bed.", "Perhaps she was ashamed of seeming frail,", " Poor soul! for she was country born and bred,", "And knew no better in her immorality", "Than to wax white--for blushes are for quality.", "", "Her black, bright, downcast, yet _espiègle_ eye,", " Had gathered a large tear into its corner,", "Which the poor thing at times essayed to dry,", " For she was not a sentimental mourner", "Parading all her sensibility,", " Nor insolent enough to scorn the scorner,", "But stood in trembling, patient tribulation,", "To be called up for her examination.", "", "Of course these groups were scattered here and there,", " Not nigh the gay saloon of ladies gent.", "The lawyers in the study; and in air", " The prize pig, ploughman, poachers: the men sent", "From town, viz. architect and dealer, were", " Both busy (as a General in his tent", "Writing despatches) in their several stations,", "Exulting in their brilliant lucubrations.", "", "But this poor girl was left in the great hall,", " While Scout, the parish guardian of the frail,", "Discussed (he hated beer yclept the \"small\")", " A mighty mug of _moral_ double ale.", "She waited until Justice could recall", " Its kind attentions to their proper pale,", "To name a thing in nomenclature rather", "Perplexing for most virgins--a child's father.", "", "You see here was enough of occupation", " For the Lord Henry, linked with dogs and horses.", "There was much bustle too, and preparation", " Below stairs on the score of second courses;", "Because, as suits their rank and situation,", " Those who in counties have great land resources", "Have \"public days,\" when all men may carouse,", "Though not exactly what's called \"open house.\"", "", "But once a week or fortnight, _un_invited", " (Thus we translate a _general invitation_)", "All country gentlemen, esquired or knighted,", " May drop in without cards, and take their station", "At the full board, and sit alike delighted", " With fashionable wines and conversation;", "And, as the isthmus of the grand connection,", "Talk o'er themselves the past and next election.", "", "Lord Henry was a great electioneerer,", " Burrowing for boroughs like a rat or rabbit.", "But county contests cost him rather dearer,", " Because the neighbouring Scotch Earl of Giftgabbit", "Had English influence, in the self-same sphere here;", " His son, the Honourable Dick Dicedrabbit,", "Was member for the \"other interest\" (meaning", "The same self-interest, with a different leaning).", "", "Courteous and cautious therefore in his county,", " He was all things to all men, and dispensed", "To some civility, to others bounty,", " And promises to all--which last commenced", "To gather to a somewhat large amount, he", " Not calculating how much they condensed;", "But what with keeping some, and breaking others,", "His word had the same value as another's.", "", "A friend to Freedom and freeholders--yet", " No less a friend to Government--he held,", "That he exactly the just medium hit", " Twixt Place and Patriotism--albeit compelled,", "Such was his Sovereign's pleasure, (though unfit,", " He added modestly, when rebels railed,)", "To hold some sinecures he wished abolished,", "But that with them all Law would be demolished.", "", "He was \"free to confess\"--(whence comes this phrase?", " Is 't English? No--'tis only parliamentary)", "That Innovation's spirit now-a-days", " Had made more progress than for the last century.", "He would not tread a factious path to praise,", " Though for the public weal disposed to venture high;", "As for his place, he could but say this of it,", "That the fatigue was greater than the profit.", "", "Heaven, and his friends, knew that a private life", " Had ever been his sole and whole ambition;", "But could he quit his King in times of strife,", " Which threatened the whole country with perdition?", "When demagogues would with a butcher's knife", " Cut through and through (oh! damnable incision!)", "The Gordian or the G_e_ordi-an knot, whose strings", "Have tied together Commons, Lords, and Kings.", "", "Sooner \"come Place into the Civil List", " And champion him to the utmost--\" he would keep it,", "Till duly disappointed or dismissed:", " Profit he cared not for, let others reap it;", "But should the day come when Place ceased to exist,", " The country would have far more cause to weep it:", "For how could it go on? Explain who can!", "_He_ gloried in the name of Englishman.", "", "He was as independent--aye, much more--", " Than those who were not paid for independence,", "As common soldiers, or a common----shore,", " Have in their several arts or parts ascendance", "O'er the irregulars in lust or gore,", " Who do not give professional attendance.", "Thus on the mob all statesmen are as eager", "To prove their pride, as footmen to a beggar.", "", "All this (save the last stanza) Henry said,", " And thought. I say no more--I've said too much;", "For all of us have either heard or read--", " Off--or _upon_ the hustings--some slight such", "Hints from the independent heart or head", " Of the official candidate. I'll touch", "No more on this--the dinner-bell hath rung,", "And grace is said; the grace I _should_ have _sung_--", "", "But I'm too late, and therefore must make play.", " 'Twas a great banquet, such as Albion old", "Was wont to boast--as if a glutton's tray", " Were something very glorious to behold.", "But 'twas a public feast and public day,--", " Quite full--right dull--guests hot, and dishes cold,--", "Great plenty, much formality, small cheer,--", "And everybody out of their own sphere.", "", "The squires familiarly formal, and", " My Lords and Ladies proudly condescending;", "The very servants puzzling how to hand", " Their plates--without it might be too much bending", "From their high places by the sideboard's stand--", " Yet, like their masters, fearful of offending;", "For any deviation from the graces", "Might cost both man and master too--their _places_.", "", "There were some hunters bold, and coursers keen,", " Whose hounds ne'er erred, nor greyhounds deigned to lurch;", "Some deadly shots too, Septembrizers, seen", " Earliest to rise, and last to quit the search", "Of the poor partridge through his stubble screen.", " There were some massy members of the church,", "Takers of tithes, and makers of good matches,", "And several who sung fewer psalms than catches.", "", "There were some country wags too--and, alas!", " Some exiles from the Town, who had been driven", "To gaze, instead of pavement, upon grass,", " And rise at nine in lieu of long eleven.", "And lo! upon that day it came to pass,", " I sate next that o'erwhelming son of Heaven,", "The very powerful parson, Peter Pith,", "The loudest wit I e'er was deafened with.", "", "I knew him in his livelier London days,", " A brilliant diner-out, though but a curate,", "And not a joke he cut but earned its praise,", " Until Preferment, coming at a sure rate,", "(O Providence! how wondrous are thy ways!", " Who would suppose thy gifts sometimes obdurate?)", "Gave him, to lay the Devil who looks o'er Lincoln,", "A fat fen vicarage, and nought to think on.", "", "His jokes were sermons, and his sermons jokes;", " But both were thrown away amongst the fens;", "For Wit hath no great friend in aguish folks.", " No longer ready ears and short-hand pens", "Imbibed the gay _bon-mot_, or happy hoax:", " The poor priest was reduced to common sense,", "Or to coarse efforts very loud and long,", "To hammer a hoarse laugh from the thick throng.", "", "There _is_ a difference, says the song, \"between", " A beggar and a Queen,\" or _was_ (of late", "The latter worse used of the two we've seen--", " But we 'll say nothing of affairs of state);", "A difference \"'twixt a Bishop and a Dean,\"", " A difference between crockery ware and plate,", "As between English beef and Spartan broth--", "And yet great heroes have been bred by both.", "", "But of all Nature's discrepancies, none", " Upon the whole is greater than the difference", "Beheld between the Country and the Town,", " Of which the latter merits every preference", "From those who have few resources of their own.", " And only think, or act, or feel, with reference", "To some small plan of interest or ambition--", "Both which are limited to no condition.", "", "But _En avant!_ The light loves languish o'er", " Long banquets and too many guests, although", "A slight repast makes people love much more,", " Bacchus and Ceres being, as we know,", "Even from our grammar upwards, friends of yore", " With vivifying Venus, who doth owe", "To these the invention of champagne and truffles:", "Temperance delights her, but long fasting ruffles.", "", "Dully passed o'er the dinner of the day;", " And Juan took his place, he knew not where,", "Confused, in the confusion, and _distrait_,", " And sitting as if nailed upon his chair:", "Though knives and forks clanked round as in a fray,", " He seemed unconscious of all passing there,", "Till some one, with a groan, expressed a wish", "(Unheeded twice) to have a fin of fish.", "", "On which, at the _third_ asking of the banns,", " He started; and perceiving smiles around", "Broadening to grins, he coloured more than once,", " And hastily--as nothing can confound", "A wise man more than laughter from a dunce--", " Inflicted on the dish a deadly wound,", "And with such hurry, that, ere he could curb it,", "He had paid his neighbour's prayer with half a turbot.", "", "This was no bad mistake, as it occurred,", " The supplicator being an amateur;", "But others, who were left with scarce a third,", " Were angry--as they well might, to be sure,", "They wondered how a young man so absurd", " Lord Henry at his table should endure;", "And this, and his not knowing how much oats", "Had fallen last market, cost his host three votes.", "", "They little knew, or might have sympathized,", " That he the night before had seen a ghost,", "A prologue which but slightly harmonized", " With the substantial company engrossed", "By matter, and so much materialised,", " That one scarce knew at what to marvel most", "Of two things--_how_ (the question rather odd is)", "Such bodies could have souls, or souls such bodies!", "", "But what confused him more than smile or stare", " From all the 'squires and 'squiresses around,", "Who wondered at the abstraction of his air,", " Especially as he had been renowned", "For some vivacity among the fair,", " Even in the country circle's narrow bound--", "(For little things upon my Lord's estate", "Were good small talk for others still less great)--", "", "Was, that he caught Aurora's eye on his,", " And something like a smile upon her cheek.", "Now this he really rather took amiss;", " In those who rarely smile, their smile bespeaks", "A strong external motive; and in this", " Smile of Aurora's there was nought to pique,", "Or Hope, or Love--with any of the wiles", "Which some pretend to trace in ladies' smiles.", "", "'Twas a mere quiet smile of contemplation,", " Indicative of some surprise and pity;", "And Juan grew carnation with vexation,", " Which was not very wise, and still less witty,", "Since he had gained at least her observation,", " A most important outwork of the city--", "As Juan should have known, had not his senses", "By last night's Ghost been driven from their defences.", "", "But what was bad, she did not blush in turn,", " Nor seem embarrassed--quite the contrary;", "Her aspect was as usual, still--_not_ stern--", " And she withdrew, but cast not down, her eye,", "Yet grew a little pale--with what? concern?", " I know not; but her colour ne'er was high--", "Though sometimes faintly flushed--and always clear,", "As deep seas in a sunny atmosphere.", "", "But Adeline was occupied by fame", " This day; and watching, witching, condescending", "To the consumers of fish, fowl, and game,", " And dignity with courtesy so blending,", "As all must blend whose part it is to aim", " (Especially as the sixth year is ending)", "At their lord's, son's, or similar connection's", "Safe conduct through the rocks of re-elections.", "", "Though this was most expedient on the whole", " And usual--Juan, when he cast a glance", "On Adeline while playing her grand _rôle_,", " Which she went through as though it were a dance,", "Betraying only now and then her soul", " By a look scarce perceptibly askance", "(Of weariness or scorn), began to feel", "Some doubt how much of Adeline was _real_;", "", "So well she acted all and every part", " By turns--with that vivacious versatility,", "Which many people take for want of heart.", " They err--'tis merely what is called mobility,", "A thing of temperament and not of art,", " Though seeming so, from its supposed facility;", "And false--though true; for, surely, they're sincerest", "Who are strongly acted on by what is nearest.", "", "This makes your actors, artists, and romancers,", " Heroes sometimes, though seldom--sages never:", "But speakers, bards, diplomatists, and dancers,", " Little that's great, but much of what is clever;", "Most orators, but very few financiers,", " Though all Exchequer Chancellors endeavour,", "Of late years, to dispense with Cocker's rigours,", "And grow quite figurative with their figures.", "", "The poets of Arithmetic are they", " Who, though they prove not two and two to be", "Five, as they might do in a modest way,", " Have plainly made it out that four are three,", "Judging by what they take, and what they pay:", " The Sinking Fund's unfathomable sea,", "That most unliquidating liquid, leaves", "The debt unsunk, yet sinks all it receives.", "", "While Adeline dispensed her airs and graces,", " The fair Fitz-Fulke seemed very much at ease;", "Though too well bred to quiz men to their faces,", " Her laughing blue eyes with a glance could seize", "The ridicules of people in all places--", " That honey of your fashionable bees--", "And store it up for mischievous enjoyment;", "And this at present was her kind employment.", "", "However, the day closed, as days must close;", " The evening also waned--and coffee came.", "Each carriage was announced, and ladies rose,", " And curtsying off, as curtsies country dame,", "Retired: with most unfashionable bows", " Their docile Esquires also did the same,", "Delighted with their dinner and their Host,", "But with the Lady Adeline the most.", "", "Some praised her beauty: others her great grace;", " The warmth of her politeness, whose sincerity", "Was obvious in each feature of her face,", " Whose traits were radiant with the rays of verity.", "Yes; _she_ was truly worthy _her_ high place!", " No one could envy her deserved prosperity.", "And then her dress--what beautiful simplicity", "Draperied her form with curious felicity!", "", "Meanwhile sweet Adeline deserved their praises,", " By an impartial indemnification", "For all her past exertion and soft phrases,", " In a most edifying conversation,", "Which turned upon their late guests' miens and faces,", " Their families, even to the last relation;", "Their hideous wives, their horrid selves and dresses,", "And truculent distortion of their tresses.", "", "True, _she_ said little--'twas the rest that broke", " Forth into universal epigram;", "But then 'twas to the purpose what she spoke:", " Like Addison's \"faint praise,\" so wont to damn,", "Her own but served to set off every joke,", " As music chimes in with a melodrame.", "How sweet the task to shield an absent friend!", "I ask but this of mine, to----_not_ defend.", "", "There were but two exceptions to this keen", " Skirmish of wits o'er the departed; one,", "Aurora, with her pure and placid mien;", " And Juan, too, in general behind none", "In gay remark on what he had heard or seen,", " Sate silent now, his usual spirits gone:", "In vain he heard the others rail or rally,", "He would not join them in a single sally.", "", "'Tis true he saw Aurora look as though", " She approved his silence; she perhaps mistook", "Its motive for that charity we owe", " But seldom pay the absent, nor would look", "Farther--it might or it might not be so.", " But Juan, sitting silent in his nook,", "Observing little in his reverie,", "Yet saw this much, which he was glad to see.", "", "The Ghost at least had done him this much good,", " In making him as silent as a ghost,", "If in the circumstances which ensued", " He gained esteem where it was worth the most;", "And, certainly, Aurora had renewed", " In him some feelings he had lately lost,", "Or hardened; feelings which, perhaps ideal,", "Are so divine, that I must deem them real:--", "", "The love of higher things and better days;", " The unbounded hope, and heavenly ignorance", "Of what is called the World, and the World's ways;", " The moments when we gather from a glance", "More joy than from all future pride or praise,", " Which kindle manhood, but can ne'er entrance", "The Heart in an existence of its own,", "Of which another's bosom is the zone.", "", "Who would not sigh Αἴ αἴ τὰν Κυθέρειαν", " That _hath_ a memory, or that _had_ a heart?", "Alas! _her_ star must fade like that of Dian:", " Ray fades on ray, as years on years depart.", "Anacreon only had the soul to tie an", " Unwithering myrtle round the unblunted dart", "Of Eros: but though thou hast played us many tricks,", "Still we respect thee,\"_Alma Venus Genetrix!_\"", "", "And full of sentiments, sublime as billows", " Heaving between this World and Worlds beyond,", "Don Juan, when the midnight hour of pillows", " Arrived, retired to his; but to despond", "Rather than rest. Instead of poppies, willows", " Waved o'er his couch; he meditated, fond", "Of those sweet bitter thoughts which banish sleep,", "And make the worldling sneer, the youngling weep.", "", "The night was as before: he was undrest,", " Saving his night-gown, which is an undress;", "Completely _sans culotte_, and without vest;", " In short, he hardly could be clothed with less:", "But apprehensive of his spectral guest,", " He sate with feelings awkward to express", "(By those who have not had such visitations),", "Expectant of the Ghost's fresh operations.", "", "And not in vain he listened;--Hush! what's that?", " I see--I see--Ah, no!--'t is not--yet 't is--", "Ye powers! it is the--the--the--Pooh! the cat!", " The Devil may take that stealthy pace of his!", "So like a spiritual pit-a-pat,", " Or tiptoe of an amatory Miss,", "Gliding the first time to a _rendezvous_,", "And dreading the chaste echoes of her shoe.", "", "Again--what is 't? The wind? No, no,--this time", " It is the sable Friar as before,", "With awful footsteps regular as rhyme,", " Or (as rhymes may be in these days) much more.", "Again through shadows of the night sublime,", " When deep sleep fell on men, and the World wore", "The starry darkness round her like a girdle", "Spangled with gems--the Monk made his blood curdle.", "", "A noise like to wet fingers drawn on glass,", " Which sets the teeth on edge; and a slight clatter,", "Like showers which on the midnight gusts will pass,", " Sounding like very supernatural water,", "Came over Juan's ear, which throbbed, alas!", " For Immaterialism's a serious matter;", "So that even those whose faith is the most great", "In Souls immortal, shun them _tête-à-tête_.", "", "Were his eyes open?--Yes! and his mouth too.", " Surprise has this effect--to make one dumb,", "Yet leave the gate which Eloquence slips through", " As wide as if a long speech were to come.", "Nigh and more nigh the awful echoes drew,", " Tremendous to a mortal tympanum:", "His eyes were open, and (as was before", "Stated) his mouth. What opened next?--the door.", "", "It opened with a most infernal creak,", " Like that of Hell. \"Lasciate ogni speranza,", "Voi, ch' entrate!\" The hinge seemed to speak,", " Dreadful as Dante's _rima_, or this stanza;", "Or--but all words upon such themes are weak:", " A single shade's sufficient to entrance a", "Hero--for what is Substance to a Spirit?", "Or how is 't _Matter_ trembles to come near it?", "", "The door flew wide, not swiftly,--but, as fly", " The sea-gulls, with a steady, sober flight--", "And then swung back; nor close--but stood awry,", " Half letting in long shadows on the light,", "Which still in Juan's candlesticks burned high,", " For he had two, both tolerably bright,", "And in the doorway, darkening darkness, stood", "The sable Friar in his solemn hood.", "", "Don Juan shook, as erst he had been shaken", " The night before; but being sick of shaking,", "He first inclined to think he had been mistaken;", " And then to be ashamed of such mistaking;", "His own internal ghost began to awaken", " Within him, and to quell his corporal quaking--", "Hinting that Soul and Body on the whole", "Were odds against a disembodied Soul.", "", "And then his dread grew wrath, and his wrath fierce,", " And he arose, advanced--the Shade retreated;", "But Juan, eager now the truth to pierce,", " Followed, his veins no longer cold, but heated,", "Resolved to thrust the mystery _carte_ and _tierce_,", " At whatsoever risk of being defeated:", "The Ghost stopped, menaced, then retired, until", "He reached the ancient wall, then stood stone still.", "", "Juan put forth one arm--Eternal powers!", " It touched no soul, nor body, but the wall,", "On which the moonbeams fell in silvery showers,", " Chequered with all the tracery of the Hall;", "He shuddered, as no doubt the bravest cowers", " When he can't tell what 'tis that doth appal.", "How odd, a single hobgoblin's nonentity", "Should cause more fear than a whole host's identity!", "", "But still the Shade remained: the blue eyes glared,", " And rather variably for stony death;", "Yet one thing rather good the grave had spared,", " The Ghost had a remarkably sweet breath:", "A straggling curl showed he had been fair-haired;", " A red lip, with two rows of pearls beneath,", "Gleamed forth, as through the casement's ivy shroud", "The Moon peeped, just escaped from a grey cloud.", "", "And Juan, puzzled, but still curious, thrust", " His other arm forth--Wonder upon wonder!", "It pressed upon a hard but glowing bust,", " Which beat as if there was a warm heart under.", "He found, as people on most trials must,", " That he had made at first a silly blunder,", "And that in his confusion he had caught", "Only the wall, instead of what he sought.", "", "The Ghost, if Ghost it were, seemed a sweet soul", " As ever lurked beneath a holy hood:", "A dimpled chin, a neck of ivory, stole", " Forth into something much like flesh and blood;", "Back fell the sable frock and dreary cowl,", " And they revealed--alas! that e'er they should!", "In full, voluptuous, but _not o'er_grown bulk,", "The phantom of her frolic Grace--Fitz-Fulke!", "", "CANTO THE SEVENTEENTH.", "", "The world is full of orphans: firstly, those", " Who are so in the strict sense of the phrase;", "But many a lonely tree the loftier grows", " Than others crowded in the Forest's maze--", "The next are such as are not doomed to lose", " Their tender parents, in their budding days,", "But, merely, their parental tenderness,", "Which leaves them orphans of the heart no less.", "", "The next are \"_only_ Children,\" as they are styled,", " Who grow up _Children_ only, since th' old saw", "Pronounces that an \"only's\" a spoilt child--", " But not to go too far, I hold it law,", "That where their education, harsh or mild,", " Transgresses the great bounds of love or awe,", "The sufferers--be 't in heart or intellect--", "Whate'er the _cause_, are orphans in _effect_.", "", "But to return unto the stricter rule--", " As far as words make rules--our common notion", "Of orphan paints at once a parish school,", " A half-starved babe, a wreck upon Life's ocean,", "A human (what the Italians nickname) \"Mule!\"", " A theme for Pity or some worse emotion;", "Yet, if examined, it might be admitted", "The wealthiest orphans are to be more pitied.", "", "Too soon they are Parents to themselves: for what", " Are Tutors, Guardians, and so forth, compared", "With Nature's genial Genitors? so that", " A child of Chancery, that Star-Chamber ward,", "(I'll take the likeness I can first come at,)", " Is like--a duckling by Dame Partlett reared,", "And frights--especially if 'tis a daughter,", "Th' old Hen--by running headlong to the water.", "", "There is a common-place book argument,", " Which glibly glides from every tongue;", "When any dare a new light to present,", " \"If you are right, then everybody's wrong\"!", "Suppose the converse of this precedent", " So often urged, so loudly and so long;", "\"If you are wrong, then everybody's right\"!", "Was ever everybody yet so quite?", "", "Therefore I would solicit free discussion", " Upon all points--no matter what, or whose--", "Because as Ages upon Ages push on,", " The last is apt the former to accuse", "Of pillowing its head on a pin-cushion,", " Heedless of pricks because it was obtuse:", "What was a paradox becomes a truth or", "A something like it--witness Luther!", "", "The Sacraments have been reduced to two,", " And Witches unto none, though somewhat late", "Since burning agéd women (save a few--", " Not witches only b--ches--who create", "Mischief in families, as some know or knew,", " Should still be singed, but lightly, let me state,)", "Has been declared an act of inurbanity,", "_Malgré_ Sir Matthew Hales's great humanity.", "", "Great Galileo was debarred the Sun,", " Because he fixed it; and, to stop his talking,", "How Earth could round the solar orbit run,", " Found his own legs embargoed from mere walking:", "The man was well-nigh dead, ere men begun", " To think his skull had not some need of caulking;", "But now, it seems, he's right--his notion just:", "No doubt a consolation to his dust.", "", "Pythagoras, Locke, Socrates--but pages", " Might be filled up, as vainly as before,", "With the sad usage of all sorts of sages,", " Who in his life-time, each, was deemed a Bore!", "The loftiest minds outrun their tardy ages:", " This they must bear with and, perhaps, much more;", "The wise man's sure when he no more can share it, he", "Will have a firm Post Obit on posterity.", "", "If such doom waits each intellectual Giant,", " We little people in our lesser way,", "In Life's small rubs should surely be more pliant,", " And so for one will I--as well I may--Would", "that I were less bilious--but, oh, fie on 't!", " Just as I make my mind up every day,", "To be a \"_totus, teres_,\" Stoic, Sage,", "The wind shifts and I fly into a rage.", "", "Temperate I am--yet never had a temper;", " Modest I am--yet with some slight assurance;", "Changeable too--yet somehow \"_Idem semper_:\"", " Patient--but not enamoured of endurance;", "Cheerful--but, sometimes, rather apt to whimper:", " Mild--but at times a sort of \"_Hercules furens_:\"", "So that I almost think that the same skin", "For one without--has two or three within.", "", "Our Hero was, in Canto the Sixteenth,", " Left in a tender moonlight situation,", "Such as enables Man to show his strength", " Moral or physical: on this occasion", "Whether his virtue triumphed--or, at length,", " His vice--for he was of a kindling nation--", "Is more than I shall venture to describe;--", "Unless some Beauty with a kiss should bribe.", "", "I leave the thing a problem, like all things:--", " The morning came--and breakfast, tea and toast,", "Of which most men partake, but no one sings.", " The company whose birth, wealth, worth, has cost", "My trembling Lyre already several strings,", " Assembled with our hostess, and mine host;", "The guests dropped in--the last but one, Her Grace,", "The latest, Juan, with his virgin face.", "", "Which best it is to encounter--Ghost, or none,", " 'Twere difficult to say--but Juan looked", "As if he had combated with more than one,", " Being wan and worn, with eyes that hardly brooked", "The light, that through the Gothic window shone:", " Her Grace, too, had a sort of air rebuked--", "Seemed pale and shivered, as if she had kept", "A vigil, or dreamt rather more than slept." ], "linecount": "16092" } ]